The Shenoa Report
January 18, 2025
Divisional Weekend
Guys. There are only eight teams left in the playoffs and after this weekend there will only be four. I’m already sad that the season is almost over. I should be relieved. My fantasy teams sucked, the NY Giants sucked, and 2024 as a whole sucked. But here I am at the start of 2025 already missing/stressing about football. Like, how badly will the Giants mess up their draft picks this year? I’ve already seen who the Giants play next season and I feel like we’ll win less than we did this season. But I digress. I love football and I am sad it’s almost over.
We’ve got two games today and two games tomorrow. And if you’re into it, The College Football National Championship game is Monday. Notre Dame will take on Ohio State. It should be a fun game. I went 5-1 on my picks last week. Before we get to Divisional Weekend, let’s jump into the recap.
Wildcard Weekend Recap
Chargers @ Texans 12-32
The Texans defense woke up this game. They intercepted Justin Herbert four times, which was a career high for him. Herbert threw just three interceptions total in the regular season and had never thrown more than two in a game before this. Not a good day for the Chargers quarterback, but a great day for Houston. Though it didn’t start out that way. The Texans fumbled on their first play on offense and were down 6-0 with about a minute left in the first half. C.J. Stroud, who had already thrown an interception early in the second quarter, threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Niko Collins late in the second to put the Texans on top. Ka’imi Fairbairn added a 41-yard field goal to give Houston a 10-6 lead going into halftime. They never looked back and the Chargers never threatened again. Next up, the Texans will head to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs in the divisional round.
Steelers @ Ravens 14-28
This wasn’t much of a game really. Kinda boring. I mean, I feel like everyone knew who would win this game before it had even started. The Ravens are incredible this year and the Steelers, not so much. In fact, they were lucky to even make it into wildcard weekend after losing their previous four games. The Ravens are scary good. I mean they’ve got Derrick Henry, who had two rushing touchdowns in this lopsided win. Oh yeah, and their quarterback is pretty decent as well. Lamar Jackson has already had a record breaking season and he just continues to add to his accomplishments. Jackson had two passing touchdowns in the first half and went 16 of 21 for 175 yards and rushed for 81. Baltimore outrushed Pittsburgh 299-29. It was the most yards rushing allowed by Pittsburgh in a playoff game, breaking the mark of 232 set by the Oakland Raiders 51 years ago. Up next, the Ravens head to Buffalo to take on the Bills in the divisional round. I hope the Bills are prepared for this.
Broncos @ Bills 7-31
This game started out stressful AF. Bo Nix and the Broncos started the day with a five-play opening drive that ended with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Troy Franklin. The drive only took two minutes and twenty four seconds. Ugh, I thought. The Bills really need to step up their defense. Nix made the opening drive look super easy. The Bills were able to score a field goal in the middle of the first quarter but that didn’t lend much confidence to my fragile heart when it came to rooting for my sidepiece. But I also didn’t know that the Bills would shut out the Broncos for the rest of the game. I don’t think I started to feel comfortable until the end of the third quarter when the Bills were up by two touchdowns. Josh Allen completed 20 of 26 attempts for 272 yards passing and two touchdowns in this win and the running game combined for 210 yards. Buffalo slowly wore down the Broncos by scoring on six of their first seven drives in a game where the Bills finished with a 23-minute edge in time of possession. Tyler Bass had three field goals, James Cook had a rushing touchdown, and both Ty Johnson and Curtis Samuel caught touchdown passes from Josh Allen. Keep it up Buffalo!
Cook became Buffalo’s first player to top 100 yards rushing in a playoff game since Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas had 158 yards rushing in a 1995 wild-card playoff win over Miami. Allen increased his playoff total to 23 passing touchdowns, breaking the franchise record of 21 held by Hall of Famer Jim Kelly. Next up, the Bills will host the Ravens in the divisional weekend.
Packers @ Eagles 10-22
There was no point in this game where I thought, “so you’re telling me there’s a chance” when it came to the Packers getting this win. I mean, at one point of the game, Eagles WR AJ Brown was on the sidelines reading a book, not at all concerned that his team might lose. The game was on but it wasn’t fun to watch. If anything, I was surprised at how low scoring it actually was. Obviously the Eagles were the better team and I would have been shocked if they hadn’t won. I would have been happy, but shocked. Next up, the Eagles will host the Rams for the divisional game.
