Another crazy week in the NFL. Let’s get started.

Teams that are going to play in the Super Bowl: Bills and Eagles

The Bills were able to get the win in a close game assisted by some late snow and snowballs being thrown at Dolphins players in the red zone. I love that they had to announce to stop throwing snow balls or there would be a penalty. There were also lots of signs that said freeze the fish. Danielle said, Dolphins aren’t fish. And I pointed out that this is the same fan base that dives onto tables so while very loyal, might not be the sharpest fan base in the shed. The Eagles also held on against a bad Bears team pulling from the Chiefs playbook of playing down to their competition. I didn’t see anything from them or anyone else to predict a different two teams in the big show assuming Hurts is healthy come playoff time.

Team I hate that beat a team I hate: Bengals

The Bengals were down 17-0 near halftime and then rattled off 34 unanswered points. The Bengals are good. They have a good roster. They are well coached. If the Bills don’t go to the super bowl, the Bengals probably will. I hate them. But at least they beat the Bucs keeping all the NFC South teams with losing records so that is fun.

Team that gets better every time their quarterback gets hurt: 49ers

Trey Lance started the year and looked a little lost. He got hurt so they went to Jimmy G and immediately got better. Now Jimmy G is hurt and they bring in Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy. And guess what, they are better again. Purdy is cool in the pocket and seems to be able to do everything Jimmy G can do. The biggest difference is Jimmy G is always good for 2 or 3 plays that are just terrible decisions. Thus far, Purdy doesn’t make those mistakes and is also a little more mobile. It’s hard to imagine Brock Purdy playing in the Super Bowl but hey, Trent Dilfer and Nick Foles won super bowls so who knows. They are the Eagles biggest competition.

I mean…come on: Chiefs

Mahomes completed 88% of his passes and we had to win in overtime against a team that was 1-11-1. Mahomes is great. Kelce is great. We have some other nice pieces on offense. But our tackles are awful. They are number 1 and 2 in allowed pressure in the league. Our secondary seems to be getting worse. Most of the guys they were guarding wouldn’t be on a lot of teams practice squads and they were still getting open. And we can’t get any pressure on anyone. Everyone doubles Chris Jones and no one else can win 1 on 1. But our most glaring issues are penalties and turnovers. We have to overcome multiple turnovers a game and yesterday we had 100 yards in penalties. If we can clean that up, we can beat the 4 teams above us despite having a lesser roster. But I don’t see us improving in any important areas. On the flip side, this is a young team that was supposed to be battling just to make the playoffs. Instead we just clinched our 7th straight AFC West title. So it isn’t all bad.

Might make it to the divisional round: Cowboys and Vikings

Cowboys blew a big lead against the up and coming Jaguars. Vikings gave up a big league to a terrible Colts team but because the Colts are so bad were able to have the greatest comeback in NFL history. (Thanks Matt Ryan). But nothing they did created any new level of confidence in them. The only reason I don’t think they will lose in the first round is because the Cowboys are going to play the winner of the NFC South which will likely be a loser. The Vikings will likely play either Washington or the Giants, which they could lose to but it is unlikely.

Playoff Bound: Chargers

The Chargers are making the playoffs. They play the Colts, Rams and Broncos. Not even the Chargers can mess this up. They should win all 3 and head into the playoffs on a 5 game winning streak. Are they good? I think they are pretty good. They will likely be the 5 seed and have a good shot of at least winning that first playoff game against the AFC south winner. Also, did you know Chase Daniel works on the NFL Network on Monday nights? He still has one of the best jobs in the NFL as a back up quarterback and now also has a tv gig. Google where Chase ranks as far as all time paid quarterbacks. He might have the greatest NFL career ever.

Playoff Bound???:Dolphins

I put the Dolphins here because I think they would beat most of the other teams in the league most weeks. But they have lost 3 in a row and a 4th loss on Christmas Day to the Packers wouldn’t be out of the question. Then they finish at the Patriots and home against the Jets. They should win 2 of those 3 and that will be enough to get them in but they have been exposed these last 3 weeks as who they really are; a fun team that isn’t really that good.

Where did you come from?: Jaguars and Lions

The Lions have won 6 of their last 7 with their only loss being a loss to the Bills in the last seconds. The Jaguars are playing great football and have learned how to come from behind against quality opponents. Both have a shot at making the playoffs but need to win out. But these teams are more dangerous than others that might actually make it.

Return of the Rodgers Rate: Packers

I said this on Friday, but I think the Packers have a real shot to make the playoffs. They need some help from Washington and I am not sure what their tie breaker situation with the Lions and Seahawks is but if they win on Christmas at the Dolphins, I think they win out. Rodgers was oddly confident last night. I think they finish 9-8. Whether that gets them in or not, I don’t know but it will be fun to find out.

