You also need an actual long term QB. Smith is alright, but he has clearly plateau'ed. I saw him just miss some receivers today, in spots where a better QB would not have.
I honestly can't figure out what happened to KC today. When you are a defensively oriented team and are up 28 points with less than 2 quarters to go, victory should be virtually guaranteed. Instead they just completely collapsed, in every way possible.
Still though, I think that KC and Philly fans should both be happy with how their seasons went. Nobody expected either of these teams to do anything, and Philly played very well against a NO team that is, simply put, a much better team than they are. Philly's future seems bright as well if they can shore up a couple of weaknesses.
4 Keys to winning next year.
1) Draft a receiver in the first round that can actually catch the ball.
2) Cut Sean Smith and replace him with someone who can play football.
3) Improve at RT or cross fingers that Eric Fisher pick pans out.
4) Improve at TE or cross fingers that Travis Kelce pans out.
A bit of an emotional overreaction imo. Not that I dont get it.....a 28 point choke would ruin my day too.
1) I think the WR core is decent. Maybe add another piece. Hakeem Nicks is a free agent...
2) In regard to Smith, Cooper is a much bigger liability in the secondary.
3) Eric Fisher should pan out. They're doing just fine there.
4) TE would be a position Id immediately be looking to upgrade. I thought maybe they'd try to trade a late pick to bring Gonzo back at the deadline but that never happened. The FA pool is pretty slim this year (as I dont see Jimmy Graham escaping NO) unless they want to gamble on Fred Davis. Im not very high on this year's crop of draft prospects either. Ebron or Amaro if they want to waste a 1st on a TE, or Austin Seferian-Jenkins out of Washington in the 2nd.
You also need an actual long term QB. Smith is alright, but he has clearly plateau'ed. I saw him just miss some receivers today, in spots where a better QB would not have.
Kansas City is perfectly fine /w Smith. Teams have won Super Bowls with far worse QB's under center. If 65% completion rate, 350 yards, 4 TD's, and another 60 yds rushing is "plateauing" then sign me up. QB's miss open receivers from time to time. ALL OF THEM. Is Smith an elite talent, no, but he's a guy that doesnt make many mistakes....and that was a big part of their success this year. KC's turnover differential this year was a +18. Last year it was a -24.
I honestly can't figure out what happened to KC today. When you are a defensively oriented team and are up 28 points with less than 2 quarters to go, victory should be virtually guaranteed. Instead they just completely collapsed, in every way possible.
Well, lets start with the loss of Jamaal Charles. The offense isnt nearly as dynamic without him. IND made adjustments at halftime and was able to shut down the offense. I put a large chunk of today's loss on the defensive coordinator. As they pointed out during the broadcast, there is one weapon on IND they had to shut down and that was T.Y. Hilton. They failed miserably.....13 catches, 224 yds, 2 TD's worth of miserable. All in all KC lost what, 4 or 5 players during the game? Charles (Pro Bowl), Davis, Hemingway, Houston (Po Bowl), and Flowers (Pro Bowl) I think. Thats a lot for any team to overcome against a playoff caliber team like IND.
Still though, I think that KC and Philly fans should both be happy with how their seasons went. Nobody expected either of these teams to do anything, and Philly played very well against a NO team that is, simply put, a much better team than they are. Philly's future seems bright as well if they can shore up a couple of weaknesses.
I wouldnt say that. I picked KC to make the playoffs in the preseason but I certainly didnt have PHI there. Chip Kelly adjusted his offense to the NFL game far better than I expected he'd be able to. But yes, both teams have plenty to be excited about going forward.
You also need an actual long term QB. Smith is alright, but he has clearly plateau'ed. I saw him just miss some receivers today, in spots where a better QB would not have.
I honestly can't figure out what happened to KC today. When you are a defensively oriented team and are up 28 points with less than 2 quarters to go, victory should be virtually guaranteed. Instead they just completely collapsed, in every way possible.
Still though, I think that KC and Philly fans should both be happy with how their seasons went. Nobody expected either of these teams to do anything, and Philly played very well against a NO team that is, simply put, a much better team than they are. Philly's future seems bright as well if they can shore up a couple of weaknesses.
