New England 26, N.Y. Jets 6 - The Patriots took care of business, getting the job done in the regular season finale with a home win against the Jets. It was not a glorious day, not one that will forever live in the memory of Patriots fans. Yet, it was an important win, as this team's win allows them to officially clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs, which is what they might need to make another Super Bowl run. The last two times that they had home field advantage throughout, they not only made it to the big game, but won it, too. As for the Jets, another disappointing season, and a lot of uncertainty and unanswered questions are left, with a long offseason now begins to begin addressing them. My pick: Accurate
Pittsburgh 28, Cleveland 24 - They tried desperately to avoid it, but the Browns lost this final game of the regular season. That means that Cleveland becomes only the second NFL team to have gone winless for an entire 16-game regular season. The season began for the Browns with a close but no cigar loss to the Steelers, and it seemed at the time to suggest that this team had made some serious improvements. I'll admit to thinking that, at the time. But since then, they have been involved with close games, with blow outs, and with games that were in between. The one common factor in all of them was that Cleveland was on the short end, every single time. In the past two seasons combined, the Browns went 1-31, which is a record low in terms of winning percentage for two consecutive seasons in the NFL. Let's hope that all of those high draft picks that they have received in recent seasons begins to yield more positive results in the near future, because the city of Cleveland could use some breaks. For the Steelers, they now get a week bye for the playoffs, before they play again in a couple of week. My pick: Accurate
Buffalo 22, Miami 16 - The Bills dominated most of this game, yet flirted with letting it slip away towards the end - and with it, their playoff chances. However, they did just enough to hang on and win with an interception to ice the win. Miami's disappointing season is over, but for Buffalo, they finally see the postseason for the first time since the 1999 season, which ended with them being on the wrong end of the "Music City Miracle" play that gave the Super Bowl-bound Titans the win. An impressive season finally sees the Bills go back to the playoffs. My pick: Accurate
Minnesota 23, Chicago 10 - The Minnesota Vikings did exactly what they needed to do, and beat the Vikings to end any suspense about who would earn the second seed in the NFC playoffs. They dominated the Bears, rather predictably, and so they earned that playoff bye. Chicago, in the meantime, will head into the offseason with high hopes, as there were signs that they were on the verge of some serious improvements. For Minnesota, though, the future is now. They have a real chance at going deep into the playoffs, with a home game in two weeks, and if they win, they will play the NFC Championship either at Philadelphia against a weakened Eagles team, or host it. Plus, the Super Bowl is at their home stadium, so this could really, truly be a rare golden opportunity. And they seem to be peaking at the right time. Exciting times for the fans of Minnesota! My pick: Accurate
Minnesota 23, Chicago 10 - The Minnesota Vikings did exactly what they needed to do, and beat the Vikings to end any suspense about who would earn the second seed in the NFC playoffs. They dominated the Bears, rather predictably, and so they earned that playoff bye. Chicago, in the meantime, will head into the offseason with high hopes, as there were signs that they were on the verge of some serious improvements. For Minnesota, though, the future is now. They have a real chance at going deep into the playoffs, with a home game in two weeks, and if they win, they will play the NFC Championship either at Philadelphia against a weakened Eagles team, or host it. Plus, the Super Bowl is at their home stadium, so this could really, truly be a rare golden opportunity. And they seem to be peaking at the right time. Exciting times for the fans of Minnesota! My pick: Accurate
Indianapolis 22, Houston 13 - The Colts won a relatively meaningless game here. As a Giants fan, I can say that I am happy about this one, because the Colts earned their fourth win of the season, which meant that despite the Giants win, they "earned" the second pick in the draft coming up. But otherwise, the Texans lost their sixth straight game, and this loss meant a sweep by the Colts, which puts them in third place in the division, and the Texans in the basement - not that it matters too much, one way or the other. The Texans General Manager announced a leave of absence for an extended period of time, which means that they will have to find a replacement. Both teams will have some choices to make for the long offseason that begins now. My pick: Accurate
N.Y. Giants 18. Washington 10 - This result would actually have bothered me had the Colts lost, and the Giants then lost the second pick in the draft on account of that. However, since the Colts won, seeing the Giants earn what proved to be a rare win for them this season was a refreshing change. This is officially the worst season that I have ever seen my G-Men suffer through, as they finish with a dismal 3-13 mark, which ranks as the second worst mark in the league. Not sure what happened, although the problems on the offensive line, and the injuries with all of those wide receivers early in the season, really took their toll. New York showed some solidity on defense at times, but the problems and limitations on offense probed to be the story all season long for the Giants. But at least they did manage to defeat one divisional opponent, even if it came in the final week of the season, against the weakest of their divisional opponents. It was a long season, but at least the embarrassment of this particular season is done and past them, and they can now focus on fixing these problems during the offseason to come. My pick: Inaccurate
Atlanta 22, Carolina 10 - The Falcons pretty much did what most of us expected them to do, right? Except that they also completely seemed to shit down the Panthers. I cannot remember Cam Newton looking quite so bad as he did in this game before. To be fair, the Panthers defense played pretty well, keeping that dangerous Falcons offense in check. Following an early touchdown by the Falcons, the Carolina defense held the Falcons to field goals the rest of the way. But Atlanta hardly needed to score a ton of points to beat Carolina on this day. Perhaps it is a shame, because the Panthers really had a shot, as it turns out. Had they won, they would have gone to 12-4, and earned the third seed in the playoffs. As it is, they head to New Orleans coming off their worst performance of the season, and facing a team that beat them twice. Not good. My pick: Accurate
