Tennessee's playoff chances effectively ended in a 34-17 Monday Night loss at Houston - the seventh straight loss at Houston. Marcus Mariota had a superb game with just one incompletion and two touchdowns, but was sacked some six times as the Titans' line play has become a serious problem in two straight division games; the Titans overall offense came under fire for its emphasis on the run as well especially when compared to Houston's offense as Deshaun Watson has raced the Texans to eight straight wins after an 0-3 start and the AFC South now looks theirs for the taking - a fitting tribute to team owner Robert McNair following his passing.
Pittsburgh remains in command of the AFC North but took a serious blow in Roethlisberger's game-ending INT at Denver, who suddenly look up to a wildcard playoff challenge. Pittsburgh's poor performance at Jacksonville exposed the Steelers' weaknesses and their playoff history since 2010 augurs poorly for their postseason.
The Colts enter this weekend as the #6 seed in the AFC with a rare Andrew Luck win over an AFC East opponent, and their schedule gets more promising.
Cowboys over Saints - This is a radical pick and certainly there is ample reason to pick the Saints. But the Cowboys have begun to run some momentum for themselves and one wonders if New Orleans can keep up their recent pace; as we saw with Kansas City maintaining this pace can falter.
Texans over Browns - Houston is flying and gets a surging Browns team in a retro-AFC Central matchup. Cleveland is no pushover anymore and Baker Mayfield's oblique condemnation of former Browns coach Hue Douglas after the win at Cincinnati has earned a lot of positive feedback, so expect a bitterly-fought affair here.
Bills over Dolphins - Buffalo has now won two straight, Josh Allen is now 3-3 as starter, and the Dolphins have lost six of their last eight even with Ryan Tannehill. Buffalo thus seems to have some momentum coming into Miami.
Bears over NY Giants - Another week, another Giant collapse, and now the Matt & Mitchell Of The Midway come to the New Meadowlands. Giants now look to play out what's left of another lost season.
Panthers over Buccaneers - A missed FGA vs Seattle will gnaw at the Panthers as they go to Tampa Bay and look to regain momentum, this against a schizophrenic Bucs team that's 3-2 at home vs Carolina's 1-4 road record.
Falcons over Ravens - This is a tricky pick with the Falcons' playoff chances gone and those of the Ravens still in play, but Lamar Jackson's rawness as a quarterback has been on display in his two wins as starter; his completion percentage was good, but he again ran more than is wise and just 25 passes (14 completions) and a passer rating below 60 are a bad start as a quarterback as they get a Falcons team that's 3-3 at home but who may be in line for some coaching staff changes after the season.
Packers over Cardinals - The season has become a train wreck for the Cardinals, this even amid the increasingly open dysfunction that is the Packers - and for which the inept Aaron Rodgers still is not getting much blame. Pick the home team of a bad matchup.
Colts over Jaguars - Speaking of train wrecks, the Jaguars benched Blake Bortles, fired their offensive coordinator, and are now on a seven-game losing streak - and are minus Leonard Fournette after his brawl in the loss at Buffalo. The Colts continue their surge in this one.
Broncos over Bengals - First a bad loss to the Browns, now Andy Dalton is out for the season. The upshot is new starter Jeff Driskel played respectably in trying to lead a comeback so a Bengals offense in need of spark may get some - this amid the bizarre story that coach Marvin Lewis will retire to the Bengals front office and ex-Browns washout Hue Jackson - he of the media tour refusing to be accountable for his disastrous time in Cleveland, he of the belligerently hands-off approach to coaching as displayed on Hard Knocks - would become the new Bengals head coach. The Broncos nonetheless come in with momentum and the playoffs to play for.
Rams over Lions - The Lions now have nothing beyond salvaging wins to play for, but the Rams have a surging season to run to the potential NFC Championship matchup.
Chiefs over Raiders - We knew Jon Gruden's first year back would be a struggle, but we may have underestimated how much struggle would be encountered. Certainly nothing Gruden has done warrants confidence going forward, though getting more of "his guys" into the Raiders is needed before one can judge his program a flop. His latest issue is a surging Chiefs team coming off a bitter loss in the highest-scoring Monday Night game ever - a game that illustrated a disturbing commonality to Andy Reid quarterbacks, a propensity to freelance and rely on athleticism and arm strength rather than smarter play. Patrick Mahomes' rookie surge nonetheless should produce another win here.
Titans over NY Jets - The Titans realistically are out of the playoffs and can only salvage a winning record for the season, and they get a home date with the inept New York Jets to begin their stretch run followed by the Jaguars, NY Giants, and Redskins before a rematch with the Colts. The Jets meanwhile get Buffalo, Houston, Green Bay, and the Patriots, and a potential 4-12 season.
The most historic meeting between the Patriots and Vikings remains 1994's comeback stunner in the first year of Robert Kraft's ownership of what had once been considered the laughingstock of football; 2018 marks Kraft's 25th season as team owner and laughingstock has been replaced with controller of the game
Seahawks over 49ers - Suddenly all the momentum for Nick Mullens is gone with four INTs in his last two starts and the Seahawks now beginning to build momentum with two straight wins and six of their last nine; they've also scored at least 27 points in five of their last six games.
Chargers over Steelers - The Steelers look in trouble with back-to-back bad performances - and seemingly increasing blame-assignation by Ben Roethlisberger for poor performances - and now they get a Chargers team that rebounded from a bitter loss to the Broncos with a 45-point slaughter of the Cardinals highlighted by Philip Rivers' league-record streak of completions in a single game; the irony is it was the first time since putting up 38 vs the Browns that San Diego exceeded 25 points scored. The Steelers' problems of late actually showed signs in their inability to score more than 23 points in three of their last four games and seven turnovers in their last two.
Eagles over Redskins - While not the Superbowl power they were last season the Eagles ended their recent skid and did so with a remarkable comeback, and now they get a Redskins team that's lost its last two games and three of the last four.
So does the final five-week stretch begin.
No comments:
Post a Comment