Wild card weekend is upon us and that means the 2019 NFL playoffs have begun. Once again the San Francisco 49ers are not involved, but this will (hopefully) be the last year we see that. I do think the team is trending up and have faith in Kyle Shanahan as a coach based on what he could do with what he had this year.
So now it leaves me looking for other teams to have a rooting interest. And I don’t have much. How about everyone else?
I would be a Chiefs fan, except Alex Smith is A: injured and B: not on the team anymore. So those two things make it hard. As much as I like Andy Reid, I found it harder to be a Chiefs fan without Alex Smith as it felt like he took the brunt of things going wrong last year (as Alex Smith does). Travis Kelce did win me my fantasy league, but that’s about it.
I’d like to see the Chargers win just because head coach Anthony Lynn seems like a good dude who needed a chance. He had so many successful interviews (I remember when the 49ers were looking into him after firing Jim Tomsula) but it just wasn’t right. I can identify with that. Plus read up on his history, as dark as it is, it’s also eye opening.
Texans are an interesting team as is the Colts. I wind up cheering for the Colts a lot since my father is/was a diehard Colts fan, following them back when they were in Baltimore. He went absolutely nuts when they won the Super Bowl. He’s lost a bit of interest in them over the last few years when Peyton Manning left and he started becoming more of a 49ers fan as I got more involved with Niners Nation (he’s more college anyways for his Oregon State Beavers), but I know he’ll be angry if he’s not at a TV at the start of the game.
There’s a lot to watch here. I know the Colts/Texans game could be the game of the weekend. I’m not counting on the Seattle Seahawks-Dallas Cowboys game to be anything. Chargers-Ravens could be interesting, but that 10:00 a.m. start time on the east coast could cripple the Chargers (I have them penciled to win, but I’m not confident in my pick at all). Eagles-Bears I fear might be a snoozefest as well. Or they could all be amazing who knows.
What games you watching? Do you have any rooting interest in any of the teams playing this weekend?