Month: January 2025

The two conference title games will be rematches. The Eagles and Commanders split their two regular season games while the Bills handed the Chiefs their only loss.

–As long as Jalen Hurts is health, the Eagles appear to have the edge on the Commanders.To start with they have Saquon Barkley, who rushed for 205 yards against the Rams last week. .But the Commanders have won seven in a row. And they held Barkley to 150 and 146 yards in the two games. Washington survived five turnovers in beating the Eagles 36-33 in week 16 while the Eagles wo 26-18 five weeks earlier.The Commander s will need a big game from quarterback Jayden Daniels to pull off an upset.

–Although the Chiefs have the home field edge and are a slight favorite, a victory by the Bills wouldn’t be surprising. They are playing well and haven’t had a turnover in four consecutive playoff games, which is a record. And Josh Allen has passed for 399 passing yards in two playoff wins with two touchdown passes. And they have a good runner in James Cook, who has rushed for 187 yards in the two playoff games. The Chiels also face challenge in stopping Josh Allen, who ran 12 times against the Chiefs in the regular season game, from scrabling. The Bills also figure to put heat on Patrick Mahones against the Chiefs shaky offensive line. On the other hand, the Chiefs are 3-0 against Allen in the playoffs and have an uncanny way findng ways to win  The Chiefs also tend to get the calls although they are only 6-5 against referee Clete BLakeman. It could be a classic game. 

The divisional round of the playoffs is often the best weekend of the year and it didn’t disappoint this year.

There was lot of drama including close games, frantic finishes one big upset and officiating controversy. But when it was over, there were some things that we expect. Three of the four home teams won and turnovers were a key factor. he four winners didn’t have a turnover while the four losers combined for minus 10 in turnover.

–It was no surprise that Kansas City beat Houston but it was much closer than expected. The Texans  became the first team to lose a playoff game despite outgaining their opponent by more than 100 yards and not having a turnover. That’s because

the Texans gave up eight sacks and lost seven points to missed kicks. The Texans also complained about the Chiefs always getting the calls, but they made too many mistakes. And bad calls are part of the game. The NFL should do more to improve officiating but it is not a priority for the league.

–The Chiefs will now host the Bills, who beat the Ravens, in the AFC title game. The Ravens were the victim of their own mistakes and couldn’t handle the snowy conditions in Buffalo. Lamar Jackson lost a fumble and threw a pick and Mark Andrews fumbled and dropped a two point conversion that would have tied the game with 1:33 left. And John Harbaugh’s coaching didn’t help. He had the Ravens go for two after they narrowed the deficit to 21-19. When they didn’t get it they had to go for two at 27-25 and Andrews dropped it. If Harbaugh had kicked the extra point the first time they could have tied it the second time with another kick. 

–The Lions couldn’t take advantage of being the top seed. They lost to the Commanders and their rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. All their defensive injuries caught up with them. And they made too many mistakes on offense. Coach Dan Campbell was near tears after the game.

–The Commanders will now take on the Eagles in the NFC title game. They split the two regular season games. The Eagles beat the Rams in the regular season and in the playoffs on a snowy field. They couldn’t stop Saquan Barkley either time. According to NFL Research, Barkley is the first player to get 200 plus scrimmage yards against the same opponent in the regular season and playoffs.

–The two top seeds, Kansas City, starting its bid for a three peat, and Detroit make their playoff debuts Saturday after having a bye last week, but neither is playing in a feature attraction.

–Both top seeds are big favorites with the Lions a 9.5 choice over the Commanders and the Chiefs a 6.5 choice over the Texans. Both figure to win and the  main question is whether they can cover the big spreads. The Chiefs host Houston Saturday at 4:30 pm on ESPN and ABE while the Lions host the Commanders at 8 pm Saturday on Fox. For the sake of the ratings, the NFL hopes the two seeded teams don’t win easily. The ratings were down eight per cent for the wild card games compared to last year.

–The first game Sunday is at 3 pm on NBC with the Rams at Philadelphia. The Eagles are 6.5 favorites but the Rams can’t be overlooked. 

