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AARON JONES vs DEVIN WHITE
This season the Packers are averaging 31.8 points a game...most in the NFL. And it's not all Aaron Rodgers this time around. Green Bay has been very successful on the ground thanks to running back Aaron Jones, who had the fourth most rushing yards in the regular season with 1,104. The Packers' rushing offense ranks eighth, averaging 132.4 yards per game. This in turn as made the play action game wildly successful for the team of Aaron & Aaron. According to SportRadar, the Packers use play action at the sixth-highest clip in the league, with 25.5% of their passing plays coming on play action. Enter inside linebacker Devin White and the Tampa Bay top ranked rushing defense. White has the kind of speed and sideline-to-sideline range that make him a good match for a playmaker of Jones's level. He led the Buccaneers by a good margin with 140 tackles despite sitting out in Week 17. White also had nine sacks on the season, so the Buccaneers could try to use his pass-rushing talents to take both Aarons out of their comfort zone.
BILLY TURNER vs SHAQUIL BARRETT
Tampa Bay will hope to generate more pressure than they have in recent weeks. According to Next Gen Stats, the Buccaneers had a pressure rate on its pass rushes of less than 20% just one time in their first 10 games, but then fell below that mark four times over the next seven contests, which stretched into the Wild Card game at Washington. The Bucs then failed to get a sack and had just three QB hits on Drew Brees last Sunday. Of all the Tampa Bay defenders who could break the team out of this mini-slump, Barrett is the most likely. He racked up 59 quarterback pressures during the regular season, ranking third in the entire league. Barrett and fellow outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul have switched back and forth from the right and left sides based on matchups this season, but both saw close to half their snaps on each side in New Orleans. When Barrett is rushing off Aaron Rodgers' blind side he will have to contend with Billy Turner, who is holding down the left tackle job after the loss of Pro Bowler David Bakhtiari to an ACL tear in Week 16. Can Barrett take advantage of the Packers losing their star on Rodgers blindside or will the Bucs' pass rush continue to do everything but finish?
JOSH ALLEN vs TYRANN MATHIEU
2020 was definitely a year of constant surprises. One of them being the sudden explosion of the Buffalo Bills offense. After acquiring speedy free agent receiver, Stefon Diggs, the sky has been the limit for this Josh Allen led team. He is making better decisions, and he’s made them faster, than in his previous two seasons in the league. However, he can still be prone to make ill advised throws that plagued his early NFL days. Which is exactly where Tyrann Mathieu plays right into this KC defense. Mathieu is one of the top safeties in the league and one of its most versatile defenders as well...which will come in handy to contain Allen's rushing abilities. However, Mathieu also excells at baiting quarterbacks into poor decisions, and tends to feast on passers with a penchant for throwing the ball into ill-advised situations. While Mathieu hasn’t played as well in 2020 as he did a season ago, he has still put together an excellent season which has included a team-leading six interceptions, good enough for the third most in the NFL. The Chiefs need Mathieu to not only contain the dangerous Allen, but to make some big plays on the ball to get his own team's dangerous offense out on the field early and often.
MATT MILANO vs TRAVIS KELCE
In the Wild Card round, the Colts’ tight end unit ate up the Bills defense. That’s usually a rarity, though. The reason it isn’t often true is because of linebacker Matt Milano. A former safety, he is among the NFL’s most underrated linebackers, excelling in pass coverage. He is going to need all of those skills as he will be facing the league's best tight end in Travis Kelce. Kelce had two scores in the Week Six matchup these two teams had, but Milano missed that game due to injury. As a warm up, Milano did an excellent job shutting down Ravens' tight end Mark Andrews in the divisional round. Kelce also shined last weekend with eight grabs for 108 yards and another trip to the endzone. Which player keeps up their hot streak to help send their team to the Super Bowl?
Stats for the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they completed the 2020 season
| Packers | Bucs |
Total First Downs | 358 | 364 |
1st Downs (Rush-Pass-By Penalty) | 114 - 216 - 28 | 82 - 238 - 44 |
3rd Down Conversions | 89/180 | 83/191 |
4th Down Conversions | 13/21 | 8/14 |
Total Offensive Yds | 6224 | 6145 |
Offense (Plays-Avg Yds) | 990 - 6.3 | 1017 - 6.0 |
Total Rushing Yds | 2118 | 1519 |
Rushing (Plays-Avg Yards) | 443 - 4.8 | 369 - 4.1 |
Total Passing Yds | 4106 | 4626 |
Passing (Comp-Att-Int-Avg) | 372 - 526 - 5 - 8.2 | 410 - 626 - 12 - 7.6 |
Sacks | 41 | 48 |
Field Goals | 16/16 | 28/31 |
Touchdowns | 66 | 59 |
(Rush-Pass-Ret-Def) | 16 - 48 - 0 - 2 | 16 - 42 - 0 - 1 |
Time of possession | 32:34 | 28:54 |
Turnover Ratio | +7 | +8 |
Green Bay Packers lead series 33-22-1
Stats for the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs as they completed the 2020 season
| Bills | Chiefs |
Total First Downs | 397 | 397 |
1st Downs (Rush-Pass-By Penalty) | 119 - 240 - 38 | 110- 255 - 32 |
3rd Down Conversions | 93/187 | 95/194 |
4th Down Conversions | 8/10 | 9/16 |
Total Offensive Yds | 6343 | 6653 |
Offense (Plays-Avg Yds) | 1034 - 6.1 | 1057 - 6.3 |
Total Rushing Yds | 1723 | 1799 |
Rushing (Plays-Avg Yards) | 411 - 4.2 | 403 - 4.5 |
Total Passing Yds | 4620 | 4854 |
Passing (Comp-Att-Int-Avg) | 410 - 596 - 11 - 8.0 | 420 - 630 - 7 - 7.9 |
Sacks | 38 | 32 |
Field Goals | 28/34 | 25/27 |
Touchdowns | 60 | 57 |
(Rush-Pass-Ret-Def) | 16 - 40 - 1 - 3 | 13 - 40 - 2 - 2 |
Time of possession | 31:45 | 30:31 |
Turnover Ratio | +4 | +6 |
Buffalo Bills lead series 26-22-1