As a chiefs fan I want to see more of Tyler Bray. I wish he'd gotten the start in the worthless chargers game. We all know Chase is a journeyman/lifelong backup, I wanted to see the kid more. As for the game: bad teams find a way to lose. Kansas City found a way to give up a historic lead.
How badly does Alex smith want that sideline pass to Gray back to do again? Wide open TD overthrown by about a foot.
Because conservative bias is a far, far worse thing. Liberal bias doesn't, statistically speaking, make people stupid. Conservative bias (or at least Fox's version of it) does.
Dalton's mediocrity strikes again. Hoping for a IND v DEN & SEA v SF conference final.
yea, that's the only pick of mine wrong so far. I think when I go to pick Bengals games from now on, I will just flip a coin and not worry about putting any thought into it.
well i wound up at 50% for the 1st round. better than i usually do. I'll take it.
Next round:
NFC:
Saints Seahawks
49ers Panthers
AFC:
Colts
Patriots
Chargers Broncos
I'm literally going with the home teams, with 1 upset pick being the Colts at Pats.
But seriously, how many damn times have the Colts and Pats met in the playoffs? I'm having deja vu. Though, it's been a couple years since the last time.
Picks aside, I'll be rooting for the 49ers since they're my 2nd favorite team. I'm really wanting the Chargers to annihilate Peyton's Broncos. So I'll at least root for them.
As a Chargers fan I'm happy they've moved on. They're not a great team, but they've gotten lucky (or their opponents have made very bad mistakes) at the right times and sometimes that's enough to change an entire game around.
I'm personally hoping they meet New England in the AFC final, but I understand why everyone and their brother will be hoping for a Denver/Indy final as the drama of Peyton versus Indy for a berth in the Superbowl is hard to resist.
Yeah, that confused me as well. Yeah, the Colts pulled off a nice win and all (kudos for that), but they're facing Brady and Belichick. As good as the Chiefs are, they don't have a QB like Brady or a coach like Belichick. Especially after a Bye, there's no way I'm betting against the Pats. They are a mediocre team made great by those 2 and they are even better after a bye (just look at their record after a bye week in the last few years).
I may be wrong. The Colts may turn out to crush the Pats, but my money is still on NE.
When it really comes down to it this should be a no-brainer Pats pick.
1) Colts are a dome team going into a Foxboro freeze.
2) The Colts comeback was helped alot by the M.A.S.H. unit the Chiefs became as the game went along. If the Chiefs had either of their starting two RBs they would called a running game more confidently and ran more clock out.
3) The Colts secondary is more of a swiss cheese unit than the Patriots is even if everyone is healthy. Add in the fact that the starting two CB's had to leave the game because they were just not able to run at all. Brady will torch this secondary if the gameplan dictates it.
4) That gameplan will be to attack a 25th ranked run defense with a dose of Blount/Ridley and destroy afformentioned secondary with play action.
5) The Pats run defense is horrible, but the Colts don't and can't run themselves.
6) The only real weapon for the Colts is Hilton. I can count on my hand how many times a Belichick coached team will allow your stars to be you. He won't. He'll make someone else step up. If Reggie Wayne was healthy, this could be a problem. Talib will man Hilton up will help over the top when needed.
7) To add to this last factoid, the Patriots will likely go in with a in-house mindset of "stop Hilton and Mathis and we win" and this very doable.
The matchup is just not there. If the Colts can keep it close then Luck can pull out a clutch win. However a 14 to 21 point win by the Patriots is likely.
The Chiefs and Bengals were more of nightmare matchup for the Patriots so this was a fortunate outcome. If the Patriots come out playing well from the start (which has been a dice roll at best this season) it'll be a fun Saturday night for Pats fans.
Dont give the Colts a chance all you like, but they did beat DEN, SF, & SEA. The team is talented enough to beat anyone.....and they'll be playing a team dilapidated by injury.
Also, 11 of NE's 16 games were decided by 1 score. Id expect it to be a close game.
It's hard to know what to make of Indy. One week they are beating Seattle; then a few weeks later they are losing to St. Louis by *30* points. They are fairly plagued by injury themselves, IIRC. Wayne being out has randomly crippled them throughout the season.
But NE is also extremely beat up, with a bunch of receivers that would be 2nd string on most other teams, but look great because Tom Brady is throwing them the ball.
