Round 2 is here. After going 3-3 last week and losing the challenge in the first game thanks to Justin Antonio Herbert Romo, I have decided to have fun and be a little more emotional with the picks. Who cares at this point... Here are the lines as of tuesday morning: Texans vs. Chiefs (-8) Commanders vs. Lions (-9.5) Rams vs. Eagles (-6) Ravens vs. Bills (+1) That's right. We have a home underdog. In the Divisional Round!! What a time to be alive!! Picks later in the week. Let's have some fun, this is the best football weekend of the year with the top 8 remaining teams.
I totally agree with this being the best football weekend of the year. This week is going to go soooo slow waiting for the weekend.
Last night there was a playoff game, and once half time came, what were the talking heads talking about? That's right. The Dallas Cowboys and the possibility of Deion Sanders becoming head coach. This is a victory for Jerry. Football games? Super Bowls? Who cares? The Cowboys remain the center of attention. I totally expect them to formally name Deion head coach 30 minutes before kick off on super bowl sunday. Because that's the strategy, that's the way it is, and that's all that matters. I would say I'm so done with this team, but I know better...
My rooting interests this weekend: Texans at Chiefs - I'm torn on this one. Even though I love Andy Reid, I also have Chiefs fatigue. Normally I think I would be for the Texans big time, but I think the Chiefs playing the winner of Ravens-Bills would be much more interesting. I guess I'll be ok with however wins. Commanders at Lions - I'll be hoping that the Commanders can pull the shocking upset. It would give the Eagles the opportunity to host the NFC Championship game. This one most likely will be a blowout the other way though. Rams at Eagles - Our offensive line dominanted the Rams earlier in the season. While I don't expect Saquon to rush for over 200 yards again, we should still be able to outphysical them. I expect the Rams to play tough in the first half and then tire as the game goes on. Stafford and his receivers are scary though, and with Nakobe Dean being out, the middle of the field is a concern. I hope it doesn't come down to Jake Elliot's inconsistant kicking. I like the Eagles in a fairly close game. Ravens at Bills - Such a great matchup. This one should be so much fun to watch. I'll be pulling for the Bills and their poor fanbase. This one hopefully lives up to the hype.
The picks are in!! Well, they were in yesterday, but got the afternoon off and left the txt file in the laptop. In the words of Dak Prescott: "YEEEAAAAAH HERE WE GOOOOOO!!!" Texans (+8.5) over CHIEFS I fell in the trap last week. I broke the cardinal rule of playoff gambling: "only pick an underdog if you think they can win the game". I picked Pittsburgh thinking they would make it close. They were down 21-0 at half time......You know what? Let's try it again. These are not your ordinary Chiefs anymore. They have a crushing defense and do JUST ENOUGH on offense. They're the early 2000s, young Brady Patriots now. I still think KC wins, but it will be awfully close. I'm taking the Points. LIONS (-9.5) over Commanders I hate this match-up. I hate it because I think the Commanders have a chance and if they pull it off that will leave the Cowboys as the only team in the NFC that hasn't reached the championship game in 30 years. And I hate the fact that the Commanders will be a problem in the next decade or two. Daniels is the real deal. So with that in mind, I hope the Lions crush them. EAGLES (-6) over Rams The Rams looked fantastic against the Vikings on Monday, making Sam Darnold see ghosts again and tying the playoff sack record for a game. I don't know if they can pull it off against Philly's better OL. If Washington wins, I want to change this pick because I don't want an NFC East team in the Super Bowl. BILLS (+1) over Ravens There's a chance I could regret this by the first 5 minutes of the first quarter. I refuse to trust Lamar in a playoff game until he proves me wrong. So far the defense and King Henry have carried the team, but it will come down to him at some point, and I don't think he can do it. Don't worry, he'll get all the excuses and forgiveness, it's not like he's Dak Prescott. I expect the Bills to win what will be a heck of a game. Can't wait for it, really...they sent it to the last slot for a reason. And also a bonus!!!...All week I heard this voice in my head screaming THREE TEAM TEASER!!! THREE TEAM TEASER!!! over and over again. I swore I'd never do a teaser again but hey, Deion Sanders swore he'd never coach in the pros but here we are. I'm also teasing the Chiefs to -2.5, Lions to -3.5 and the Eagles to 0. Because why not? Let's go crazy!! (This doesn't count towards the challenge, BTW). And a bonus bonus!! I'm picking Ohio State -8 over Notre Dame just because. I always bet on the College National Championship game without knowing much about college football. This doesn't count towards the challenge either. Enjoy the games, everybody. Best football weekend of the year. Last week: 3-3
Once upon a time, the Cowboys had a succession plan in place. In 2003, Sean Payton was brought to Bill Parcells' staff as QBs coach and assistant head coach. He was actually the one who convinced everybody to bring in undrafted free agent Tony Romo, and develop him. By the end of 2005, Payton was ready to take over as coach, but Parcells decided to coach one more year. The Saints interviewed Payton, were blown away, and hired him away from the Cowboys who could do nothing to stop him. The rest is history. Ever since then, it looks to me that Jerry has been tried to replicate that. First attempt was Jason Garrett, and it took him one full decade to realize that no...Garrett is no Sean Payton, as much as he wanted him to. New attempt is Kellen Moore, who took a similar path: QBs coach, offensive coordinator, assistant, and now led a top offense in Philly, knows how the Jones work, and it would be like homecoming for him. The more I think about it, the more sense it makes. If it comes down to those two, I'd rather have Moore than Deion. I just don't think the spotlight is big enough for two huge egos. And if Deion somehow succeeds, we'd have a Jimmy Johnson situation again.
Threw this up about quarterbacks if anyone's interested. The inexact science of the NFL quarterback - Sports Chump Agreed, boys, the best weekend of football all year. As for today, I teased the Chiefs and Lions down to -6. Here's hopin'.
Peyton Manning summed it up really well a few days ago in Robert Mays' podcast: if you're going to let the rookie play, then you let him play and go through the growing pains. Manning remembered his rookie year when he was bad and went 3-13 but the team stuck with him the whole year. By year two he turned the corner and went 13-3. Nowadays looks like teams have no patience. Bryce Young was benched after 2 games this year, came back a couple months later, and played way, way better. Sam Darnold was never given a chance in NY but a year as a back-up in SF helped him developed and won 14 games this year. Now when the QB sits for a year or more, the results are better right away. See Mahomes and Jordan Love. But again, teams have no patience and want an almost immediate and painless return on their investment, and that's not how it works.
The Chiefs blocking the FG that would've made the Texans cover the +8.5 is right up there with my worse gambling failures of all time.
Washington….wow. I never saw this dominance coming. Watching how much heavier the hits are in the playoffs is awesome.
That was a fantastic game that didn't end how I wanted it to but I'm not even mad!! Give me an NFC East Championship game. Stick it to Jerry. We're now the team with the longest championship game drought in the league (Browns and Texans don't count). Well deserved. Bravo, sir!!!
In gambling, a push is like kissing your sister while your grandma reads you every Dallas Cowboys roster since 1996. Congrats, Dawk.
I thought for sure we would lose on those missed extra points. I’m emotionally exhausted. I’m too old to care this much haha. Survive and advance.
I'm guessing Mark Andrews didn't get much sleep last night. The fumble and then dropping the 2 point conversion were brutal mistakes. Weird stat that I heard...all four teams that won this weekend were outgained by the opponent. Turnovers were another story...
