Fifth Down

Last year’s divisional round was perhaps the most exciting weekend of football in NFL history. The first 3 games all ended with a game winning field goal as time expired. Then the Chiefs vs Bills said, hold my beer as they played one of the greatest games of all time (unless you like defense) and after a 13 second drive to kick a field goal to tie it, the Chiefs won the coin toss and the game in overtime. This led to a change in the overtime rules despite the exact same thing happening to us a couple of years earlier when we were on the wrong end of the coin flip and no one cared. For years Bills fans had “wide right” to focus on. Now they have 13 seconds and a coin flip to focus on instead. You’re welcome.

I cannot imagine this weekend coming close to comparison but you never know. In the AFC the top 4 seeds and division winners will compete and in the NFC as we all expected, the NFC East has 3 of 4 of the teams playing. This is the beauty of the NFL. The worst division in the league two years ago now has 3 teams in the divisional round. That is parody my friends. Anyway it should be some good football this weekend. Let’s dive in.

The Undefeated on Saturday Game: Jaguars @ Chiefs

The Jags advanced to round two after erasing a 27-0 deficit against the Chargers. The Chiefs got a bye because they won the most games and because the Bills and Bengals didn’t finish their game. Trevor Lawrence is 37-0 on Saturdays including high school, college and the NFL. There is no mention of flag football or pee wee football…so is he really undefeated on Saturdays? Mahomes is 4-0 on Saturdays in the NFL. So something has to give here. This is another rematch of an earlier game as the Chiefs beat the Jags by 10 giving them their first loss by more than one score. JuJu also got knocked out in this game. The Chiefs looked at their best the last game of the season but it was against the Raiders. The Jags are coming off a high and I am sure have a “nothing is impossible” vibe going. Andy Reid and Doug Pederson obviously know each other well and both have had a great year coaching. It might snow on Saturday to add to the fun. Lawrence made the decision to say that he didn’t think Arrowhead would be any louder than their stadium last Saturday. He was probably just trying to give a shout out to his fans and say that he can handle the noise. But of course our obnoxious fan base is like, “challenge accepted”. They were already going to be fired up but now they will be extra loud. You add in that this might be our only home playoff game and it should be extra rowdy. Plus, Lil Jon is playing at halftime. Are the Chiefs going to win? “Yeeaaah!” I think these four teams are the teams to beat in their divisions for the next 5 years and you are going to see them run into each other a lot in the playoffs. The Jags will keep it close for a while. But as Mahomes once said, he is a snow guy and I think the Chiefs pull away and get the weekend started off with a win.

Chiefs 31 Jaguars 20

New York Strip vs Philly Cheese steak: Giants @ Eagles

The food has nothing to do with the game really…they are just two of my favorite foods and I didn’t have anything else clever to call the game. This is the 3rd meeting of these two teams. The Eagles demolished the Giants in New Jersey in the first game. But then the Giants JV team kept things close with the Eagles in Philly the last week of the season. The Eagles had some late season injuries that derailed the end of their season. Hurts and Lane Johnson are the most notable ones. They are healthier…but are they healthy? Can the Eagles regain their momentum and return to their form of earlier in the year?

On the other side, the Giants have been playing some of their best ball since their shellacking from the Eagles in week 14. They just beat a good Vikings team…one that chokes a lot…but still. Daniel Jones is playing his best ball and Brian Daboll can flat out coach. The Giants will be ready and bring their A game. Also, the Giants have a weird pattern going. They either lose in the first round of the playoffs or they win the Super Bowl. Nothing in between. And they didn’t lose in the first round…so…

I think the Eagles will come out and play well. They are rested and the more talented team. Despite all the Giants success, I still can’t name a receiver on their team. The Eagles have too many weapons and will “soar” to victory. Yes, I went there.

Eagles 38 Giants 24

The “To Be Continued” Game: Bengals @ Bills

Do we get to start this game where the other one ended? 7-3 Bengals leading with a few minutes left in the 1st quarter? It’s the least we could do for the Bengals who got hosed in the whole neutral site playoff debacle. I don’t like the Bengals but I can be honest that they got the short end of the stick. While there was great concern that the Bills would not lose home field advantage because of the game being cancelled, there was little to no concern when it came to the Bengals. If the Bengals had beaten the Bills, they would be playing at home this week. But instead, they head to Buffalo. I’d feel sorry for them, but I don’t like them. They are also trying to play the disrespect card a little much. Joe Mixon seems to be the ring leader of complaining. He says they are disrespected because tickets are being sold for the neutral site game in Atlanta. Literally every year tickets for the championship games are sold at this time to season ticket holders. This is not a new thing. But whatever motivates you, I guess. If I were the Bengals I would be less worried about being disrespected and more worried about having enough offensive linemen.

On the other side, the Bills seem a little off. Josh Allen is turning the ball over a lot. Their defense doesn’t seem as solid as it once did. In short, they have some issues. The Damar Hamlin story is inspiring but it really hasn’t inspired the Bills to play any better. They are at home and it will be cold with a chance of some light snow. But the Bengals are used to all that. If the Bills had Von Miller against that beat up offensive line, I’d feel better about them in this game. Both teams have a ton of weapons. If Josh Allen remains turnover free, I think the Bills will win. But that is a big if. I think he turns it over multiple times and the Chiefs get another shot at the team I hate.

Bengals 27 Bills 24

Battle of teams that used to be great when I was a kid: Cowboys @ 49ers

I remember watching these teams battle it out in what seemed like NFC championship after NFC Championship. They took turns winning super bowls and had two of the best rosters in the league. The 49ers were the team of the 80’s and the Cowboys were the team of the 90’s. Of course all of this happened before I graduated high school. To be fair to the 49ers they have made a couple of super bowls since then and been close a few other times. The Cowboys on the other hand…not so much. With their win on Monday night, the Cowboys are 4-10 in the playoffs since I graduated high school a few years ago. But both teams looked great during wild card weekend. Could this be a return of this great rivalry?

This will be Brock Purdy’s biggest test. He is playing a team that can put up a lot of points and has an opportunistic defense. On the flip side, Dak has choked in close games. These two teams played in last year’s playoffs when a sea of red rolled into Cowboys stadium. There was some terrible playing calling and clock management that cost the Cowboys the game. Will they get their revenge?

No matter who wins, the real winner is Fox who will get huge ratings as these are two of the most popular teams in the nation and it is the second game on Sunday. The 49ers have the better overall roster but the Cowboys roster is solid and they both have a lot of weapons.

I have gone back and forth on this one. I think the 49ers have the better team but the Cowboys have enough talent to put up points on them. And I sort of have a gut feeling that the Cowboys are going to win. But I am basing some of that feeling on their performance on Monday night that while it was great, they were playing the Bucs and the Bucs have sucked all year. Whenever I am undecided about a game, I look to the coach and quarterback to help me decide. I don’t trust Dak or McCarthy at all. On the other side, Brock Purdy, although young and inexperienced, hasn’t shown me any reason not to trust him up to this point. And Kyle Shanahan usually doesn’t choke until the super bowl. Give me the niners in a close one.

49ers 35 Cowboys 31

Well, Wild Card weekend was wild but the outcomes still were pretty predictable. I was 4-2 on my predictions and I should have stuck to my guns on the Giants but I let myself talk me out of picking them. There sure were some interesting moments throughout the weekend. Here are my top 5 “wild” things that happened in this weekend’s games.

1. Tom Brady did not look good. First of all, anytime you throw 66 times, that is probably not a good thing. He threw a redzone interception and honestly, just looked old back there. His stat line wasn’t terrible but sometimes stats don’t tell the story. I think Brady will have to be actually terrible for him to retire and I know people are always saying this is the end and then he comes back and wins a super bowl or whatever. But it sure looks like it is time for him to hang it up. This is the worst I have seen him play in the playoffs in a long time.
2. 4 missed extra points??? It turned out to not matter, but my goodness. He looked like I do kicking the ball on the all madden level. I know he is their guy and he has been pretty clutch all year but I have never seen anything like it. I mean a guy missing several field goals is one thing but missing 4 extra points in a row is a whole new level.
3. Miami kept it close. I thought this game would be over in the second quarter. It sure looked that way early. But those pesky Dolphins weathered the storm, tied it up and kept it close the rest of the game. They were helped by some Josh Allen turnovers but when Skylar Thompson is your quarterback, I wouldn’t have expected that to matter.
4. Piss Poor Clock management and strategies. Miami took a delay of game on 4th and 1 with the game on the line. Baltimore let about a minute run off the clock and was huddling up down by a touchdown late in the game. Nothing they did on that last drive made any sense and they still almost won the game. Kirk Cousins threw a 3 yard pass on 4th and 8. Well, that one really isn’t that surprising. Any of these games could have swung the other way if their coaches and quarterbacks had done a better job managing the clock and down and distance.
5. The Jags/Chargers game. Trevor Lawrence threw 4 interceptions and they were down 27-0. Then he threw 4 touchdowns and they were up 31-30. It truly was a game of two halves. Early on it was a dud but it turned out to be the wildest game of the bunch. Congrats to the Jags but this is also what the Chargers do. Chargers going to Charger…I guess.

Rankings of most likely to reach the Super Bowl after this weekend

1. 49ers: Look, they are really good all the way around and were really the only team besides maybe Dallas that looked like a contender this weekend. But I don’t trust Dallas. Purdy looked a little off in the first half. He missed a couple of throws and had the wrong reads a few times. But he rallied and had a great second half. The only thing we haven’t really seen Purdy have to do is come from behind from a couple of scores against a quality opponent. The way they are playing, he might not have to.
2. Chiefs: Perhaps the biggest winners of the rankings were the Chiefs who didn’t play. Both the Bills and the Bengals played down to their competition and barely won. That is to be expected with the Chiefs but not with those two. The Chiefs are healthier than the Bengals and less turnover happy right now than the Bills.
3. Bengals: I still think the Bengals might have the best roster in the AFC. But they keep losing offensive linemen. That is going to catch up with them sometime but it might not be until the super bowl.
4. Eagles: They didn’t play but they get to host the Giants who they are very familiar with. The Giants are a great story and Daboll should probably be coach of the year but the Eagles are better and rested.
5. Bills: If Josh Allen doesn’t turn the ball over, the shoot to the top of the list. But Josh Allen is turning the ball over…a lot. If he keeps it up we won’t have to worry about a neutral site conference championship.
6. Cowboys: If the Cowboys play their “A” game like they did on Monday, they have as good as shot as anyone. But we all know the Cowboys can’t bring their A game 3 weeks in a row.
7. Jaguars: They have an experienced coach and a young talented roster. They had one of the greatest comebacks ever so never say never but I can’t imagine them beating the Chiefs this week and then beating the Bengals or Bills the following week.
8. Giants: Great story, great coach but it is still Daniel Jones and it is still this hodge podge group of receivers. I don’t see them winning 3 in a row.

Reason for Hope for the Losers:

Seahawks: Russell Wilson still won’t be your Quarterback next year.

