Wildcard Weekend is in the books and it was certainly…. well…. wild. The Chiefs blew out the Texans 30-0. The Steelers won thanks to 30 yards worth of mindless personal fouls in the final drive of the game. The Seahawks won thanks to a missed chip shot field goal by one of the game’s best kickers, Blair Walsh. The Packers rose from the dead in a decisive victory over the favored home team, the Redskins. The stage is certainly set for things to get even wilder this week.   This time, the top 2 seeds from each side will be thrown back into the mix, as their first-round byes have come to an end. Let’s take a look at the number 1 seed in the AFC, the Denver Broncos. They come in as 9 point favorites over the reeling Pittsburgh Steelers. It is not hard to see why they should come away with a win on Sunday afternoon.

The Steelers have somehow survived up to this point. As I mentioned last week, they are only in the playoffs at all thanks to the Jets failing to close out the Buffalo Bills in week 17. They only survived last week because of the lack of discipline of the Bengals. It took them 30 yards worth of penalty yardage on a 4^th quarter game winning drive just to beat AJ McCarron by a slim margin. Their luck however, has officially run out.

Yes, the Steelers just beat the Broncos by a score of 34 – 27 a couple of weeks ago. Several things have changed since then. The biggest issue will be the fact that the Steelers will be without Antonio Brown. Brown went off for 16 catches, 189 yard, and 2 touchdowns in that game against the Broncos. They will also be without DeAngelo Williams again, who scored a touchdown as well. That means over 60% of their scoring from that game is now gone. The Steelers former 3^rd ranked offense is no longer looking very dangerous. Missing these weapons compounded by the fact that they will be facing the number 1 ranked defense of the Broncos is a recipe for disaster. On top of all of this, the Broncos will be starting veteran Peyton Manning rather than rookie Brock Osweiler. Manning returned in the final week of the season to bring his team back from a 13-7 deficit against the Chargers in order to secure that top overall seed. The entire offense seemed to get a spark from his return. Even though his numbers weren’t off the charts by any means (5/9, 69 yards) it was clear that everyone seemed to respond positively when he returned to the field. After his entry into the game the Broncos would score 20 points and win the game 27-20. Look for the Broncos to dominate most of the game and come away with a victory the size of Peyton’s forehead.

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com

Cover photo courtesy of fantasycouch.com