Tag: AFC West

NFL 2025 Week 11 Predictions: Best Sunday Edition

~ Scott ~ Leave a comment

Every few years you get one NFL Sunday schedule that clearly stands out as the best of the regular season. I may not have circled Week 11 back in May when the schedule came out, but it has played out that way with the Seahawks and Rams looking like the best teams in the NFC (maybe NFL) right now as they meet for the first time. And if they’re actually frauds, then the Lions and Eagles are going at it Sunday night as the other two best teams in the NFC.

We also get an important Bills vs. Bucs game as those teams try to stay within reach of a division title after some struggles and a loss last week. The Steelers vs. Bengals rematch is bigger than usual as the Steelers need all the wins they can get to hold off Baltimore, which is heavily favored to win the AFC North again.

Then we have a game in Denver that is quite arguably the biggest regular-season game for the Broncos in 10 years, and the biggest of Patrick Mahomes’ career (again, regular season only) if we’re talking about the Chiefs staying on top of the AFC West. They can’t drop to 5-5 while the Broncos get to 9-2.

It’s big, it will shake up the Super Bowl odds, and while some of these games will no doubt turn into duds, at least one should be great and a contender for game of the year.

And no, I won’t be getting up early for Dolphins-Commanders in Spain. Hard to believe Dan Quinn’s job may be in bigger trouble than Mike McDaniel’s, but as always, it’s a good reminder that success is fleeting in the NFL for most.

This Week’s Articles

2025 NFL Quarterback Rankings Week 11: Preparing for the Epic Sam Darnold vs. Matthew Stafford Showdown
Scott’s Seven NFL Picks: Week 11

I previewed the Rams vs. Seahawks game by pointing out the double standard for Matthew Stafford getting MVP love for a season that the likes of Daniel Jones, Sam Darnold, Jared Goff, Brock Purdy, etc. would never get MVP credit for if they were in the same situation. I also had picks for parlays for Lions-Eagles, Rams-Seahawks, and a more detailed pick for Chiefs vs. Broncos.

NFL Week 11 Predictions

I had the Patriots winning 24-10 on Thursday night over the Jets, so 24-10, 27-14, close enough.

WAS-MIA: I think the Dolphins pull it out against a bad defense and Mariota.

CHI-MIN: Vikings came back in Week 1 to get them but I think Ben Johnson’s team is playing better now and they force McCarthy into enough mistakes to pull out the road upset win.

GB-NYG: New QB (Jameis) and an interim coach situation for a team that is 0-5 ATS when the spread is this big this season. Tricky game to bet but I like the idea of a Jameis pick and GB win.

CAR-ATL: It was 30-0 last time, so who the hell knows with these teams? Atlanta needs a win badly.

LAC-JAX: I am supporting Harbaugh to take it to a flawed Jacksonville team.

CIN-PIT: Steelers usually struggle at home with the Bengals but I think Rodgers makes up for last week with a great game and they get the home win. Flacco won’t be as good as Week 7.

TB-BUF: Too many weapons out for the Bucs again and I think the Bills lean on Josh Allen, turnovers be damned, and get a 7+ point win.

TEN-HOU: It was 26-0 last time but something tells me not to go all in on Davis Mills covering a 5.5-point spread against a team coming off a bye. But the Texans should win against the worst team in the NFL.

SEA-LAR: It’s a hedge for me. I think the Rams win by 1-3 points on a Stafford GWD. But I also think Seattle has a fair shot to win outright. I just weigh Darnold getting crushed by that pass rush last year a lot right now. Need to see this matchup on a new team.

SF-ARI: Purdy is back, I think. Could be a good one but I’m going 49ers.

KC-DEN: If Josh Simmons and Jawaan Taylor were out, I’d say go Denver ML cause of that pass rush against backup tackles. But it sounds like Mahomes will have his tackles coming off a bye and the Chiefs desperately need to win this one. They also need to step up and make Bo Nix look bad as many defenses have done this year. They didn’t do it last year, and he feasted on backups in Week 18 but also should have won the game in Arrowhead if not for the blocked FG. Steve Spagnuolo, do your job in this one. Make it hard on him.

BAL-CLE: Ravens feasted on short fields in the last meeting but the Browns just can’t keep up with this offense.

DET-PHI: Sam LaPorta is a big loss but I still believe the Lions have the weapons and balance to score on Philly and will hold up against the offense for a big road win.