Chargers: Last year you blew making the playoffs. This year you made the playoffs and then blew one of the largest leads in playoff history. See…you are making progress.

Ravens: Hey, Harbaugh still has a timeout left heading into the offseason. So you have that.

Dolphins: You are a concussion free quarterback away from being a contender.

Vikings: You are at least a year away from your next playoff disappointment. And the way the Packers and Lions finished the season you might not make the playoffs which means, no playoff disappointment. Yay!

Bucs: It might only take 7 wins to win your division next year.

Look for my Divisional round predictions on Friday.

It’s Wild Card Weekend! And it used to be truly wild. You didn’t know what upset might happen. But since they added the unnecessary 7 seed, things have gotten less wild. The 7 seed is 0-4 the last two years. And there has really only been one significant upset two years ago when the Browns beat the Steelers. Typically the home team or favored team has won the last two years. To make things even more boring, all these games are rematches from earlier in the year and 3 of the games will be teams playing for the 3rd time. I mean, I am still going to watch, but I am less excited about it. Let’s see if this weekend will truly be wild again.

The Rain Game: Seahawks @ 49ers

The Seahawks limped into the playoffs with a 9-8 record. They did win their last two game over the Jets and a beat up Rams team. Before that they had lost 3 in a row. This will be the 3rd rematch of these two teams with the 49ers winning both match ups. The 49ers are arguably the hottest team in football after rattling off 10 straight wins. The got super cool and collected Brock Purdy at QB who is the 3rd string Quarterback but also apparently their best QB. This will be the biggest stage he has played on but not much seems to matter to him. Maybe he is that cool under pressure or maybe he is just too young to understand the magnitude of the situation. Either way he has been great and lifted the 49ers to the next level. There is supposed to be some weather involved in this one which is my main purpose of watching. If it is not raining and windy, this game will not be very entertaining. Geno Smith is a great story and I find it funny that the Seahawks made it to the Playoffs without Russ. But Russ was actually the X factor against the 49ers. He barely ever lost to them. It is like these games are the only time Seattle misses Russ. I am going to assume there is weather and that slows everything down and makes this a little closer and little more low scoring than it would be normally. I’ll I am cheering for in this one is heavy rain.

49ers 23 Seahawks 13

The Battle of the Hair: Chargers @ Jaguars

This is the game I am most excited to watch. And not just because my hair is thinning out and these two quarterbacks have lovely locks. This in my opinion is the most evenly matched game of the weekend. The Jags are riding high winning their first division title in a few years. The Chargers are probably just happy to actually be in the playoffs. Both teams have very good and mobile quarterbacks. They have solid defenses and enough weapons to make this a fun one. The Chargers have the overall better roster but it will be a little bit limited this weekend. Despite the Ravens losing and the Chargers being completely unaffected as far as playoff seeding whether the won or lost in week 18, Brandon Staley rolled out his starters and made them play most of the game against Denver. We didn’t see Chase Daniel until the 4th quarter which is a tragedy, because you can’t see enough of Chase playing. Several Charger players went down including Mike Williams who has been injured off and on for most of the season. He was hurt so bad that he isn’t playing this weekend. Staley’s excuse was you only have so many guys. Which makes absolutely no sense because they have played like half their games without Williams. To add insult to injury (literal injury), the Chargers lost the game to the lowly Broncos. Staley has shown himself to not be the best decision maker over the last couple of years. In an evenly matched game, give me the coach who has won a super bowl over the guy who can’t even bring his whole team to Jacksonville because he is an idiot and plays injury prone players for no reason.

Jaguars 27 Chargers 24

The “Do we have to?” Game: Dolphins @ Bills

Really, do we have to play this game? Honestly the 7 seed is pointless. Lets go back to 6 and give the 2 seed a bye. And this is coming from a guy who always wants to watch more football. Look if Tua was playing this might be fun. But I have seen nothing from Skylar Thompson that makes me think he can help the Dolphins even keep this close. My favorite thing about Skylar is that he is a Missouri boy from Independence but we all know that Missouri Quarterbacks are only good at being back up quarterbacks not starters. (We see you Drew Lock and Blaine Gabbert!). They have absolutely no hope in this game. Tyreek is obviously good at making all quarterbacks look better but not even he could help Skylar look good against the Jets.

Meanwhile, the Bills have all the motivation in the world. They were already probably the most motivated team in the league after the coin toss game last year. And now they are playing for Damar. I think it is fair to say that this game will not be close. The Bills are better than the Dolphins with Tua. They are certainly better than the Dolphins with Skylar.

Bills 38 Dolphins 10

The Obvious One Score Game: Giants @ Vikings

The Giants have definitely over achieved. Brian Daboll should probably be coach of the year. He has this team in the playoffs and has made Daniel Jones a functional quarterback. On the other side Kevin O’Connell could also claim the spot taking a troubled Vikings team to a 13-4 record. These teams of course, already played. Shockingly to no one that has followed the Vikings, it was a close game. The Vikings did finally win a second game by more than one score in week 18. But it was against the Bears…without Justin Fields. Meanwhile, the Giants, unlike the idiot Chargers, rested their starters and were still competitive against the Eagles.

The Vikings have Kirk Cousins who is terrible in big moments. But they also have Dalvin Cook and Justin Jefferson. The Giants have Saquon Barkley and…and…and…I guess that is it. I follow football pretty closely but I had to google Giants receivers to come up with this awesome list, Darius Slayton, Richie James, Isaiah Hodgins and the infamous Kenny Golladay. Boy did he turn that one good year in Detroit into a rip off of a payoff.

I actually really like the Giants and was leaning towards picking them. But while typing this I have talked myself out of it. The Vikings have a big play late to Justin Jefferson of course and win a close one.

Vikings 31 Giants 28

The Unlikable game: Ravens @ Bengals

I don’t like these teams. I don’t like these players. I don’t like this game. This is another 3rd time matchup game. This one is the worst one of the bunch. Both teams have won one. But the Ravens won with Lamar. They have been awful and boring since Lamar got hurt. Unfortunately, their defense is playing better which means they will likely slow down the high powered Bengals offense to make this game even more of a drag. Harbaugh is actually 6-0 in road playoff games on Wild Card Weekend. It’s an odd stat for sure. If they had Lamar then I might give them a shot. But right now they aren’t even sure if Tyler Huntley is going to be able to play. Meanwhile the Bengals are all pissy like always. The coin flip thing made them mad. Joe Burrow is cocky, Joe Mixon got fined for flipping a coin in the end zone, they got screwed by a hypothetical playoff scenario that didn’t actually happen, blah, blah, blah. I am sure the Bengals will win big. That is all I have to say about this one. It is too boring to write anything else about it.

Bengals 34 Ravens 16

The Choke vs the Goat: Cowboys @ Bucs

We end wild card weekend with the Monday Night game, another change with the added 7 seed. The 12-5 Cowboys, who all the media want me to believe are good head to Tampa to face the 8-9 Bucs. Nothing better than a team with a losing record hosting a playoff game. It is right up there with a tie during the regular season. Anyway, we get Joe Buck and Troy Aikman or you can watch the Manning Cast. I got to say Eli is underrated. Not as a Quarterback but has a funny person. Dude, is sly and hilarious. Best part of the Manning cast.

The Cowboys are known choke artists. Dak throws a ton of interceptions and Mike McCarthy is a disaster in the playoffs. It is hard for me to cheer for Brady but there is nothing better than a media meltdown when the Cowboys lose in the playoffs. Plus, I always love when Skip Bayless has to talk about “my Dallas Cowboys” in a negative light. I am as big of a Chiefs fan as it gets. And even I sometimes slide into the “we” talk. Like we need to win this game or we need a new right tackle. As if I am actually part of the team and have any influence at all. But I would never say “My Kansas City Chiefs” like I own the team. And certainly wouldn’t do it as a national commentator that is supposed to be unbiased. Yet another reason to hate Skip.

Anyway, on the other side you have Todd Bowles who is pretty good at coaching defense and Tom Brady who is the greatest playoff quarterback of all time. The Bucs roster is better than their record and they might be getting a few guys back. Plus, I mean, it’s Brady…at home. Is he really losing this game? I don’t think so. I’ll take the Goat over the Choke for the win.

Bucs 27 Cowboys 20

Doing things differently this week. As each playoff team is ranked by the best chance to win followed by a little something hopeful for each non playoff team. Let’s get started.

America’s Team for the next few weeks: Bills

Everyone who doesn’t have a team in the playoffs, wants the Bills to win. I have even seen multiple posts on Facebook from fans saying if their team doesn’t win it, they are all in on the Bills. This is what happens when a player on your team has cardiac arrest and a whole nation (besides a few grumpy fantasy football managers) rallies around you. Damar seems like a great human being and is doing much better. Also, the Bills are real good. Good defense, good quarterback, good weapons, good coaching. You name it, they have it. My money was always on whoever won the Bills vs Bengals game to win it all. Since that game never ended, I’ll go with the team that will get to host the other team in the playoffs.

The team I can hate again: Bengals

I stopped hating the Bengals for a solid 3 or 4 days. Then they played on Sunday, did their dumb little coin flip thing and of course beat the Ravens and their 3rd string quarterback. Burrow was asked something about a super bowl window and he said his super bowl window is as long as he is playing. This sort of arrogance can only be liked if he plays on your team. Burrow is the like a villain from a Batman Movie or something. He’s entertaining and you sort of respect his game but you are real excited to watch him get pounded. Anyway, the Bengals are real good too.

As long as we got Pat: Chiefs

Look, I think the above two teams have better rosters. They have better weapons. They have good coaches. And both teams have proven they can beat the Chiefs. But I literally go into every playoff game assuming we will win. This is the complete opposite of how I felt before we had Pat. After many brutal losses in the playoffs, Pat has flipped the script. Both times he has lost in the AFC Playoffs, it has been in overtime. He has never not made it to the AFC Championship game. I just got a feeling we are going to win it. I mean I firmly believe the above two teams are better overall and I won’t be shocked if we lose. But something tells me Andy and Pat got a few tricks up their sleeves.

In Brock We Trust?: 49ers

The 49ers have arguably the best roster in the league. They have the best defense in the league. But do we trust Brock Purdy to win it all? I mean he has done everything right up to this point. But can he hang in a shoot out with the above teams. Also, lets be honest, he is due to make a mistake. When will that happen? This weekend? Divisional round? Championship? Super Bowl? Next year? Time will tell.

Hurts still hurt?: Eagles

If Hurts is back to his old form, the Eagles can win it all. But they looked bad in their second showing with Gardner and didn’t look much better last week with Hurts against the Giants back ups. This team will go how Hurts goes. Hopefully, with the bye, we will see the best version of the Eagles again.

They aren’t going to win it…but they have Tom Brady…so…: Bucs

I mean, they have been bad all year. Underachieved constantly and can’t run the ball at all. But Tom Brady is Tom Brady. Are you betting against him? I am not. Dude can still sling it. I don’t think they will make it far but I would put money on Tom over any of the teams besides the 5 already mentioned.

