Fucking Chiefs pulled it out after all. But they have not been operating the same the 2nd half of the season (but hopefully that last game might help their mojo some). Think its a mixture of young team (I think that probably was getting to Mahomes some, he was starting to look tired down the home stretch), coach that isn't proactive about discipline (penalties out the ass), coach trying to outthink himself, and then some other issues (the Kareem Hunt situation). Doesn't sound like Berry will be healthy for the playoffs (bet he plays, but don't think he'll make it all the way through; and sounds like he just doesn't have passion for the game like he used to that is the bigger issue and might mean he retires after this year).
Oh and holy shit, they've got a tough schedule next year too. Fucking 3rd year in a row they play at the Pats. They have the NFC North and AFC South, the Pats, and the Jags.
Saturday, January 5
No. 6 Indianapolis at No. 3 Houston, 4:35 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC)
No. 5 Seattle at No. 4 Dallas, 8:15 p.m. ET (Fox)
Sunday, January 6
No. 5 Los Angeles Chargers at No. 4 Baltimore, 1:05 p.m. ET (CBS)
No. 6 Philadelphia at No. 3 Chicago, 4:40 p.m. ET (NBC)
Wow, I think this is a GREAT slate of games. I do have some commentary on the teams that "underachieved" first:
Minnesota Vikings - Ahhhh….I was celebrating how Matt Staff..err...Kirk Cousin again, shrank in big moments. I hate the Vikings. Seeing them lose is just as satisfying as seeing the Lions win. I did not appreciate that the all but one of their wins came against bad or losing teams. Bums beating up other bums still makes you a bum... you're just a better bum than the bum you beat.
Steelers - Don't care about them too much. But I know people are going to point to the absence of Bell as the reason for this. I don't think so. They are actually a good team without Bell. They beat the Pats WITHOUT Bell. They've yet to make it to a SB WITH Bell. Connor got hurt so they had NO running back. So I think the jury is still out on that. But I blame the coach. This team as unorganized and seemed to just do and say what they wanted. Tomlin will not be fired, but he needs to improve. He's lucky he's with a good and loyal organization when it comes to coaches.
I am really pulling for the LA charges. However, I don't think they are going to beat the Ravens. The got blasted last time they played the Ravens. Rivers has to proved he can play big as well and that he's a winner. I am up in the air about the remaining games. I really don't know. Those are good games in which any team can win.
Thoughts?
I really don't get why so many people that seems to be fans of multiple teams are a fan of the Chargers. Rivers especially, he's such a pouty or whiny motherfucker and consistently was the reason his team would lose with bad turnovers. Which people might say that without him they wouldn't be in the game at all, but they had Drew Brees. If they were in a major market he'd be labeled as one of the worst QBs because of how he squandered the talent he's had around him. The Chargers consistently have one of the most talented rosters in the league, yet they keep coming up short (often very short). What's been almost the only singular recurring part of that? Why is it that somehow people still give Rivers a pass when they'll trash basically every other QB, fucking even Tom Brady can't escape it. Just makes no sense. I'll even give Rivers credit, he's consistently good, and he's actually improved so that he no longer almost singlehandedly derails the Chargers with turnovers and other stupid mistakes like he used to on a regular basis, but I don't get why there's a disparity in how people view him. And I think Rivers is likeable (just not on the field), but not to the point of how people do not levy the same criticisms at him. He's on a better team than maybe all but Brees, and couldn't win his own division, and the Chiefs really tried to help him out there.
They beat a Pats team that is not consistently the same team. The Pats were mostly the Pats at home this year. They played the Steelers at Heinz. Bell, and all stud RBs are pretty overrated in today's game. Not saying they don't matter at all, but scheme matters more than anything (for that reason I think Jackson on the Ravens is being massively overrated, I think they could stick a decent amount of QBs in to run and they'd get similar results). Steelers just aren't talented enough (key word enough, they still had plenty of talent it just wasn't quite enough) to make up for their primadonna drama (Ben, Bell, Brown, and Tomlin to me are the source of most of that these days) any more.