NE is the favorite, but I expect the game to be close no matter what. Indy did just put up 45 points on a defense that is MUCH better than NE's is...they have alot of momentum. I would say that the game is like 58/42 in favor of NE. They should win, but I wouldn't be surprised if Indy beats them.
I can't really see SD beating Denver though, nor can I see an injury-plagued NE beating them. Denver's SB chances look extremely favorable right now.
In the NFC, I expect Seattle to dispatch NO pretty easily, and I expect SF to beat Carolina by 6 points or so. I know that Carolina beat them earlier, but Kaep was struggling then. Crabtree was out, and Davis ended up leaving that game, at which point SF just stopped being able to score. Carolina, on the other hand, is less healthy now than they were then, because Steve Smith isn't 100%...and they really don't have any other legitimate offensive weapons.
SF is capable of following the gameplan that AZ laid out to beat Seattle, but, sadly I don't think that they will actually do so. Roman loves for the offense to have a ton of moving parts and Kaep looooooooooves to change the play at the line of scrimmage. Both of these things will lead to disaster in an NFC Championship game @ Century Link. I would say that SF has approx. a 35% chance of beating Seattle @ Seattle.
I think that the NFC wins the SB basically no matter what though, at this point. I would take any NFC team that is still in the playoffs to beat any AFC team, with the possible exception of Carolina losing to Denver, just because Carolina can't score points ,and Denver randomly just scores 30.
You also need an actual long term QB. Smith is alright, but he has clearly plateau'ed. I saw him just miss some receivers today, in spots where a better QB would not have.
I honestly can't figure out what happened to KC today. When you are a defensively oriented team and are up 28 points with less than 2 quarters to go, victory should be virtually guaranteed. Instead they just completely collapsed, in every way possible.
Smith isn't a long-term answer but he's a hell of a lot better than most QBs out there. I'll take him for the next few years and they can groom a new guy for the future. Whether that's Bray or someone else is yet to be seen.
Ever since the bye-week, KC has been in the top 5 on offense and I'd wager the bottom 5 on defense. I don't know what happened, aside from losing Hali and Houston for awhile. The one thing I do notice watching them on a weekly basis is that they don't make defensive adjustments at halftime. They play the same way they do in the first half and get torched because the other team's offense made those necessary adjustments.
1) I think the WR core is decent. Maybe add another piece. Hakeem Nicks is a free agent...
2) In regard to Smith, Cooper is a much bigger liability in the secondary.
3) Eric Fisher should pan out. They're doing just fine there.
4) TE would be a position Id immediately be looking to upgrade. I thought maybe they'd try to trade a late pick to bring Gonzo back at the deadline but that never happened. The FA pool is pretty slim this year (as I dont see Jimmy Graham escaping NO) unless they want to gamble on Fred Davis. Im not very high on this year's crop of draft prospects either. Ebron or Amaro if they want to waste a 1st on a TE, or Austin Seferian-Jenkins out of Washington in the 2nd.
1) I disagree. Bowe is solid, but not great. Hopefully this was just a "I got paid" kinda year, but he may have fallen to high end #2 status. Avery drops balls like crazy. His only stand-out attribute is speed and if you can't hold on to those shots when Alex takes them, you aren't helping a ton. McCluster is a great slot/screen guy but he doesn't do a lot past 10 yards. Jenkins will likely be cut. I'm not a fan of Nicks. He's always hurt and is basically a cheaper Dwayne Bowe skillset wise. I'd rather see a trade for Boykin and a drafted wideout (If he's there at the right pick). Although, Maclin makes the most sense as far as splashy free agents go.
2) Yes, but Cooper has shown flashes and doesn't command the same kind of salary as Smith. I'm okay with him in the slot or coming in as a relief guy. Either way, they need to beef up the secondary. The biggest turning point in the game, IMO, was when Flowers went down.
3) Yeah I'm not terribly worried there, but he's getting outplayed by third-stringers at the end of the season. He better shape up quick or I'll have to hear about him all day and night on local radio.
4) I don't see an answer here either. Maybe spend a late pick on some random basketball guy. That seems to be working out lately.
As a Pats fan, I will be pleasantly surprised if the Patriots advance. Brandon Spikes just went to IR - that means four of their starting front 7 gone for the playoffs. On offense, they put their fastest WR on IR last week. They get their starting LT back, but they're still deep into their OL depth. They might get a few guys back, but they're still probably going to field the least talent of any team playing this weekend.