DAL-LV: Play hard, play together, and win one for Marshawn Kneeland. Simple as that for Dallas.

2025 NFL Stat Oddity: Week 3

~ Scott ~ Leave a comment

What are two things I don’t like to see have a big impact on NFL games? The randomness of fumble recoveries and special teams making an impact. I can already see this season is going to be tough as those things have been so much of the story already with Derrick Henry’s Week 1 fumble in Buffalo and the fates of some field goals on Sunday for the Eagles and Packers already dictating things in the NFC race.

Sunday was just a wild day in the NFL as we basically had seven games where a team won comfortably (usually scoring 30+ points). Then we had seven other games that were as close as could be at the end with a lot of low-scoring finals, and it tied the record for most games in a week (seven) with the winning points scored in the final 3:00. That’s despite there only being 8 games total this week (MNF pending) with a comeback opportunity.

But what a day if you like seeing balls knocked loose and field goal units getting destroyed for blocks. The latter is kind of cool and something we started seeing more last year with a few games like Broncos-Chiefs and Packers-Bears having some notable blocks at the end. I’m probably forgetting a big one too.

It’s at the point where a blocked field goal feels far more realistic than recovering an onside kick. Maybe that’s a good thing.

This season in NFL Stat Oddity:

Rams at Eagles: Game of the Week

This was a game I circled after the way the Rams gave the Eagles all they could handle in the divisional round. That game, along with some roster improvements, is why I thought the Rams were the best Super Bowl pick in the NFC this summer. Then those stories about Matthew Stafford’s back started coming out, and I got scared off.

Then when you see the Rams take a 26-7 lead in Philly with Davante Adams catching a long touchdown (not OPI; they were arm wrestling before it), the pass rush owning Jalen Hurts, the run defense containing Barkley, and the Rams running wild on the Eagles’ defense, you think maybe Super Bowl was the right call all along.

But then the collapse started almost immediately in the third quarter after it was 26-7. You can kind of see it coming on offense as Stafford just didn’t bring his A game for this one and they got that short field touchdown. But the defense had a complete turnaround after crushing this matchup before the Eagles finally decided to play like a 21st-century offense and use those highly-talented wide receivers down the field.

Hurts hit back-to-back plays for over 30 yards, gaining more yards than the Eagles had to that point on each play. Stafford took a sack on a 3rd-and-2 at the Philly 49, and McVay decided to punt like a fraidy cat. The Eagles turned that into an 87-yard touchdown drive with A.J. Brown making his first of the year to make it 26-21 going to the fourth quarter.

The Rams went for it this time on 4th-and-1 at the Philly 46, but Kyren Williams was stuffed. Then the Eagles went 4-and-out, and that 4th-and-7 incompletion was ill-advised if you ask me. Pin them deep as that offense was struggling now.

But starting at the 50, the Rams couldn’t make the Eagles pay for it. I don’t disagree with going for a 36-yard field goal on 4th-and-2. There’s some value to going up 8 points, since you know they can only tie you at best. But the kick was blocked with 8:42 left by Jalen Carter.

That’s when the Eagles drove 91 yards with five conversions on third or fourth down, and none of them even involved the Tush Push that the Eagles again got away with a big false start on before their first touchdown drive of the game. But the Rams couldn’t get it done on 4th-and-goal defensively, and DeVonta Smith caught the go-ahead touchdown with 1:48 left.

The only good news is the Rams stopped the 2-point conversion pass, so it was only a 27-26 game. That means a field goal wins it for the Rams, and Stafford has done this many times over. He got into range with Puka Nacua, then the running game did well enough to set up a 44-yard field goal as the final snap. That’s plenty of confidence to make that kick.

Except Jordan Davis broke through for the block this time, and he even returned it for a game-closing touchdown to win 33-26, denying us Rams +3.5 bettors an easy win with a beat as bad as any I can think of.

That also has major implications on the NFC race, making it more likely the rematch is in Philly again if there is one. The Rams also may have woken up the Philly offense from its 10-quarter slumber of forgetting how to play modern offense. Just an all-around disastrous day for the Rams who did so many things right early, but too many things wrong after it was 26-7.

