Earlier this NFL season, VSiN introduced you to “Drive Points.” Those are points scored and allowed just on drives of 60 yards or more. This stat allows you to focus specifically on the abilities of offenses to drive the field to score, and the abilities of defenses to prevent opponents from doing so.

Drive points don’t count defensive touchdowns, special-teams touchdowns or “field position” points set up by long returns or turnovers. Can this offense drive the field? Can that defense get stops? If you can answer those questions, you have a better chance of visualizing how any matchup is likely to play out.

Now, this awareness doesn’t guarantee you’ll pick winners. But at least you’re focusing on skill sets rather than trends, angles or vague highlights you half-remember from weeks ago.

Here are the full season per-game averages for wild-card weekend matchups. Offense is listed first, followed by defense.

Andrew Luck returned to top form this season after a long injury layoff. The ability of Indy’s defense to get stops has been overlooked though. That differential of +6.3 is second-best of all playoff teams, including those getting byes. Houston’s offense sputtered too often to trust the team to run the table this month.

Very similar numbers here to the game above … with Seattle the much more impressive side in drive dynamics. Dallas is basically another version of Houston, but slightly better. The Seahawks have been moving the ball well on offense, as their defense regains its killer instinct of the past.

The Chargers have the best differential of all 12 playoff teams at +7.6. Those skill sets are a big reason why sharps (professional bettors) have been investing down the stretch. The Ravens also play elite defense, and could be a force later in the AFC brackets if they survive Sunday. Great matchup, as was their recent meeting in Los Angeles.

All eight defenses on the field this weekend range from elite to respectable in this skill set. Chicago’s offense has been more productive than many realize. The Bears aren’t a “defense only” team. Though, that could change under playoff pressure.

We’ll talk more this weekend about how sharps have been betting these games. Differentials in the first three games show you why those home favorites were laying less than a field goal out of the gate. The Colts, Seahawks and Chargers are high-quality visitors. Bettors will have to decide if Chicago -5¹/₂ or -6 correctly captures the differences in this weekend’s finale.

If you’re wondering about drive-point averages for the four bye teams: Saints (20.2/18.5), Rams (19.1/15.7), Chiefs (25.1/19.9), Patriots (16.6/12.1). Those differentials of +1.7, +3.4, +5.2, and +4.5 don’t suggest overpowering separation from this week’s eventual survivors. And, the defenses of New Orleans and Kansas City look particularly vulnerable. That could foreshadow a great divisional round.