This was obviously a weird week in the NFL. I didn’t know if I would post at all. Typically I work on these posts a little at a time but with what happened to Damar Hamilton, I didn’t know if it would be appropriate to post anything and honestly I was more concerned about him than writing. Amazingly in a matter of a few days he is awake and talking to his teammates. He seems like a great person and the medical staff from the moment it happened to now has done an incredible job. It appears he is going to be okay and that is the most important thing.

The situation did create sort of a mess for the NFL being so close to the playoffs. There were 3 logical options on what to do with the game. Give the Bengals the win because they were winning when the game was postponed, call it a tie, or let them finish the game and push the playoffs back a week. The NFL of course decided on none of these options and called it a no contest. They then decided not to follow their own rules that are in place that are supposed to rank the teams by winning percentage for the playoffs and instead created a wide variety of potential scenarios for the AFC championship game. You can google it but my favorite is the fact that the Bengals have won the division but could have their home playoff game taken away by coin flip. More on that in a bit, but needless to say the Bengals are not super pumped about it. All of this has lead to this weekend’s of games still being exciting but also a little weird. So let’s dive in.

The Rivalry: Chiefs @ Raiders

Since I was a little kid, the Raiders game has been the won I have wanted to win the most. Sure, there were other teams I didn’t like. I hated John Elway and the fact that he would always beat us. But I never disliked the Broncos like I did the Raiders. We have had a lot of good battles with the Chargers but I never really disliked them. (Besides Keenan Allen, I don’t like him and he is the one player I refuse to draft in fantasy football every year). Heck, I even remember when the Seahawks were in our division but also never minded them much. Other non division teams like the Steelers and Cowboys can be annoying but nothing is like the Raiders. I hate the Raiders. And honestly, so does most everyone. Danielle and I awkwardly and quietly watch the Broncos vs Chiefs games. But 4 games out of the year we cheer loudly for each other’s teams, when either of our teams play the Raiders. But this game feels a little odd. First, it will be the first game played since the Damar incident. Secondly, after the Damar incident everything feels a little different like I should care a little less and shouldn’t hate anyone. But I will find a way because it is still the Raiders. If we win we get the #1 seed…sort of. We do get a bye and that is good. As my brother said, you can’t lose the game you don’t have to play. However, if the Bills win on Sunday and we meet in the AFC Championship it will be played on a neutral site, sort of like a bowl game. This is part of the weird creation that the NFL came up with. Indy was the natural choice because it is almost exactly half way between the two cities. But apparently Indy is out because they have an amateur volleyball event going on.

Anyway, this should be a good game. The Raiders have lost 9 one score games. The Chiefs don’t play games that aren’t one score games. So this is set up to be a close one. The Raiders looked good last week without Carr. They put up a ton of points and yards against a very good 49ers team. They have Davante Adams who is pretty much unguardable and Jordan Jacobs who is maybe the best running back in the league this year. The Chiefs d is playing a little better and our offense is playing a little worse. Chiefs will miss a kick or two to make us nervous and frustrated but I am sure the Raiders will do something late to screw things up. Chiefs win a close one…again. Mahomes goes to an insane 16-0 in road division games.

Chiefs 30 Raiders 24

Two teams going in opposite directions: Titans @ Jaguars

Saturday night is the AFC South Championship. The Titans at one point were 7-3 and looked like they had a clear path to the playoffs. Since then they have lost 6 in a row. This is the longest losing streak in the league tied with the Colts and Cardinals. Not exactly great company. the Titans roster was great to begin with but they have had so many injuries that I have never heard of half the guys playing now. Joshua Dobbs gets the start at QB tonight. I am not sure he was even on an NFL roster a couple of weeks ago. They do have Derrick Henry so that is something. But they have been bad for several weeks and have to play on the road.

The Jaguars on the other hand are playing some of their best football. Just a few weeks ago they were 4-8 and I thought they would win the division…next year. Then they rattled off 4 straight wins and tonight will be looking for their 5th. There is a scenario where they could lose and still get in the playoffs. If they lose but the Patriots, Dolphins and Steelers all lose then the Jags would still get in. But I am sure they would prefer to just go ahead and win tonight. Trevor Lawrence is becoming a star and not just because of his golden flowing hair. They have a really good football team that came together faster than anyone expected. They are going to be a problem for the rest of the AFC the next few years and are going to be a problem for the Titans tonight.

