By TJ Troup 
Gonna start by having another bite of crow with my coffee! Congrats to Adam Rank who correctly "picked" the Bears to win the NFC North. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last that Terence Jon Troup has been humbled. That said, how many times has an entire division finished a season with all four teams with winning records?
Next August will attempt to evaluate who wins this strong division. Speaking of strong divisions, the NFC West had one of the best overall ever! Whoever is chosen to be head coach of the Cardinals next year faces a daunting task. Years ago shared with Steve Sabol that since the "wild card" came into existence, there has been at least one road victory every year(55 and counting)!
Ok, all of you dedicated followers of the playoff football, which road team or teams will win this weekend? Since Vegas has betting lines with road teams as favorites, possibly that will make choices easier? Do I see a road victory this weekend? You betcha!
Both the Rams & Bills win on the road this weekend. Have been an advocate of the defensive passer rating for what seems like forever, and has been a very useful tool in evaluating team pass defense. This year is no different since the top seven teams in this category (the Chargers led the league)all earned a playoff berth. Of the 14 teams in the playoffs, the team with the worst defensive passer rating is San Francisco with a mark of 100.5.
Does this mean they will be carved up by the Eagles passing attack? The law firm of Smith & Brown should give Hurts some open receivers. How painful for NYJ fans as they established a new record (one that no one wants to break), by having 515 passes thrown at them with nary, repeat NARY an interception! The Jets finished dead last with a mark of 110.9. Ouch! 
Since many years of my life were dedicated to teaching/coaching this game of passion; was not a big fan of officiating. Brad Allen's "performance" last Saturday was truly abysmal, yet learned from Doug Farrar in his well-written article online that Brad Allen two years ago in the game between Detroit & Dallas was so inept, he was disciplined by not being allowed to officiate in the playoffs.
Will be watching all six of the playoff games this weekend, and will check to see if he is assigned to a game. That is where the title of this week's saga comes from: a quote from Mr. Farrar directed towards Brad Allen. Finally, so many playoff games have been played on January 11th historically, yet with the Steelers earning a playoff berth again this year will take you back in time to two games.
The first in January of 2009, when Mike Tomlin and his black & gold clad warriors easily dispatched the Chargers 35-24 with Willie Parker running around and through the Charger defense, and a strong pass rush that notched 4 sacks! 
The second was in 2014 when Green Bay down 21-13 rallied to beat Dallas 26-21 as Aaron Rodgers carved up the Cowboy secondary late in the game. So, will end with a question concerning a red-hot Texans team with a very well-coached defense on the road where three rivers meet. Does Tomlin finally get a playoff victory? See ya next week.
BW ...
ReplyDeleteWhat the Jets did was truly brutal, which shows that tanking for draft position is real. Luckily, the HC didnt get fired.
I would like to see the Bears win their first playoff game since the days of skittish QB Jay Cutler in 2010/11, but the defense is having problems. I think Love and the Packers will end their season but if the Bears can play smash-mouth football, without turnovers, they can win.
Rams will win on the road as well, but I am not touching a spread that large on an east coast game.
This will be an interesting game for the 49ers, who barely ran the ball against Seattle. We will see if Shanahan gives the ball to his backs 30 times, or Purdy will struggle against the champions.
Barkley should be the difference in a close Eagles win.
The Jags have been very impressive winning I believe, 9 games in a row but can they tackle Josh Allen when it truly counts?
Lawrence has been hot but needs to win in the playoffs to justify his salary. Big opportunity but I pick the Bills, feeling they will be motivated to hope for an upset somewhere where they can get another possible postseason game in Rich stadium.
I would love the Chargers to upset the Patriots but feel weirdly, that everything could "fall" into place and the Patriots could go all the way. I hope I am wrong.
I think the Steelers can upset the Texans but they need to run the ball to do it. They cant afford the pass rush to be all over Rodgers. Can Stroud step up in a big playoff game? I hope Nick Chubb gets a chance to play well.