The Colts probably have even less name recognition right now, but they've got several stars-in-the-making going. This game is probably a coin toss, but if the Pats go anywhere, I'll be surprised.
I expected NE to win, but not by 21 points. It's crazy how they're just running the ball all of the time now. Makes them dangerous. The total score for NE vs. whichever of SD/Denver wins will probably be approx. one million points.
I expect SF to beat Carolina tomorrow, and Denver to win, ultimately setting up the 2 conference championship games that have been obvious since before this season even started. And Seattle should beat SF(though SF seems capable of beating Seattle, now that it's been established that you can just run the ball on them all day long) and Denver should beat NE(because Gronk is injured), setting up the Super Bowl that basically everyone has predicted since Week 3.
I expected NE to win, but not by 21 points. It's crazy how they're just running the ball all of the time now. Makes them dangerous
14 points off two Luck INT's and an extra 4 points off a pass interference on 3rd & 8 in the red zone will do that. IND's run defense held up better than I thought they would until Blount gashed them on that 73 yarder. They had held NE to 90 yds on 30 carries until then.
Yeah, that run felt like it really broke Indy's back. They were completely in the game before it, and then basically just gave up. It was a beautiful run though. You just don't expect NE to have any kind of meaningful running game, it's probably hard a soft-ish defensive team like Indy to adjust to.
Dont give the Colts a chance all you like, but they did beat DEN, SF, & SEA. The team is talented enough to beat anyone.....and they'll be playing a team dilapidated by injury.
Also, 11 of NE's 16 games were decided by 1 score. Id expect it to be a close game.
But NE is also extremely beat up, with a bunch of receivers that would be 2nd string on most other teams, but look great because Tom Brady is throwing them the ball.
NE is the favorite, but I expect the game to be close no matter what. Indy did just put up 45 points on a defense that is MUCH better than NE's is...they have alot of momentum. I would say that the game is like 58/42 in favor of NE. They should win, but I wouldn't be surprised if Indy beats them.
I can't really see SD beating Denver though, nor can I see an injury-plagued NE beating them. Denver's SB chances look extremely favorable right now.
As a Ducks fan, I am so happy to see Blount have that kind of game. Ever since his falcon punch everyone has written him off since then. He is the kind of guy that really benefits from being with a team like the Pats.
As a Ducks fan, I am so happy to see Blount have that kind of game. Ever since his falcon punch everyone has written him off since then. He is the kind of guy that really benefits from being with a team like the Pats.
I dunno that Id say "written off", but he certainly didnt make any friends with that bonehead move. The kid could always play, though he did have ball security issues in Tampa that NE seems to have addressed and fixed
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I honestly can't figure out what happened to KC today. When you are a defensively oriented team and are up 28 points with less than 2 quarters to go, victory should be virtually guaranteed. Instead they just completely collapsed, in every way possible.
Still though, I think that KC and Philly fans should both be happy with how their seasons went. Nobody expected either of these teams to do anything, and Philly played very well against a NO team that is, simply put, a much better team than they are. Philly's future seems bright as well if they can shore up a couple of weaknesses.
1) I think the WR core is decent. Maybe add another piece. Hakeem Nicks is a free agent...
2) In regard to Smith, Cooper is a much bigger liability in the secondary.
3) Eric Fisher should pan out. They're doing just fine there.
4) TE would be a position Id immediately be looking to upgrade. I thought maybe they'd try to trade a late pick to bring Gonzo back at the deadline but that never happened. The FA pool is pretty slim this year (as I dont see Jimmy Graham escaping NO) unless they want to gamble on Fred Davis. Im not very high on this year's crop of draft prospects either. Ebron or Amaro if they want to waste a 1st on a TE, or Austin Seferian-Jenkins out of Washington in the 2nd.
Kansas City is perfectly fine /w Smith. Teams have won Super Bowls with far worse QB's under center. If 65% completion rate, 350 yards, 4 TD's, and another 60 yds rushing is "plateauing" then sign me up. QB's miss open receivers from time to time. ALL OF THEM. Is Smith an elite talent, no, but he's a guy that doesnt make many mistakes....and that was a big part of their success this year. KC's turnover differential this year was a +18. Last year it was a -24.