–The feature game of the weekend is at 6:30 p.m. Sunday with the Ravens at the Bills on CBS. The Ravens are a one point favorite so this game is up for grabs. It is also huge for both quarterbacks – Lamar Jackson of the Ravens and Josh Allen of the Bills. Both have yet to make a Super Bowl and the loser won’t even make it to the NFC title game. Assuming the Chiefs win Saturday, the winner goes to Kansas City next Sunday to play for a berth in the Super Bowl.

–The NFL playoffs are getting too predictable, especially in the wild card round. And the games tend to be one-sided. The average margin of victory this year was 18 points. Last year the average was 20.8. Last year the only close game in the wild card round was Detroit’s one point win over Rams. This year, it was Washington beating Tampa Bay on a field goal that hit the uprights and bounced in on final play.

–Although Green Bay upset the Cowboys last year when they were the seventh seed, it was back to business as usual this year as both second seeds easily beat the two seventh seeds as the Bills beat the Broncos 31-7 and the Eagles beat the Packers 22-10. Adding a seventh wild card team hasn’t made much difference except for helping the league make even more money. 

–The home teams also have a big edge. Last year, of the four AFC division winners, the first seed got a bye and the other three division winners won. The year these same four teams are in the divisional round in the AFC – Kansas City, Buffalo, Baltimore and Houston although last year Baltimore and Buffalo were the top two seeds and Kansas City repeated as the third seed. The last three years the home teams were 14-4 in the wild card round. They were 10-2 last two years and 5-1 this year.

— This year, the Chiefs are going for a three peat as the top seed. This year in the NFC, Detroit is the only team to make the divisional round the way the Lions did last year. San Francisco and Dallas were the top two seeds last year and didn’t make the playoffs this year while Tampa Bay won the NFC South and lost to the Rams, who didn’t make it last year.  

–The big losers in the wild card round were the Vikings, Steelers and Chargers. The Vikings were 14-1 and then lost regular season finale to Detroit to become a wild card team and were routed by the Rams, 27-9 in the wild card round . The Steelers lost their last four regular season games and were smoked by the Ravens, 28-14 and the Chargers lost to the Texans 32-12. All three defenses weren’t good but there are questions about the three quarterbacks Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson and Justin Herbert. It is a question whether Darnold and Wilson will be back and the Chargers need to get Herbert a better supporting cast and protect him better. The Chargers have lost in the wild card round twice in the last three years and blew a 27-0 lead to the Jaguars in 2022. 

—There should be more drama in the NFC than the AFC in the wild card weekend. The second and third AFC seeds, the Bills and Ravens, are heavily favored to beat the Broncos and Steelers this weekend. But the NFC games figure to be closer although the top seeded Lions are favored to go to the Super Bowl after getting the bye this weekend. The top seeded Chiefs will get the AFC bye but cud face a tougher road to the Super Bowl as they go for a three peat.

–The weekend starts with the Chargers at the Texans on CBS at 430 p.m. Saturday with the Steelers at the Ravens in the second game at 8 pm on Prime. There will be a tripleheader on Sunday with Denver at the Bills at 1 p.m on CBS, the Packers at the Eagles at 4:30 pm on Fox and the Commanders at the Bucs at 8 p.m.on NBC and Peacock. The Monday nightgame on ESPN and ABC will have the Vikings at the Rams although the game may be moved because of the wild fires in Los Angeles.

–The Bills figure to beat Denver, the seventh seed in the AFC, while the Ravens, the third seed, are expected to beat the sixth seeded Steelers. The Ravens and Steelers usually play close games but the Steelers lost their last four games of the season and Mike Tomlin doesn’t have a good history in the playoffs in the last decade.The teams split the two regular season games, but the Ravens won the second game 34-17 in Baltimore and again have the home field edge. If the Bills and Ravens both win, they will play next weekend. The fourth seeded Texans have a tough assignment against the fifth seeded Chargers. The winner of this game will go to Kansas City if both the Bills and Ravens win. 