Cincinnati 31, Baltimore 27 - This one was the real shocker this weekend. Perhaps it is because I am a Giants fan, but it really reminded me of the Giants-Jets game in the final week of the 1988 season. Back then, the G-Men were on the verge of an NFC East title, and a second seed in the playoffs, if they simply beat the lowly Jets. But Gang Green instead handed the Giants a stunning loss, and instead of earning a playoff bye, the Giants found themselves missing the playoffs altogether! The Ravens had everything going for them in this game. They had home field advantage, and they had been a relatively hot team, so they seemed to have momentum. They even had all of the momentum in the second half, and seemed to almost have the game wrapped up. They had the Bengals in a desperate fourth and long situation (they needed 12 yards). And then, just like that, Dalton throws that seemingly impossible 49-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd, and you could just feel the air go out of Baltimore. The Ravens offense looked flat and lifeless, and the fans seemed not to believe. Just like that, the Ravens went from the sure bet for the playoffs, to facing the long offseason with one of the most stunning and stinging losses in franchise history. This one hurts, and will continue to hurt for a long, long time. My pick: Inaccurate
Dallas 6, Philadelphia 0 - That Dallas won is not a surprise. After all, they were a decent team that had already been eliminated from playoff contention, and they were playing an Eagles team that was resting it's starters. That said, for the Eagles to look this flat, to get shut out and lose to a Dallas team that did not muster even seven points, is bad. The Eagles feel like a very vulnerable team right now, and despite having earned the top seed in the NFC playoffs, it feels like they are a team ready to topple. But that will happen when your star player suffers a season ending injury. Philly has mostly looked flat ever since then, so they better use these two weeks to really come up with something good for the divisional round. My pick: Accurate
Tennessee 15, Jacksonville 10 - The Titans absolutely needed to win this one, and they did. Precisely when it seemed like they were destined to be defined by a late season collapse, they come up with their biggest, most important win of the year, and it is enough to earn them a playoff spot! The Jaguars had wanted to recover from the embarrassment in San Fran, but they did not do it. They did tighten up big time on defense, but their offense was largely absent. They will obviously have to play much better next weekend against Buffalo if they hope to advance, and win their first playoff game since the 1999 season. Then again, this is the first time that the Bills are in the playoffs since 1999, and who did they happen to lose to that year? The Tennessee Titans! Strange. Anyway, huge win for the Titans, who now go to KC to visit the Chiefs in the first Wildcard game this upcoming weekend. My pick: Inaccurate
Tampa Bay 31, New Orleans 24 - The Saints basically blew this one, but they got extremely lucky with Carolina losing out in Atlanta. So, New Orleans backed into a division title. They did lose their chance to be the third seed in the playoffs, but that would have given them a date with the Falcons, who I think are much hotter and more dangerous than the Panthers, the team that the Saints will actually have to face now. As for Tampa Bay, this was a solid win, and a positive note to end the season on. Not the way that the Saints would want to end their season, but they are facing a team next week that also suffered a demoralizing loss, so maybe it balances out in the end. My pick: Inaccurate
Arizona 26, Seattle 24 - The Cardinals finally showed a bit of what they were capable of just a couple of seasons ago. And the Seahawks showed how disappointing they seemed to be at home all season. Remember when the 'Hawks used to be almost unbeatable at home? Well, this season, they barely beat Houston and San Francisco when they were really bad, and they outright lost to Washington, to Atlanta, and got slammed by the Rams in a huge showdown a couple of weeks ago. Now, they finish the season, perhaps fittingly, with an embarrassing home loss to the Cardinals, which eliminated them from playoff contention. As it turns out, they would not have made it anyway, as the Falcons won. However, this had to be more than a little demoralizing! My pick: Inaccurate
Kansas City 27, Denver 24 - The Chiefs had nothing riding on this one, yet they came out on top anyway. An impressive win, although the real test for them will be next weekend's showdown against the Titans. The result actually changed nothing for the Chiefs, who could not move from being the fourth seed in these playoffs. As for the Broncos, this was an enormously disappointing season for them, and they have not looked especially good since winning the Super Bowl two seasons ago. So, they need to address some of the key issues slowing them down, particularly on offense, and especially at quarterback. My pick: Inaccurate
L.A. Chargers 30, Oakland 10 - The Chargers did their part in fighting from the 0-4 hole that they dug themselves to begin the season, and clawing their way back to relevance. Needing to win this weekend, they dominated Oakland and avoided the letdown that some other teams in situations where they needed to win this weekend - particularly the Seahawks and the Ravens - failed to do. They gave themselves a shot at the playoffs, but were knocked out because the Titans and the Bills held favorable positions, and managed to win and qualify for those final playoff spots. Still, it was an admirable effort of recovery by the Chargers, who showed what they were capable of when they play at their best. As for the Raiders, just another in a too long list of losses in what proved to be a very disappointing season on the heels of a truly promising one last season. My pick: Accurate
San Francisco 34, L.A. Rams 13 - The Rams rested their starters, which was somewhat of a gamble. They had already won the NFC West, but this decision to effectively not try hard to win this game might have backfired a little and sent them from the third seed to the fourth. Not sure that it mattered to them, since they seemed so willing to do it, anyway. But in the end, it was a non-factor, as both the Saints and Panthers lost, assuring the Rams of a higher overall seed. As for San Francisco, they got off to a rough start, dropping their first nine. But they recovered in a big way, winning six of their final seven games, and just about looking like the hottest team in the league, or at least one of them, in the final couple of months of the season. During that stretch, they managed to beat three playoff teams - the Titans, the Jaguars, and the mostly resting Rams. Pretty impressive! My pick: Accurate
No comments:
Post a Comment