Yeah, circle this one too. It’s another major part of the butterfly effect in the NFC this year. But I do think it’s an annoying double standard that people are already trying to paint the Eagles as anything but the 2024 Chiefs, who people claimed were lucky and got bailed out by the refs.

Meanwhile, the 2025 Eagles are getting called out weekly for false starts on the Tush Push and they would have had a +8 scoring differential in starting 3-0 had they not padded the number with the last return touchdown on the block.

I’d say this team is running out of steam going into the game against the team that kicked their ass last year (Tampa Bay), but the Bucs are also barely winning games this year at 3-0.

That just seems to be a consistent theme about winning so much in the NFL. Maybe we shouldn’t knock it so much as it sure beats the alternative of losing games despite good stats.

Broncos at Chargers: Best in the West?

The AFC West battle lived up to the hype as this is the kind of game you’d usually see the Chargers lose in the past. Sure, there were some Chargering moments as Najee Harris tore his Achilles on a play-action pass run fake, which was unfortunate to see. Justin Herbert had a deflected pick in scoring territory. The Broncos got away with a lucky deflected completion from Bo Nix in a big spot. J.K. Dobbins broke a 41-yard run and scored a touchdown against his former team, then the Chargers fumbled the ensuing kickoff and fortunately held Denver to a field goal instead of falling behind 21-10.

But much like last week in Indy, the Broncos didn’t finish the job in the fourth quarter on defense, and the offense was just off on too many key plays. They also had very costly penalties again this week with offensive offsides negating a first down halfway through the final quarter, then a face mask killed the drive by putting them into 2nd-and-20. Just dumb things like that.

Herbert was only 28-of-47 passing and took 5 sacks, but he still threw for 300 yards and made a great touchdown pass to Keenan Allen from 20 yards out to tie the game at 20 with 2:37 left. Again, it’s crazy that the league just let Allen go back to the Chargers like he never left. He looks good.

Denver going three-and-out after the Allen touchdown was huge. Can’t do that on such an uninspired drive that didn’t even last 50 seconds. Herbert had no issues leading the offense down the field against what’s supposed to be this great Denver defense, and Dicker the Kicker was true from 43 yards out to win in 23-20.

It’s the second week in a row the Broncos lost on the final snap of the game with the offense never registering a possession in the fourth quarter while trailing. Bad way to start 1-2, and doubly bad when you consider the Chargers are 3-0 in the AFC West now.

Chiefs at Giants: People Are Saying It’s the Ugliest 13-Point Win of All Time

Leave it up to the Chiefs to get a 22-9 road win in wire-to-wire fashion and still come away feeling like there’s so many problems. But that’s what happens when you set a high standard for years.

Still, isn’t it a hell of a lot better to win ugly than to lose a game? The Chiefs finally ended their 3-game losing slide against an opponent that isn’t going anywhere, a break from what was likely the first case in NFL history of a team playing 8 straight games against playoff opponents going back to last year.

Alas, there are some legitimate problems that persist like Jawaan Taylor’s drive-killing penalties at right tackle, Isiah Pacheco’s horrible field vision, Travis Kelce’s growing temper with mistakes, and a lot of bad discipline with too many dumb penalties. Oh, and Harrison Butker cost them 4 points by missing short, easy kicks for a kicker making that much money.

The good news is the Chiefs got two takeaways as Russell Wilson may have just lost another starting job with a terrible performance one week after he had 450 yards in Dallas. I don’t see how you don’t just go to rookie Jaxson Dart as the starter next week, and I don’t understand what the plan was last night with Dart only coming into the game for a few snaps to hand off and not throw any passes. Kill that noise. Just start him.

The other good news is Patrick Mahomes only had to scramble a couple of times as the Chiefs finally gave him 103 yards of rushing support. Tyquan Thornton also looks like their best wide receiver (career-high 71 yards and another touchdown; inches away from two scores) even though he’s supposed to be WR5 on the depth chart at best. He should play a lot of snaps even when Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice are back as he’s basically able to do the MVS role and give them some size and speed down the field.

A much tougher test awaits next week with Baltimore. But even if this team falls to 1-3, I think the way the defense has picked things up after that terrible Brazil performance and the reinforcements on the way at receiver still make this team a formidable one that can contend with anyone. What other quarterback is ranking fifth in QBR with this cast as is?

Just have to cut down on these mistakes, and I really wish Andy Reid would bench Taylor to prove a point. Why pay Jaylon Moore that much money to ride the bench?

