The Coin Toss: NFL week five and playoff baseball

Welcome to The Coin Toss, where I make some bold, unlikely predictions every week about some of your favorite professional sports. First, let’s recap my predictions from last week’s NFL games.

I predicted that the Chiefs would beat the Steelers, but I was horribly wrong, as running back Le'Veon Bell returned and led the Steelers to a blowout win, 43-14. I wrote that Jameis Winston would throw for 350+ yards against the Broncos, Denver’s defense was too stout and held Winston to 179 yards in a Tampa Bay loss. My last coin toss was that the Jaguars would prevail over the Colts, and Jacksonville got its first win, 30-27.

This week, I’ll be making two NFL predictions, and we also have the beginning of the MLB playoffs! So, here are my football predictions and the winner of tonight’s NL Wild Card game:

NFL: Carson Wentz’s red hot Eagles lose to Detroit

The Eagles have been one of the NFL’s best teams to start the season. Carson Wentz has led them to a 3-0 start. They have to lose eventually, right? The team has shown no signs of slowing down. That first loss may come sooner than most expect. This week, Philadelphia will face the Detroit Lions. Detroit is ninth in the league in total offense and sixth in passing offense. Matthew Stafford remains severely underrated, as he’s been solid this season -- his passer rating is only slightly worse than Wentz’s. Stafford will put up a fight against the Eagles, and I believe he’ll lead the Lions to the upset.NFL:  The Broncos hold Julio Jones to fewer than 100 yards

Last week taught me not to bet against the Broncos’ defense. It may not seem bold to say that they’ll perform well, but neutralizing the Falcons’ Julio Jones is no small feat. Last week, Jones torched the Carolina Panthers, tallying a whopping 300 receiving yards. This week, he won’t have it so easy. Whether it’s Chris Harris Jr. or Aqib Talib covering him, Jones will be presented with a tough matchup. The Broncos’ defensive line will also cause problems for the Falcons by getting to Matt Ryan and rushing his throws. When all is said and done, I predict that Julio Jones' yardage will seriously regress from last week to fewer than 100 yards receiving.

NL Wild Card (MLB): Mets defeat the Giants to move on to National League Division Series 

Now on to baseball! The AL Wild Card game is in the books, and tonight the New York Mets take on the San Francisco Giants in the NL Wild Card game. The game features a marquee pitching matchup of Noah Syndergaard against Madison Bumgarner. It’s hard to predict which ace will outperform the other, but the Mets do have one advantage over the Giants: power. The Mets were fifth in the league in home runs this season. Bumgarner let up 26 homers this year, the most of any season in his career. If the Mets can keep up the power, they’ll win. The Coin Toss’ pick is in: Mets over Giants.