The Shenoa Report
January 9, 2021
Super Wild Card Weekend
It’s hard to believe that we are only through the first week of 2021. It was a doozy. In all the political chaos I made sure to check in on my good friend who said, "Thanks for checking in! The bright note was the Washington Football Team winning.” Eh, not so much for me, my friend. In the words of Eli Manning, “This is why we don’t like the Eagles.” My friend is a big fan of Alex Smith, as am I, but it’s hard to be happy for the Football Team with the way they “won.” Anyway…
We are headed into Super Wild Card Weekend, not just Wild Card Weekend, it’s super because there are six games instead of four! See, 2021 is already better… Ugh.
Last week I went 12-4 on picks. Here’s the recap of week 17.
Dolphins @ Bills 26-56
Without Ryan Fitzpatrick to fall back on the Dolphins really didn’t have a chance at winning this game, and the Bills did not let them down easy. Buffalo wanted to win to lock up home field advantage and their head coach said their starters would play until they were up by 50. That never happened but the Bills locked up home field advantage without so much as batting an eye. Bills Mafia, are you ready for the playoffs?!?!?!? You’ll host the Colts next with fans in the stands for Wild Card Weekend.
Ravens @ Bengals 38-3
With this win the Ravens will be in the postseason, and it was a heck of a win. The Bengals who looked strong as of late, were stomped, being shut out in 3 of the 4 quarters. They managed only one field goal so they weren’t shut out. I’m sure Bengals fans are glad the season is over. The Ravens will travel to Tennessee to face the Titans in the Wild Card.
Steelers @ Browns 22-24
There was so much stacked against the Browns that even facing the Steelers B team I didn’t expect Cleveland to win. But they did and now they are headed to the postseason for the first time since 2002. The NFL’s longest postseason drought is over. Now the Browns almost blew it as they were up 24-9 early in the fourth before letting the Steelers come to within a 2 point conversion, finally recovering an onside kick to run out the clock and get the win. Fun fact: Nick Chubb went for over 1,000 yards for the second straight season. His 47-yard touchdown run put him into quadruple digits even though he missed four games this season. I’m so glad he was my #1 RB this season in fantasy. The Browns will travel to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers again next week for Wild Card Weekend.
Vikings @ Lions 37-35
This game was pretty evenly matched because both teams were pretty subpar this season.
Falcons @ Buccaneers 27-44
Brady threw the ball a lot, had 4 touchdown passes, and will bring the Bucs to the postseason for the first time in years. The Bucs will travel to Washington for Wild Card Weekend
Jets @ Patriots 14-28
Cam Newton had 3 touchdown passes and caught another to put the Patriots over the Jets in this meaningless game. And that is the last time I have to write about the Patriots till next season!
Cowboys @ NY Giants 19-23
The Giants were ON POINT! I mean they made mistakes and it was a heart wrenching game, with that almost fumble that Wayne Gallman had at the end of the game. But I was proud of the G-Men after this win. The defense played well, holding Zeke Elliot to 42 yards, not letting him get to that 1,000 yard season and picked off Andy Dalton for a would be touchdown. Everything was going as planned. The Giants did their part to get into the postseason. It was all up to archrivals Eagles to do the rest and open the door…
Packers @ Bears 35-16
The Packers won the game and a first round bye in the playoffs. The Bears squeaked in the playoffs as well because of the Cardinals loss. Aaron Rodgers joined Peyton Manning as the only players to throw for at least 45 touchdowns in multiple seasons. Rodgers is at 48 on the season, with just 5 interceptions. And to think he sat on my fantasy bench most of the season. The Bears go to New Orleans next and the Packers rest for a week.
Raiders @ Broncos 32-31
This game was playing out just like last year's season finale. The Raiders were down 2 after scoring a touchdown with just 24 seconds left in the game. Last season, the Raiders went for the 2 point conversion to try to win the game rather than kicking the extra point to send it to overtime. They did not convert and lost the game. I found myself yelling at the tv “just kick the extra point and send it into overtime”! Jon Gruden, did not listen to my words. The whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion. On the last play of the game Derek Carr dropped back and drilled it right into the arms of Darren Waller, who held on, and the Raiders actually won their last game of the season. It was pretty amazing, and unbelievable.
Jaguars @ Colts 14-28
With a Miami loss the Colts are also heading to the playoffs and it’s all thanks to rookie Jonathan Taylor. Taylor had 253 rushing yards and two touchdowns in this win over Jacksonville. The Colts head to Orchard Park to face the Bills in the Wild Card.
Chargers @ Chiefs 38-21
The Chiefs rested their starters and it really showed. Justin Herbert threw for over 300 yards and had 4 touchdowns in this meaningless win over KC. The win wasn’t enough to save coach Anthony Lynn’s job. He was let go.
Cardinals @ Rams 7-18
John Wolford threw an interception in his NFL debut as the starting quarterback for the Rams. But the Rams defense stepped up big and won the game for L.A. It helped that Kyler Murray had an ankle injury that took him out for most of the game. Now the Rams find themselves playoff bound and will travel to Seattle for the Wild Card game.