Steelers at Patriots: 2008 Vibes

I’m still not sure the Steelers are playing all that well as a team. But seasons where they can handle New England usually go well for them. It was the turnovers forced by the defense in this one that saved the day given the offense only had 203 yards as the running game still struggled and no receiver had 35 yards. The Steelers were also getting a lot of favorable calls from the refs early for some reason.

Would have liked this kind of officiating and turnover luck in Foxboro years ago when Roethlisberger was the quarterback.

But the Patriots turned it over 5 times, their most since 5 turnovers in 2008 in a 33-10 loss to the Steelers during the Matt Cassel year. Weather at least played a factor that day. This time, the Patriots just made some poor decisions with the ball with Drake Maye’s pick before halftime in the end zone, then Rhamondre Stevenson put the ball on the ground twice as he so often does in big spots. Guy is seriously one of the worst-timed fumblers I’ve ever seen as he’s cost them several close games over the years with this shit.

But the Steelers stepped up big in the fourth quarter this week by getting a strip-sack of Maye in a tied game, then Rodgers threw probably his best pass for a 17-yard touchdown to Calvin Austin to take a 21-14 lead.

The Patriots could have answered, but Demario Douglas ended up giving up the first down with his RAC on 4th-and-1, getting tackled short of the line. The second time this year a good tackle by the Steelers on fourth down secured a win. They’re still giving up too many easy completions, but you’ll always take the turnover parade.

That’s 38 game-winning drives for Rodgers, who is in 13th place in that stat now. We’ll see if he can join the group of 40 before he finishes his career. Playing with this Pittsburgh team, it looks like the opportunities are going to be there.

Bengals at Vikings: Have a Day, Isaiah Rodgers

So much for that battle between Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson to see who is WR1 and can lift up their backup quarterback to the win. Well, the answer was clearly Justin Jefferson as he had 75 yards and didn’t lose a fumble like Chase did on an all-time bad ball security day for Cincinnati.

But it was an all-time great game by Minnesota corner Isaiah Rodgers. Seriously, if this happened in a playoff game, it’d be considered the greatest performance ever by a single defender. He had a pick-six, a forced fumble and fumble return touchdown, and he also had a second fumble forced and two passes defensed.

The craziest part? Rodgers did this all by halftime as the Bengals turned it over 5 times on the day in a real road mess. I hope people don’t just chalk this up to Joe Burrow being out. The Bengals ran the ball so poorly and five players fumbled once in what was a dreadful performance all around.

Carson Wentz had it on easy street and it didn’t matter that this was his first start with his sixth team in the last six seasons. His inexperience with Minnesota didn’t mean a lick when his defense came to play like this.

Colts at Titans: …Three Times Is a Pattern

Before Monday night, let’s just acknowledge and appreciate the craziness that is Daniel Jones leading the most effective offense in the league right now through three games. His QBR (85.7) would be the third highest in a season since 2006.

He’ll come back to Earth eventually, but three games is a pretty historic run for nearly scoring on all of your drives. Jones was making plays Sunday in Tennessee that I swear were always sacks with him in New York. It’s been crazy to watch.

As for the Titans, it’s not good Cam Ward started the game with a late throw that was returned for an easy pick-six. Just started the day on the wrong foot and it was an uphill battle from there as the Colts poured on 41 points.

Out of all the 3-0 teams, you could make the case that the Colts have played the best football quarter to quarter of them all so far. I don’t think even the most optimistic fan would have predicted that.

Texans at Jaguars: Down in a (0-3) Hole

I think one of my best NFL team previews this summer was the Houston Texans, a team I picked to finish under 9.5 wins and miss the playoffs. My worry was they had way too many new pieces on offense for a coordinator with no experience (Nick Caley), and the only thing they could hang their hat on was C.J. Stroud throwing to Nico Collins.

Well, they’re 0-3 and doing it in historic fashion:

On Sunday in Jacksonville, even the Stroud-to-Collins combo was feast or famine. Collins got behind the defense for a 50-yard touchdown to tie the game at 10. But after the Jaguars foolishly turned the ball over on downs at midfield, Collins fumbled the ball near the red zone on a catch on the ensuing drive.

