By Brandon Simmons
Are the Rams Super Bowl Bound?
Before their loss to the Carolina Panthers, many people were throwing the Los Angeles Rams around as their Super Bowl favorite, and it may very well still ring true. The Rams have have to be one of the better teams over the past month, going on a 5 game win streak prior to this past Sunday. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has been playing at high level setting the record for most consecutive touchdowns thrown before throwing an interception. They also have an under rates When it comes to defense, they have one of the better units in the league, which ranks 2nd defensive scoring. This unit also comes with a front 7 led by linebacker Byron Young that can get after the QB and leads the league in rushing TD’s allowed.
The Los Angeles Rams have set themselves up to have the NFC run through them. Most of the year, the Philadelphia Eagles have owned that 1 seed until this past weekend and probably might have more issues down the stretch. The Chicago Bears currently are on top but they are very much a young team that hasn’t been able to feel that type of pressure in a long time. Right now, Rams are more balanced and experienced than both of those squads mentioned and can fins themselves back at that top spot. Also, it’s not just those 2 teams; looking around the NFC playoff as a whole doesn’t
Is Tomlin Done in Pittsburgh?
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin took a professional beating in every sense of the word this past weekend. Sunday, the Steelers lost to the Buffalo Bills 26-7. However, it was a loss that went from a winnable game to one of the more embarassing moments in franchise history. Coming out of halftime, the Steelers were up 7-3 until QB Aaron Rodgers was sacked by Bills defensive end Joey and fumbled the away to Bills cornerback Christian Benford for a TD. From then, Buffalo continued the 23 point rout throughout the rest of the game, finishing with the most rushing yards by an opponent in a Steelers home game. Amidst all the chaos, Pittsburgh erupted in “Fire Tomlin” chants. Tomlin addressed the chants in the postgame press conference, saying he shared the sentiment with the fans.
Mike Tomlin has been coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers for a long time but a reset seems too evident right now. He has been lauded for never having a losing record in his head coaching career, which spans over 17 years. However, that stat itself is a little misleading. Not every finish has resulted in a playoff appearance, especially in the last few years, and the ones that have were lackluster playoff performances. An organization as heralded as the Steelers don’t want to be at the bakery to smell; they’re going to want the whole pie. Pittsburgh has a legit championship history, holding the honor of having the most Super Bowls of any NFL team and they’re going to want to get back to that. To shoot some bail to
Tomlin, he hasn’t had a consistent roster, specifically a QB, since Ben Roethlisboerger retired from the Steelers. Still, those chants come from a place of frustration, frustration that has probably been held in for the longest time.
A change for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mike Tomlin might be a great thing for both sides. Tomlin is one of the great coaches of the modern era and lauded as a tremendous leader. His resume will land him another gig almost automatically if he is let go. As far as a potential vacancy, the Steelers have not hired a new head coach in over 20 years, when they hired Tomlin. Before that, they had the same amount of time with Bill Cowher as their head coach and before that it was Chuck Knoll. Their attitude towards what a head coach should be and what they will actually want could be night and day, especially in this era. The one thing going for them is that it is the Steelers, a storied franchise that will support a head coach. A new head coach with a chance to pick their own QB sounds like an ideal landing spot for any caliber of candidate.
Is it Safe to Trust the Bears?
The Chicago Bears are your number one seed in the NFC but for how long? The Bears beat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-15 to take the top spot. They remained there after the Los Angeles Rams lost to the Carolina Panthers. So for now, the road to the Super Bowl goes through Chicago, which sounds good in theory but it might not last long. To their credit, the Bears have put up some big wins that were close, lopsided, low scoring or high scoring; but most of their competition has been under the .500 mark. That won’t be the case as they finish against the Green Bay Packers twice and a Detroit Lions team that abused them 52-21 in Week 2. That’s not saying they will fall out of the postseason, but staying on top of the conference could prove to be too tall of a task for this young Bears team, led by first year head coach Ben Johnson, not to mention Bears QB Caleb Williams is having a “resurrected rookie season” of sorts. Williams is playing great, and this offense is rolling, but their late season experience pales in comparison to a Rams team with a more winnable schedule by the Rams standards. Don’t expect Chicago to hold thagt 1seed much longer.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to the New England Patriots for winning their 10th straight game. Monday, they beat the New York Giants 33-15 to notch 10 in a row and achieve the best record in the best NFL.
Shut out to New York Giants kicker Younghoe Koo for his mishap that shouldn’t have happened. Monday, against the New England Patriots, Koo attempted a kick but foot got stuck in the ground and it was a botched play. Crazy thing is, that probably wasn’t the craziest thing that happened to the Giants in terms of storyline around that game, but it did end up attributing to their 33-15 loss.
Week 14 means the end to the regular season is almost here so the teams fighting for the postseason can really shine. The Detroit Lions host the Dallas Cowboys a week afyer both teams had their Thanksgiving Day matchups as each squad fight to stay in the playoff race. The Green Bay Packers host the Chicago Bears, the first matchup of the year between these two. As mentioned earlier, the Bears sit atop the NFC right now and will have to deal with the Packers twice before the season ends. It’s certain to be an intense battle between these two teams. But until then…I’ll holla.
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