It’s the final countdown to NFL Wild Card weekend.

We’re 48 hours away from the most highly anticipated three-day stretch of football games we will get in 2021.

On Saturday, it’s the Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Washington Football Team.

On Sunday, we get the Baltimore Ravens at Tennessee Titans, Chicago Bears at New Orleans Saints and the Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers.

As if that wasn’t good enough, Monday night is the College Football Playoff National Championship game right here on TSN.

Buckle up.

Here is the Morning Coffee for Thursday Jan. 7, 2021.

Raptors Losing Streak Continues

The Toronto Raptors kicked off their four-game west coast road trip with a 123-115 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Toronto is now 1-6 both straight up and against the spread.

The good news is that Pascal Siakam played one of his best games of the season with 32 points on 11-of-21 shooting with nine rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block.

The bad news is that the Raptors have the second-worst record in the NBA with games against the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers coming up to close out their trip.

Toronto was already the fourth choice to win its division this season in terms of betting odds behind the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics.

Playing in a tough division and with no actual home games, the Raptors now have to deal with another obstacle following a 1-6 start.

 

Wild Card Weekend Anticipation Rankings

For the first time since 1982’s strike-shortened season in which the playoff field was expanded to 16 teams with no byes, we’ll get six NFL playoff games in one weekend. 

Here is how I would rank this weekend’s games from most highly anticipated to, well, I can’t wait for all of them.

You get the point.

Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills (-6.5)

The Colts and Bills have played 70 times before but never in the playoffs.

Phillip Rivers has never lost in the Wild Card round (4-0), but I have the Bills as my second-best team in the NFL so there’s no way they can lose to Indianapolis at home, right?

Buffalo was the most impressive team in the league over the final month of the regular season.

I can’t wait to see what the Bills do in the playoffs as they chase their first playoff win since 1995.

 

Baltimore Ravens (-3.5) at Tennessee Titans

Lamar Jackson and the Ravens finished the season on fire with five straight wins to close out at 11-5.

Now they will get the opportunity to avenge last year’s AFC Divisional round loss to Tennessee.

Unlike a year ago, Baltimore is being somewhat overlooked as a true contender in the AFC.

In order for that to change, Jackson and company will need to make a statement with a win over the Titans.

 

Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers (-6)

The Browns had to overcome a lot just to make the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

Now they’ll have to visit the Steelers without their head coach on the sideline and at least a couple of key players out.

I still think Cleveland has a shot in this one if they can move the ball efficiently on the ground and keep Ben Roethlisberger from getting comfortable.

I won’t bet on the Browns, but I’m interested to see how they respond in this AFC North showdown.

 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-8.5) at Washington Football Team

Tom Brady will need to get the ball out of his hands quick in his first career Wild Card appearance on the road.

Washington’s only hope is to hit Brady over and over again and force him into making mistakes.

Still, that might not be enough if the Tampa Bay defence hold its own against Alex Smith.

 

Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks  (-3.5)

Even if John Wolford starts for the Rams, this is still a divisional showdown in the playoffs with Russell Wilson set to go head-to-head with the league’s leading scoring defence and total defence. 

Wilson has never lost a playoff game when his team is favoured (7-0).

 

Chicago Bears at New Orleans Saints (-10)

The Saints have won six straight against the Bears overall – their longest active streak against any single opponent.

Do you want to bet that streak continues on Sunday afternoon?

At least we might get to see Drew Brees, Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara on the field for a full four quarters in this one.