Here we go again.
It’s another big weekend of NFL playoff football. Four games will be played over the next two days. Eight NFL teams are still in the hunt for an NFL championship, and by Sunday evening the field will be whittled to a final four.
There will be quite a few players competing in these NFL playoff games who once played in the Brown and Gold at the University of Wyoming.
We watched closely last weekend as many former Wyoming Cowboys played meaningful minutes for teams still involved. And many of those former Pokes are right back at it this weekend after winning and advancing in the playoffs.
Saturday’s playoff action has the Jacksonville Jaguars taking on the Kansas City Chiefs, in Kansas City, in the first game of the afternoon. The New York Giants are at the Philadelphia Eagles in the evening game.
On Sunday, the Buffalo Bills play the Cincinnati Bengals in Orchard Park, New York, in the first game. The Dallas Cowboys are on the road to play the San Francisco 49ers in the late game.
There will be former Wyoming Cowboys playing in all four games.
We’ll keep an eye out for Chad Muma and Andrew Wingard in that first game Saturday. Both former Wyoming Cowboy defenders now play for the Jags and will see plenty of action against the Chiefs.
Muma, the former UW linebacker, had 3 tackles last weekend in a Jacksonville win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Wingard was seen flying around the football on kickoff and punt coverage teams. And we will see more of the same from Muma and Wingard on Saturday.
Saturday’s late game will find two old rivals, the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles, banging heads in Philly.
The Eagles had a bye last week and now gets back in action with their first playoff game. And we’ll pay close attention when the Giants have the ball and the Eagles are on defense. That’s when former Wyoming Cowboy defensive back Marcus Epps will be on the field in the Eagles secondary.
Two more big postseason games Sunday will see the Bengals versus the Bills, and the Cowboys at the 49ers.
We’ll watch for Tashaun Gibson in the late game. The former Wyoming Cowboy will be patrolling the secondary for San Francisco.
But it’s that first game Sunday that will call me to my big screen. I can’t wait to see the Buffalo Bills take on the Cincinnati Bengals.
The game itself is a major draw, the Bills and Bengals in a replay of the game that was begun, and then cancelled very early on, when Damar Hamlin went down. And here we are just weeks later with the same teams meeting in the playoffs.
And then there’s the Josh Allen-Logan Wilson factor.
Those two former Wyoming Cowboys will play a lot. It’s made even more interesting in that both players will be on the field at the same time. And in this game, the two former Wyoming teammates will not be teammates.
Won’t it be fun to see Josh Allen breaking the huddle, come to the line of scrimmage prior to the snap for the Bills and look across the line and see Logan Wilson staring back at him? Josh Allen, the star quarterback, will be trying to move the football against a Bengals defense, and Logan Wilson.
Both former Wyoming Cowboys are coming off big games. Allen threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns in a Bills win over Miami last week. Wilson had 10 tackles in the Bengals victory over Baltimore.
And how thrilling it must be for the former Cowboy teammates to be playing in the NFL, and now appearing in the playoffs. These two NFL professionals have come a long way.
Of course, NFL fans have become very familiar with Allen and the Bills. So much attention has been paid to the Buffalo QB, and rightfully so.
And now it is time for Wilson to get his share of the spotlight. The Casper, Wyoming, native, the former Casper Natrona Mustang and Wyoming Cowboy, will be fun to watch running sideline to sideline and making tackles for the Bengals. Some of those hits could be on No. 17 of the Bills.
If Wilson does make a tackle on Allen, do you think “Wyoming” will be mentioned?
I can’t wait to find out.
