Might as well start now since there's a lot to analyze... I'm doing the playoff challenge again...a self-imposed challenge that I read for years in Grantland and then The Ringer which consists on picking every playoff game correctly against the spread. I'm also putting my money where my mouth is so I'm betting 10 bucks on every pick I make. The goal is to go undefeated but there are 13 playoff games now. I'm setting my goal on 11 wins, as that was the number of playoff games for most of my life. So if I go 11-2 I'll be happy. Here are the lines as of monday morning. I might not pick until thursday or friday so they might change: Browns (-2.5) at Texans Dolphins at Chiefs (-3.5) Steelers at Bills (-10) Packers at Cowboys (-7.5) Rams at Lions (-3.5) Eagles (-2.5) at Bucs That's right. We have two home underdogs. I'm probably picking at least one of them but still don't know which one. BTW...lots of reunions: Tyreek Hill back in KC, Stafford back in Detroit, McCarthy facing the Packers, and the partners of the new Herschell Walker trade face off. Should be a fun week...
Belichick and the Patriots are parting ways. End of an era. I think he will be a decent DC for the Eagles. :)
Carroll and the Seahawks too...and Saban is retiring. Not too long ago I spoke about how I'd trade two 1st round picks for Bellichick. He wants the wins record, but can't build a team anymore...but he can still coach!! Come to the Cowboys, an already built team, and get your record...and 7th ring. Not so sure about that anymore, but if we go 1 and done in the playoffs AGAIN, we have to have a conversation about McCarthy... End of an era, indeed.
Back to the playoff talk...everybody seems to be picking the Cowboys and that makes me nervous. There's always one or two upsets in the first round. We're the 4th game out of 6. If the first 3 favorites win, I'll be oficially in panic mode.
Today is the 9 year anniversary of the Dez Bryant catch. Yes, it was a catch. I'm still not over it and I probably never will. Ironic that we face the Packers again this week. I have a bad feeling. I'm coming here to vent...
And speaking of signatures, yours is "Tebow free". Bellichick opened is farewell press conference today saying "I hadn't seen this many cameras here since we signed Tebow" XD.
The picks are in!! In the words of Dak Prescott: YEAH HERE WE GOOOOOO!!! Browns -2.5 over Texans. The Texans are probably just happy to be here so I don't know. I believe in the Flacco magic...especially because I want to see what happens if he makes a deep run. Chiefs -4.5 over Dolphins. The New Ice Bowl. I saw yesterday that temperature could be -30 degrees by kick-off. Are you kidding me? Tua is from Hawaii...now he lives in Miami. Yeah, it will be ugly. Taylor Swift and Kelce allegedly broke up...not that I care, but that's one less distraction. Ohh...also, never bet against Mahomes under any circumstances. Bills -10 over Steelers. The Steelers don't have TJ Watt and are starting Mason Rudolph at QB. The Bills are the hottest team in football right now. It's the perfect storm. The longest tenured coach in the league, Mike Tomlin, never had a losing season, but I don't even remember the last time he won a playoff game. Cowboys -7.5 over Packers. Don't over think it. The Cowboys are the better team. They're more experienced, and they have a chip on their shoulder. Ohh...and they're on a 16-1 streak at home. The Packers overachieved to make it here. Should be easy (I keep telling myself that). The boogey man (Rodgers) is gone. Time to be the boogey man again, like in the Favre years. Rams +3 over Lions. This is the worst possible match-up for the Lions. I think McVay knows exactly how to stop Goff. He'll be in his head all game long. A shame, really, because I like this Lions team. Buccaneers +3 over Eagles. The Bucs played really well before the last week of the season and the Eagles are in meltdown mode. The playoffs are always about who's playing better at the end and I don't think this Eagles team could beat anybody at this point. Sorry, Dawk. So yeah, I'm picking my two underdogs in the latter games so I'll probably be a mess by the time the Cowboys game kicks off. Also, don't take my advice...I barely broke even during the regular season. Enjoy the games, everybody!!
My rooting interests this weekend: Browns-Texans - I don't care much who wins this one because it would be cool for either team. Stroud has been awesome during his rookie campaign, but because they haven't played many prime time games, not many have watched him. It will be a nice showcase for him. It also would be cool to see Flacco continue his run. Dolphins-Chiefs - I'll be rooting for the Fins big time. I'm not sure how healthy Miami will be and the weather looks to really favor KC, but I hope they pull off the upset. Steelers-Bills - I'd normally root for the Bills since the Steelers have enough winning throughout their history, but my father is a Steelers fan and he's having some serious health issues right now. I'm pulling for your boys, Pop! Rams-Lions - I have a friend who is a trash talking Rams fan. He's pretty convinced that they are going to at least the NFC Championship game. It would be nice for them to be out right away. I also like Dan Campbell. Eagles-Bucs - Most of the talk this week has been about whether Sirianni should be fired or not. I'd like to see if the team plays for their coach. If I were forced to bet I would take the Bucs. I just hope they do the wise thing and run run run. They did it really well week 3 against Tampa. I hope to see a repeat performance.
I like the touch of just ignoring the Cowboys game because it's obvious who you're rooting for. Very nice!! I hope your dad gets better soon.
LMAO...I can't believe I forgot about the Cowboys game, but yeah...there was no need for me to mention it...haha. Thanks for the well wishes for my Dad.
Will McClay is staying as the Cowboys VP of personnel and I couldn't be happier. He's the real Cowboys GM, he's only missing the title. He gets to work behind the scenes while Jerry enjoys the spotlight...and gets all the credit. All he ever wanted. Good for Will who doesn't care about it...or maybe gets paid enough to not care. Either way, I'm happy and we're going in the right direction.
Talking heads: Lamar Jackson is the MVP over Dak. Not everything is stats, they only tell half the story. Also talking heads: TJ Watt is the DPOY over Parsons because he has more sacks. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!!!!!
Steelers vs. Bills moved to monday afternoon due to the storm. Playoff game on working hours. Thanks a lot xD
I was hoping for closer games than what we got. I can’t believe some of those Flacco passes. The first quarter was so fun and I was hoping for a back and forth affair all game. I wish the Dolphins would have been healthier. I think it would have been a closer game.
