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Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Here we go again. Tom Brady and the defending champion Buccaneers made it to the playoffs again, and now begin the second and obviously most serious phase in their quest to win a second straight Super Bowl title.
The Eagles rested their starters last week, which is good. It was necessary, because they cannot afford to not be at full strength in this one. On defense, the Eagles are a bit better than middle of the pack, probably in the top third. They played well at times, even thought they also had some lapses. But they need to be on their game this week, because keeping Brady and Gronk and the rest of the Tampa Bay offense in check will be a challenge. I get the feeling that the defending champs will have something special lined up for Philly this weekend. Remember, the Bucs had the second highest scoring offense, behind Dallas, this season. They scored over 500 points and average over 30 points and 400 yards per game. So it is no exaggeration to say that Philly’s defense will be stretched out in this one.
Philadelphia has been middle of the road on offense, and has struggled at times. Yet, they can be explosive as well, as they scored at least 30 points seven times this season. So they can score, and the Bucs defense need to be aware of that.
On defense, the Bucs have been middle of the road. Yet it should be kept in mind that their defense was awesome during their postseason run last year. Remember, this unit absolutely dominated the Chiefs well-oiled machine in the Super Bowl, holding them without a touchdown and simply bullying them in almost every way. That is not easy to do, and I expect the defense to step up for this postseason run, as well.
With advantages in terms of recent playoff experience and talent, as well as enjoying the comforts of playing this game at home, the Bucs should be able to hold off the Eagles to win this one and advance.
My pick: Tampa Bay
San Francisco 49ers at Dallas Cowboys
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One of the great and most famed rivalries is renewed this weekend. The 49ers will travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys. It will be the first playoff meeting between the two franchises since the days when their rivalry dominated the NFL back in the first half of the nineties, when the two teams combined to win four straight Super Bowls between them.
Neither team has won the Super Bowl since the nineties, although the 49ers have at least gone twice. As for the Dallas Cowboys, they have not even made it back to the NFC title game since winning Super Bowl XXX over the Pittsburgh Steelers back in January of 1996. Obviously, they are hoping to change that this season.
Also, neither of these two teams are looking like a sure bet to advance to the NFC Championship Game, let alone win the Super Bowl. However, this is still an intriguing game for a number of reasons. Dallas has the number one rated offense in the league, having scored an impressive 530 points and averaging over 400 yards per game. They have scored 50 points or more three times this season.
Yet the 49ers defense is also one of the best in the league. They are ranked number three overall on the defensive end of things. Remember, they went to the Super Bowl just two years ago, and nearly won it. They did all of that largely on the strength of a very tough, physical defense. It seems unlikely that Dallas will score 50 points in this game. So this will be a game featuring one of the best offenses in the league against one of the toughest and best defenses in the league. It does not get much better than that, does it?
Now, the Cowboys defense is not quite as impressive. They are more a middle of the pack kind of defensive unit. And while the 49ers were not the highest ranked offense, they nevertheless ranked among the better teams, averaging just over 25 points per game. Plus, again, they look as healthy as they have all season.
With all of that, it feels a bit to me that the Niners are peaking just in time for the playoffs, and so they are my pick to win in a surprise upset.
My pick: San Francisco
Pittsburgh Steelers at Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs are not the top seed in the AFC. Yet, they are still potentially the best team in the AFC, and they look like they are on top of their game at the moment. It took them a long time to get there, because they did not look so good earlier this season. But right now, yes, they sure look like they are one of the best and most complete teams in the league, and one of the teams to watch on the AFC side.
The Steelers, meanwhile, are flying high themselves. They looked pretty much dead in the water just a few weeks ago. Hell, even entering last weekend’s regular season finale, the chances that they would reach the playoffs seemed slim. They would need to beat the Ravens in Baltimore, which they did, albeit barely. Then, they needed the Colts to lose in Jacksonville, which seemed incredibly unlikely. But it happened.
So now, it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Years ago, the Chiefs always seemed to lose to the Steelers. And that could happen again. After all, few teams are as hot and riding quite as high as Pittsburgh is right now. They have a solid offense led by a seasoned veteran at quarterback. And they can play defense, too.