The Hair Club: Jags and Chargers

I view the Jags and the Chargers as the same. Talented young rosters. Enough weapons and good enough defense to make some noise. And good quarterbacks on the rise with flowing hair. I think either of these teams could pull an upset in the divisional round but I don’t see them making it to the big game.

The Choke Artists: Cowboys and Vikings

The question isn’t if, it is when will they choke. I’ll give my predictions in the next couple of days. But neither of these teams can win 4 in a row on the biggest stage. It is just not who they are.

Congrats you made it: Seahawks and Giants

Two great stories of teams that really improved and played hard all year to get here. Congrats on making the dance. It is going to be a short one.

You are starting who at Quarterback?: Dolphins and Ravens

If Tua wasn’t concussed, I still wouldn’t like their chances. But they started Thompson last week and they managed a whopping 3 field goals against the Jets who had nothing to play for. Pretty sure 9 points isn’t getting it done against the Bills. We don’t even know who is starting for the Ravens. But we know it isn’t Lamar, who likely played his last game with the Ravens about 6 weeks ago.

A Reason for hope:

Lions- You finished the year strong and look like a legitimately pretty good football team. Hey, maybe you can win with Jared Goff

Packers- Lots of young talent and your defense pulled it together the end of the season. Rodgers will be back after he manifests his return.

Bears- Justin Fields doesn’t suck…at least at running. And hey, you got the #1 pick for the first time since 1940ish.

Rams- I mean…you got to be healthier next year…right?

Cardinals- You can’t lose any more games this season.

Commanders- You can get a new quarterback in the offseason who won’t work out. But at least it won’t be Carson Wentz.

Falcons- You finished by beating the Bucs…backups.

Saints- umm…your defense wasn’t terrible…and umm…Chris Olave seems pretty good, I guess.

Panthers- You can run the ball real well which means less stops of the clock because of incomplete passes. This means the games are shorter and we don’t have to watch you for as long.

Browns- You get a whole session…I mean season…with Watson next year. Assuming he can keep his creepiness in check.

Steelers- Seriously, you should be hopeful. Strong finish.

Jets- Zach Wilson won’t be your quarterback. I mean it is unlikely anyway. I mean surely that won’t be the case. Poor Jets.

Patriots- Tom Brady is coming back. At least that is what wishful thinking Patriot fans believe.

Colts- It can’t get worse…can it? Please, please hire Jeff Saturday permanently…please! Also, I think Carson Wentz will be available.

Titans- The Titans had to use the most amount of players in back to back seasons due to injuries. Can they make it 3 years in a row?

Texans- I’m sorry. There is no hope for you. You are awful.

Broncos- Hey the last two weeks looked pretty good. Good enough to give you false hope all off season long.

Raiders- Raiders gonna raider…but just not with Derek Carr leading the way.

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

I thought about not posting at all this week with what happened to Damar Hamlin. But then I thought maybe what we all needed were a few laughs. I was watching when it happened and it was a very scary and weird moment. I am sure we all had a lot of emotions and opinions about what should be done. My dad is a journalist and so I was raised to collect all the facts before making a judgement. The information of what happened and why it happened will slowly be revealed. What I do know is tragedy can bring out the best and worst in us. I saw many people tweeting about how the game needed to be finished because of their fantasy football teams. I also saw many tweets that they should cancel the whole season, which is less unreasonable than worrying about your fantasy team but still an unreasonable response. This proves my theory once again that there are a lot of dumb people on twitter. But most of the country was focused on Damar. Millions of dollars have been donated to his charity and many more prayers have been lifted up for him. He has a long ways to go but there are lots of positive signs as he has opened his eyes, squeezed hands, and seems to be neurologically intact. This is all great news. Also a big shout out to the medical staff at the game and at the hospital. Finally, I thought the ESPN staff did the absolute best they could in a completely unimaginable scenario. Let’s all keep Damar in your thoughts and prayers and hope for a full recovery. With that, lets have a little fun and dive into this weeks rankings.

Super Bowl Contenders: Eagles, 49ers, Bills, Bengals, Chiefs

The Eagles really struggled without Hurts this week. Can they recapture their magic when Hurts is reinserted into the lineup? I think they can but it is yet to be seen. Hopefully we will see it this weekend. The 49ers and Chiefs battled teams that looked like what most thought they would look like before the season started. The Raiders and Broncos both looked like functional football teams. More on them later. Purdy apparently is playing injured (no one is shocked that a 49er player is injured) which may be effecting his accuracy. Mahomes apparently can’t throw a deep ball..at least not to MVS. He missed two easy touchdowns that would have made the game a lot less close. Of course so would not fumbling a punt and missing a FG and an extra point. I left the game thinking Mahomes didn’t play well. He completed 70% of his passes for 328 yards and 3 touchdowns and 1 pick. This is a bad game for him. The bar is so high for him, it is sort of ridiculous. He joins Brady and Brees as the only 3 players with 2 seasons of over 5,000 yards passing. This is his 5th season as a starter. I have nothing snarky to say about the Bills and Bengals this week. They are two very solid teams that clearly have a shot at winning it all. I think these 5 teams are clearly the best teams when Hurts is playing and one of them will likely win it all.

Could be dangerous: Chargers, Cowboys, Jaguars

I don’t think any of these teams can make the Super Bowl but I do think they can all win a game or two. They have talented skill players, solid defenses and confidence. The Jags still have to beat the Titans to get in but it sure looks like that is going to happen. The Jags are playing their best ball and host the Titans Saturday night. One week after saying the Chargers aren’t putting up a lot of points they drop 31 on a pretty good Rams defense. I don’t think anyone would be shocked if the final 4 in the AFC is the Bills, Bengals, Chiefs and Chargers. The Chargers will likely play the Jags if they both win this weekend. So that would certainly be an interesting game. The Cowboys have a ton of talent that they can overcome their inconsistent QB and choke of a coach to win one or two games.

I have Tom Brady: Bucs

My niece joined our family fantasy league this year. She knows nothing about football nor does she care. As commissioner I try to help the new players out and so if she needed to make a change to her lineup, etc. I would let her know and her response was always “yeah, but I have Tom Brady.” That hasn’t really worked out well for her or the Bucs for most of the year but the Tom Brady we saw on Sunday against the Panthers sure looked pretty good. I am still rooting for the Bucs to rest their starters this week so they can finish 8-9 because losing teams in the playoffs is funny. But I am not ready to write off Brady and a bunch of veterans from making a run.

As I predicted…: Packers

Wow, I thought the Packers would win close but they weren’t messing around with the Vikings that are 11-0 in one score games. The Packers were up 14-3 at one point and had -1 passing yards after a kick return for a td and a pick 6. They did not look back. The Packers D has really turned it around and they completely shut down the best receiver in the league. If they beat the Lions at home then they go to the playoffs as I predicted and could be dangerous. Rodgers is always better as the underdog than the favorite in the playoffs.

In the playoffs and that is pretty good: Vikings, Ravens, Giants

Look, I have given these teams a hard time but hey they are in the playoffs and that is a pretty good accomplishment. I mean a lot of teams don’t make it. The Ravens are not very good anymore and will likely be one and done. The Vikings and Giants are probably going to play each other so I guess one of them will win at least one game in the playoffs but they won’t make it farther than that. The Giants apparently need to win by two or more scores otherwise give it to the Vikes.

Still in it and fun: Lions and Seahawks

The Lions and Seahawks are fun teams. They are fun stories. The Seahawks traded Russ and replaced him with journey man Geno Smith. Smith has played admirably and the Seahawks have been competitive in almost every game. They need to beat the Rams and the Lions to beat the Packers to get in. The Lions started the year 1-6 and now are 8-8 in one of the great turn arounds of any season. They need Seattle to lose to the Rams and then have to win in Lambeau, something they haven’t done since 2018. These are great stories but I think they end this week.

Won’t go away: Patriots, Steelers, Dolphins, Titans

The Patriots and Titans control their own destiny. The Titans have lost 6 in a row. Amazingly if they beat the Jags on Saturday night they will host a playoff game. Unless you live in Nashville you are probably cheering against that. The Patriots beat the Dolphins and now control their own destiny if they beat the Bills in Buffalo. The Steelers just simply won’t go away. If they beat the Browns they will finish with a winning record again, keeping Tomlin’s streak alive. The Dolphins continue their free fall dropping their 5th in a row. The Dolphins season has looked like this: 3 wins, 3 losses, 5 wins, 5 losses. They need to beat the Jets and have the Pats lose and then they still get in. Who knows what happens but at least one of these teams is playing in the playoffs.

Ruined good starts: Jets, Commanders

There was a lot of hope for these teams. But they fell apart down the stretch. The Jets had to play Zach Wilson and it turns out Mike White might not be that good either. They keep the longest playoff drought alive. They haven’t been since 2010. The Commanders made the switch back to Carson Wentz which lead to an embarrassing performance against the Browns. Speaking of embarrassing, have you seen the Commanders new mascot? It’s worth a google.

Irrelevant but not terrible: Browns, Panthers, Saints, Falcons, Rams

None of these teams really had a shot this year. I mean, I guess the NFC South teams did because the Bucs didn’t play well for most of the season, but it wasn’t because they were good. But they all won some games and were competitive at times. Besides maybe the Rams if they can stay healthy, I expect them all to be pretty much in the same boat next year.

Raiders gonna Raider: You know who

The Raiders switched quarterbacks and it actually worked. Their offense came alive which isn’t a great look for Derek Carr. And they were playing against one of the top defenses in the league. They battled all game and tied it with less than a minute to go. The 49ers drove down but then missed a FG attempt which led to OT. The Raiders got the ball first and were driving until their new QB threw a pick that was returned inside the 10 and that is all she wrote. It was a classic Raiders loss and their 9th loss by one score which eliminated them from the Playoffs.

They played this week? I thought they had a bye: Cardinals

How bad are the Cardinals? I had to look up to see if they played this week. That is how irrelevant they have become.

No Longer fun: Bears

Fields can really run. The problem is he can’t really throw. And he doesn’t have anyone to throw to. Or block for him. Or play defense against their opponent. They are a bad football team.

A Better Ride Next Year?: Broncos

The Broncos minus Hackett looked functional. They played hard, didn’t make any terrible decisions and were competitive for four quarters. Of course it could be because they were playing against the Chiefs who always play down to their competition. Also, although I didn’t think this would be the case the interim coach obviously gave them a boost. Russ wasn’t great but he wasn’t bad. Which is a huge improvement. Of course this could all be a way to give Broncos false hope for the offseason. Sort of like when Drew Lock won 4 of 5 to end a season. Or when they traded for Russ to begin with. But either way, I am sure I will hear about how good the Broncos will be next year for the next 6 months on the local radio station. Their misguided optimism is consistent every offseason.