Well, lets start with the loss of Jamaal Charles. The offense isnt nearly as dynamic without him. IND made adjustments at halftime and was able to shut down the offense. I put a large chunk of today's loss on the defensive coordinator. As they pointed out during the broadcast, there is one weapon on IND they had to shut down and that was T.Y. Hilton. They failed miserably.....13 catches, 224 yds, 2 TD's worth of miserable. All in all KC lost what, 4 or 5 players during the game? Charles (Pro Bowl), Davis, Hemingway, Houston (Po Bowl), and Flowers (Pro Bowl) I think. Thats a lot for any team to overcome against a playoff caliber team like IND.
I wouldnt say that. I picked KC to make the playoffs in the preseason but I certainly didnt have PHI there. Chip Kelly adjusted his offense to the NFL game far better than I expected he'd be able to. But yes, both teams have plenty to be excited about going forward.
As a chiefs fan I want to see more of Tyler Bray. I wish he'd gotten the start in the worthless chargers game. We all know Chase is a journeyman/lifelong backup, I wanted to see the kid more. As for the game: bad teams find a way to lose. Kansas City found a way to give up a historic lead.
How badly does Alex smith want that sideline pass to Gray back to do again? Wide open TD overthrown by about a foot.
yea, that's the only pick of mine wrong so far. I think when I go to pick Bengals games from now on, I will just flip a coin and not worry about putting any thought into it.
now I'm just hoping they can get past Carolina now
Next round:
NFC:
Saints
Seahawks
49ers
Panthers
AFC:
Colts
Patriots
Chargers
Broncos
I'm literally going with the home teams, with 1 upset pick being the Colts at Pats.
But seriously, how many damn times have the Colts and Pats met in the playoffs? I'm having deja vu. Though, it's been a couple years since the last time.
Picks aside, I'll be rooting for the 49ers since they're my 2nd favorite team. I'm really wanting the Chargers to annihilate Peyton's Broncos. So I'll at least root for them.
I'm personally hoping they meet New England in the AFC final, but I understand why everyone and their brother will be hoping for a Denver/Indy final as the drama of Peyton versus Indy for a berth in the Superbowl is hard to resist.
When it really comes down to it this should be a no-brainer Pats pick.
1) Colts are a dome team going into a Foxboro freeze.
2) The Colts comeback was helped alot by the M.A.S.H. unit the Chiefs became as the game went along. If the Chiefs had either of their starting two RBs they would called a running game more confidently and ran more clock out.
3) The Colts secondary is more of a swiss cheese unit than the Patriots is even if everyone is healthy. Add in the fact that the starting two CB's had to leave the game because they were just not able to run at all. Brady will torch this secondary if the gameplan dictates it.
4) That gameplan will be to attack a 25th ranked run defense with a dose of Blount/Ridley and destroy afformentioned secondary with play action.
5) The Pats run defense is horrible, but the Colts don't and can't run themselves.
6) The only real weapon for the Colts is Hilton. I can count on my hand how many times a Belichick coached team will allow your stars to be you. He won't. He'll make someone else step up. If Reggie Wayne was healthy, this could be a problem. Talib will man Hilton up will help over the top when needed.
7) To add to this last factoid, the Patriots will likely go in with a in-house mindset of "stop Hilton and Mathis and we win" and this very doable.
The matchup is just not there. If the Colts can keep it close then Luck can pull out a clutch win. However a 14 to 21 point win by the Patriots is likely.
The Chiefs and Bengals were more of nightmare matchup for the Patriots so this was a fortunate outcome. If the Patriots come out playing well from the start (which has been a dice roll at best this season) it'll be a fun Saturday night for Pats fans.
Also, 11 of NE's 16 games were decided by 1 score. Id expect it to be a close game.
well i hope your not referencing my post. Because I did say:
The Colts are by far the underdog in my view.
but alas, i honestly don't care for either of the teams if that helps
I just think they have as long odds as the Chargers and Saints do.
The only away team I'd actually favor in fact is the 49ers. That is the team to beat in the league right now, IMO.
A punchers chance? This is a 50/50 coin flip if Ive ever seen one.