However, I feel the Chiefs are the better team. Their offense is starting to find that old rhythm, and the defense has stepped up in a big way this season, helping this franchise to be one of the most successful teams again, winning a sixth straight division title. This time, they actually have the advantage in terms of experience over the Steelers, as well. KC has been to the Super Bowl in each of the past two seasons, and went to the AFC Championship Game in each of the past three seasons. The Steelers, by contrast, have not won a playoff game since the 2016 season, and they were a different team back then.
So with all of that, with the Chiefs enjoying home field advantage and playing some of their best football just in time for the playoffs, they should be able to win this game and advance to the divisional round.
Also, on a side note, I normally would not mention anything not specifically having to do with sports. I have seen a lot of talk and even praise over Ben Roethlisberger in recent days, with some even suggesting that he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Perhaps in terms of football talent, that argument could be made indeed. Obviously, he has had a lot of success, including three AFC titles and winning two Super Bowls. To me, however, there are some things that transcend football. Roethlisberger has long seemed to me crass and full of himself. I felt this way from his rookie season, when I heard him laughing in an interview about how often women whistle at him, and how he was getting used to it. There was that incident of him almost killing himself because he did not wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle and then getting in an accident. But to me, the worst thing would obviously be the sexual assault allegations against him. This was swept under the rug, of course. This is a star quarterback for a storied franchise, and so there is no question that a lot of money was involved in this hush job. Roethlisberger continued playing football, and before too long, people forgot these charges and he began to be referred to, almost adoringly, as “Big Ben.” As far as I am concerned, that is total crap. I lost respect for the Pittsburgh Steelers as a franchise, and actively have pulled against them since they helped Roethlisberger get away with his crime. Yes, the use of the word crime here is deliberate. As far as I am concerned, he should be behind bars instead of making millions of dollars playing football. So if the Steelers lose – and I hope they do – good riddance to bad rubbish. Not sure if I will gain more respect or root against the Steelers once “Big Ben” is gone, but I sure the hell want him gone from the team, and from the league. He is a disgrace, and his playing in the NFL for the past decade or so is a major blemish that made it harder to enjoy the league. It will be better without him. Let’s go Chiefs.
My pick: Kansas City
Monday: Arizona Cardinals at LA Rams
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Arizona Cardinals
This is perhaps the toughest game to make a pick for this season. Both of these teams tend to be up and down, hot or cold. You never quite know which version of either of these teams you are going to get. The case in point here was what happened last weekend, when both of these teams lost, despite having everything on the line. The Rams raced out to a 17-0 lead at home, and then were completely dominated the rest of the way, eventually losing. Meanwhile, the Cardinals, also playing at home and with a chance to win the division title, instead lost to the last place Seahawks, despite themselves scoring 30 points.
The two teams are division rivals, yet even their earlier meetings make this, if anything, even more difficult to make predictions. The Cardinals dominated the Rams in the first meeting in Los Angeles, outscoring them 37-20. In the second meeting, however, the Rams went into Arizona and blasted the Cardinals, 30-23, in what proved to be the game that decided the NFC West division title.
Both teams have a middle of the road defense. And both teams are a bit better on offense, each also potentially explosive under the right circumstances.
Again, neither team has been a model of consistency. The Cardinals, if you remember, raced off to an impressive 8-0 start, and were still 10-2, with the best record in the league, before watching their season unravel a bit, as they lost for of their final five games. They had one of the most explosive offenses in the league early this season, and looked unstoppable. In the past five games, however, they only reached the 30 point mark once, last week, and they lost that one to Seattle.
Then again, the Rams also have had their problems. They have won some impressive games against winning teams, including the Buccaneers and the Cardinals, and played some other solid teams tough. But they also have not accelerated enough to be considered among the elite teams in the league, and blew a chance to make a statement with a win last weekend at home against the 49ers, even after earning a 17-0 lead.
However, the Rams have been the more consistent team of these two this season, and it was enough to earn them the division title and home field advantage in this game. They also usually win against the teams that they are expected to win again. And frankly, although this game features two teams tough to predict, I expect the Rams to emerge with the win when it comes down to it.
My pick: LA Rams
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