Houston we have a problem: Texans

This team is not good. They organization is worse and the Quarterback play may be worse than that. They will probably beat the Colts next week so they don’t even get the #1 pick. That would be a classic Texans move. It doesn’t really matter though because they will just screw up the pick anyway.

Should have hired me: Colts

Since Saturday was hired, they beat the Raiders and then proceeded to lose 6 in a row, including a total collapse in the 4th quarter against the Cowboys and losing the biggest lead in NFL history against the Vikings. They then switched to Nick Foles at quarterback and somehow got less competitive. I am pretty sure I could have done what Saturday has done. He has clearly ruined the chances of guys with no coaching experience of getting NFL coaching jobs. Thanks a lot, Jeff Saturday. Now I have to keep my day job and just keep blogging.

I took last week off as I was busy running around wrapping up things for Christmas. But we are back at it this week. There are some interesting games in week 17 with big implications so let’s get started.

An Awkward way to start the new year: Broncos @ Chiefs

I mentioned a few weeks ago the awkward way Danielle and I have to watch these games. To add to the awkwardness we have to do it in a four week span and it is the very first day of 2023. So we are going to literally start the new year by barely talking to each other. While this might seem like the norm or a blessing for some marriages, Danielle and I actually like each other and prefer talking to one another…at least most of the time.

The last time the Broncos beat the Chiefs was week 2 of the 2015 season on September 17th. And even that was a game we really had no business losing. The next time we played them, Manning threw 5 interceptions and it was basically the end of Manning’s career even though he would go on to win the super bowl behind their incredible defense. Since that game we have rattled off 14 straight victories and it is hard to imagine us not getting a 15th.

The Broncos are amazingly in even worse shape than the last time we played them. They just fired their disaster of a coach. Also, the Broncos apparently have to pay Hackett 80k a week for the remainder of his contract as long as he doesn’t have an NFL job. So he could go get a gig at a college and still collect his 80k from the Broncos. If he does get an NFL job but doesn’t make 80k a week then the Broncos have to make up the difference. I always thought back up QB was the best job in the NFL but apparently fired coach is the way to go. The Broncos now have an interim head coach coaching his first game ever. A lot of times the interim head coach gets a boost from the team that has been looking for new leadership. But I doubt the team is real excited to rally around the guy who was doing clock management last week. He doesn’t seem to have the same misguided confidence as Jeff Saturday did when he got the job so he probably won’t be able to fire up the troops for a win like Saturday did. He also isn’t playing the Raiders.

Mahomes made just about every mistake you could make last game against the Broncos. Pat isn’t perfect but he seldom screws up in the same way against the same team as long as that team isn’t the Bengals. The Chiefs still have a lot to play for and the Broncos have basically nothing to play for. Russ seems more disconnected from the team as ever and I think everyone is pretty much done over there. I think their d will keep it from being a blood bath but also our d will play better this go around and there won’t be as many turn overs to set up the Broncos for success. #15 gets #15 in a row.

Chiefs 31 Broncos 13

Which loser gets to host a playoff game?: Panthers @ Bucs

I know the Panthers are a feel good story in that after firing their coach and trading their best player they can still win the division if they win this week. However, lets not make this sound like this is some sort of massive accomplishment. I mean, they are 3 games under .500. The only reason this feel good story even exists is because the rest of the division sucks too. When the season started I thought the Bucs had one of the easier paths to winning a division but I assumed they wouldn’t be terrible when thinking that.

The Panthers have a pretty good defense and they run the ball over everyone. They ran for 320 yards last week. That is like the same amount of rushing yards the Chiefs get in a month. They ruined the Lions day last weekend and have already beat the Bucs once. The Bucs on the other hand play average to below average football for the first 3 and half quarters every week but hang around just long enough for Tom Brady to do his thing in the last 5 or 6 minutes to lead them to victory. They don’t do this against good teams, mind you. They only do this against bad teams. So you have to decide…are the Panthers a good team or a bad team? I vote for bad. Yes, they are a nice story. Yes, Steve Wilks has done a nice job. But Sam Darnold is still their starting QB and they are still the 6-9 Panthers playing on the road where they are 1-5 on the year. Same story, different game for good old Tommy. He leads them down for the winning td to clinch the South for the Bucs.

Bucs 17 Panthers 16

A game without fans: Rams @ Chargers?

I put a question mark because if you are playing at the stadium that you play your home games at, are you really the away team? The better question is will any fans show up? Typically when either of these teams play, the opposing teams fans fill up half the stadium…sometimes more than half. The Rams don’t have many fans of their own and they are the popular team in LA. Why the Chargers decided to leave beautiful San Diego to play second fiddle in their own stadium to the Rams is beyond me.

The Rams may be the worst returning Super Bowl team ever. But they are salvaging that a little bit by playing like they have a pulse the last few weeks. Just as we all expected, all they needed was Baker Mayfield to show up. And unlike most bad teams there is no reason to keep losing because the Rams don’t have any draft picks anyway. While the Chargers are clearly the better team and I don’t get to say this a lot, also the healthier team, the Rams do have some fight left. They came from behind against the Raiders, like everyone does. They were competitive at Green Bay and they just hung 51 on the Broncos in a game they didn’t have to punt.

The Chargers on the other hand have won 3 in a row. They haven’t put up a ton of points but there has been lots of oooing and ahhhing at the throws Justin Herbert makes. And lots of comments about how good they are now that they are healthy. They have sort of an odd arrogance about them for not winning anything of significance. This seems like the sort of game that the Chargers would typically lose. Once they give people hope, they like to immediately take it away. The Rams are suddenly scrappy and Baker is a fun story even though he is sort of an idiot. And the Rams have the better coach. This is my upset special of the week. The non home, home team in a close one leading to both Charger fans going home in tears. Also, look out for Sofi field who is undefeated against ACL’s. Look for someone important to go down in this game.

Rams 24 Chargers 20

The should have been the Sunday Night flex game: Vikings @ Packers

This is the game I wanted to see flexed to Sunday night. Instead we get the Ravens @ Steelers snooze fest. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still watch that one too, but I would have preferred not to. I can only assume that CBS wasn’t letting go of this one as it is one of the rare NFC only games they get each year. And it should be a good one. The Vikings are the luckiest team in the league winning 11 games by one score or less. They have one win by more than 1 score and that was week 1 against the Packers. They are 12-3 and the Packers are 7-8, yet the Packers are 3.5 point favorites. The home team typically gets 3 points so this game is basically a push in the eyes of Vegas.

The Vikings do have some weapons including the best receiver in the game in Justin Jefferson and Dalvin Cook is pretty good too. Cousins has played well for the most part and has been unusually clutch as long as it isn’t a primetime game. Although this won’t be technically a night game, I think it will have that feel to it. The Packers actually have a good roster and are playing much better as of late. Rodgers has had a goofy grin at the end of the last 3 games that says hey we are going to win out and get in like he knows something the rest of the world doesn’t. If you are one of those conspiracy guys that thinks the NFL is rigged then this team and this game is for you. Certainly the Packers and Rodgers in the playoffs makes for better ratings than say the Commanders and either Wentz or Henicke as well as the Seahawks and Geno, even though Geno is a nice story. I think this will be a back and forth game that will stress my son out and make him make a lot of loud noises. (He is a huge Packers fan). This will send my wife upstairs to watch Netflix on her new Ipad that I got her for Christmas. (husband brag, your welcome honey). The Packers will have a slight lead to set up another close victory for the Vikes but a controversial call will go the Packers way to seal the game and really give conspiracy guy something to tweet about.

Packers 30 Vikings 27

The time I cheer for the team I hate?: Bills @ Bengals

Have I mentioned that I hate the Bengals? They almost blew a 22 point lead to the Patriots last week in a trap game but survived. I am sure they are running around the Natti with their smug little faces and making their smug little comments. I can’t stand Burrow and his gelled up hair looking like what Macauley Caulkin should have grown up to look like. Well he won’t be home alone on Monday because the Bills are coming to town and they are looking to hang onto the #1 seed. Every logical part of me says I should be a Bengals fan just this once. If they win, and the Chiefs take care of business we get the #1 seed, a bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. This sounds pretty dang good doesn’t it? So I am cheering for…nope, I can’t do it. Look the Bills beat us sometimes too but they are likable. Their city is likable. Their fans are likable. I mean, they jump on tables. How fun is that? What’s to like about the Bengals? So I am joining Bills mafia for this one. I know I shouldn’t but it is time for the Bengals to get knocked down a peg. Also, I think the Bills are better. They have the better overall team and they will show the world that on Monday night. And you never know, they could go and screw things up the following week against the Patriots. That sounds like something the Bills would do. Josh Allen out plays Kevin McCallister and makes his win streak disappear ruining his holiday season. There will be no old man with a shovel to knock out his opponent this time. By the way, Home Alone is one of my favorite Christmas movies. I used to watch it every Thanksgiving with my family and now we do the same. But can we pause to reflect on the ending. After everything Kevin does to them over a 20 minute span they just keep getting up. They even swing into a brick wall for goodness sakes. But they still get up. Then a 70ish year old man hits them over the head with a minimal swing from a snow shovel and they are down for the count? It’s almost like they didn’t even think about the realism of that movie.

Anyway, the Bills win and I think they win out overall. They keep the #1 seed. I think this is the playoffs of things Patrick Mahomes hasn’t done yet. First he will finally beat the Bengals in the divisional round. Then he will head to Buffalo, the worst possible set up for his first ever road playoff game and he wins. Then he goes to the super bowl and doesn’t throw any interceptions for the first time. League MVP, Super Bowl MVP and silence the critics once and for all…boom! Except for Skip Bayless because that idiot will never quit.

Anyway Bills win by a solid margin.

Bills 30 Bengals 20

I really do appreciate the reads and the comments. This has been a fun way to end the last few weeks of 2022 and I am excited to keep it going into 2023. I hope you all have a wonderful 2023 and wish you much success and happiness. Also, Go Chiefs! Happy New Year everyone!

We are back. We took Five for Friday off as I was doing much preparation for the Christmas festivities as I am sure you were as well. I am sure that is why I didn’t get any messages saying, “Hey Jeff, when are were getting our 5 for Friday.” Anyway we are back this week and there will be a Five for Friday this week. Week 16 is in the books and some NFL fans got some nice gifts for Christmas while others got gifts worse than coal (I see you Broncos fans). Let’s dive into the Rankings.

Playing in the Super Bowl: Bills and Eagles

The Bills struggled for a half with the Bears and then they didn’t anymore. This was a trap game for sure and it isn’t shocking that they came out a little sluggish. What was probably surprising for them was having to spend an extra night in Chicago followed by arriving back home and having to dig their cars out of 8 feet of snow. Good times in Buffalo. The Eagles lost a close game to the Cowboys…in Dallas…without their starting quarterback. Gardner Minshew almost led them to the victory so I am confident with Hurts they would have won. They have the unique opportunity this week to clinch the division and home field advantage and improve their draft position all with a win. Somehow the Eagles have the Saints first round draft pick this year. There are other teams that can win this thing but I still think these are the two most complete teams.