But NE is also extremely beat up, with a bunch of receivers that would be 2nd string on most other teams, but look great because Tom Brady is throwing them the ball.
NE is the favorite, but I expect the game to be close no matter what. Indy did just put up 45 points on a defense that is MUCH better than NE's is...they have alot of momentum. I would say that the game is like 58/42 in favor of NE. They should win, but I wouldn't be surprised if Indy beats them.
I can't really see SD beating Denver though, nor can I see an injury-plagued NE beating them. Denver's SB chances look extremely favorable right now.
In the NFC, I expect Seattle to dispatch NO pretty easily, and I expect SF to beat Carolina by 6 points or so. I know that Carolina beat them earlier, but Kaep was struggling then. Crabtree was out, and Davis ended up leaving that game, at which point SF just stopped being able to score. Carolina, on the other hand, is less healthy now than they were then, because Steve Smith isn't 100%...and they really don't have any other legitimate offensive weapons.
SF is capable of following the gameplan that AZ laid out to beat Seattle, but, sadly I don't think that they will actually do so. Roman loves for the offense to have a ton of moving parts and Kaep looooooooooves to change the play at the line of scrimmage. Both of these things will lead to disaster in an NFC Championship game @ Century Link. I would say that SF has approx. a 35% chance of beating Seattle @ Seattle.
I think that the NFC wins the SB basically no matter what though, at this point. I would take any NFC team that is still in the playoffs to beat any AFC team, with the possible exception of Carolina losing to Denver, just because Carolina can't score points ,and Denver randomly just scores 30.
Smith isn't a long-term answer but he's a hell of a lot better than most QBs out there. I'll take him for the next few years and they can groom a new guy for the future. Whether that's Bray or someone else is yet to be seen.
Ever since the bye-week, KC has been in the top 5 on offense and I'd wager the bottom 5 on defense. I don't know what happened, aside from losing Hali and Houston for awhile. The one thing I do notice watching them on a weekly basis is that they don't make defensive adjustments at halftime. They play the same way they do in the first half and get torched because the other team's offense made those necessary adjustments.
1) I disagree. Bowe is solid, but not great. Hopefully this was just a "I got paid" kinda year, but he may have fallen to high end #2 status. Avery drops balls like crazy. His only stand-out attribute is speed and if you can't hold on to those shots when Alex takes them, you aren't helping a ton. McCluster is a great slot/screen guy but he doesn't do a lot past 10 yards. Jenkins will likely be cut. I'm not a fan of Nicks. He's always hurt and is basically a cheaper Dwayne Bowe skillset wise. I'd rather see a trade for Boykin and a drafted wideout (If he's there at the right pick). Although, Maclin makes the most sense as far as splashy free agents go.
2) Yes, but Cooper has shown flashes and doesn't command the same kind of salary as Smith. I'm okay with him in the slot or coming in as a relief guy. Either way, they need to beef up the secondary. The biggest turning point in the game, IMO, was when Flowers went down.
3) Yeah I'm not terribly worried there, but he's getting outplayed by third-stringers at the end of the season. He better shape up quick or I'll have to hear about him all day and night on local radio.
4) I don't see an answer here either. Maybe spend a late pick on some random basketball guy. That seems to be working out lately.
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The Colts probably have even less name recognition right now, but they've got several stars-in-the-making going. This game is probably a coin toss, but if the Pats go anywhere, I'll be surprised.
I expect SF to beat Carolina tomorrow, and Denver to win, ultimately setting up the 2 conference championship games that have been obvious since before this season even started. And Seattle should beat SF(though SF seems capable of beating Seattle, now that it's been established that you can just run the ball on them all day long) and Denver should beat NE(because Gronk is injured), setting up the Super Bowl that basically everyone has predicted since Week 3.
14 points off two Luck INT's and an extra 4 points off a pass interference on 3rd & 8 in the red zone will do that. IND's run defense held up better than I thought they would until Blount gashed them on that 73 yarder. They had held NE to 90 yds on 30 carries until then.
I guess the coin flip was in the Patriots favor.
THAT was a fun one, bring on anybody next week!
GO PATS!
I dunno that Id say "written off", but he certainly didnt make any friends with that bonehead move. The kid could always play, though he did have ball security issues in Tampa that NE seems to have addressed and fixed