Top 10 matchups for the NFL's Wild Card Weekend

With four games on tap during NFL's Wild Card Weekend, there is a whole heck of a lot to look at in each individual game.

Can the Cincinnati Bengals continue to contain Antonio Brown en route to snapping their long postseason losing streak? Is Adrian Peterson set to rebound from a horrendous performance against the Seattle Seahawks just a few short weeks ago?

These are among the top 10 matchups to watch as the NFL playoffs get going.

1. Antonio Brown vs. Cincinnati Bengals secondary

This is what playoff football is all about. You have to stop the best to be the best. In this, Cincinnati has done a darn good job in containing this dynamic Pittsburgh Steelers receiver.

Brown was held to 13 receptions for 134 yards and a touchdown in two games against the Bengals during the regular season. He averaged nine receptions for 121 yards in his other 14 games.

The interesting thing to look at here is that Cincinnati was without top corner Adam Jones for their last meeting back in Week 14.

This forced Josh Shaw into the game and enabled Pittsburgh to line Brown up against Dre Kirkpatrick at times. Even then, the star pass catcher went for less than 90 yards on seven receptions.

Look for Jones to primarily line up against Brown with Leon Hall being forced to go up against him at times throughout the game. In this, Cincinnati seems to have the ability to at least contain the league's top receiver.

2. Jah Reid vs. J.J. Watt 

Watt put up two sacks and four quarterback hurries in the sole regular-season game between the Chiefs and Texans back in Week 1. A lot of that damage came against Reid, who was inserted into the starting lineup as the team's right tackle.

While Reid was extended during the regular season, he has struggled at times this year. Even taking out of the equation that unfavorable Week 1 matchup against Watt, Reid has allowed four sacks and 17 quarterback hurries in his nine other games.

We also have to take into account the fact that Reid just returned to practice after missing last week's game with the Oakland Raiders due to knee inflammation.

It goes without saying that Kansas City will have to throw double teams to Reid's side in order to fend off the massive Houston Texans defensive end. Even then, Alex Smith could face a barrage of a pass rush in this one.

Watt recorded 18 sacks and 34 quarterback hits during the regular season. With teams forced to throw multiple blockers his way, Whitney Mercilus and Jadeveon Clowney came up big during the regular year, recording a combined 17 sacks and 61 hurries. This also has to be a concern for the Chiefs here.

3. Adrian Peterson vs. Seattle Seahawks run defense

Peterson, the NFL's regular-season rushing champion, put up 18 yards on eight attempts against this very same Seattle defense back in Week 13. That can't inspire too much confidence in him producing at a high level at home this weekend.

And while all the focus is going to be on Peterson's lack of production, it's important to note that he would have done just fine if the Minnesota Vikings offensive line hadn't laid a complete egg in that game.

Peterson gained a total of one yard prior to contact in his eight attempts in that game. Give him even the most minimal of holes to run through, and he will be just fine.

This is going to be incredibly important against a Seahawks pass defense that allowed the second-fewest passing yards in the NFL during the regular year. That's only magnified by the fact that Minnesota finished with the second-fewest passing yards in the NFL.

4. DeAndre Hopkins vs. Marcus Peters

This has a lot of sexiness involved in it. With Arian Foster sidelined since Week 7 and only seeing action in four games this season, Hopkins took over as the Houston Texans' top offensive player. Riding the wave of a hot start to the year, the former first-round pick tallied 111 receptions for 1,521 yards and 11 scores during the regular season.

Hopkins is going to face one of the most difficult matchups of his career against this Kansas City Chiefs rookie — a first-year player who has seen himself go up against some of the best receivers the game has to offer.

Peters, a Pro Bowl performer in his first season, led the NFL with eight interceptions during the regular year. And while he did allow the third-most receiving yards, it's important to note that Peters was targeted 137 times throughout the year. He allowed just a 67.7 quarterback rating on those targets.

Hopkins put up nine receptions for 98 yards and two touchdowns against Peters when these two teams met back in September. Though, it must be noted that this game represented the corner's regular-season debut.

If Peters is able to contain Hopkins here, it's going to put the onus on other pass catchers to step up for Brian Hoyer against a secondary that allowed an average of 146.5 passing yards in Kansas City's final two regular-season games.

With no other Texans receiver boasting as much as 50 receptions during the regular year, that's going to be a difficult task.

5. Andrew Whitworth vs. Cam Heyward

Having allowed just five sacks in his past 42 games, Whitworth has proven himself to be one of the best pass-protecting left tackles in the NFL. It's not a role he was originally suited for coming out of LSU a decade ago, but it's something that has fit him extremely well in recent seasons.