The Contenders: Bengals, 49ers, Chiefs

These are the other 3 teams I think can win the Super Bowl. The 49ers continue to win and seem to be a better team with Brock Purdy. They are actually getting healthy (49er fans are yelling at me not to say it out loud). They have a solid roster all the way around. I guess the question is, can Brock Purdy lead them to the show? The Bengals squeaked one out against the Patriots. The Bengals were up 22-0 and then didn’t score again. The Patriots were about to win the game when Stevenson fumbled. He’s had a rough couple of weeks after starting the lateral fiasco last week and then fumbling inside the 20 this week. He also crushed my chances of making it to the championship in Danielle’s work league. He scored 1.3 points. Ouch. Anyway, the Bengals have a good football team. They have been hit with the injury bug a bit as of late. They’ve got a massive game hosting the Bills this week. The Chiefs actually won by more than one score. The offense looked a little off at times but they also had several dropped passes that hurt them. The defense looked…dare I say good? The Seahawks have struggled and they were missing a player or two but the D really held their own. They had good pressure on the Quarterback and did enough to slow down the run. They also came up big on crucial 3rd and 4th downs. Also, Mahomes is amazing. Since the start of 2019 season he is now 16-0 against the NFC. The only team he hasn’t beaten is the Vikings because he was hurt and we won that game anyway. We haven’t lost a regular season game to an NFC team since Rodgers barely outplayed Mat Moore and the Packers beat us in 2019. Pretty impressive.

Ready to break your heart in the playoffs: Vikings and Cowboys

These two teams have playoff upset written all over them. The Vikings have won an amazing 11 one score games. Guys, they only have 12 wins. Their only non one score victory was week 1. That’s insane. Their luck is bound to run out. I guess you could argue they are just a really clutch team but I won’t. The Cowboys barely beat the Eagles minus Jalen Hurts at home. Assuming Tampa wins the South, I can certainly envision them going down there and leaving with an L. Plus over the past 20 years or so both of these teams have excelled at playoff disappointment.

Here comes the hype train: Chargers

The national media loves them some Chargers. They are always a preseason darling but then they disappoint. But now they have won 3 in a row and so they are currently Super Bowl contenders. During that 3 game win streak they have beaten the Dolphins who are on a 4 game skid (that I predicted). They beat the Titans who have lost like 5 in a row and just lost to the Texans and a Colts team that is a complete disaster. Look, they have a solid team and are getting healthy but its not like they are putting up 50 points a game in these wins. Maybe they could beat one of the Chiefs, Bills or Bengals in the playoffs but there is no way they are beating 2 or 3 of them to make it to the Super Bowl.

Teams you don’t want to play in the Playoffs: Jaguars and Packers

I thought the Jaguars were a year away but they have arrived early. They should win the next two weeks to clinch the AFC South. Much like the Chargers, they have what it takes to knock off one of the big 3. And this time next year, we will be talking about the big 4. Mahomes, Allen, Burrow and Lawrence should own their divisions for the next 10 years. It should be fun. As for the Packers, I have been saying it for a few weeks now but they are dangerous. Their roster is way better than their record. Their defense is playing better and their offense is doing enough to win without Rodgers playing great. He has a funny confidence about him. They host the Vikings and Lions in back to back weeks. I still think they win out. They need the Commanders to lose one more which I think also happens.

Playoff bound…I guess: Giants and Ravens

Ravens have clinched. The Giants can clinch if they win this week and they play the Colts…so…that’s pretty much a given. But if the two above teams are the teams you don’t want to play in the playoffs, these are the two you want to play.

Fighting for their playoff lives: Commanders, Dolphins, Patriots, Jets, Steelers, Lions, Seahawks, Titans

Somehow all these teams are still mathematically in it. The Commanders are probably going to lose out because they went back to Carson Wentz. No one knows who they are starting this week but a QB controversy in week 17 probably doesn’t equal playoffs. The Dolphins have lost 4 in a row and Tua is concussed…again. They head to the Patriots and then host the Jets. If Tua plays I think they win out but if he can’t go that opens the door for one of the challengers. The Patriots are finding new ways to lose and the poor Jets had to roll with Zach Wilson in back to back weeks. He literally not only sucks but makes everyone around him suck. He’s terrible. Matt White is back this week and I actually think they can win out even though they have two road games against the Seahawks and Dolphins. This would break the current longest drought of not making the playoffs. If the Jets make it then the title would go to the Broncos which would sort of be funny since some were picking them to win the super bowl this year. The Steelers have never had a losing season under Tomlin and somehow it is possible that streak will continue. They have the Ravens this week and the Browns next week. I think they keep that streak alive but they will need help to get in. The Seahawks and Lions both hurt their chances this week with losses. They like the Packers need the Commanders to lose at least one more. The Titans are about to finish the year on a 7 game losing streak. It should be an interesting couple of weeks but none of these teams are doing much if they get in.

The 2020 NFC East: The 2022 NFC South

We just need Tampa to lose one more game to assure that a team with a losing record hosts a playoff game. I love these sort of scenarios because it shows the occasional crack in the system that everyone gets all upset about. I mean yes this might happen two times in 3 years but overall in the history of the NFL it is very rare. But I am sure people will throw a fit and make changes to the playoff system. Regardless in order for that to happen, the Panthers likely need to win in Tampa. The Panthers have been significantly better at home but stranger things have happened. I am sure that this will be another close game and Brady will likely lead his team to victory again this week but it will be funny if he loses. The Saints are some how still in contention too. This division is real bad.

No one cares: Rams, Browns, Cardinals

The Rams won big this week on Christmas day but the story isn’t even about them. The Browns have somehow gotten worse with Massage Boy at QB. They are trying to compete for worst offseason trade but they can’t even win at that. Broncos are the clear winner. The Cardinals are so bad that JJ Watt is retiring and their coach is apparently contemplating leaving.

Raiders gonna Raider: They still got it

Two weeks ago, the Raiders won in the most improbable way. So what happens this week? They go back to their old habits of losing close games. They are the anti Vikings losing 8 games by one score. McDaniel even acknowledged they might bench Carr. This team is a disaster. They scored 10 points this past week. They finish out the year hosting the 49ers and the Chiefs. So in good news, they probably will lose by a lot more than one score in those games.

Still sort of fun: Bears

Justin Fields is apparently trying to make it to next year so he didn’t run much against the Bills. He also isn’t as good at throwing when the threat of him running isn’t there. Hopefully they are more fun this week when they play at the Lions.

Still terrible but not the worst anymore: Texans

The Texans almost beat the Cowboys and Chiefs in back to back weeks and then upset the Titans this week. The Titans aren’t great but the Texans don’t beat anyone so this is a big win. I am sure by early next year they will find there way back to the bottom because they are a very poorly run organization but they can enjoy being 3rd worst at least for this week.

Dumb and Dumber: Colts

The Colts traded for Carson Wentz. That didn’t work. Then they traded for Matt Ryan. That didn’t work. Then they benched Matt Ryan and that didn’t work. Then they fired their coach and hired a guy with slightly more experience than me. That didn’t work. Then they benched Matt Ryan again. Going to Nick Foles at this point in the season is sort of like when you are playing Madden and getting your butt kicked so you just put in the 3rd string QB to see what happens. It never works and it didn’t work for the Colts either. They somehow got worse offensively. At this point they might want to try what Walker does if I am beating him and put the punter at Quarterback. Unconventional times lead to unconventional tactics. I mean if you are going to hire an ESPN guy as your coach, why not have your punter play QB? It honestly can’t get worse offensively. Speaking of bad offense…check out our final team.

A very bumpy ride just got even bumpier: Broncos

Let’s ride…over a cliff. That was perhaps the worst performance I have seen in a very long time. Early on Russ had thrown 3 passes and 2 interceptions. It somehow got worse from there. The defense finally said screw it and gave up 51 points to Baker Mayfield and the Rams. To add to the fun the Broncos back up QB and an offensive lineman got in a shoving match on the sideline. Then Randy Gregory went and punched a Ram player after the game. Things were so bad that they woke up the next morning and fired Nathanial Hackett. He was not a good coach but hardly the only problem. Despite everyone speculating that this was a great roster and all they needed was a Quarterback, there wasn’t any real proof of that. It turns out this roster is pretty average when it is healthy and real bad when they have as many injuries as they did. Then you bring in Russ who apparently no one in the league likes and you treat him like he is the greatest QB of all time. Turns out there was a reason the Seahawks were so eager to trade him. Things are so bad that the defensive coordinator turned down the interim head coaching gig. This is actually a genius move by him. As of now, he is a hot coaching commodity as the guy who kept the Broncos in most games despite the worst offense in Broncos history. If he takes the interim gig, then he is the guy who was head coach for two weeks and got smashed by the Chiefs and Chargers. Nothing good can come from it. So who is the interim coach? The guy they brought in to run clock management. Yes you are reading it correctly. I mean, it’s not an ESPN analyst but it is pretty close. Amazingly, this team was better when Drew Lock was quarterback.

Playoff Predictions AFC:

1. Bills
2. Chiefs
3. Bengals
4. Jaguars
5. Chargers
6. Ravens
7. Jets

Playoff Predictions NFC:

1. Eagles
2. 49ers
3. Vikings
4. Bucs
5. Cowboys
6. Giants
7. Packers

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.

Welp, I seem to be getting worst at this as I went 2-3 last week to bring my total to 13-7. In good news, I am in first place in all 3 of my fantasy leagues. So I’ve got that going for me…which is nice. Let’s see if I can rebound this week and get back on track. On to this week’s picks.

The Fish out of Water game: Dolphins @ Bills

I know Dolphins aren’t fish but it seemed like a clever title and this will definitely be an environment this team isn’t used to. The Dolphins somehow won the first match up despite giving up a ton of yards. However, as of late they have gotten exposed. Back to back road losses to the 49ers and the Chargers in which they looked very overmatched. Now they head to Buffalo. Apparently they are supposed to get over a half a foot of snow. The Dolphins apparently had heaters going in LA on Sunday when it was 55 degrees. I do appreciate the nerdiest coach in the NFL, Mike McDaniel, rocking a shirt that says “I wish it was a little bit cooler” during practice. He is about to get his wish. I bet he is rocking a big winter coat on Saturday night instead of funny t-shirts.