Meh, Vikings took a step back as a team. Cousins warrants criticism (especially towards the end of the year), but their problems are bigger than him. The defense, even though it was statistically good, was just not the same (especially early on), and I don't think they ever got their run game working properly and that stalled their offense. Not sure if the o-line was playing worse or what, maybe Cousins scrambles a bit more than Keenum and Bradford so they're trying to adjust to him and it threw them off? Which, run game issues (that stalled their offense) and defense being off (but still good to even great at times) fits the Jags as well But their defense wasn't the same (still good, in fact statistically I don't know that it dropped off much), and that set the tone for the whole team. They'll blame it on the QB (who definitely deserves a fair amount of criticism), but that's not the only issue. Both teams overperformed the year before and then underperformed the year after. I don't think they should freak out too much. Jags should find a new QB (since they're not gonna find a Sean McVay to salvage Bortles who they're giving up on - not saying that's not the right move). Vikings just need to try and find a balance.
Bengals finally fired Marvin Lewis after 16 seasons....
Yeah not sure what choice they had. I don't know that they'll be better off. And holy shit if they make Hue Jackson the new HC then they're gonna probably turn into the Browns real quick. Definitely need a change though, but there's enough talent that its hard to really point the finger at any specific thing (but everything goes from the coaching, and they've seen Lewis squander talent a lot, but he also seems to get more out of less so he's also a solid coach and you can see why he stuck around so long). I don't dislike Dalton, but in a world where you've gotta have a top tier QB, he just wasn't enough to push them. I think he's a bit too much of a consummate gentleman, works hard, does his job. Kinda like Alex Smith. Talented, nice guy, but just doesn't have that intangible next level thing that the great ones do. Hell even sometimes that's not enough (Marino had it, and even though he had a great coach, they just couldn't get there).
About time. I mean yes, he legitimized a bad team.. but 0-7 in the playoffs cannot be accepted.
I think he is a good coach though. He just took chances on shaky players I think -- like Pacman and Burfict.
I think the issue is that yeah having players like that hurts the credibility when you want to hold the team accountable. Add in playing in a tough division, and that team was going to underperform. They used to have serious drama problem like the Steelers have now too and we see how that undermines you, which explains what happened in the 200Xs. Later on I think they just lacked a bit too much discipline and better teams exploited that.
Of all the coaches that got fired, why isn't Patricia at least feeling the heat? He literally took a 9-7 team and made them worse. Stafford looks considerably worse than he did last year.
And to add insult in injury, the Lions actually celebrated their 6th win of the season. They also celebrated beating a dilapidated Packers team.
Go Lions!! That's why this team wins so much!
Because its his first year and the Lions are expected to be a joke (even when they're kinda good they somehow find a way to be a joke). He definitely looks like he'll be a McDaniels level flameout and will probably be back with the Pats within a couple of years. I can't believe anybody is considering McDaniels after the shit he pulled on the Colts but some are considering bringing him in for interview. For some reason, I have a hunch that the Pats will do something weird and have McDaniels and Patricia be co-head coaches after Belichick retires or moves on.
LOL -- but I had no real idea that Mariota was that mediocre. He really is, looking at his numbers especially.
I don't think Mariotta is that mediocre. He plays above what his stats are, but he's injured way too much (I'm not sure he has played healthy much of his career) and that kills his (and the team's) consistency. The Titans aren't exactly a juggernaut of a talent (not saying they don't have any talent, as they certainly do, all NFL teams do). I think he's elevated what would otherwise be a lower tier team to being comepetitive but not more. The thing is, I don't know if he'll get healthy. I feel like Mariotta's upside is Steve McNair, and have a hunch his career will kinda be similar (undeniably talented and flashes it but just doesn't quite get there).
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