It's going to be a difficult task against one of the top 3-4 defensive ends in the game. Putting up J.J. Watt-like numbers this season, Heyward was the Steelers' best player during the regular year. He recorded a whopping 44 quarterback hurries from a position that's usually reserved for stopping the run.

Heyward's presence could loom large against a Bengals quarterback in A.J. McCarron who doesn't necessarily have the experience to perform at a high level when faced with consistent pressure. At the very least, it's definitely something to keep an eye on.

6. Jordan Reed vs. Clay Matthews

Much like the Green Bay Packers were forced to do throughout the regular season, they are likely going to have to drop Matthews back into coverage against this up-and-coming Washington Redskins tight end.

Over the course of Washington's final four regular-season games, Reed caught 29 of the 31 passes thrown in his direction for 378 yards and five touchdowns. Those are some startling numbers right there.

For Matthews' part, he allowed 71 percent of the passes thrown in his direction to be completed while giving up 10.8 yards per reception.

While Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers could decide to rush Matthews and allow one of the team's other inside linebackers to drop back into coverage, that would be an even larger mismatch.

7. David DeCastro vs. Geno Atkins

DeCastro and Atkins represent over 600 pounds of man going up against one another in what should be a titanic one-on-one matchup in this inner-division playoff game.

DeCastro, a former first-round pick of the Steelers, allowed just two sacks and three quarterback hits on the season. One of those sacks and two of those hits were accumulated by Atkins in these teams' two regular-season games.

We know Ben Roethlisberger is a big man. We also know that he can stand in there with the best of them and take a hit.

That's not really the issue here. Instead, it's all about Pittsburgh's offense being able to put together a timing-based passing game with the elite-level playmakers it has at wide receiver. Atkins' ability to be disruptive in this regard is the big deal.

8. Seattle Seahawks receivers vs. Minnesota Vikings corners

Since Doug Baldwin moved into the slot back in Week 12, he's been the most productive receiver in the NFC. The veteran has hauled in 34 of the 44 passes thrown in his direction with 11 touchdowns in the six games since.

Seattle's win against Minnesota back in Week 13 represented only Baldwin's second game in that role. It was also the first time rookie receiver Tyler Lockett saw significant action on the outside. The two combined for 12 receptions, 184 yards and two touchdowns in that blowout Seahawks win.

Needless to say, Mike Zimmer and Co. are going to have to find a way to contain these two suddenly ultra-productive receivers.

Schematically, it's going to be a chess match. Russell Wilson boasts a 149.3 rating with 16 touchdowns and zero picks when targeting Baldwin and Lockett over the past seven games.

If the Vikings are going to be able to contain this onslaught, it's going to be up to Xavier Rhodes to step up. He's been atrocious for the most part this season, yielding seven touchdowns compared to one interception for an opposing quarterback rating in the triple digits.

9. Richard Rodgers vs. Dashon Goldson

The boundaries have been darn good for Washington this season. The surprising play of corner Bashaud Breeland has made this possible.

And while the team will surely be tested after an injury-ravaged regular season that saw it use 11 different cornerbacks, it's the middle of the field that Washington has struggled covering.

Washington yielded a 66 percent completion rate to tight ends, with Goldson himself struggling the most in this aspect. Overall, quarterbacks completed 80 percent of their passes thrown his way.

With the struggles we have seen from Green Bay's receivers over the course of the year, it would make sense for the team to target this perceived weakness. That's only magnified by the fact that Rodgers caught the ball at a 68 percent clip during the regular season.

10. Travis Kelce vs. Andre Hal and Brian Cushing

After blowing up big time for the Chiefs in the first half of the season, including a two-touchdown performance against these Texans in Week 1, Kelce hasn't quite been the same player.

In fact, the young tight end is averaging just 44 receiving yards over the past nine games. This is going to have to change if Kansas City wants to keep the momentum from its 10-game winning streak heading into the playoffs.

With the Texans, it's relatively clear what has happened here. Since the team decided that Rahim Moore wasn't going to be the answer at safety, they have been much better against the pass.

Moore, a free-agent signing this past March, was benched in Week 8 and has been a healthy inactive since. The likes of Andre Hal, among others, have done a tremendous job replacing him in the lineup.

Here's a team that allowed tight ends to catch just 56 percent of the passes thrown in their direction during the regular year.

It's going to have to be the secondary that steps it up against Kelce. After all, Cushing allowed an 80 percent catch rate and 102.2 rating when targeted in the regular season.

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