Probably making the playoffs because they tied: Commanders and Giants

Giants are more likely at this point to get in due to winning last night in a game that at best Washington should have had an opportunity to tie. On what should have been a td, Mclaurin asked the ref if he was lined up on the line of scrimmage. The ref said no and so he moved up and asked again. The ref said he was good. Then the ref threw a flag. Then on 4th down there was a blatant pass interference that didn’t get called. I am not big on blaming refs but they sure did make it hard for the Commanders to win this one. Washington now has a big game with the 49ers and finish the year at Dallas. They can probably only afford to lose one more unless the Lions lose to someone. It is not certain that these two get in but if they do it will probably be because they have a tie instead of a loss.

Are these two even going to make the playoffs?: Titans and Ravens

These two have been leading their divisions for weeks but now the Ravens are in second and the Titans have a 1 game lead on the Jags and the Jags own the tiebreaker so far. The Titans still have to play the Cowboys and the Jags to end the year. If the Jags win this week at the Jets then they play the Texans and could create a win and get in scenario against the Titans. The Ravens didn’t look good with Lamar and look worse without him. This team has an easy schedule but finish with the Bengals and honestly don’t look good enough to beat anyone right now.

On the slow decline: Jets and Seahawks

These have been fun stories. The Seahawks are better without Russ than the Broncos are with Russ. And the Jets have been terrible forever but sort of put it together this year. But the Jets are probably still rolling with Zach Wilson and Seattle seems to have slowed down quite a bit. The Jets play the Jags on Sunday, then the Seahawks in Seattle and finish up at Miami. Good chance they go 0-3. Ouch. I am sure the Seahawks will lose a very close game to the Chiefs this week followed by playing the Jets and the Rams. They could finish 9-8 and maybe get in the playoffs but if they do it will likely be a quick exit.

Losing games in the least Patriot way: Patriots

If there is two things the Patriots are known for it is disciplined football and getting calls from the refs. Neither happened on Sunday. The Raiders scored a late td where it was obvious one foot was on the white line. They reviewed it for like an hour only to not overturn it which was shocking because it was clear as day his foot was on the line. The announcers were like well there wasn’t any chalk that kicked up. I feel like the announcers are working real hard to not make the refs look bad lately. Then the Patriots were supposed to run out the clock to go into overtime. Instead of just taking a knee, they handed off with like 3 seconds left. The running back ran for like 30 yards and instead of falling down lateraled the ball backwards to a receiver who for some reason decided to chuck the ball 30 yards behind him to the QB. As he said afterwards “I thought I saw that Mac was open.” Two things, first he was not open and secondly, what is he going to do if he got it? Mac Jones is slightly faster than me so I doubt he is going to run 70 yards for a td. Instead a raider grabs it and runs over Jones and scores in the oddest ending to a game I have seen in sometime.

Raiders didn’t raider: Raiders

The Raiders didn’t win on Sunday. They were given the game by the refs and the Patriots. But a win is a win. And it is ironic that because it was the Patriots making the biggest mistake I have seen maybe ever in a football game, we are shocked. But if it had been the opposite and the Raiders making that play, we would have thought…that’s about right.

These teams are still playing…I guess: Browns and Steelers

Massage boy and the Browns beat the Ravens without Lamar at home. The Steelers beat an NFC south team. Technically these teams aren’t eliminated but it sure feels like they are.

2020 NFC East (also known as dumpster fire): 2022 NFC South

These teams are terrible and one of them is going to make the playoffs. We just need Tampa to lose one more game to assure that a team with a losing record makes the playoffs. But admit it, if Tom gets in you are at least a little nervous he makes a run.

Justin Fields is fun: Bears

Justin Fields is fun. The rest of the Bears are not. That is all.

Baker is back: Rams

Baker is back…to being average. The Rams didn’t look terrible last night. They just looked okay. Sort of how Baker has looked most of his career.

Let’s Ride to an occasional victory: Broncos

The Broncos didn’t look half bad on Sunday. It was less painful to watch than normal. Of course Russ wasn’t playing and they were playing what’s left of the Cardinals. Got an exciting one on Sunday against the Rams. Putting that game in the afternoon slot on Christmas day feels like the NFL is saying “dude, it’s Christmas, stop watching football and spend time with your family.”

Anybody out there know how to throw a football?: Cardinals

Seriously…do you want to play quarterback for an NFL team? The Cardinals need you.

The scrappiest 1-12-1 team ever: Texans

This team is real bad but they almost beat the Cowboys and Chiefs the last two weeks so that gets you just a little credibility.

Should have hired me instead: Colts

Turns out hiring a guy who watches a lot of football, makes snarky comments and has little to no coaching experience isn’t the best idea after all. This really hurts my chances of getting a job in the NFL next year. They should have hired Gene Hackman instead. Now there is a guy who can turn around a team in the middle of a season especially when he is rocking Tom Landry’s hat.