Each year, our family has a little fun by making picks throughout the NFL playoffs. It’s fun because Abby Kate and Sunny don’t really follow the league through the regular season, yet they are usually better at picking winners than the talking heads on TV.

So here are our picks for this weekend’s Wild Card games.

Kansas City at Houston

• Sunny: Kansas City
• Abby Kate: Kansas City
• Joshua: Houston
• Jason / Jackson (Jack likes to be on my team): Kansas City

At first, Sunny was leaning Chiefs. Then I told her about Houston’s defense and she was leaning Texans. Then I told her the Chiefs hadn’t lost since baseball season and she made her KC pick official. (Fun fact: the Royals have lost three times since the last Chiefs loss and their season ended two and half months ago.) Joshua likes Houston’s chances at home, so he went against the grain. My thought process if simple: I usually choose the team with the better quarterback.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati

• Sunny: Pittsburgh
• Abby Kate: Pittsburgh
• Joshua: Pittsburgh
• Jason / Jackson: Pittsburgh

A clean sweep here for Pittsburgh. With no Andy Dalton, none of us are going to put much confidence in A.J. McCarron. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one go down to the wire.

Seattle at Minnesota

• Sunny: Seattle
• Abby Kate: Seattle
• Joshua: Seattle
• Jason / Jackson: Seattle

Another sweep, this time by the red hot Seahawks. Interesting development as we had this discussion: I learned that Sunny “can’t stand” the Minnesota Vikings. No discernible reason that she can remember, just doesn’t care for them. I’ve been around her for 20 years and never knew this!

Green Bay at Washington

• Sunny: Washington
• Abby Kate: Washington
• Joshua: Green Bay
• Jason / Jackson: Green Bay

The ladies like Washington in this matchup while the boys prefer Green Bay. Buoyed by her mother’s comments re: Minnesota, Abby Kate chimed in and said, “I hate Green Bay!” With her, it’s all about their color scheme. My take: this is the easiest game to pick all weekend. I expect Green Bay to take care of business in this one.