Are ya ready for some football?
A whole lot of football?
High-stakes football?
Win-and-move-on and lose-and-go-home football?
If so, then you’re in luck, for you’ll get all that — and then some — as unquestionably the best event of the year in all of sports — the NFL postseason — begins this weekend with a slate of six wild-card-round games, the first three in the AFC and the last three in the NFC.
Here’s a quick look at all of the matchups from a Browns and/or Ohio perspective:
*AFC — Los Angeles Chargers at Houston Texans — Saturday at 4:30 p.m. — The Team Out West has several former Ohio State greats playing for it and is coached by a Michigan man, and is going up against a club led by an ex-Buckeyes quarterback who carved up the Browns in last year’s playoffs. Who will get to dot the “i” at halftime?
*AFC — Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens — Saturday at 8 p.m. — Can one of the best head coaches in the league in the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin, who worked at the 2000 Browns training camp as part of a coaching program through the Fritz Pollard Alliance, figure out a way to ignite his struggling quarterback, offense and team? And can another top NFL head coach in the Ravens’ John Harbaugh, the likable brother, figure out a way to make his quarterback, Lamar Jackson, play in the postseason even remotely close to the way he does in the regular season? For the coach who is more successful, his team will win the game.
*AFC — Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills — Sunday at 1 p.m. — Another quarterback who has Lamar Jackson Syndrone, the Bills’ Josh Allen, will attempt to begin curing himself against the surprise team of the AFC.
*NFC — Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles — Sunday at 4:30 p.m. — The head coach of the Eagles, former Mount Union wide receiver Nick Sirianni, is under a lot of pressure to produce in that tough, unforgiving city.
*NFC — Washington Commanders at Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Sunday at 8 p.m. — The presence of rejuvenated Bucs star Baker Mayfield is a painful reminder to the quarterback-starved Browns of who — and what — they let get away. The presence of Commanders rookie sensation Jayden Daniels is a hopeful reminder to the Browns that they don’t have to have the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft to get a prospective franchise quarterback.
*NFC — Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams — Monday at 8 p.m. — If you were starting an NFL team, then you would want Sean McVay as your head coach. He’s the best young coach in the league by far — it’s not even close. The Rams hired him eight years ago and though he’s still just 38, he has already accomplished a lot, most notably having been to the Super Bowl twice, with a win. He has strong Ohio connections in that his late grandfather, John McVay, a Bellaire native, was a longtime noted NFL personnel man. Sean is a Dayton native and a product of Miami of Ohio, the same alma mater of another young Ohio coach from long ago named Paul Brown who ended up doing quite well for himself. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. Anyway, because of McVay’s football acumen and resume, especially on offense and even more specifically at quarterback, the Rams, with former Lions star Matthew Stafford under center, is the team Detroit most fears as the one that can come into Ford Field and win and foil the top-seeded Lions’ hopes of getting to their first Super Bowl.
Whatever happens this weekend, though, enjoy the games.
Steve King
