Sportsnaut
The stage is set for NFL Wild Card Round, a three-day slate of six marquee matchups that will determine who advances to the Divisional Round. While there’s typically an upset each year on Wild Card Weekend, this time of year is generally when we see the best NFL teams demonstrate their excellence with convincing victories.
Let’s dive straight into our NFL Wild Card Round predictions. We’ve ordered them based on the Wild Card Weekend schedule that kicks off on Saturday,
Saturday’s NFL Wild Card Weekend games are all about regular-season rematches. Back on Nov. 30, the Carolina Panthers surprised the football world in a 31-28 victory at home over the Los Angeles Rams. Bryce Young was effective (15-for-20, 206 passing yards, 3-0 TD-INT and 147.1 QB rating) and Carolina’s defense generated 3 takeaways, including a pick-six. However, there’s a reason Los Angeles is a 10-point favorite on the road in this matchup.
For one thing, going back to that Week 13 matchup, the Rams offense averaged 7.4 yards per play (5.8 for Carolina), 3.11 points per drive, and 42.1 yards per drive. Not only did Stafford throw a pick-six, but he was also intercepted in the end zone on 3rd-and-6 from the 8-yard line, and he later fumbled on the Rams’ final drive when they trailed 31-28 and had the football at the Panthers’ 22-yard line.
The Rams offense only had three games this season with multiple turnovers, so Carolina’s takeaways in the last meeting reflects a bit more luck. Unless the Panthers are able to replicate that good fortune on Wild Card Weekend, they simply lack the firepower on either side of the football to compete with Los Angeles.
Read More: 2026 NFL Draft Order, Picks by Team Entering Wild Card Weekend
If not for the injuries to Tucker Kraft, Elgton Jenkins, Devonte Wyatt and Micah Parsons, this would be the best matchup on Wild Card Weekend. In their two meetings during the regular season, both of which came down to the wire, the Green Bay Packers won the total yardage battle (721–715) and the Chicago Bears had the better turnover differential (+1).
We don’t think the third Packers vs. Bears game this season will be quite as close. That’s largely because of what Chicago’s offense should be able to do against Green Bay’s defense. In Weeks 16 and 17, the Packers allowed 228.5 rushing yards per game with a 5.8 yards-per-carry average. Equally concerning, this unit has no pass rush whatsoever.
This should be a game where Ben Johnson feeds the football to D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai 30-plus times and mixes in some play-action deep shots for Caleb Williams. Now, Green Bay can make it a game early with Jordan Love exploiting a Bears defense that allowed 27.3 PPG and 5.9 yards per play from Weeks 8-17. However, Love will also throw an interception in this game, and the inability of...