The Dolphins are all about speed and offensive movement most of which is hard to do in the snow. They also tend to get behind but this is not an environment you want to get behind in. Tyreek has spent the week talking about why he left the Chiefs…again. It seems the story keeps changing. He said it was a lack of getting targets. He had 159 targets last year and barely played in the last game because he was hurt. That is over 9 targets a game and nearly 10 a game if you don’t count the last game of the year. He then proceeded to say that he asked the Chiefs to give him the same amount of money as AJ Brown and that he didn’t need to be the highest paid receiver. One problem, AJ Brown was traded after Tyreek so he had no idea what AJ was getting paid at the time. Then he said that he allowed the Chiefs an opportunity to match the Dolphins offer which they declined. This also seems highly unlikely. The funny part is his agent already told us what happened. They were close to a deal. Then Davante Adams got paid and they wanted more money. The Chiefs said no and so they traded him to Miami. It’s pretty simple. And everyone seems fine with it except the guy with all the money. Why does he keep bringing this up? Who cares? it is week 15…move on with your life Tyreek. He then said if we run into the Chiefs in the playoffs he would go off and they better have two people on him. His team is about to drop to 8-6 after losing yet another game so he should probably focus on actually making the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Bills keep winning. Josh Allen hasn’t been playing great but he hasn’t had to either. The Bills have gotten better at running the ball and their defense is playing well. Recently a reporter told Josh that the offense doesn’t seem to be playing at a level that can win the Super Bowl. Allen responded “Okay.” Which was a great response. Give it a google. Anyway, I think the Bills are just fine. And I like them over this particular Dolphins team in half a foot of snow. The nation will be tuned in and the Bills deliver big.

Bills 30 Dolphins 17

This game actually matters???: Lions @ Jets

If you had told me at the beginning of the year that I needed to circle Lions vs the Jets in week 15 because it is going to be a big game, I would have laughed at you. But this is the beauty of the NFL. These are two historically bad teams with terrible luck and fortune. Even as I say this game matters, it’s not like either team is crushing it. The Lions are 6-7 and the Jets are 7-6. But this game does matter as both teams are pushing for a playoff appearance and neither team can afford to lose.

I feel like every week I am detailing Detroit’s awful history. They haven’t been to the playoffs since 2016 and the last time they won a playoff game, I was in 6th grade and we were all still tight rolling our jeans. They beat the Cowboys that year. Erik Kramer was the QB and went off for 341 yards and 3 touchdowns. They lost 41-10 the next week and haven’t won a playoff game since.

Earlier in the year they were 1-6 but they have won 5 of their last 6 and had a shot to beat the Bills on Thanksgiving if not for terrible time management and terrible defense. But they are playing well and scoring lots of points.

On the flipside, the last time the Jets were in the playoffs, Nebraska and Mizzou were still in the Big 12 and actually good at football. The Jets lost back to back conference championships and haven’t been back to the playoffs since. They have the longest playoff drought in the league.

But they have turned things around and are a competent football team again and are hosting the Lions in circumstances that I would describe as Jared Goff’s kryptonite…outside. Goff has been phenomenal indoors this year. But he is flat out awful outside. It looks to be in the 30’s when these two teams battle it out this Sunday. There is good reason to cheer for both teams and I won’t be upset no matter who wins. I was all set to pick the Jets but now Mike White is out and they are going back to Zach Wilson. Wilson has been awful and seems to take no ownership of his struggles and has lost the locker room. Am I to believe that Wilson has turned the corner because he was put in timeout for 2 or 3 games and now all the sudden he is going to play competent and lead his team to victory? So now I have a terrible Zach Wilson versus Jared Goff outside. The only thing I am confident about is that there will be more interceptions than touchdown passes. In the end, I’ll go with the better defense and home team in a close, low scoring game.

Jets 13 Lions 10

Battle of teams with glaring weaknesses: Titans @ Chargers

The Chargers finally won a game so now they are the second coming of the 80’s 49ers. Look, I get that they have been banged up and are starting to get healthy. But let’s not forget they lost 3 of 4 before last week and their one win was a 1 point victory over the woeful Cardinals. They are much better offensively with Mike Williams and Keenan Allen back. Have I mentioned that I can’t stand Keenan Allen? He talks more crap than anyone I can remember for a guy who has won absolutely nothing. After Tyreek got traded, he tweeted that “some people were about to get exposed”, meaning the Chiefs and Mahomes. As Maury Povich would say, we have determined…that was a lie!

The Chargers have a lot of good players on defense and are terrible against the run. This is bad news when you are playing the Titans. That is the one thing offensively they do well. On the flipside, the Titans are terrible against the pass, which the Chargers do very well. So this game proves to be interesting. The Titans haven’t won since before Thanksgiving having dropped 3 in a row. People have realized if you stop Derrick Henry, you stop the Titans. The Titans are also on the road in this one. The good news for them is they are on the road against the Chargers and the Chargers don’t have any fans so it shouldn’t be too tough and might feel like a home game.

This is a tough game to pick. Everything on paper tells me that the Chargers are better. However, can you imagine Mike Vrabel letting this team lose it’s 4th in a row and falling to .500? Also, anytime the Chargers give people hope that they might actually be good, they quickly fall on their collective faces. Titans win a close one.

Titans 28 Chargers 27

To Tie or Not to Tie: Giants @ Commanders

The last time these two juggernauts battled it out, it ended in my buddy Evan’s favorite result, a tie. Ties are obviously not what the rest of the NFL viewership is looking for. These teams are pretty evenly matched as you can tell from their last outcome. They both have pretty good running games, okay quarterbacks, and pretty good defense. If you were asked to describe either team, I bet you would say “pretty good.” If you were going to rank all the NFL teams like I do, minus the snarky comments, I bet these two teams would fall somewhere between 13-17. Somewhere right in the middle.

The Giants started out hot and at one point were 6-1. Since then though, they have won only one game, an 8 point victory against the Texans. One of their major problems is that you have never heard of any of the players that they throw to. You might remember Kenny Golladay but they don’t actually throw to him. He was the guy who tricked the Giants into signing him after having a big year in Detroit. It has not worked out well. Daniel Jones has been alright at QB. Better than normal but that doesn’t say much. Saquon Barkley is getting the Derrick Henry treatment so he isn’t playing as well either as everyone is trying to stop him and he is banged up.

On the other side of things, the Redskins…I mean Commanders started the year with Carson Wentz at QB. It did not go well as they lost 4 of their first 5. Then the best thing happened that could happen to any team that Wentz is the starting QB for…Wentz got hurt. The team formerly known as the Redskins won 5 of their next 6 with their one loss a 3 point loss to the Vikings.

It really is like these two teams traded places with each other so it was very fitting that game 1 ended in a tie. Although, I would love nothing more than predict another tie, that seems highly unfathomable. The winner of this game has a great shot at making the playoffs. The loser will probably get in to but it will be harder. It’s crazy to think the NFC East is likely going to have 4 teams in the playoffs and even crazier that these two mediocre teams are going to get in more than likely because of that tie.

So who wins this sucker? Well I am going with the Redskins, I mean Commanders and my boy Brian Robinson. He got shot a week before the season started and came back like 3 weeks later. To put that into perspective, I played basketball with my kids one weekend in November and tweaked my knee and have been out for a month. I am still recovering for the foreseeable future.

Robinson has a big day and the Redskins…I mean the Commanders win at home.

Redskins 27 Giants 17

Baker’s Dozen vs The Rodgers Rate: Rams @ Packers

Two weeks ago I would have never thought about writing about this game. The Packers were dead in the water and the Rams were even deader. Somehow both teams are still alive in the playoff hunt but the Rams seem a lot farther away. Amazingly there is a path for the Packers. They need to win out for sure but if they win this week and beat the Dolphins in Miami next week, they host the Vikings and Lions in Green Bay to end the year. Would anyone be shocked if they won out? That would put them at 9-8 and they just might sneak in. After this week the Commanders still have to play the 49ers and Cowboys so even if they win, they likely finish 9-7-1 which would only be a game ahead of the Packers. But if they lose to the Giants, then the Packers would be ahead in the scenario. Similarly, the Giants play the Vikings, Colts and Eagles after this week. I doubt they beat anyone but the Colts. So they could easily finish 8-8-1. The more I think about it, the more I think the Packers are getting in. They have looked better lately and should be a little healthier coming off the bye. Rodgers can still sling it and he has found his new favorite target in Christian Watson (who if you haven’t been reading is on all 3 of my fantasy teams). They can run the ball and are decent enough on defense to stop the Rams.

Meanwhile, the Rams have new life with Baker at the helm. But they are still an overall disaster. You know if you need Baker to give you life, you aren’t very good. They have so many injuries and they spent so much money on free agents and resigning their top players that they have no quality depth. Also as fun as Baker was last Thursday, he still was only good for like a drive and a half. He also may actually play better when he knows less. Take away all decisions and thinking and he is pretty good. But now he will have an whole week and a half to get ready. So my guess is he resorts to his old Baker ways. But hey, it was one fun game when he ruined the Raiders lives.

On the other side does it get weirder than Aaron Rodgers? Has there been an odder superstar in a major sport? Dude, doesn’t talk to his family, does hallucinates, grows his hair out weird, dates celebrities and hosts jeopardy. Baker is weird too. He runs around and head butts people wearing helmets when his helmet is off. He often tweets and says weird things and they both make funny commercials. This really is a battle of two weirdos.

In the end, I don’t think what Baker did on one drive is sustainable. I think that he had a nice moment that we all enjoyed but now will go back to good old inconsistent, mostly bad Baker. Meanwhile, the Packers are way too talented to be 5-8. I think they are primed to make a run at the playoffs. And it starts on Monday night.

Packers 31 Rams 13

I am dedicating today’s rankings to the great Mike Leach who suddenly passed away due to a heart attack. Leach was a national treasure. Often controversial but always entertaining. He made hilarious comments and would do crazy stuff. In the honor of Coach Leach and ranking stuff check out the link below where he ranks the Pac 12 teams based upon mascots.

https://www.foxsports.com/watch/1604857923802

You will be missed, Mike, and the college football world won’t be the same without you.

Teams Playing in the Super Bowl: Eagles and Bills

Nothing happened on Sunday that would change my prediction at this point. The Bills won a gritty game in bad weather against a good Jets team that desperately needed to win. The Eagles absolutely destroyed an okay Giants team that desperately needed to win. Both these teams can beat you running, throwing and with defense. Both are beatable on the right day, but they are getting better when other teams look like they are getting worse.

Team I still hate: Bengals

Right behind the top two teams is the stupid Bengals and stupid Joe Burrow. I was hoping he would lose again to the Browns but they are such a mess that it didn’t happen. There was nothing wrong with their win but also nothing that made me think they are better than the Bills. The Bengals and Bills are still ahead of the Chiefs because they are willing to change who they are to win and the Chiefs are going to throw the ball 50 times a game regardless.

Team I said that not even they could play down to the level of their competition this week and they said, “hold my beer.”: Chiefs

I mean…can I just have one damn game where I can just relax? It’s like they have to make every game interesting until the very end. There is a simple solution. It’s called running the ball and dumping it off quickly to your backs. McKinnon and Pacheco had an absolute hey day all game but they don’t get enough touches. Instead, Mahomes is throwing picks trying to force it into Kelce. I swear, we should just spot the the team 14 points and then just get on with it. And how bad is our defense that we let a team that was averaging 11 points a game score 28? I love this team and they have overachieved in a lot of ways. I didn’t expect us to go to the super bowl when the season started so I guess I can lower my expectations again and be happy we are about to win our 7th AFC West title in a row. Honestly, I think we are a year away but it is fun we are in it. But if next week is close against the Texans then I will just assume I am going to have to prepare my heart every single week for the rest of my life.