Trevor Lawrence has really struggled to get his best receivers going this year. But Brian Thomas Jr. picked a good spot to make a big 46-yard catch and run. The Texans, perhaps learning from last week’s ending against Tampa, seemingly let Travis Etienne score a 10-yard touchdown run to take a 17-10 lead and ensure the Texans get the ball back with 1:42 and two timeouts left. Bold strategy.

Stroud drove the Texans to the Jacksonville 28, but with the clock a factor, he forced a deep one and it was intercepted to end the game and drop Houston to 0-3, which doesn’t look like a hole they can climb out of like they actually did back in 2018 to make the playoffs.

Packers at Browns: Not in Love

What a devastating loss for the Packers, and you have to put it on their offense as the defense only allowed 221 yards. But to blow a 10-0 lead this late is just inexcusable. Jordan Love made a terrible interception in a 10-3 game that Cleveland was able to turn into a 4-yard touchdown drive to tie the game.

Then in a true “ball don’t lie” moment, the Packers got away with a Josh Jacobs fumble because they said there wasn’t clear video of a recovery. The Packers kept it on the ground, but Brandon McManus was blocked on his 43-yard field goal with 21 seconds left. That was just enough time for Joe Flacco to set up his kicker, Szmyt, for a 55-yard walk-off field goal. This is the kicker who missed an extra-point sized kick to lose the Week 1 game to Cincinnati, but he was good here for probably the biggest upset of the season so far.

I liked the Browns holding Josh Jacobs under in yards, but I didn’t expect 16 carries for 30 yards. You can’t run on these Browns, and with the way Travis Hunter isn’t popping much for Jacksonville, maybe trading down and taking Mason Graham, who was a beast in this game, wasn’t such a bad move after all for Cleveland.

But what a brutal few minutes for Green Bay when 3-0 was in sight with a field goal, and it looked like the Rams were going to beat the Eagles. But those field goals went different ways and now the Packers look like a work in progress again as they try to get this offense going with rookie Matthew Golden and without Jayden Reed (collarbone).

More evidence it is hard to lose your de-facto WR1 and try to replace him with a rookie.

Cardinals at 49ers: You Lost to One-Legged Mac Jones?

Alright, I’m just going to say it. Kyler Murray’s laissez-faire brand of leadership combined with Marvin Harrison Jr’s. quiet, reserved attitude much like his father had is a terrible combination for NFL success. When you’re dropping passes like this (along with one in the end zone), you need someone to toughen you up. To demand more from you and your talent. And I just can’t imagine Kyler doing that with him.

The Cardinals nearly won this game in inexplicable fashion. Murray himself made a horrible play where he almost did intentional grounding in the end zone, which would have been a safety to give the 49ers the lead. Instead, the 49ers got called for a penalty in the end zone, giving Arizona a 15-13 lead on a safety. Crazy stuff.

But the Cardinals couldn’t run out the clock, which is so crucial in a 2-point game, and the 49ers got the ball back. Mac Jones is one of the worst QBs in the clutch in NFL history. Before Sunday, he was 3-17 at 4QC/GWD opportunities with plenty of turnovers in those spots.

Even in this game, he was picked in scoring territory when it was tied with 5:08 left. That was actually before the safety drive. But after getting yet another chance with 1:46 left, Jones delivered with Kendrick Bourne, a familiar face from their New England days together, making big catches on the drive. Chrisitan McCaffrey took a short pass 20 yards and that was enough to set up new kicker Eddy Pineiro for a 35-yard game-winning field goal with no time left.

You know, the kick Jake Moody probably misses. But Pineiro made it and the 49ers won 16-15 the exact kind of game they lost last year.

But I would have serious concerns about Harrison Jr. in this offense. For someone who went so high in the draft, he was easily outplayed by Ricky Pearsall (8 catches for 117 yards) on the other side, to say nothing of the other 2024 wideouts who keep producing more.

Cowboys at Bears: Oof, That D (That’s What She Said)

It says a lot about where the pass rush is for Dallas that Caleb Williams, in his 20th NFL game, did not get sacked for the first time. He also threw for 298 yards and 4 touchdowns as Ben Johnson had things cooking as the offense unleashed rookie Luther Burden, who came down with a 65-yard touchdown on a deep flea-flicker pass on his way to 101 yards.

