AFC Wild Card Game Preview - San Diego vs Cincinnati

 The San Diego Chargers will be making their return to the post-season after missing the last three years. The Bengals will be making their 3rd straight playoff appearance since drafting QB Andy Dalton out of TCU in the 2011 draft.

The Bengals have yet to win a playoff game with Dalton behind center (0-2) but are hoping for a better outcome at home this Sunday, where they have not lost all season (8-0). The Bengals have a pretty good defense, ranking in the top 5 against both the pass and the run but this Chargers team is a lot different than the last time these two teams met just a few weeks ago.

The Bengals defense will be tested this weekend against Chargers QB Phillip Rivers who has been on a roll during the Chargers current 4-game win streak, throwing for 9 TD's and 2 INT's during that span. Rivers also held the highest completion percentage in the NFL for the entire season, better than even over soon-to-be MVP Peyton Manning. The Chargers last defeat came at the hands of the Bengals in week 13, losing 10-17. The Chargers could not even get into the redzone in the first meeting, with a lot of the reason being the pressure the Bengals were putting on Rivers and there was a lack of production on the ground.

Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict has been a problem for offenses all season, leading the NFL in tackles during the regular season with 171 on the year, 11 of which came against the Chargers in their first meeting. The Chargers were held to only 10 points in that meeting, their lowest point total of the season.

The Chargers do have a high-flying offense and are ranked 4th in the league in passing yards per game with an average of about 270 yards thru the air per game. RB Ryan Matthews is also emerging as the talent the team had hoped for when they drafted him 12th overall in 2010. Matthews is averaging just over 118 yards per game during the teams current win streak although the Bengals did hold him to only 61 yards during their first game.Rivers and Matthews will both need to play to perfection in order to come out of Cincinnati with a win.

The Bengals have one of the top wide receivers in the game with AJ Green. Green easily handled the Chargers secondary in that first meeting, with only 5 catches Green recorded 83 yards and 1 TD. Green is also averaging 12 targets a game in the 5 games leading up to the playoffs while also getting 5 TD's in that span. Dalton and Green have been great since they first arrived in the league but have been unable to put points on the board in the post-season, with Green only averaging 5 catches and just over 63 yards with no TD's in both playoff appearances.

What may be the biggest key for the Chargers defense will be their 3rd down efficiency, only allowing just over 37% on 3rd downs in their final 5 games of the season. The only team to convert 50% of their 3rd downs during that period was the Bengals who were able to convert on 6-12 attempts. But the way I see it, if the Chargers can hold the soon to be MVP Peyton Manning to 2-9 on 3rd downs in Denver then this team is definitely capable of doing something similar to Dalton and Co.

Andy Lyons/Getty Images North America

Prediction:

SD over CIN 28-20

The reason I believe the Chargers will win is simply because Andy Dalton seems unable to finish off his drives and put points on the board once he gets to the post-season. Maybe AJ Green gets his first playoff TD this weekend, but if he does I don't know how many more points the Bengals will be able to put on the board. San Diego has been putting points all over the place and they also have a young up-and-coming WR in Keenan Allen who very well may be one of the top receivers within the next couple years. So with two QB's who are at the top of their game I am going to go with experience and that is Phillip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers.

Also check out my story on Lovie Smith making his return to the NFL, posted on SportsPassion.net, as well as my preview of the NFC Wild Card game between the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers

Follow me on Twitter - @therealrikrok89
I am also a writer on another sports website, SportsPassion.net - Go check out some of my writings there as well.
I hope you enjoyed my posts because I enjoy writing them. 
Thank you for reading and come back for more Sports News & Analysis.
Share it, Like it, Tweet it, Vine it, Instagram, whatever social networking tool you use, spread the word so everyone else has the opportunity to bask in all of this Sports Stats and News!