Jaguars 27- Titans 16

The Coin Flip Game: Ravens @ Bengals

The Bengals host the Ravens and will likely host them again next week. If the Bengals win that will be the exact scenario. If they lose to the Ravens however, and the Chargers win, then the league will flip a coin to decide if they go to Baltimore or stay in the Natti. This may seem odd but here is why. Going into the Bills game, the Bengals needed a win or a tie to clinch the division. If they had lost to the Bills then they would be playing the Ravens for the North division. But because it was ruled a no contest the Bengals won the division by basically doing nothing because they mathematically can’t have as many losses as the Ravens. So this is the factors that made the league come up with the coin flip thing. Again, if they had called the game a tie then this wouldn’t be an issue. The League tried to make an unfair situation fair which is impossible. The only fair way would have been to finish the game at some point. It is sort of funny that the Bengals are the only ones upset. They even tried to get other teams to vote no. They did win the division without having to do anything the last two weeks.

I do love odd scenarios so I am of course cheering for the Ravens to win and this to come down to a coin flip. There is one problem with that happening though. The Ravens are not good. They are okay on defense and used to be pretty good on offense. But even before they lost Lamar and certainly since losing Lamar, they have been bad offensively. I don’t see anyway that a Huntley led offense scores enough points to beat the Bengals. And then we will all get to watch this exact same game next week. Woohoo! I do think if Lamar is back for the playoffs they could sneak away with an upset next weekend. But Tyler Huntley is not pulling it off this weekend.

Bengals 28 Ravens 10

Somebody’s got to win: Jets @ Dolphins, Steelers @ Browns and Patriots @ Bills

One of these teams is going to make the playoffs as the 7 seed, assuming the don’t all lose. The Jets and Dolphins both looked like playoff teams a few weeks ago but then Zach Wilson happened and the Dolphins played some good teams. This is likely going to be a battle of 3rd string quarterbacks with Joe Flacco battling some guy I don’t remember for the Dolphins. Meanwhile, the Bills host the Patriots. If the Patriots win they are in and would turn around and go right back to Buffalo and play them again. Meanwhile, the Steelers refuse to have losing records. In the last 256 games under Tomlin they have played exactly 1 game where they were already eliminated from the playoffs which is an insane stat. The Steelers have won 3 and row and 4 of their last 5 to go from terrible season to likely a winning one. They play host the to Massage boy and the Browns. So who wins and who loses. It’s hard to imagine the Bills losing after a zoom call with Damar. If that isn’t motivating I don’t know what is. I refuse to pick a team led by Joe Flacco to win. Now Shane Falco I can get behind, but Joe Flacco, no way. Finally, I will never bet against Tomlin having a winning record. Dolphins and Steelers win and Dolphins get into the playoffs.

Dolphins 20 Jets 10

Bills 31 Patriots 17

Steelers 20 Browns 17

My Prediction comes true: Lions @ Packers

The regular season comes to an end with the Packers hosting the Lions. The Lions are a fun story and very likable. But they don’t have a lot of success at Lambeau. I had a hard time all year believing the Packers were as bad as they were playing. After they beat the Bears and had a bye, I looked at their schedule and thought…I think they are going to win out. My son, who loves the Packers looked skeptical but I told them this is going to happen and to believe. I like to think that Rodgers and I manifested this together…although I did nothing. But they have a good roster and it was only a matter of time before this thing came together. Now if they win, they are in. I am hoping the Rams beat the Seahawks so that this is a true play in game. I am sure the NFL is hoping for that as well.

Goff is much better indoors but his last outside game he actually put up a lot of big stats. But they still lost because they could not stop the Panthers who ran for like a thousand yards against them. The Packers have two good backs and playing at Lambeau is a little different then playing at Carolina. It will be a crazy atmosphere. Walker and I were there for a night gam last year it is rowdy and a blast. This will be even more rowdy with everything on the line. I think Rodgers plays well and the Packers are too much for the Lions. The Lions are a great story and headed in the right direction. This will be an interesting division next year. But I think the Packers are the better team and will manifest one more win to get in.

Packers 31 Lions 21