I hate to agree with Tom Brady, but he was right on the broadcast that the Cowboys are better suited this year to deal with a CeeDee Lamb injury, which of course happened early in the game as I had him as a top touchdown scorer pick this week. Go figure, he just had to play the first snap of the second quarter before leaving for good as he couldn’t go to make sure I didn’t get any bet protection on FanDuel. Almost like it was done on purpose cause I’m not sure he played any of the final seven snaps of the first quarter when Dallas was driving. Ugh.

But this was Dak’s worst game of the season as the Cowboys were scoreless after their fourth drive and he had one pick that was pretty poor and on him.

This seems like the M.O. for Dallas this year. Dak throwing a ton to try to keep up with his defense getting shredded. This is what Jerry Jones voluntarily made possible with the Parsons trade.

But hey, good job on holding the Chicago running game to 3.0 yards per carry. That at least helped them stay under 35 points.

Saints at Seahawks: Over Right Away

Jesus Christ, I think it was over within 11 minutes. The Saints did a good job the first two weeks of challenging the Cardinals and 49ers, but they had no answers for the NFC West team from Seattle. Not when you give up a 95-yard punt return touchdown then a short field on a punt block, which snapped the second-longest streak in modern NFL history without a punt block as the Saints had gone 233 games.

Jets at Buccaneers: Baker’s Bunch Does It Again

Well, Tyrod Taylor completed 23 more passes than Justin Fields did last week, and the Jets actually erased a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take a stunning 27-26 lead after blocking a field goal and returning it for a touchdown with 1:49 left.

But that’s too much time for Baker Mayfield this season. Not one known for comebacks, he’s 3-0 at pulling off these last-minute drives this season. In fact, the 2025 Bucs are the first team to score the game-winning points in the final 60 seconds of its first three games to start a season. Crazy stuff.

Emeka Egbuka had another brilliant catch on the game-winning drive and deserves to be the favorite for OROY. The Bucs may have made this one closer than it needed to be, but you have to give them props for winning with a lot of offensive line injuries.

Meanwhile, the Jets have now blown 8 fourth-quarter leads over the last 17 games. It’s like Robert Saleh never left.

Falcons at Panthers: Just Doom

Man, I guess I fvcked up with that NFC South pick, huh? Maybe it’s different if they won in Week 1 against Tampa, but I have no idea how you go from a 22-6 win in Minnesota – then look what that team did Sunday – to getting blanked 30-0 to lowly Carolina. Sure, the Falcons lost to Bryce Young in overtime to end 2024, but that was a 44-38 game.

But 30-0? Okay, your new kicker missed from 49 and 55, so he’s probably not the upgrade over Younghoe Koo you thought he was, and that explains the shutout. But still, 30-6? Okay, Penix made a brutal pass that was late and went for a pick-six in the third quarter. But 23-6 in Carolina?

That’s a hope-crushing loss for Atlanta that this is going to be another wasted season. It’s not like Young was making throws out of his ass. He threw for 121 yards. It’s not like the running defense got eviscerated either. Just a no-show for the offense and that’s really disappointing as that unit is supposed to do some leading in Atlanta.

But it doesn’t look like it’s working out well so far. Remember, the defense stole the show in Minnesota last week.

Raiders at Commanders: No Jayden, No Problem

I almost forgot this game happened. So, I thought Geno Smith would play much better than Monday night, which he obviously did, and the Raiders would win as the Commanders would miss Jayden Daniels. But Marcus Mariota scored the first touchdown, had an efficient day, they broke some big plays, and it was no issue in a 41-24 win.

If you’re the Raiders, you kinda knew your defense was going to be ass outside of Maxx Crosby. But I think there needs to be some real concern with this offensive line as the run blocking just doesn’t exist for Ashton Jeanty, and Geno took 5 sacks. He’s not going to make it the full season at this rate.

Next week: Seattle-Arizona on TNF sounds like another night of doing work on the computer while I watch on my phone. I thought for months I’d be watching T.J. Watt chase J.J. McCarthy around in Ireland, but they might actually be better off with Carson Wentz. Tough game. Looks like another week where the Eagles have the best 1:00 game in Tampa Bay, a place they’ve struggled. I think Colts-Rams is a really nice backseat to Ravens-Chiefs in the late window. Packers-Cowboys has potential on SNF if Dak plays well. Monday night overlapped doubleheader is weak with Jets-Dolphins 0-4 battle and Bengals (without Joe Burrow) in Denver (1-2). Ho-hum.

