By Brandon Simmons
Playoffs Are Finalized
The NFL playoffs are set to begin this weekend. After the Washington Football beat the Philadelphia Eagles, the seeding became official as Washington clinched the NFC East. Here are some things to make note of regarding this upcoming postseason:
- The Miami Dolphins were dealt an unlucky hand, and a tough lesson to learn, in their season finale loss that put them out of the playoffs. Of all the teams they were tied with heading into this game (Titans, Ravens, Browns, Colts), they had the toughest opponent going against the Buffalo Bills. The Bills were using all of their starters in order to clinch the number 2 seed in the AFC. The lesson to this young Dolphins teams is that you sometimes need to turn on that playoff mentality before the Wild Card.
- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a nice setup in the first 2 rounds, if everything pans out. They face the Washington Football Team in the first round, who only made the playoffs because of winning the weak NFC East. Should they win that game, they will face the Green Bay Packers, who they overwhelmingly beat earlier in the year.
- After going 11-0, the Pittsburgh Steelers only won one game, and that should be a cause for concern. That lone win came a week before the season finale where they had to sit their starters down before the playoffs, since they squandered off the bye week. It could hurt their rhythm going into the first round against the Cleveland Browns, who are high on life right now.
This year’s playoff matchups will be interesting with the addition of the 7th seed and adding the 2 seed in the Wild Card. On paper, it should be a slam dunk for the 2 seed but that might not be the case in the AFC. The Bills (2 seed) will have to face a very tough Indianapolis Colts (7 seed) team in the Wild Card. While it’s not as the same in the NFC, there’s nothing to say that 7th seeded Chicago won’t give everything they got to the 2nd seeded Saints. Besides, New Orleans probably needed the playoff bye to let QB Drew Brees continue to recover from his rib injury. Speaking of Brees, all eyes are going to be on him and Brady, wondering if either one of them can make one last one run in the postseason. With Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson lingering around, that will be a tall task for them.
Black Monday 2020
As the season concludes, so does the tenures of some head coaches around the league. The Los Angeles Chargers fired Anthony Lynn after 4 seasons; the New York Jets cut ties with Adam Gase after 2 years; and the Jacksonville Jaguars fired Doug Marrone after 4 years. In addition to that, the Houston Texans, Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions already fired their head coaches, as well as their general managers. There is no surprise that these coaches got the axe. But this time of year is not just about the ones who lost their job but those who could fill in these empty vacancies
Right now, everything might be turning into the Eric Bienemy/Robert Saleh sweepstakes. These have been 2 of the hottest names in the coaching market right now and teams have wasted no time getting in touch with them. Bienemy, the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, has already interviewed with the Falcons, with more interviews reportedly scheduled with the Lions and Jets. Saleh has also interviewed with Atlanta but is planning to meet with the Lions and the Jaguars have requested permission to interview as well. For the past couple of seasons these names have shown up as candidates, but nothing came about it. However, this is the perfect timing for the openings, especially for Bienemy who could inherit either Texans QB Deshaun Watson or QB Justin Herbert as his signal caller. For an offensive guru, and one that oversaw the progression of Patrick Mahomes, that can take a team away from Black Monday into a few Super Bowl Sundays.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to the Cleveland Browns for clinching their first playoff berth since 2002. Obviously, it has been more than a few facelifts with this team since then, but Cleveland appears to be on the right track for now. It’s been a long time and their fans deserve to live in this moment. The Browns will try to extend this joy this Saturday when they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday night.
Shut out to New York Giants head coach Joe Judge and his misguide rant. Sunday, the New York Giants had a chance to win the NFC East when they beat the Dallas Cowboys. All they needed was for the Philadelphia Eagles to beat the Washington Football Team, but it did not happen. When it appeared that Philly was not going to win, they pulled QB Jalen Hurts for backup Nate Sudfeld. This drew a lot of criticism for the Eagles and prompted a question to be asked to Judge the next day:
Judge would not be saying that if the outcome resulted in the Giants getting a win. He is responsible for getting his team to the playoffs; not the Eagles or their 2nd round pick. The Giants, just like every other team this year, gets 16 games to get a spot in the postseason. If they don’t get it, then tough break and try improving for next year. Chastising another team’s actions for blowing your team’s playoff chances is fan behavior, not one of a head coach.
We finally made it to the NFL playoffs and will witness the new format take place immediately. The 2 seed Buffalo Bills are hosting the 7 seed Indianapolis Colts. This will not be as lopsided as it appears on paper. The Colts can play tough defense and run the football well while the Bills can also play good defense but the put the ball in the air for some big time plays. The Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens are going to have a rematch of their Week 11 game in which the Ravens lost 30-24 in overtime. It was a game in the middle of Baltimore’s struggles, but the team has played a little better since then. This is also the 2nd straight year these 2 have met in the postseason with Tennessee winning a little more convincingly in that game. Baltimore is not as frightening to opponents as last year, but the Titans have had their slip ups as well. These 2 teams are going to fight this one out and could be the best game of the weekend. But until then…I’ll holla.
by 