Seahawks @ 49ers 26-23
The 49ers have had a rough go of it. They moved their team to Arizona December 2nd temporarily because of the pandemic and failed to win any of their “home” games. This game was much of the same. It was good, it was close, but it was another “home” loss. The Seahawks got the win and will host the Rams for their Wild Card game.
Saints @ Panthers 33-7
The Saints won this game handily and they did it without Alvin Kamara. The Saints defense had 5 interceptions and Drew Brees threw for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Saints will host the Bears in the Wild Card game.
Titans @ Texans 41-38
After the rant that J.J. Watt had last week, you could see the way that the Houston players played was different, better. I really thought that the Texans were going to pull off a major upset. Sure, the defense couldn’t contain Derrick Henry who rushed for 250 yards in the game and surpassed 2,000 yards for the season. But the Texans played hard, more so than they had all season. As Titans rookie Sam Sloman’s 37-yard field goal bounced off the upright and through for the win over Houston I felt sad for Texans fans, and J.J. Watt. With the win the Titans will host the Ravens for the Wild Card game.
Washington @ Eagles 20-14
Twitter feed during this game:
“Can someone make it make sense to me what’s going on…?” -Saquon Barkley
“This is why we don’t like the Eagles.” Eli Manning replied.
“Why on gods [sic] green earth is Jalen Hurts not in the game” -Darius Slayton
“I think the eagles just hate us more than washington. That’s the only thing that could make sense right?” -Golden Tate
“For real though?” - Jabrill Peppers
“This is a joke right??” -Brian Westbrook
“They really throwing it #PutJalenIn” -Adrian Colbert
“You play the game to win point blank period JJ Watt said it best the other day outside of how it effects [sic] us this [is] just disrespectful to the game” -Darius Slayton
“To disrespect the game by going out there and not competing for 60 minutes and doing everything you can to help those players win. We will never do that as long as I’m the head coach of the Giants.” -Joe Judge on Eagles loss.
Philadelphia decided to not go for a field goal late in the third then turned it over on downs. On their next possession, Doug Pederson benched QB Jalen Hurts (who scored the team's only touchdowns of the game) to put in Nate Sudfeld. Who? Yeah, that’s right. I had to look up that he’s been on the team for 4 seasons and had appeared in just 3 games. Sudfeld hadn’t thrown a pass since 2018 and threw a pick on his second pass, then he had a fumble. And just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, the Eagles jumped offsides on a fourth-down and inches in Washington’s clock-killing drive that ended the game.
Congrats Washington, you did nothing to win this game, Philly, instead, did everything to lose it. Washington will host the Bucs in Wild Card weekend. Good luck Football Team, you’ll need it.
WILD CARD WEEKEND
Saturday, January 9th
Colts (11-5) @ Bills (13-3) (1:05pm CBS)
The Bills Stadium, with a limited number of fans (about 6,700) in attendance, will host their first playoff game in 24 years. Under state guidelines, each person entering the stadium must first test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of kickoff. I am so happy for all the Bills fans. They Bill-eved when no one else did. I will also be a Bills fan this Saturday. I am rooting for them and picking them to win, but I won’t be breaking any tables in the process.
Rams (10-6) @ Seahawks (12-4) (4:40pm FOX)
For the second time in three weeks these two teams will play each other. It’ll be the third time this season, with the series split between them up to this point. The Rams still don’t know if Jared Goff will be able to play after having thumb surgery just two weeks ago. I’m picking the Seahawks to win, their defense has been playing lights out recently, and I think they are the better team.
Buccaneers (11-5) @ Washington (7-9) (8:15pm NBC)
I’d love to see the Football Team win this game, really I would, I just wish that it was the Giants playing the Bucs, that’s all. I know the Giants can beat Tom Brady, the Football Team, I’m not so sure. I’m picking the Bucs to win this game, but I’ll be rooting for the NFC East Football Team.
Sunday, January 10th
Ravens (11-5) @ Titans (11-5) (1:05pm ABC/ESPN)
The Titans put an end to the Ravens Super Bowl run last post season and are looking to do the same thing this time around. I’m all for it. I’m rooting for, and picking the Titans to win this game.
Bears (8-7) @ Saints (12-4) (4:40pm CBS)
The Saints still don’t know if they will have Alvin Kamara for this game, as he tested positive last week and missed their season finale. I think the Saints will win this game, I really don’t think the Bears have a chance. I’m picking the Saints to win and I think they are just happy they aren’t playing the Vikings, who have ended their Super Bowl hopes two seasons in a row.
Browns (11-5) @ Steelers (12-4) (8:15pm NBC)
This will be a very different game than last week’s. The Steelers starters are all rested and ready to go. The Browns will be without head coach Kevin Stefanski, who has tested positive for COVID-19. The Browns haven’t made the postseason in almost two decades, and it was just 3 years ago that they went 0-16. It was a heck of a run this season but I think it ends for Cleveland in the Wild Card weekend. I’m picking the Steelers to win this game but I’ll be rooting for the Browns.
Thanks for the edit Eric!
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