Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below the main deck of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken have informed me that they are, in fact, keeping tabs on world developments …
At least they’re not sitting on the couch eating fish crackers for once.
Anyway, the NFL postseason begins today (Saturday, January 10, 2026) with a couple of NFC bouts. One of the games comes steeped in league history and tradition. The other one, not so much. We’ll look at the latter first, primarily because it’s the first game on the schedule.
The Los Angeles Rams travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers. On paper, this is a gimme for the Rams as they are easily the better team on both sides of the ball. However, the game is not taking place on paper, but rather on the possibly rain-drenched turf of Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, where the Rams lost to the Panthers in the regular season. Thus endeth the gimme portion of the conversation.
That said, Los Angeles is clearly superior to Carolina. Matthew Stafford is playing at an MVP level and has the luxury of throwing the ball to either Puka Nacua or Davante Adams. They also run the ball very well. The Rams’ defense is of the bend-but-not-break mindset, average in yards allowed on the ground and in the air, but stingy when it comes to the other team scoring. Special teams have been problematic, but that seems to have become a non-factor at season’s end. Los Angeles has multiple strengths and no easily exploitable weaknesses.
Carolina … well, they are a lot better than they were last year. That said, they still aren’t very good. Bryce Young has upped his playing level from dreadful to competent, but he doesn’t scare anyone. The Panthers offense is slightly below average on the ground and noticeably below average in the air; thus, they rely heavily on their defense to keep them in games. The problem is that their defense is average across the board. Still, they are in the playoffs at home, and on any given Sunday (in this case Saturday), etc. Still, the Panthers’ best, if not only, chance at winning is the Rams beating themselves. Which I wouldn’t bet on.
The day’s second game transpires tonight on the windswept tundra of Soldier Field, where the Green Bay Packers will take on the Bears. There will be both a chill to the wind and a nip to the air, although it remains unknown whether the Bears’ cheerleaders will be wearing scarlet begonias in their hair.
The Packers have managed the neat trick of being both in the playoffs and having a disappointing season. This is not entirely of their own doing. After being gifted Micah Parsons before the season started, Green Bay watched him go down for the season, severely impacting their defense, which had been stout against both the run and the pass. The Packers stumble into the playoffs on a four-game losing streak, and are giving no indications that they will suddenly turn it on now that the heat is figuratively, albeit not literally, on.
The Bears are the feel-good story of the 2025-2026 regular season. Caleb Williams has mastered the art of giving Da Fans Da Heart Attack, authoring six comeback wins after trailing in the fourth quarter. Chicago is good in the air and excellent on the ground. On the other side of the ball, the Bears aren’t nearly as accomplished, so it’s not like Jordan Love and company do not have a chance. This figures to be a close game.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone.
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