Team that could win a regular season game with me playing QB: 49ers

I know Kyle Shanahan has had some failures in the post season but my goodness can he win some games in the regular season with random people. Lance goes down and they win with a guy who didn’t have a playbook. Now they go out and just crush Brady and the Bucs with the very last pick in the draft at QB. I am half serious that I could walk out there, get a couple of practices in and go win a game, Baker Mayfield style. It is so impressive. Almost as impressive as the amounts of injuries they have. Deebo is hurt…again and Purdy got injured too. Things keep going this way and they might actually need me to play QB soon.

Not as good as their record: Cowboys and Vikings

Both of these teams have 10 wins and are locks for the playoffs. But both have issues. The Cowboys pulled away from the Colts late and had to score a td with a minute left to beat the Texans. They occasionally blow people out but do you really trust Dak and Mike McCarthy in the playoffs? The Vikings are the kings of choking. They just lost to the Lions and again, do you trust Kirk Cousins. They are both winning one playoff game at best.

Might win a playoff game: Chargers and Dolphins

The Chargers are getting healthy and should make the playoffs. They play the Titans this week and then the Colts, Rams and Broncos. While all the AFC East teams are beating up each other, so in theory, they should coast in as the second wild card behind the Bengals or Ravens. But then again, it is the Chargers so if there is a way to not make it, they will find a way. The Dolphins will likely lose their 3rd in a row to the Bills. Then they face the Packers, Patriots and Jets to end the season. That last game could be a play in game. But if either get in, they are dangerous. Both have a lot of playmakers and score some points. If either of them get the Ravens or Titans, they will win. And if they get one of the top 3, I wouldn’t be shocked if they pulled the upset. But winning 3 in a row isn’t happening so they will be one and done regardless.

Teams that will lose in the first round of the playoffs: Titans, Ravens, Giants, Commanders

The Titans are going to win the South not because they are good but because the Jags have just lost too many games already. The Ravens schedule is so easy that they should win out until week 18 when they play the Bengals. If the Bengals lose before then, the Ravens could lose to the Bengals and still win the division. That is best case scenario because otherwise, the Ravens and Titans will play and that will be a very boring game. This is also the only way either of them wins a playoff game. Either way, neither of these teams will win a game past that. I am reluctantly accepting that the Commanders and Giants are going to make the playoffs. I think the difference will actually be their tie. I think the Giants will have the same amount of wins as the Seahawks and Lions but one less loss because of the tie. But the Cowboys will be the top wild card and play the NFC south champ with the best chance at winning. The Commanders could maybe beat the Vikings if the 49ers end up as the 2 seed. But I think all 4 of these teams are likely one and done.

Going to miss the playoffs but it sure has been fun: Jets, Jaguars, Lions, Seahawks

All 4 of these teams are technically still in it. But they likely need to win out to have a shot. The Jaguars need to win out and get help with the Titans losing a couple. The Seahawks, Jaguars and Lions both still play the Jets along with several other difficult opponents. The Seahawks play the 49ers on Thursday and the Chiefs next week (ouch). The Jets play all 3 other teams and end with the Dolphins. Pretty much every game is a playoff game the rest of the way for the Jets. I don’t see them going 4-0. The Lions have the easiest schedule but unfortunately for them 3 of the 4 games are outdoors. Jared Goff indoors is Tom Brady last year. Jared Goff outdoors is Josh Rosen. He has been terrible outside of domes. It’s been a fun ride but these teams are cooked.

2020 NFC East: 2022 NFC South

One of these pathetic teams is going to make the playoffs and host the Cowboys. Not only that, because the Cowboys are the kings of choking, they might even win a game. The Bucs are leading the way but are about to host the Bengals. After losing that, they should win out and finish 9-8. They play the Cardinals, Panthers and Falcons. But they have already lost to the Panthers and should have lost to the Falcons so who knows. The other 3 teams are even worse…although, I guess the Panthers have gotten better. But really we all should be cheering for the Bucs to drop two more and everyone else to lose at least one. There’s nothing funnier than a team with a losing record making the playoffs.

Team who’s Quarterback wants to be traded but this time it isn’t Rodgers: Packers

Apparently, Jordan Love would like to play some football. He sees that Rodgers isn’t going anywhere. Rodgers also hasn’t looked great so the Packers have a choice. Keep rolling with the old guy or bet on the young guy who has potential but is an unknown at this point. Geez, this Packers story seems familiar. The Packers are actually not eliminated yet but would need to win out and get some help. They have the Rams this week and then the Dolphins, Vikings and Lions. All of those besides the Dolphins are at home. I kind of think they might win out and sneak in. Regardless, I hope Christian Watson keeps catching touchdowns at least through week 17. (Fantasy football playoffs, here I come.)

Teams too boring to write about: Patriots, Steelers, Cardinals, Colts

Patriots still have a shot at the playoffs but no one really cares including them. Steelers are on their way to their first losing season. The Cardinals are a disaster but not in a funny way and the Colts were on a bye.

Team that’s Quarterback likes massages more than touchdowns: Browns

I was at Sports Clips last night to get my hair cut. I got the MVP because I like my hair washed after I get it cut. If you have have never been to a Sports Clips, you don’t know what an MVP is, so let me describe it to you. After they cut your hair they take you back to where they was your hair. They put you in a seat that vibrates (it is supposed to be like a massage chair but it basically just moves around a little bit). They put a warm towel on your face and then they wash your hair and massage your head. After this, they take you back to where they cut your hair and they use this massage club thing to massage your shoulders a little bit. I have been going somewhere else and hadn’t been to a Sports Clips in a while and I forgot how awkward this is. Besides actually washing my hair, none of the rest of it is needed or even wanted. If I could go back in time, I would have asked them to just wash my hair but by the time I realized/remembered how awkward it makes me feel I was already in too deep. I walked out of there feeling a little yucky and then I thought about Massage boy. Again, even if he did absolutely nothing wrong, it’s still gross. Sooo many massages! You know what he hasn’t had many of yet…touchdowns. It will be more of the same on Saturday.

Team with a guy at Quarterback that I need to score a lot of fantasy points the next 3 weeks: Bears

The Bears are not good. I am not even sure if Justin Fields is good or not. But he is good at scoring lots of Fantasy points. With Lamar hurt, he is my guy in my family league. He has Philly and Buffalo coming up. At least they are both at home and they will probably be losing so that means lots of passing which will lead to lots of running because his o-line sucks. All of that should lead to lots of fantasy points. At least that is what I am banking on. Wish me luck!

Baker’s Dozen: Rams

Dude, how awesome was Baker coming in with two days of practice and beating the Raiders with a 98 yard drive to win the game. More on the Raiders losing that game in a minute, but what a fun game for him. He has had a rough year from being traded from the team that picked you #1 so they could go with a guy who might go to jail and at best wasn’t going to play until week 12. To being cut from the team you got traded to after falling to 3rd string behind Sam Darnold and PJ Walker. To showing up Tuesday and then playing on Thursday. There is a lot of hate towards Baker. I don’t mind Baker. As I told one friend, he is like the loud obnoxious kid on your team. When you are winning it is alright and you sort of just put up with it, but when you are losing it gets old real fast. Unfortunately for the Rams I think this was a one hit wonder and they will go back to losing on Monday.

Raider’s gonna raider again: Raiders

After a short hiatus from this category because of Derek Carr’s tears, they are back! And I am so happy. This is where they belong. And they got their in the best sort of way. First of all, they couldn’t get 1 yard to close out the game even though they have the running back with the most yards in the league. Then they punt and pin them all the way on the 2. Enter Baker for a 98 yard drive assisted by an unnecessary holding penalty and then my personal favorite an unsportsmanlike penalty. They actually sacked Baker but then one of their idiotic players knocked the ball out of his hands when he was trying to give it to the ref. This stopped the clock, gave them 15 yards and a first down. Then for some reason, they decide to go with press coverage with 12 seconds left and give up a touchdown in man to man coverage. Richard Sherman hasn’t been this upset after a game since he was yelling “run the ball!”. Even Baker was like, yeah I couldn’t believe they were in that coverage. So bad and so awesome all at once. It’s great to have you back Raiders.

The Ride is almost over: Broncos

The Broncos had their best offensive day of the year and still lost. Wilson is concussed and will probably miss this weeks game. I am going to have to sit through Brett Rypien versus Colt McCoy…yuck. But the good news is, it is almost over. After the summer Broncos hype train, they are eliminated from the playoffs with 4 weeks to go. But only 4 more games of “Let’s ride.” I can’t wait to see what Russ’s tagline is next year. The suspense is killing me.

Team we should blow out but instead will beat by 10: Texans

The Texans just played the game of their lives and lost a close one to the Cowboys. I doubt they have a second performance in them. Their one good offensive player, Dameon Pierce is hurt. This has blow out written all over it. But I am sure we will start out slow…take a decent lead into half time, turn the ball over a couple of times and end up winning by 10. Go Chiefs and stuff.

Every week I give you 5 picks and more importantly storylines for this weekend’s games. I had an off week last week going 3-2 bringing my total to 11-4 over the last few weeks. Let’s see if I can get back on track this week. Also, how about that game last night. Baker, baby! And Raiders gonna raider. More on that in my weekly rankings next Tuesday. Here are this week’s games.

The Jets vs the Team from New York: Jets @ Bills

Do you ever find it funny that the teams that have New York in their name actually play in New Jersey? Meanwhile, the team that actually plays in New York, everyone thinks…where is Buffalo again? The Bills are riding high after the Chiefs loss as they now control their own destiny to have home field advantage. The most Bills thing to do here is immediately lose.

The Jets meanwhile are coming off a devastating loss when they had multiple opportunities to score at the goal line and were denied against a Vikings defense that apparently doesn’t try until the opposing team gets to the 3 yard line. The Jets have been much better offensively since Mike White took over. And by better, I mean functional. And they beat the Bills with Zach Wilson which is even more impressive.

Since losing to the Jets, the Bills have decided they should probably occasionally run the ball. That seems to be working. Everything seems to be pointing towards the Bills here. They just beat up the Patriots. They have had extra days of rest. They lost Von Miller but have been playing good defense without him. But something just feels funny here.

There is something I like about this Jets team. It’s hard to imagine the Jets sweeping the Bills but a lot of things that have happened this year are hard to imagine. It’s hard to imagine that the Rams would be this bad. It’s hard to imagine that the Russell Wilson trade would be potentially the worst trade in NFL history. It’s hard to imagine that the NFC East would have all 4 teams with winning records going into week 14.

But I go back to the Bills doing things that hurt them right after they accomplish something good. Mike White goes off and the Jets do enough to pull the upset victory. They drive down the field late and our boy from Mo West, Greg Zeurlein hits the game winner. Go Griffs!