–In the NFC, the second seeded Eagles virtually had last week off after they rested several starters last week, including Saquan Barkley who lost a chance to break Eric Dickerson’s single season rushing record. But the Packers could be a tough test even though they are a seventh seed because three teams from the NFC North made the playoffs. Last year the Packers were the seventh seed and knocked off the Cowboys in their first game. But the Packers are 0-5 against the Eagles, Lions and Vikings this year. The third seeded Tampa Bay Bucs take on the sixth seeded Commanders as rookie Jayden Daniels makes his rookie debut for the Commanders. 

–Minnesota isn’t happy about being the fifth seed despite winning 14 games and will be favored to beat the fourth-seeded Rams, who lost their homefield edge when the game was shifted because of the wildfires in Los Angeles.

If Shad Khan’s press conference with general manager Trent Baalke after the firing of coach Doug Pederson was a Broadway play, it would have closed after opening night because of bad reviews.

Khan’s decision to keep Baalke after firing Pederson did not go well with the team’s disgruntled fans, who have seen the team lose 18 of its last 23 games. They generally wanted a fresh start with a new GM and coach and possibly an executive vice president to oversee the football operation.

But they were even more upset after watching Khan’s press conference on zoom and flooded social media complaining about the direction of the team and some said they were not renewing season tickets.

They were particularly upset when Khan was asked about why he wasn’t making a complete overhaul of the team. Khan obviously needs some coaching on how to conduct a press conference.

“I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater,’’he said and later added, “Certainly over the last few years, we’ve built a football administration and things are  working out well there.”

Not working out well enough to win more than one playoff game with Baalke as GM.

 “What is a completely overhaul?,” he said. “You look at it, health and wellness of the players. medical, statistics, analysis, scouting, … a number of other elements … all of those areas we have really changed, improved. You’ve got 85 people working on that side and you say “I’m going to get rid of them and find 85 new people better than that? That’s like shooting yourself in the foot.”

He said it would be “suicidal,” Of course, nobody was talking about firing 85 people. The overall was about changing the top administrators.  Khan had to know that or should have known it. All he did was enrage the fan base even more.

He also said they could add an EVP if they found the right person. So how intense will that search be? Do they really want a EVP or not? Who knows.

He also said the team on the field didn’t have enough deception and was too predictable. That may be true but did Khan bring that up with Pederson when the team started 0-4?

So where do the Jaguars go from here? The old saying is when you did yourself in a hole, you need to stop digging. 

At the very least he needs to make a home run hire like Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson if he is going to placate the fan base.

Johnson’s name was on the list of the eight coaches they want to interview for the job. But there are fears that a candidate like Johnson, who is likely to have options, may be leery of working with Baalke.

Khan said the Jaguars have a compelling case on what they can offer to a coach. “Players, salary cap, the city, brick and mortar, facilities, our division … a very compelling case,” he said.

He didn’t mention the team’s record. Will the top coaching candidates think they can win with Baalke’s players? We will see.

—The NFL went to a 17-game schedule for the extra cash it brings in, but there can be a downside to that extra game. Since many teams had already clinched playoff berths or were eliminated, many teams had no incentive to win their final game.. Half the teams didn’t even play their starting quarterbacks although some were injured.

–The NFL likes to schedule division games in the final week but if one has clinched and the other needs to win to make the playoffs, it can create an advantage for the team that needs to get in. For example, Denver clinched a wild card berth by routing Kansas City 38-0 as the Chiefs rested Patrick Mahomes and several starters. The Denver win also eliminated the Bengals despite their win over Pittsburgh. But the Bengals have only themselves to blame for their slow start although they weren’t happy that the Chiefs showed little interest in winning the game.

–The Buffalo Bills were locked into the second AFC seed so they only played quarterback Josh Allen one play to keep his consecutive start alive and then lost to the Patriots, 23-16. That win cost the Patriots the top pick in the draft and dropped them all the way down to the fourth pick. So the Bills by losing kept a division  rival  from getting the top seed. Ad then Patriot coach Jerod Mayo was fired after one season.

–The Pittsburgh Steelers loss to Cincinnati, combined with the Chargers 34-20 victory over the Raiders, dropped the Steelers from fifth to sixth seed. That means the Steelers play their first playoff game at Baltimore instead of at Houston and the Chargers appear to get the easier game at Houston.

