NFL playoff predictions: Chiefs vs. Dolphins, Browns vs. Texans picks, odds

The 2023 NFL regular season was a wild ride, from Aaron Rodgers’ torn Achilles on the fourth play of the Jets’ season to the Jeremy Lin like phenomenon known as Tommy DeVito to the leftover Cutlets being stored in Tupperware in the Big Blue fridge as he went back to the bench for the final few games.

We had incredible covers and bad beats (more of the latter, probably), and every fan base was quick to say the games are rigged whenever a call went against their team. Even after 18 teams turned off the lights and cleaned out the lockers, there were earthquakes in Nashville, Seattle and Foxborough as Mike Vrabel, Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick — three of the best coaches in the league — were taken down.

But now is our reward, the postseason. This is the seventh season that the Texans have made the playoffs, and each time they’ve been assigned the 4:30 Saturday afternoon game. That network decision is as predictable as Ryan Seacrest at 11:59 every Dec. 31. For the most part, this has occurred because the Texans have been winners of a weak AFC South and hold little cachet nationally.

It’s understandable, but consider these two things: Houston is 4 2 in those playoff games, and this might be their best team yet with C.J. Stroud running the show. So this is not an automatic Browns pick, but that’s still the way to go. Joe Flacco came off the couch to go 4 1, winning four in a row after a loss at the Rams.

He threw for an average of 340.5 yards per game in the four wins, one of which was a 36 22 victory at Houston on Christmas Eve. Some folks are willing to discount that result because Stroud didn’t play, but Flacco should certainly be comfortable with the surroundings and facing the Texans’ defense.

He’s unleashed a beast of a passing game with Amari Cooper, David Njoku and Elijah Moore, and now Cooper should be healthy. Stroud played in some huge games in college and will have his moments, but Flacco is a former Super Bowl MVP. Score prediction: Browns 27 20. The Accuweather forecast for kickoff at Arrowhead is 0 degrees with a RealFeel (the modern day wind chill) of minus 22.

From there, it will get progressively colder. I was hoping to see what a full strength Dolphins team in good conditions would look like in the postseason, but we’re getting neither. Raheem Mostert, Tyreek Hill, De’Von Achane and Jaylen Waddle have been banged up while Steve Spagnuolo’s Chiefs defense is completely healthy.

This is going to be a cold, hard night for Tua Tagovailoa. Taking the Under not only because I don’t believe the Dolphins will be contributing much to the total. The Chiefs averaged just 21.8 ppg this season, and the cold will affect them, too. But I think they can get ahead and move the chains against a Miami defense missing Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips and Andrew Van Ginkel.

The clock will be moving fast. Score prediction: Chiefs, 20 10..