January 11, 2020
Divisional Round
Guys, it’s 63 degrees outside right now. Therefore we spent the past couple of hours outside doing some yard work rather than writing my report. Nothing like procrastination. If it weren’t for the last minute, I’d have no time at all.
First off, I want to send out my sincerest condolences to the Bills and Saints fans. That’s not the way the games were supposed to go. And saying the refs didn’t help is a vast understatement. Maybe next season…
The NFL coaching carousel continues to spin. The NY Giants made the biggest spin by hiring Joe Judge. Who? It’s like the 2019 Draft all over again. But really who is Joe Judge? He was most recently the fricken special team coordinator/wide receivers coach for the Patriots… I can’t even. Icing on the cake, they gave him a 5 year contract! Now Jerry Jones and the Cowboys look like the level headed ones by picking up former Green Bay head coach, Mike McCarthy. Mike McCarthy did spend the night at Jerry Jones’ house before the deal was made though… Matt Rhule, Baylor football coach has become the new head coach for the Panthers. While Ron Rivera, former Panthers head coach, becomes the Redskins head coach. The Browns, though they haven’t made a decision yet are leaning to Josh McDaniels, Patriots offensive coordinator.
I went 2-2 in my picks last week. I was ok getting the Pats - Titans game wrong, I was not ok with getting the Saints - Vikings game wrong.
We are heading into the division round this weekend weekend; two games today and two games tomorrow.
But first, here is the recap for Wild Card Weekend.
Bills @ Texans 19-22 OT
In true Bills fashion, they blew a 16 point lead in the third quarter and ended up losing the game in overtime. The refs were not on their side, for sure, but Josh Allen didn’t really do the Bills any favors. Bills fans everywhere are still discussing, quite vehemently, three key plays during this game. The first one was when Texans’ kick returner DeAndre Carter caught the ball in the endzone and then nonchalantly tossed it to the official. The ref treated it like a live ball and one of the Bills players picked it up, recovering the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. But then the officials decided to change their ruling with “common sense” even though Carter did not kneel or call a fair catch…. Now the NFL is going to have to clarify what a player needs to do to clearly “give yourself up”. The second play came in overtime when the Bills were nearing field-goal range to attempt a game winning field goal. Unfortunately officials called Bills’ right tackle, Cody Ford for a blindside block and backed them up 15 yards and out of field goal range. Only, it wasn’t actually a BLINDSIDE BLOCK! The last play happened in overtime when the referees appeared to miss a critical delay of game on the Texans winning drive. Twitter erupted with screen shots of the play clock showing 0.0 before Deshawn Watson snapped the ball. This delay of game could have ended the drive, giving the Bills a chance to get the ball and try to score in OT. Maybe next season Bills…
The Texans move on to face the Chiefs.
Titans @ Patriots 20-13
I got this pick wrong and I’m totally ok with it. Although the Patriots scored first they didn’t score at all in the second half. Titans’ Derrick Henry ran all over the Pats with 182 rushing yards and a touchdown. One of Tennessee’s scoring drives was 75 yards where Henry had all of the yards, except for the touchdown. It became glaringly clear that New England did not have an answer for Henry. Tom Brady had a chance to win the game for the Patriots in the final seconds of regulation but instead threw a pick six to former Patriot Logan Ryan. It was pretty poetic if you ask me.
Vikings @ Saints 26-20 OT
I just don’t know what happened to the Saints. They should have blown the Vikings right out of the Super Dome. I’m still a little miffed. I mean, the Vikings did get back Dalvin Cook who had been out for the last two games of the regular season with a shoulder injury. But that shouldn’t have been a game changer. Only it was. Cook had 130 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns in this win over the Saints. Unfortunately, I knew this Saints senario all too well having Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara, and Jared Cook on my fantasy team this past season. Brees instead of multiple touchdowns he had multiple turnovers, Kamara was abysmal with 21 total rushing yards, and Cook was pretty much absent.
The Saints had another non-call that should have been a penalty in overtime, which would have taken away the game winning touchdown for the Vikings. It was clear that Kyle Rudolph pushed off a defender to catch the game winning touchdown… Only, the refs didn’t even review it… Sorry Saints fans, maybe next season. The Vikings will travel to San Fransisco to play the 49ers.
Seahawks @ Eagles 17-9
Russell Wilson was in his element, having already beaten the Eagles four other times in the playoffs, this game made it 5 times. Wilson threw a 53 yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf and Marshawn Lynch had a rushing score as well in this win. Jadeveon Clowney knocked out Carson Wentz, who had never played in a playoff game before, and still hasn’t finished a playoff game. Nick Foles wasn’t in Philadelphia this time to rescue the Eagles. Josh McCown, forty year old back up quarterback, took over for the injured Wentz and because Philadelphia failed to activate a third string quarterback before the game McCown finished the game with a torn hamstring. The Seahawks will be traveling to Green Bay to take on the Packers in the Divisional Round.
Divisional Round
Saturday, January 11th
Vikings (10-6) @ 49ers (13-3) [4:35pm NBC]
I think this is going to be a pretty evenly matched game. The 49ers are coming off their bye refreshed and ready to go. The Vikings are flying high after beating the Saints in the Super Dome, which no one saw coming except maybe die hard Vikings fans. I’m picking the 49ers to win this game, if only for home field advantage. But, after the Vikings win last week I wouldn’t be surprised if they shocked the 49ers. We’ll see.
Titans (9-7) @ Ravens (14-2) [8:15pm CBS]
Even though the Titans spoiled the Pats chance at another Super Bowl appearance I don’t think they are going to be able to knock off the Ravens. Then again I was shocked to see the Vikings and the Titans win last weekend sooo…. Who knows. I’m picking the Ravens to win this game because I don’t think that the Titans can contain Lamar Jackson. This game will have 5 Heisman Trophy Winners on the sidelines Lamar Jackson, RG3, Mark Ingram, Derrick Henry, and Marcus Mariota, which is just an interesting fun fact. We might not see Robert Griffin or Marcus Mariota because they are both backup QBs or Mark Ingram because he may not play due to injury.
Sunday, January 12th
Texans (10-6) @ Chiefs (12-4) [3:05pm CBS] .
Both Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes were in the same draft class and picked 10th and 12th overall. The Chiefs moved up to get Mahomes and the Texans pounced to get Watson. Now these two quarterbacks will face off in the playoffs for the first time. These teams played each other in week 6 of the regular season with the Texans getting the win. I don’t think they will win this time around. I’m picking the Chiefs to win this game.
Seahawks (11-5) @ Packers (13-3) [6:40pm FOX]
I don’t know, this is the toughest game for me to pick. The Packers haven’t wowed me at all this year, especially because I had Aaron Rodgers as my starting quarterback in fantasy and he let me down more than anyone else. On the other side of the field I had Tyler Lockett, Seattle’s wide receiver, who wasn’t much better. Green Bay is supposed to get about a foot of snow this weekend which could make things a little more exciting. Wilson is 0-3 as a starter at Lambeau and the Seahawks are 1-9 all time in the Packers’ Stadium. Statistics are fun. With that all being said I think I’m going to continue my trend and go with the home team for the win. I’m picking the Packers to win this game but wouldn’t be surprised if the Seahawks spoiled it.
Thanks for the edit Eric!
No comments:
Post a Comment