Now we’re getting somewhere in the NFL playoffs. Some of the riffraff is gone, and we are left with mostly real contenders.
Sorry Raiders fan. You just had no prayer with a rookie taking over at the most important position on the field. You’re actually lucky your guy even found the endzone at all.
No hard feelings Lions fanatics. Your team had a real shot at taking down the Seahawks in their own building. It was just too tough to overcome the dirtiest players in the game with their Microsoft mid-level managers officiating the contest.
As for you Dolphins fans, no other team was gonna slow down Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown either. The Steelers nearly decapitated your backup quarterback too, which didn’t help. Maybe the NFL will change the playoff schedule so you guys can play a warm weather postseason game. Or maybe you could force Tom Brady into retirement so you can actually win your division and host a game in your own damn stadium.
And yes Giants fans, ya’ll qualify as riffraff. I’m sure you all thought you might luck your way to ruining another Super Bowl for the Patriots. But the lack of focus from your receiving corps didn’t help matters. Perhaps OBJ, Sterling Shepard, and Victor Cruz should check into some Adderall. I hear it helps with focus.
Now for the contenders. Here’s how I see round two playing out. You can see the updated computer generated odds for the divisional round from ESPN’s FiveThirtyEight.com.
I’ll go from least likely upsets to most likely.
- Tom Brady may throw more touchdowns than Brock Osweiler throws completions. I’m almost serious. Osweiler got a snuggly little win last week that had to help his shattered confidence after a horrendous regular season. But he will not get the privilege of dueling with a rookie QB. He’s got to keep pace with a legend in round two. Patriots by 19.
- All you 12th Man folk can take a seat and do the opposite of Richard Sherman. Be quiet, and let this Seahawks team fall by the wayside. The offense you saw against the Lions looked really good. But you had lots of help from the refs and were facing a quarterback with a damaged hand in Matthew Stafford. Atlanta is clicking on all cylinders and will outscore your pitiful offense. Russell Wilson has used up all his playoff magic for the rest of this decade…… I hope. Dirty Birds by 10.
- Green Bay is hot as Erin Andrews in a red dress. And I would not bet against Aaron Rodgers. Dude is ablaze. He’s fearless as well. If I’m Dallas, I run the ball 85 percent of the time in this game just to keep Rodgers off the field. He is a threat to the best Cowboys’ season in recent memory. I’d make the Packers the number one choice to upset the higher seeded team if I knew for sure that Jordy Nelson was cleared to play. And even if he does, there’s no way he’s 100 percent by Sunday. My pick for this game is a game time decision depending on whether #87 starts.
- It’s tough being a Chiefs fan. This team never seems to have a bad regular season, but in the postseason, things get hairy. This year that hairiness continues versus a team full of sasquatches in black and yellow uniforms. How can K.C. stop Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown? They may slow one down if they’re lucky. But the other one will light them up. I look for Pittsburgh to wreck the computer’s guesses in this game. I’m calling a Steelers win by seven.
I’ve said it before. Football is a game of inches. And not every computer generated prediction is gonna happen as logic might dictate.
Logic doesn’t belong anywhere near the game of football.