Jets 27 Bills 24

The guy the Chiefs can’t touch vs the guy who wants to be touched by everyone: Browns @ Bengals

The Bengals have our number for sure. But on Wednesday I read two articles from people that watched the film. One was a Bengals article that showed how they doubled and tripled teamed Chris Jones every chance they got. The other one was a Chiefs article pointing out that our defensive ends aren’t really good at anything. Both were well written and depressing. Burrow was basically untouched and he owns the Chiefs. What is funny is you know who owns Burrow? The Browns. He is 0-5 against them.

Meanwhile, on the other side of things, Massage boy played his first game in 700 days and it showed. He was awful. It would be the most Browns thing ever to trade all those draft picks, deal with the controversy, and give him a bunch of guaranteed money only for him to be terrible. Creepo’s line last week was 12 of 22 for 131 yards and an interception and a rating of 53.4%. Surely he will be better this week but he is also playing a much better team. The Browns desperately need this win but there is nothing about this team that makes me believe they are any good. And honestly, I think Watson makes them worse because they feel like they have to try to be something they are not. Hand off to Chubb as much as possible. That is really all they should do. But we all know Watson doesn’t like to be hands off (see what I did there).

The Bengals could be in for a let down after the big win, but I just think the Browns are too bad for it to matter. This game is closer than it should be but stupid Joe Cool takes over in the 4th quarter and gets his first win over the Browns. All it took was for Baker Mayfield to leave. There’s a guy who went from leading the Browns to their first playoff victory to barely being claimed off waivers in less than two years. To somehow leading the Rams to improbable win after practicing for just 2 days. He’s had a a crazy year. Ironically, the Browns won more with Mayfield then they are now. Classic Browns.

Bengals 30 Browns 20

My Childhood team vs Dirty Detroit: Vikings @ Lions

If you like pretty good offense against subpar defense, then this is the game for you. The Vikings were actually my NFC team as a kid. I was always a Chiefs fan first but in the 80’s the Chiefs were pretty bad so you found other teams to cheer for as well. My older brother was a Bears fan. So naturally I picked the second place team in that division to cheer for. Plus I liked the color purple. The actual color, not the movie. I mean it is a fine movie, but not something I was watching at 6 years old. Anyway, I went pretty all in on the Vikes. I watched them almost make a surprise appearance to the super bowl in 1987. They beat the Saints in the wild card game and then upset the 49ers. All was going well until they ran into Doug Williams and the then Washington Redskins. A couple of years later they got a guy named Chris Carter on their team. He became my favorite player in the league. “All he does is catch touchdowns!” He did catch a lot of touchdowns but he also caught a lot of passes. A few years later, they drafted a guy named Randy Moss. In 1998 they went 15-1 and in true Vikings fashion became the first 15-1 team to not make the Super Bowl. Gary Anderson had not missed a kick all year but in that game, guess what he did. Missed a FG. If my wife is reading this, she is thinking why can you remember all these random facts from the 80’s and 90’s but you can’t remember what I tell you I want for Christmas. Literally, she tells me stuff all the time, texts me ideas and I immediately forget them. Don’t worry honey, your Patrick Mahomes jersey is on it’s way.

The following year, me and some buddies wanted to watch the high flying Vikings play in person. They were playing in KC so we sat around and waited for tickets to become available. You remember when that was a thing? But unfortunately by the time we were able to select the tickets they were sold out. So then we decided that we could go to Minnesota and check out a game. We selected the very last game of the year against…you guessed it….against the Detroit Lions. See how things are coming full circle. We would see this awesome team play against Barry Sanders. How cool would that be? Well we will never know for multiple reasons. First, Barry Sanders retired like a week after we bought the tickets. Secondly, the Vikings weren’t nearly as good. Then when it became time to go to the game, all my buddies wanted to back out. I got them all fired up that it would be a great experience and it was still an NFL game and we wouldn’t always all be young and single with little responsibilities. It was a good speech, as you can imagine. So we loaded into Evan’s Dodge Shadow and headed north. We spent the night at his sister’s house in Iowa and then the next morning we were on our way to the Metro Dome. There was one little problem. It was January in Minnesota. I fell asleep on the drive and woke up to the dodge shadow spinning in the median because we were driving in a blizzard. My buddies decided to turn back and I could not convince them otherwise this time.

I stayed loyal to the Vikings but over time my fandom waned up until 2005 and the Boat incident. If you don’t remember this, just give it a google but don’t dig too deep. You might be disturbed. Just imagine if Deshaun Watson threw a party on a couple of boats. Squeaky clean Nate Burleson was on the boat. He is on like every show now. I doubt anyone will ask him about it though. That was the last straw and so from then on I just focused on the Chiefs and Mizzou Football.

Oh yeah, the game. The Lions just won at home and haven’t won two in a row at home since 2016. No one is better at keeping streaks like this alive than the Lions but neither team can play defense so it should be fun.

Vikings 30 Lions 27

The Goat vs Mr. Irrelevant: Bucs @ 49ers

This is such a great story line. Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy was the very last pick in the 2022 draft. With Trey Lance as the guy coming into the season, the 49ers unsuccessfully tried to trade away Jimmy G. No one wanted him. So despite them not giving him a playbook and letting him practice with the team, he just hung around. Purdy getting some of those reps instead seemed to have paid off. Jimmy G was thrust into playing after Lance got hurt and was out for the season. At some point you have to question the 49ers medical staff. They have had more injuries over the last few years than any team I can remember. Last week Jimmy G broke his foot of all things. Which made Mr. Irrelevant quickly relevant. Purdy did just fine leading his team to victory and throwing for 210 yards, 2 touchdowns and a pick.

The Goat on the other hand has had an uphill battle this season. First he retired and then came out of retirement which did not please his hot wife. The beginning of the season started rocky for sure both on and off the field as he lost several games and his wife. But once the hot distraction got out of the way, the Bucs started winning games. They still lost to the lowly Browns in OT and every game seems to be close, but they are in first place in their division at 6-6. Luckily for them they play in the worst division in football. They could likely finish 7-10 or 8-9 and win the division. But I think 9-8 is the worst they could be and could be much better than that if they win this game. They play the 49ers this week and the Bengals next week but even if they lose both of those, they finish with Arizona, Carolina and Atlanta. Nothing would be more Goat then winning the division at 8-9 and then leading your team to the super bowl.

Although, Tom can relate to Brock being a late round draft pick, it is hard to imagine him losing to a guy who has never started a game. I think the Tampa defense will be ready to go and Todd Bowles will confuse the young kid in his first start. Brock seems just arrogant enough for this not to matter to him. He is a funny kid that stated earlier in the week, Tom has been playing in the NFL longer than I’ve been alive. But in the end, I think this will be another low scoring game with a late touchdown drive by Brady giving the NFC South a team with a winning record for the first time in weeks. Spoiler alert, I think Tom Brady is the starting quarterback of the 49ers in 2023.

Bucs 23 49ers 16

The Most uncomfortable game of the year: Chiefs @ Broncos

As you all know, I am big football fan and a huge Chiefs fan. What most of you also probably know is that my wife is a huge Broncos fan. She isn’t a fair weather fan and has been loyal since she was a little kid. She has experienced all the ups and downs and watches almost every game. She missed the game in London because she loves sleep more than she loves the Broncos. Here are her unofficial rankings.

1. Jesus
2. Me and the kids
3. The rest of her family
4. Our muppet of a dog
5. Sleep
6. Broncos

Anyway, every week we sit and watch football on Sundays. We both sort of cheer for each others teams. I don’t really like the Broncos and she doesn’t really like the Chiefs but we do like each other and more importantly we like when the other person is in a good mood.

But twice a year we have to awkwardly watch our teams play each other. Even though we have won 13 in a row…pausing for a sec to soak in that…several of the games have been close. Just last year the Broncos had us on the ropes until Melvin Gordon fumbled at the goal line and Drew Lock made a similar attempt that I could make to try and tackle Nick Bolton.

Most games during the season we are loud, celebrating touchdowns and big plays. Well, Danielle hasn’t done that much this season but usually she gets to do it at least a little. But when the Chiefs play the Broncos we both just sit their sort of quietly. It is almost better if it is a blow out because then at least we know it is over and can relax a little.

We literally sit on opposite ends of the couch and watch the game quietly. We don’t talk much during the game and then we don’t talk much after the game for a while. For most of you reading that are Chiefs fans, this is probably a fun week. I love Raiders and Chargers weeks especially lately. But I hate Broncos week. There are no winners in the Campbell house. And this year is even worse for me. If we lose, I will be very upset. Not because the streak would end but because the Broncos are so dang awful. On the flipside if we win, then we will have won 14 times in a row which is awesome but terrible for my wife. So this is really a lose, lose for us.

Now lets talk about the game for a second. We have the number 1 ranked offense against the number 1 ranked defense. So that is a good story line. The Broncos do have a good defense but it isn’t like they have played a ton of offensive juggernauts. Also, this defense has to be about ready to call it quits. I mean you can’t keep carrying this team to low scoring loss after low scoring loss without eventually cracking. Playing a pissed off Chiefs team after a loss is the perfect time for them to break.

On the flip side, the Chiefs defense is okay…sort of middle of the pack. But the Broncos offense is one of the worst things I have ever seen in NFL history. They aren’t good at anything. They are terrible on 3rd down. Russ gets sacked 2 or more times a game. They have a ton of injuries. They aren’t very good at running and they are worse at passing. I have sat through a lot of these games and I don’t see any possible way they can score enough points to win this game. The Broncos average 13.8 points per game. They have averaged 11.7 points per game the last 3 weeks. I can’t imagine a scenario where the Chiefs don’t score at least 20.

After all the offseason hype, the poor Broncos somehow got worse. Their quarterback is a ball full of positive energy and no self awareness. He has a lot of skill sets but reading the room apparently isn’t one. Russ has 8 touchdown passes. 8! A couple of weeks ago he was the #33 best fantasy quarterback. There are only 32 teams. The running joke on sports radio around here is that he will finish with more bathrooms than touchdown passes. Apparently he has 12 bathrooms in his house. It is looking more and more realistic that he will not hit that number in passing touchdowns. Their coach is even more lost and doesn’t seem to understand what he is even supposed to be doing or saying half the time. Then you tack on that they are missing about half their offensive starters and it is a recipe for disaster. The one thing they are good at is not turning the ball over so they have that going for them. But it doesn’t matter a whole lot when you go 3 and out most of the time.

The Chiefs usually play down to their opponents but I don’t think they can play this low. The Chiefs win big and the streak goes to 14. And I will be watching it all sitting uncomfortably on the far end of the couch. The only good news…we have is a new couch is being delivered today. Our current couch has all sorts of issues. It is beat up, broken springs, holes, you name it. It is the Bermuda triangle for remotes and other items. If you care about something, don’t bring it to our couch. You may never see it again. Anyway, we get a new one today. So that will make our uncomfortable Sunday a little more comfortable. So that is nice.

Chiefs 30 Broncos 16