For football fans, the next few days will be an absolute slice of heaven: eight college and NFL playoff games will be contested over the next five days.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a huge football fan, took time out of his hectic schedule to give WTOP his predictions for each game.
So, how are Moore’s predictions faring? Currently, he’s been right on six of seven games.
Winning predictions
On Jan. 8, the University of Miami beat Ole Miss after quarterback Carson Beck scored a touchdown for Miami with 18 seconds left in the game. The next day, the Indiana Hoosiers crushed the University of Oregon, with a final score of 56-22.
On the NFL side, the Los Angeles Rams were able to take the lead over the Carolina Panthers in a late-game touchdown that secured their victory on Jan. 10. That same day, the Chicago Bears won their game after making a stunning comeback against the Green Bay Packers.
The winning teams were all of Moore’s picks.
On Sunday, Moore scored two more winning predictions. First, when the San Francisco 49ers knocked out last year’s Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles.
“As the season’s gone on, they’ve just gotten stronger. They’ve gotten more unified,” said Moore about picking the 49ers. “I just think they’re playing really good football right now.”
Later that night, the New England Patriots went up against the Los Angeles Chargers. Moore predicted that the Patriots would beat the Chargers — and the Massachusetts-based team did just that, ending the game with a final score of 16-3.
Losing picks
Moore’s lucky streak came to an end on Sunday, when the Buffalo Bills clinched a win against the Jacksonville Jaguars after a last-minute touchdown by quarterback Josh Allen.
“I came into this season thinking that the Bills were going to be not just one of the best teams in the AFC, but one of the best teams in football. I think they’ve proven it,” said Moore. But the governor said he picked the Jaguars due to inconsistency from the Bills.
Moore is not only a fan but a former player himself, having played wide receiver at Johns Hopkins University 25 years ago.
WTOP will continue to monitor how Moore’s next three predictions hold up as the rest of the games play out — stay tuned.