–What was supposed to be the game of the week if not the year didn’t live up to the hype as the Lions routed the Vikings, 31-9 and claimed the top seed in the NFC. The Lions now get the bye while the Vikings dropped to the fifth seed and will open the playoffs at the Rams. The Vikings weren’t thrilled to be the wild card team with a 14-3 record but the system is that the division winners get the first four seeds in each conference and the owners show no interest in changing it

–The NFL saved its best for last this year. The final game of the season Sunday night will have the Vikings playing at the Lions for the top seed in the NFC. The loser will be the fifth seed. A lot is at stake but coach Dan Campbell of the Lions points out it is not a playoff game. But it is the next best thing. Since the Lions defense has been plagued with injuries, the Lions will need to outscore the Vikings if they are to get the top seed.

–There won’t two a Thursday night game in the final week of the regular season but two will be played Saturday. If the Ravens beat the Browns in the first game, they clinch the AFC North and the third seed and the Ravens also clinch if they tie or Pittsburgh loses to Cincinnati. The Steelers, who play the Bengals in the second game Saturday night, will be the fifth seed if the Ravens win the division  but they can clinch the division if they win and the Ravens lose. Actually, there are advantages to being the fifth seed because the Steelers would then play Houston. Cincinnati can clinch a playoff spot if they win and Denver loses to Kansas City and Miami loses or ties with Jets.

–CBS has four early games – Carolina at Atlanta, the Giants at the Eagles, Buffalo at New England and Houston at Tennessee. If Tampa Bay beat New Orleans in an early Fox game or ties the Saints, the Bucs clinch the last NFC wild card spot and Atlanta gets left out even if it beats Carolina. The Eagles are one of the teams that will rest their starters so Saquon Barkley won’t get a chance to set the rushing record. Atlanta can clinch a playoff spot with a win over Carolina and a Tampa Bay loss to the Saints. 

–CBS has two late Sunday afternoon games – Kansas City at Denver and the Chargers at Las Vegas. Denver can clinch a playoff berth with a win or tie against the Chiefs or a Cincinnati loss or tie at Pittsburgh and a Miami loss or tie against the Jets. The Chiefs are resting Patrick Mahomes so Denver has a good shot at winning. Miami can clinch with a win over the Jets and a Denver loss to the Chiefs.

 –Fox  has four early games – New Orleans at Tampa Bay, Washington at Dallas, Chicago at Green Bay and Jacksonville at Indianapolis. It has three late games, Miami at the Jets, Seattle at the Rams and San Francisco at Arizona.

–The Chiefs wrapped up the top seed in the AFC with the 29-10 Christmas Day victory over the Steelers but the top seed in the NFC will go down to the final game of the season when Minnesota plays Detroit next Sunday night. Minnesota set the stage for that game by beating Green Bay 27-25. The loser of the Minnesota-Detroit game will be a wild card team.

–Denver lost to the Bengals 30-24 and needs to beat Chiefs to get a wild card spot. The Chiefs have nothing to play for so it remains to be seen how many starters they will rest. The Dolphins stayed alive by beating the Browns 20-3 and can get a wild card spot if Denver loses to the Chiefs and they beat the Jets. The Bengals also stayed alive by beating the Broncos and can get a spot if the Broncos and Dolphins lose and they beat the Steelers.

 –Tampa Bay beat Carolina 48-14 as Baker Mayfield threw five touchdown passes and can win the division by beating the Saints. 

–The Eagles clinched the NFC East title and the second seed by routing Dallas 41-7 as Saquan Barkley rushed for 167 yards on 31 carries  to become the ninth player to gain 2000 yards in a season. He needs 101 yards in the season finale to beat Eric Dickerson’s single season record but the Eagles have to decide if they want to risk him getting an injury going for the record.

–Buffalo wrapped up the second seed behind Kansas City in the AFC with a 40-14 rout of the Jets. The Ravens beat the Steelers Christmas Day and can nail down the AFC North title and the third seed by beating the Browns in their finale.