Commanders @ Buccaneers 23-20
This was the only pick I got wrong and it came down to the last play of the game; a field goal doink that bounced in. The Commanders kicker said after the winning doink that it’s better to be lucky than good. I suppose he’s right. I just hope the Commanders are all out of luck going forward. I really wanted the Bucs to win this game. But luck wasn’t on their side. Baker Mayfield didn’t have the best game and he lost a fumble at the end of the game that set up the field goal for the Commanders. It was just hard to watch. Next up the Commanders travel to Detroit to take on the Lions in the divisional round.
Vikings @ Rams 9-27
It was very evident from the beginning of this game that the Rams were not just playing for themselves they were playing for all of L.A. and those affected by the wildfires in California. They scored on their opening drive and never looked back. The Rams are more known for their wide receivers like Cooper Kupp and Puka Nakua than their defense ever since Aaron Donald retired. But the Rams defense managed to sack Sam Darnold an NFL playoff record-tying nine times in this romp over the Vikings. Darnold didn’t look like the quarterback for the Vikings, he resembled his QB days with the Jets or the Panthers. It wasn’t good. It was bad. Really bad. But a bad day for the Vikings was a really good day for the Rams and, honestly, they needed it more. Next up the Rams will travel to Philly to take on the Eagles for the divisional round.
DIVISIONAL ROUND WEEKEND
Saturday, January 18th
Texans (10-7) @ Chiefs (15-2) (4:30pm ABC/ESPN/ESPN+)
Five years ago the Texans and the Chiefs played each other in the divisional round game. The Texans had Deshawn Watson as their quarterback and the Chiefs were looking for their first Super Bowl with Andy Ried. So much has changed since then. Most of the Chiefs starters haven’t played since Christmas day. That’s a long time to be off. It might bite them in the ass. The Texans, on the other hand, have gained a lot of momentum in the past few weeks, knocking off their opponents left and right. Do I think the Texans could be the Chiefs, sure. Will I be rooting for them, yes, a little bit. Do I think the Chiefs should give someone else a turn at the Super Bowl, yes, yes I do. Do I think the Chiefs will win this game? I mean, yes, they are the luckiest team in the NFL. I’m picking the Chiefs to win this game but I wouldn’t be super disappointed if I was wrong.
Commanders (12-5) @ Lions (15-2) (8pm FOX)
The Lions host the Commanders on Saturday night as the NFC's top-seeded team for the 1st time in franchise history! Now with every win, the Lions make history. I hope they go all the way to the Super Bowl. I am allllll in on the Detroit Lions for the NFC! Let’s go! But seriously, that’s my pick and who I am rooting for. I hope they clobber the Commanders. I don’t want it to come down to a field goal. I want the Lions win to be substantial. GO LIONS!
Sunday, January 19th
Rams (10-7) @ Eagles (14-3) (3pm NBC/Peacock)
This is the one upset I am picking. Maybe it’s because I still have fire and tragedy on my mind or maybe it’s because I just don’t like the Eagles. Regardless, I am picking the Rams to win this game. They just have to come out with the ferocity they had last week against the Vikings. Both teams met in the regular season and the Eagles embarrassed the Rams at SoFi. I hope it’s the Rams embarrassing the Eagles at home this time around. Go Rams!
Ravens (12-5) @ Bills (13-4) (6:30pm CBS/Paramount +)
This is the game I am the most nervous about. Growing up I was so thankful that my dad raised me as a Giants fan, unlike all of my cousins, aunts, and uncles who seemed to be Bills fans. My gramma would try to give me Bills stuff, which I would refuse, because I was a Giants fan and the Bills were TERRIBLE. Now that I am grown and can make my own choices, I am an honorary Bills fan, and have been so for the last few years. It does help that the Giants are terrible but even in highschool I had an AFC and NFC team. I’ve just switched from the Colts to the Bills in the AFC.
Both the Ravens and Bills have had record breaking seasons and they are both fully qualified to win this game. That’s what makes me so nervous. It should be a good game, very back and forth, and will probably be high scoring. These two teams played each other in week 4 when the Ravens stomped the Bills. I hope the Bills remember this, of course they do, and use it as fuel for their own stomping. It’s supposed to be stupid cold in Buffalo which should give the Bills a bigger home field advantage. They are SO DUE. I will be rooting for and picking the Bills to win this game. GO BILLS!!!!!!! I Bill-ieve.
Thanks for the edit Eric!
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