Sunday, January 7, 2018

Wild Wildcard Weekend Recap: Whose moving on, who's out?

Hi, after an eventful wildcard weekend, the divisional round matches are set and here is everything you need to know:

FINAL SCORES:

AFC:
Jaguars 10, Bills 3
Titans 22, Chiefs 21

NFC:
Falcons 26, Rams 13
Saints 31, Panthers 26

WHAT WENT DOWN/NEWS:

Bills @ Jags: After a lot of hype for a game I was really excited for, it wasn't anything like we thought. It was a slugfest type of game. Barely any scoring. I thought later in the game, the Bills could pull off a late TD to force OT but it didn't happen as Tyrod Taylor got hurt and rookie QB Nathan Peterman did what he does best which is to throw interceptions. Both teams didn't look very good in this game but I expect the Jags to have a better game next week even if its against a hard team. The Jags D played very well but the offense needs to improve if they want a Super Bowl bid. As for the Bills, their season is over and they have a lot of work to do mainly with the QB position. Alex Smith or Kirk Cousins could be players they target who would make a good impact of the team. The Bills will NOT get back to the postseason next year with a team like this, they got very lucky to make it this year with lack of good teams in the AFC.

Titans @ Chiefs: This game and the Jags/Bills game swapped places. I thought the Chiefs would easily win this one while the Bills/Jags game would be close and right down to the wire. Instead the Chiefs blew their early lead. At one point I'm pretty sure Kansas City had a 21-3 lead and it got blown in the 2nd half because of a great defensive effort by Tennessee and a breakout game from QB Marcus Mariota. Derrick Henry also had a great game. By now everyone has seen the amazing touchdown where Marcus Mariota threw the ball, it got swatted back to Mariota and he caught it and ran in for the TD. What an upset for the Titans as they have changed my mind about them that they are actually a team that can contend. From what I saw, I think the Titans could have a chance against the Patriots. The Chiefs have been so bad at home in their playoff history and now a good team hits the off-season early. It should be an interesting off-season for the Chiefs as they are likely trading QB Alex Smith so they can finally play 2017 first round pick Pat Mahomes. The Titans will move on to play the Patriots in New England which should be a tough task for the young team.

Falcons @ Rams: The Falcons are going to the Super Bowl! What an upset win for the Falcons. I believed they could do it but didn't think it would actually happen. In my mind I thought that the winner of this game would be my personal pick to win the Super Bowl and while I thought it would be the Rams, the Falcons also have a great shot a Super Bowl victory. I saw so much that I liked from Atlanta and the scary thing is that Matt Ryan and Julio Jones are heating up which is horrible for every remaining team. If Atlanta can beat one of the best teams in the NFC on the road, the rest of the NFC is in for trouble. The Falcons look dangerous and are my current Super Bowl pick. The Rams should be satisfied. They had an insane turnaround this year and now this team looks like a contender for years. 1st year head coach Sean McVay is likely this years coach of the year and the Rams will be a top Super Bowl bet again next year while adding talent in the off-season. What a game and now Atlanta moves on to play the Carson Wentz-less Eagles in Philly. 

Panthers @ Saints: This game turned out to be so much better than I thought. At half, the Saints had an expected big lead, but the game turned close in the end. Cam Newton delivered a short pass to rookie RB Christian McCaffrey who then took it 55+ yards to the house to make it a one possesion game. The Panthers then had a ton of tries at the endzone but all the Panthers receivers couldn't corral them. After a harsh penalty and a huge sack on Cam Newton, the Saints won. If the game had more time, the Panthers could have actually won. Great game for both teams but now the Saints stay hot and move on to play the Vikings in Minnesota. The Panthers move into the off-season with a few questions but should be pretty good again next year. 

After an eventful weekend, here are the match-ups for next weekends divisional round:
NFC: #6 Falcons @ #1 Eagles, #4 Saints @ #2 Vikings 
AFC: #5 Titans @ #1 Patriots, #3 Jaguars @ #2 Steelers

I will have my game picks and more posts coming this week, thanks for reading!

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