By Brandon Simmons
The NFC Playoff Picture is Set…Sort of
There is no need to wonder who will be in the NFC playoffs because that has already been set after this weekend. After the top 6 teams in this conference, everyone else is just irrelevant at this point. The conference’s playoff picture has been set, with maybe a 1 or teams trying to find their actual seeding. The lowest seeded team in the NFC is the Minnesota Vikings at 8-3; after them, the next highest team is the 6-5 Los Angeles Rams, who might have found their mojo a little too late in the season.
Despite the playoff spots being pretty much, some of the seedings still need some work. Surprisingly, the San Francisco 49ers are in danger of losing their number one seeding, despite being at the top for most the season. They are embroiled in a tough race to the NFC West crown with the Seattle Seahawks, who is tied with them for first place but own the tiebreaker after Seattle beat them earlier this season. The Niners play both the Seahawks and New Orleans Saints, who are currently the number one team in the NFC while Seattle resides at 2. The Minnesota Vikings are trying to get NFC North crown but struggling to keep up with the Green Bay Packers, who are sitting at 3rd in the conference right now.
In addition to that, the Philadelphia Eagles are trying to keep pace with the Dallas Cowboys for the NFC East crown, which is the only shot for playoff survival for both teams. Compared to the other races, this is obviously the more frivolous race. The Cowboys are barely leading the division by a game and already on a 2 game losing streak. But the optimism should run high when the Eagles lose to the lowly Miami Dolphins. The main issue with this theory, the Cowboys play a much tougher schedule than the Eagles down the stretch. Philly has the Giants twice, while Dallas has to face the Bears and Rams, two teams who still believe in their playoff hopes and will likely be playing like it.
These are the teams that will show up in the postseason for the NFC but it’s all about where they will be placed. The battle for the top 4 positioning is going to be the most entertaining. As the with the 49ers, one of those team could be looking at a first round road game with just a simple slip up during a game. If San Francisco beats the Saints and the Seahawks lose, then the Niners could jump from 5th back to number 1. The teams may have been decided but the race to each of these seedings will go down to the wire.
How Long Will Garrett Survive his Job?
For the longest time, Dallas Cowboys fans have been calling for head coach’s Jason Garrett’s job but owner Jerry Jones has not budged. Ironically, Garrett came in at a time when Jones made the bold move to fire head coach Wade Phillips in the middle of the season. Garrett came in the last 8 games of the year and went 5-3. Some more irony to be added in this, the Cowboys went 8-8 for the next 3 seasons. They didn’t make the playoffs inder Garrett until 2014, in which they lost in the divisional round in the game where Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant had infamous non catch. They made the playoffs 2 more times after that to bring a total of 3 postseason appearances in Garrett’s 10 year coaching career, something tht obviously has never sat well with the fans.
The Cowboys’ issue with Garrett seems to really come down to not winning enough. People love to point out the talent this team has on paper but it has never translated into any real playoff success. For some reason, it is hard for them to get past the divisional round. In 2014 and 2016, they were a top 10 offense but still could not get the best of the Green Bay Packers in both games. Garrett has also come under much criticism this year with losses to the lowly New York Jets on the road and the playoff bound Minnesota Vikings at home, at a time when they could have gained a leg on their conference rival. Recently, the team suffered 2 straight losses, including an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Buffalo Bills at home on Thanksgiving, aka Dallas Cowboys homecoming.
Ten years is a long time to have a coach with a 2-3 playoff record, especially when you’re making huge financial decisions on quite a few players. Jones has already cut the check for linebacker Jalen Smith and running back Ezekiel Elliot, 2 vital players on their side of the ball. He’s obviously invested into them to implement their talents in the playoffs and does not want to see his money go down the drain because his head coach can’t get the team to play at a certain level of competition. Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is up next for his payday, as well as wide receiver Amari Cooper. What good is putting money on leather seats for a car if the engine is crap? The only thing keeping Garrett’s job is the fact the Eagles are stumbling over themselves too much to compete for a chance to win the division. But if Dallas’ fortunes are reversed then Garrett will stumble into unemployment.
Rivera is Gone
Tuesday afternoon, the Carolina Panthers fire head coach Ron Rivera after 9 seasons. It was a long tenure that included 5 top 10 finishes for the defense. However, the offense was not as stellar, outside of the one MVP season by Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. Unfortunately, Newton was injured earlier this season and the team could not recover all the way. While Carolina rode a 4 game winning streak in the wake of his absence and into the bye week, behind backup QB Kyle Allen, they went 1-5, which was kicked off by a 51-13 loss to the 49ers coming out of the bye week. This little run also included 2 games where they gave up over 200 yards rushing and was capped off Sunday by a loss to the Washington Redskins.
It seems the Panthers are moving towards embracing their future, so this move made perfect sense. With Newton’s injury, a lot of questions started coming about whether he would even be with the team next season. Panthers owner David Tepper, who bought the team in 2017, is eager to get this new era going for the team and probably felt bringing in a new coach and QB for that purpose. My guess is that they go after an offensive coach to compete with the aerial stylings of the Saints, Falcons and Buccaneers in their division. Rivera will not be without a job for long. He’s been to a Super Bowl as a head coach and is very proven as a defensive coordinator. As the NFL’s firing season really taes affect, something will open up for him without question.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to the Seattle Seahawks receivers and their rendition of New Edition. Monday against the Minnesota Vikings, Seahawks wide receiver David Moore got a 60 yard touchdown reception, then gathered his receiving group together for the “If it Isn’t Love” sequence:
Shut out to Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens for wearing a Pittsburgh Started It shirt and eating his words. The shirt was in response to the infamous helmet swinging incident between Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. Garrett was suspended indefinitely while Rudolph got off with a $30,000 fine. Kitchens was seen at a movie theatre with the shirt, and took a photo with a fan, but tried to zip his jacket up. It did not work, because it was seen enough to foster some bulletin board material as one Steelers player claimed. Browns were zipped up by the Steelers 20-13.
For some teams, the playoffs are already starting as these next few weeks will be their last shot at the postseason. The Cowboys and Bears will fight for their dwindling hopes in Chicago on Thursday Night Football, while the Seahawks could be putting the Rams out of their misery. For those of you who love competition, you will have plenty to choose from. You can start off with the Ravens visiting the Bills, who are two teams with exciting quarterback play and strong defenses. The Patriots hosting the Chiefs almost have an underdog feel to it. The 49ers are going to visit the Saints, as both teams are tied for 10-2 with Seattle. If the Niners get a win it could keep the pressure on Seattle to maintain the division lead all the way until their Week 17 matchup. But until then…I’ll holla.