4 Takeaways From This Weekend's Games

1. Quarterbacks Rule


·         3 of the 4 teams remaining have signal-callers who have won Super Bowls in the past – young Andrew Luck is the only one who hasn’t.

·         Tom Brady has the most playoff starts of any QB in league history. Peyton Manning has the most playoff losses in league history.

·         Russell Wilson is 26-2 at home in his career, meaning he wins at home 93% of the time.

 

 

2. Veterans Who’ve Been There Before, Do It Again

·         Julius Peppers saved a touchdown AND forced a turnover against Dallas: Watch here.

·         Tom Brady ran four long yards for a key touchdown on a third-and-goal: Watch here. 

·         Owen Daniels catches a huge touchdown pass from Joe Flacco: Watch here.

 

3. The Fourth-Down Play with Dez Bryant Was The Correct Call

It sucks, but it’s true. Dez seemed to have possession of the football and stretched out to try to cross the plane for six points. If he wanted to, I’m sure he could’ve secured the ball by turning and landing on his back, but then he would not have been able to score as he would have been short of the goal line. It’s a ridiculous rule that cost Dez an amazing reception, but in the NFL, refs make calls based on precedent rulings.

In this particular instance, a rule known as “The Calvin Johnson Rule” took effect. Here is where that rule stems from. It’s controversial, but based on that call, oddly made by the same referee, it is the right one.

 

4. Home Sweet Home

 

·         The Packers, who are 9-0 at home this season, warded off the Cowboys, who were 8-0 on the road during the regular season.

·         The Seahawks and Patriots are 8-1 at home this season.

·         The Broncos were 8-0 at home this season before Indy turned their entire organization upside-down. Anything can happen in the playoffs.

 

 
Championship Game Predictions:

The Packers, Seahawks, and Patriots are 3 of the 4 teams I said have a real shot at winning the Super Bowl in my last post, and here they are in the Final Four.

AFC: I will stand by New England this weekend. I don’t imagine the game will be too close either. The Colts don’t have a good rushing attack, and their receivers will struggle against the Patriots outstanding secondary. The Pats will put up too many points for Andrew Luck and company to keep up with. New England wins 38-17.

NFC: Man, this is going to be like the best game. Ever. I think the Seahawks will win because they are at home, but the Packers are great and have a solid chance to win. I believe the winner of this game beats New England in the Super Bowl.

4 things not being talked about enough in the NFL:

1. New England’s Recent Dominance

It feels like forever ago when Kansas City blew out New England 41-14 on MNF, where Jamaal Charles scored 3 touchdowns and the Chiefs defense dominated Brady. Since then, the Pats have won 6 straight games.

What is so impressive is that 5 of these wins have been by at least 22 points, against playoff contenders like Denver, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. The Pats, who are undefeated at home, are my pick right now to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl against either the Cardinals or Packers.



The biggest reason for their success over this stretch is undoubtedly Rob Gronkowski, who looks to be 100% healed from tearing his right ACL and MCL in week 14 last season. Since that game against the Chiefs, Gronk has caught 40 of his 53 targets (75%) for 587 yards and 6 touchdowns. Holy moly.  

 

2. Brian Hoyer's Success

Who in the world thought Johnny Manziel would only have been on the field for 5 snaps at this point in the season? Hoyer has faced arguably more pressure than any other quarterback this season since he won the starting job in the preseason. His impressive play thus far speaks volumes about his mental toughness and discipline.

Brian Hoyer is simply not getting enough credit for what he is doing. The Browns have only had 2 winning seasons since 1999, and Hoyer has his team in the thick of the playoff hunt at 6-4. Currently, Hoyer is leading the NFL with an average of 14.04 yards per completion. He's also third in the league with 43 completions of 20-plus yards. He led the largest comeback for a road team in NFL history in week 5. To top it all off, he’s thrown only 5 picks this season. And now he gets Josh Gordon back, who led the NFL in receiving last year.

 

Something tells me that Hoyer, a free agent after this season, signs a
 contract extension soon for somewhere around 5 years for $70 million.

 

3. The Oakland Raiders going 0-16

If they didn’t upset the previously 7-3 Kansas City Chiefs, the Raiders quite possibly could have become the second team to go 0-16 in NFL history (2008 Lions). They have only one remaining opponent (the Rams) who are under .500 this season. The Raiders have not reached the playoffs or attained a winning record in 11 seasons.

 

 

4. How bad the NFC South is

On October 30^th, I posted a blog going off on the NFC South. At the time, I hammered Atlanta for being a huge disappointment at 2-6 and pointed out that those 2 wins were within the division, proving how awful these teams are.

Now Atlanta is in first place in the NFC South at 4-6. Guess where those 2 consecutive wins came from? Divisional opponents. The Saints got pummeled by a mediocre Bengals team on Sunday at the Superdome and Tampa finally got its second win against the woeful Redskins (who should be starting Colt McCoy – see my first blog post. RGIII aggravates me.).

Ultimately, I predict the Saints will win the division and 7-9 and host the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs, with the Mark Sanchez-led Eagles missing the cut. This probably seems strange to you, and you can’t put your finger on why it is.

Remember in 2010 when the 7-9 Seahawks upset the defending champion New Orleans Saints in the first round of the playoffs? Nope? How about Marshawn Lynch's legendary 67-yard-run? Oh. Now you remember. I think the Saints get revenge for that game this postseason. Just a hunch.