JIM LANG’S 10 NFL THINGS: PLAYOFF EDITION!
Hi there, well the 18th and final week of the NFL regular season wasn’t lacking in drama or excitement. There is a lot to cover, so let’s get to what happened their past week.
1 – Saturday Night Special – Week 18 kicked off Saturday with a doubleheader. Up first, the Broncos hosted the Chiefs and then in the late game, the play-off bound Eagles hosted the play-off bound Cowboys. The Chiefs scored 9 points in the 4th quarter to beat the Broncos. The Chiefs are not perfect, but they are a vastly improved team from the one that struggled early in the season. If their defence can be respectable, Mahomes and the Chiefs will be tough to beat. However, it is far from a sure thing that the Chiefs will win the AFC. Meanwhile in Philadelphia, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni decided to rest Jalen Hurts and most of his starters and it showed. Dak Prescott threw 5 touchdowns as the Cowboys offence exploded for 51 points. I liked the fact the Ezekiel Elliot averaged almost 5 yards per carry. Elliott hasn’t run for over 100 yards since October 10th. If the Cowboys are going to beat the 49ers, they will need a big game from Elliott to keep Nick Bosa and the San Francisco pass rush honest.
2 – Shame – Carson Wentz and Jonathan Taylor and the Colts should be ashamed of themselves. All they had to do to get into the playoffs was beat the NFL’s worst team, the Jaguars. They didn’t just lose; they got their butts kicked all over the field. Wentz thew an interception, fumbled and he was sacked 6 times. During the last two weeks of the season, with a spot in the post-season on the line, Wentz was awful. And Frank Reich was no better. Jonathan Taylor was averaging 5.1 yards per carry against the Jags, and the Colts only gave him the ball 15 times. Colts fans have every right to be pissed off over the way this team missed the playoffs.
3 – Big Ben – After 18 amazing seasons, Ben Roethlisberger still has a little magic left in his arm. Big Ben put the Steelers into field goal range in over-time and Chris Boswell was money from 36 yards out. I think it is good for football that Big Ben and the Steelers are going to the playoffs. I don’t like their chances on the road against the Chiefs, but Ben deserves to have the final game of his career to be in the post-season. And hey, in the playoffs, you just never know what will happen.
4 – Raider Nation – Going into Sunday night’s game between the Raiders and the Chargers, there were people on Twitter who actually thought both teams would play for a tie. Yes, if the game ended in a tie, both teams would make the playoffs and the Steelers would be out. You have to remember; these two teams were part of the old AFL back in the early 1960’s. The Raiders and the Chargers have waged some epic battles over the years (Look up The Holy Roller on YouTube), and they don’t like each other. I never once thought either team would agree to a tie so they both would make the playoffs. If you are playing a team you don’t like, you want to beat them and knock them out of the playoffs! Having said all that, Chargers coach Brandon Staley makes at least one move every game that makes no sense to me. Somewhere in football heaven, John Madden was smiling Sunday night.
5 – MVP – Aaron ‘freaking’ Rodgers is the MVP of the NFL. Period, end of story. Bruce Arians thinks Tom Brady should be the MVP, which makes sense. And there are those who feel Jonathan Taylor should win it. Sunday’s loss to the Jags killed any chance of Taylor winning the award. Rams receiver Cooper Kupp also deserves consideration. The fact that a receiver has never won the award works against him. Brady had a remarkable season, throwing for over 5,000 yards, 43 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Rodgers was even better. Rodgers had the best passer rating in the NFL and the best TD-to-Interception (37-4) in the NFL. And during the Packers 5-game winning streak to lock up the top seed in the NFC, Rodgers threw 14 touchdowns and ZERO interceptions. Rodgers ‘owns’ the Bears and he should own the MVP award again this year.
6 – Rookie of the year – While Mac Jones struggled the last few weeks of the season, Ja’Marr Chase played his best football of the year when the Bengals needed him the most. That is why Chase deserves to be the Rookie-of-the-year in the NFL. Chase ended the year with 81 catches for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns. That puts him in the same category as some of the top receivers in the entire NFL. Once the front office beefs up the offensive line in the off-season, Chase and the Bengals offence will be scary next season.
7 – Top Seeds – The top two seeds in the NFL and the only two teams that will get a bye week to start the post-season are the Green Bay Packers and the Tennessee Titans. For my money, the Titans Mike Vrabel is the coach of the year in the NFL. Thanks to their win over the Texans, the Titans get more time to make sure that Derrick Henry is ready for the post-season. The Packers are also getting some key players healthy, and they should have close to a complete roster for the Divisional playoffs.
8 – AFC Wild Card – The AFC Wild Card kicks off Saturday afternoon in Cincinnati as the Bengals host the Raiders. The place they call ‘The Jungle’ will be rocking as the Bengals look to win their first playoff game January of 1991 when they beat the Houston Oilers. In the late game, the weather will be bitterly cold in Buffalo as the Bills host their long-time division rivals, the New England Patriots. Sunday, the Steelers are in KC to take on the Chiefs in the final Wild Card game. Taking a quick look at all of the matchups, I like the Bengals, Bills, and the Chiefs to win.
9 – NFC Wild Card – The NFC Wild Card gets underway Sunday in Tampa as the Buccaneers host the surprising Philadelphia Eagles. That is followed by the bullies from California, the 49ers in Dallas to take on the Cowboys. The NFC Wild Card wraps up Monday night in LA as the Rams host the Arizona Cardinals. I like the Bucs and the Rams to win. But I am really torn over the 49ers and Cowboys game. The 49ers are so physical, and they can really run the football. It will be a close and punishing game. The Rams will also have their hands full with the Cardinals. The Eagles are playing with house money, and they can also run the ball. I am looking forward to all of the games.
10 – Changes – The Broncos didn’t wait long until after their season ending loss to the Chiefs when they fired head coach Vic Fangio. The Giants shouldn’t have just fired Joe Judge, they should have banned him from MetLife Stadium. He actually called a quarterback sneak on a 3rd and 9 play deep in his own end. Of course, what do the Giants do? They decided to keep Judge for another season! What in the holy hell are they thinking? Meanwhile. Mike Zimmer, Matt Nagy, and Brian Flores all walked the plank on what is known annually as ‘Black Monday.’ The firing of Flores is a strange one. While there are stories of an internal battle going on in the Dolphins front office, firing a coach like Flores still doesn’t make much sense. As it stands now, the Bears Vikings Dolphins, Broncos, and Jaguars all need a head coach. Rich Bisaccia is the interim head coach in Las Vegas, but after leading the Raiders into the post-season, I would hope they give him serious consideration for the permanent job. As of now, there are six coaching jobs available. If you take the Bears job, you get a promising young quarterback, some intriguing weapons on offence and some solid players on defence. You also get some question marks with ownership. In Miami, it is the exact same scenario for whoever gets the Dolphins job. Reports indicate the Bears are already getting ready to interview Brian Flores.
The Divisional playoffs take place the weekend of January 22nd and the 23rd. The Conference Championships are set for Sunday, January 30th. Then Super Bowl 56 is supposed to take place at the multi-billion-dollar SoFi Stadium in LA on February 13th. However, if the Covid numbers and the restrictions in California get out of hand, the NFL has looked at moving the game to the home of the Cowboys in Dallas-Ft. Worth.
Enjoy the games and I will talk to you next week.
(Jim Lang is Canada’s foremost expert on the NFL. Follow him on Twitter at @JimLangSports)
