MONDAY COMMENTARY: WIN AND YOU’RE IN?

(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 & Rock 98.5 FM)

The major, major build-up to this weekend’s final week of the NFL regular season did not disappoint.

What generally could be a confusing scenario really just added up to a case of “win and you’re in” for teams like Green Bay, Miami, New England, Seattle and Jacksonville.

We’ve kept a close eye on the Jaguars because our good friend Henry Burris is a coach there – shoot I was just there last week – and they kicked off Week 18 on Saturday with a big 20-16 playoff-clinching win over Tennessee.

Jags coach Doug Pederson should be Coach of the Year, and that’s a big middle finger to the Eagles, who fired him after winning a Super Bowl.

Here in Miami it was a lonnnnnnng week of hype leading up to the Dolphins/Jets clash and the game really was a dog – 3-3 into the third quarter – but a late field goal pulled out an 11-6 win for the Fins whom are headed to the playoffs.

That was thanks too to the division rival Patriots losing 35-23 to the Bills. Had New England pulled it out, they’d have clinched but Buffalo was too much for them.

Oh! And it’s another year of Tom Brady in the playoffs and Bill Belichick not. Brady’s Bucs clinched the NFC South and will have homefield in Round 1 while Bill will have to watch on TV. (Guess we’ve learned whom needs who).

And there will be no Aaron Rodgers in the playoffs as the Packers failed to pull off a do-or-die win over the upstart Detroit Lions. So maybe the pundits were right after all.

As for the Dallas Cowboys?

I don’t want to talk about it.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily on Game+ TV, YouTube Live and WQEE Radio)