Saturday 4:35 ET
TEN @ KC
Saturday 8:15 ET
ATL @ LA
Sunday 1:05 ET
BUF @ JAX
Sunday 4:40 ET
CAR @ NO
In with the picks before the games start:
Chiefs, Rams, Jags, and Saints. All division winners, oddly enough. Which means I’m practically guaranteed to be wrong on one of them.
No real rooting interest in this game, but wow, that Mariota to Mariota TD pass was epic!
Wow! The Titans have come back to take the lead. I honestly didn’t see that as even a remote possibility after the first half. Impressive.
I get that Kelce is an important piece on offense but the Chiefs just flat-out choked. Another Andy Reid tank job in the playoffs. Might be time to give it up.
Just wow that play, it’s on the level of the Holy Roller or the Immaculate Reception.
The fact that they even won down 21-3 is pretty amazing. Then again, it was against Andy Reid’s Chief’s, so…maybe less amazing than usual perhaps.
Heh. That didn’t take long.
I went 11-0 last season (doing week to week playoff picks), but it looks like I’m gonna be 0-2 in just the first night of action - ouch!
How was I supposed to know that a team that barely gets to 20 was going to come back from a 20-3 deficit? And how was I supposed to know the Rams’ special teams would implode?
Am I the only person who thinks it’s pretty cool to see a playoff game in The Colosseum again? #OldSchool
I wouldn’t blame Reid. The Chiefs have been consistent chokers in the playoffs since the Schottenheimer era.
Not a catch. Calling it.
Bah. I can’t describe how disappointed I am.
The bookies already have Atlanta -2.5 at Philadelphia next week.
Yeah, Atlanta definitely has an easier road to Minneapolis now. If Wentz were healthy, Philadelphia would be formidable, but they’re struggling to put up points with Foles, who it seems was probably only well-suited to Chip Kelly’s up-tempo style of play. It’s hard to change offensive philosophies at the end of the year. Philly’s defense is still legit and might still make things difficult for Ryan and Freeman in the early stages of the game, but they’ll probably figure things out in the 2nd half if not before then and grab the W.
I think there’s a trend. Reid is obviously good at managing his teams and putting a competitive unit on the field, but in the playoffs, he keeps losing the chess matches. He doesn’t seem to make the necessary adjustments in the second half. It’s not so much the defense that faltered - Tennessee could reasonably be expected to score in the low 20s. But KC’s offense was supposed to put up more points than they did. I get that Kelce is important but some of the play calling on first and second down just seemed too predictable. And the last throw down field on a 4th and 9 made no sense at all. It just seemed like the entire coaching staff was watching a slow-motion accident and not sure how to respond.
I must interject and say that people underestimating Foles do so at their peril. The guy has been a proven starter in the NFL and can in fact guide the Philly team to success. I’ve said it once, I will say it again (as a bruised Bengals fan with AJ McCarron on board) that Foles is the best backup in the league.
For one season. He made a huge amount of money on the back of it, and hasn’t been the same since.
Thank heavens these defenses are fun to watch, because it’s almost painful to watch Bottles and Taylor play.
It’s so boring I’m off to watch the Bottles play at the bar! 
(DYAC!)
Receivers are painful to watch too. Dropped passes everywhere. What’s funny is I had Marquis Lee in fantasy this year. Every time he played I’d sing a parody of Walk This Way:
Marquis Lee
What a real wide-receiver
All the passes that he doesn’t miss
Not today, however. Biggest play = 20 yards. :rolleyes: