Just a quick word about the Wildcard games of the past week and the playoffs next week:
Brady‘s Buccaneers only got in because the division is so horrible. After all, they made it in with a losing record. So, it comes as no surprise that the lost to the Dallas Cowboys. People are saying that the Cowboys are a great team because of that win. Again, I will caution them against the heavy praise after playing against a sub-par team that should not have been in the Wildcard and wouldn’t have been if we were following the rules a few years ago.
That brings me to who the Cowboys will be facing next week – the San Francisco 49ers. I have to say that I like this team. They lost two quarterbacks and are winning with their third string! This is a team that has gelled like no other and each member of the team works hard to win, offense or defense. There was no way that Gino Smith and the Seattle Seahawks were going to walk all over them. The 49ers are going to be a hard team to beat in the playoffs.
I expected the NY Giants to win over the Minnesota Vikings who have been incredibly inconsistent over the past few weeks. Kirk Cousins did one thing right during this game – he didn’t throw a pick, something he is very good for at least once or twice a game. That being said, the Giants just seemed to want it more. Much is being said about Daniel Jones, and though I will agree that he made better decisions and played better in this game, one can’t deny Sequan Barkley‘s role in this offense. Without him and some really good defense, the Giants don’t win this game. But can they win against the Philadelphia Eagles? If the Eagles play against them like they did the last time they met, when the Giants almost beat them with their third string players on the field, then yes they can!
Was there any doubt that the Cincinnati Bengals would win over the Baltimore Ravens? Not in my mind, though I did expect the game to be rather nasty. Both teams are hard-hitting, but I look at the Ravens as kind of dirty hard-hitters. Their quarterback tried valiantly, but without Lamar Jackson, this team is one-dimensional. Tyler Huntley tried, but he is not a running quarterback…not Jackson caliber.
The Buffalo Bills should have squashed the Miami Dolphins, especially without Tua Tagovailoa. Instead, they decided to make it interesting thanks to Josh Allen‘s inability to cough up the ball to the other team and the defense‘s inability to stop the Dolphins from scoring. The Bills better shore things up if they want to get further in the playoffs. The rematch between the Bills and Bengals is going to be very emotional. I’m not sure what to expect from this game. Though I want the Bills, I would not be surprised if the Bengals won.
No one could have predicted that Trevor Lawrence‘s Jaguars would have beat Justin Herbert‘s Chargers. Sure, the Jaguars had momentum, but woah! As a football fan who hated Lawrence’s attitude when he hit the NFL, I can definitely see some maturity in the young quarterback. I especially was heartened by the fact that he didn’t blame the team or coaches for any of his failings, just shouldered his issues and said he had to get better. And better he did get. But can he go to KC and win against Mahomes and the Chiefs? I don’t think so!
What do you think?
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Okay, so I was not perfect regarding my picks for the playoffs, but I was right about the 49ers. My hope is that they are so in the zone that they beat the Eagles. Either way, that is going to be one helluva game!. I expected the Chiefs to beat the Jaguars, but I didn’t expect that dirty hit that caused Mahomes’ high ankle sprain. Hopefully he recovers in time for the Chiefs to take on the Bengals. My heart wants the Chiefs, but the Bengals are really focused. They want this super bowl bad and they have been a force to reckon with. Either way, another great game. The playoffs have been awesome so far.
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Now that the playoffs are done, I can make my Super Bowl predictions. I was wrong about the 49ers, but I have a real problem with the way the Eagles did their very best to take out the quarterback during this game…twice. And I would just like to comment on the way the officials were calling the roughing the passer penalties during this whole wildcard/playoffs thing – letting teams actively attempt to take out the quarterback as you did during the Jaguars/Chiefs game and during the Eagles/49ers game, when you were calling nonsense roughing the passer penalties all year long, is unacceptable.
Who knows how the Eagles/49ers game would have turned out if the Eagles hadn’t used the same nasty hit to take out not one, but two quarterbacks in the same game? Were they afraid of facing Purdy on a level playing field? I dare say it wasn’t a level playing field, because I didn’t see Hurts do anything special during that win…a win mostly earned on defensive penalties, dirty plays and short passes.
And that’s why I am choosing the Kansas City Chiefs to win this game. Even injured, Mahomes is a play-maker far more talented than Hurts is currently.
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Wow! What a game! But it went just the way I expected with Mahomes and his team landing a victory. Each member of the Chiefs put it all on the line in the second half and that effort got them the win.
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