We’re in the middle of the playoff push, as some NFL teams (and fantasy players) try to make the playoffs. The Bills, Titans, Colts, Vikings, Packers, and more, are all on that ever poppable bubble, making each game, each drive, more and more full of pressure.
Some eye opening stuff last week. The Raiders got the crap kicked out of them by the lowly Jets. Dak Prescott once again struggled against a defense that isn’t in the bottom half of the league. And the Patriots lose again and everyone loses their shit. C’mon people, they’re still 10-2, they’re still going to make the playoffs, and they’re always a threat to win it all. Calm the hell down.
Ron Rivera getting canned from Carolina was the week’s biggest news. Not a huge surprise, he’s had only 3 winning seasons in 9 years. At least he made the Super Bowl one time (thanks to an amazing 39 regular season turnovers), so there is that. He’s one of the old school, defensive minded coaches, so I’m guessing the guy Tepper hires to replace him will be a younger, offensive minded, analytics guy. Roman from Baltimore maybe?
Oh, and we may get to see Eli for at least one more week. Yay???
Here’s your games:
Thursday, December 5
Dallas Cowboys at Chicago Bears (DAL -3, 42.5)
Sunday, December 8
Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills (BAL -5.5, 43.5)
Washington Redskins at Green Bay Packers (GB -13, 41.5)
Denver Broncos at Houston Texans (HOU -9.5, 42)
San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints (NO -2.5, 44)
Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns (CLE -8.5, 40.5)
Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons (ATL -3, 47.5)
Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings (MIN -13, 43)
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets (NYJ -5.5, 45)
Indianapolis Colts at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (TB -3, 47)
Los Angeles Chargers at Jacksonville Jaguars (LAC -3, 43)
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots (NE -3, 49)
Pittsburgh Steelers at Arizona Cardinals (PIT -3, 43.5)
Tennessee Titans at Oakland Raiders (TEN -2.5, 47)
Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Rams (SEA -1, 47)
Monday, December 9
New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles (PHI -9.5, 46)
Some great slugfests between very good teams this week.
Thursday’s game isn’t one of them, but it is one of those “fights for the playoffs”, as the Cowboys try to claim the title to a horrible NFC East. So it’s worth a quick watch. I think the Bears great D-line versus the Cowboys incredible O-line will be well worth a watch, and is likely where the game will be won or lost. I’ll also keep an eye out to see if Dak’s slide continues, if Garrett relies on Zeke, and if Mitch can pad his stats like last week (hint: he can’t). All told, I think the Cowboys will “Bears” the Bears: beat a less talented team in the most boring and close way possible.
The Bills are next on the “How the hell do we contain Lamar Jackson” train. The Niners did a pretty good job of it last week (too bad that offense couldn’t get it done). I’m not sure if the Bills can. The Bills are on a 3 game win streak, but the Ravens are on a 8 game one. I’m actually leaning toward the Bills, but the game should be fun to watch regardless.
The Niners/Saints game should be fascinating. I do think that the Saints are a bit overrated, they’ve been feasting on bad teams for the last 10 weeks. But they do have the #3 rated run defense (based on yards per game), which may negate the strength of the Niner’s offense. I’m hoping the Saints put some early points up, they slow the run game, and we get to see if Garoppolo can win a game by himself. Could be interesting.
The other huge game is the Chiefs/Patriots. After Brady’s struggles and hissy fit last week, everyone’s talking about how he’s too old and his receiver corp too bad. Whatever. It should be a fun game. I’m grooving on Chris Jones for the Chiefs, but they don’t have a whole lot else. Mahomes has been pedestrian the last couple weeks, but that could just be him working his way back from injury. Should be an interesting game.
Finally, Sunday nights’ game has some possibility. I can not figure out this Rams team. One week they’re looking like crap against the Ravens, other weeks they’re hanging tough with Seattle or beating the hell out of the Cards. The shine surely has come off of McVey and Goff, though, and Seattle has been looking pretty good. I expect a Seahawks win, but there is a little part of me that thinks the Rams will pull off an upset. Gotta watch to find out.
There you have it. Another week of NFL football. Let’s hear from you.