2024 NFL Stat Oddity: Week 14

~ Scott ~ 2 Comments

Maybe it wasn’t supposed to be a hugely consequential day in the 2024 NFL season, but Week 14 felt like a big one with the Chiefs (12-1) getting some cushion in the AFC after the Bills were upset by the Rams in the shootout of the year that was still a wire-to-wire win for Sean McVay’s team. The Chiefs also came through with yet another close win to clinch the AFC West for the ninth year in a row.

The Steelers also took care of business against the Browns, so that Week 16 game in Baltimore can win them the AFC North regardless of what happens in Week 15. But we’ll worry about that game when it’s here.

We had eight games with a comeback opportunity, and so far, no team came back from a double-digit deficit to win this week. Could that mean more trouble for the Bengals against Cooper Rush in Dallas? We’ll see.

This season in NFL Stat Oddity:

Bills at Rams: The Puka Nacua Show

If you’re a fan of the Rams, you have to be wondering where the hell was this offense for coach Sean McVay when they couldn’t even score a single touchdown at home against Miami on MNF in Week 10. That could still be the loss that keeps them out of the playoffs, but they turned heads with this strong offensive performance against Buffalo in a stunning 44-42 win.

Right from the opening drive, it was clear they came prepared for this one. But while the running game looked good early, it became much more dependent on Puka Nacua making incredible catches to extend drives for Matthew Stafford.

As for the Bills, it was wild to see how this usually dominant team could not stay ahead of the Rams. They had nine possessions in the game and here’s what happened with the scoring margin at the beginning of each:

  • Down 7-0, 1-yard Josh Allen touchdown run
  • Down 10-7, blocked punt returned for touchdown (17-7) after three straight Josh Allen incompletions
  • Down 17-7, 41-yard touchdown on a screen pass
  • Down 24-14, punt before halftime
  • Down 24-14, 3-and-out to start third quarter
  • Down 31-14, 51-yard touchdown pass to Khalil Shakir
  • Down 38-21, 1-yard Josh Allen touchdown run
  • Down 38-28, 21-yard touchdown to Mack Hollins
  • Down 44-35, 1-yard Josh Allen touchdown run

That means the Bills only had the ball one time the entire game where they trailed by fewer than 7 points, and that was the damaging 2nd drive when they punted quickly and it was blocked for a huge touchdown. They found themselves trying to chase that all day, and despite getting two huge touchdowns on YAC plays, they still couldn’t force the Rams into enough stops to get the ball back with a chance to ever tie or take the lead.

The Rams are usually not great in closing games out under McVay, especially in the 4-minute offense. But he had a plan for this one. Instead of kicking a long field goal to try to take a 6-point lead with several minutes left, he did the smart thing by going for it. The Rams got away with a false start, but Stafford was able to find Tutu Atwell for a huge 11-yard gain with the clock moving down near 3:00.

The old McVay kicks the field goal there and relies on his defense. He learned something here, or maybe Sunday was just a really great day for him, his offense, and Nacua. Fittingly, it was Nacua who capped off the drive with a 19-yard touchdown. But after the Rams missed the extra point with 1:54 left, there was a slight door open in a 44-35 game.

The Bills got down the field quickly thanks to some penalties, but it was  on 1st-and-goal at the 1 with 1:06 left where they made a serious error in strategy, the latest blunder in the Sean McDermott era. The Bills tried to run Allen on the sneak again, a play that he was 3-for-5 on in this game at the 1. But you can’t be doing that, not scoring, and burning a precious timeout at 1:02 to run it again.

In his career (regular season), Allen has 20 touchdown runs from the 1-yard line and 9 touchdown passes from the 1. It’s clear which strategy he feels more comfortable doing, and that number is only 16 touchdown passes if we extend to the 2-yard line as well. He wants the higher-percentage play in the run instead of trying to find a throwing lane that tight in or risk another sack.

But in this particular spot, you really don’t have the time to be running the ball because of that fear of getting stopped and wasting too much time. You have to avoid using any timeouts, because you want to avoid doing the onside kick or at least avoid having to recover one to have a realistic shot. By taking the timeout at 1:02, that meant it was going to come down to the onside kick recovery. Tom Brady, who sounded worse than usual as he was losing his voice, was all over this strategic failure, the latest blunder for the Bills in the McDermott era in a loss.

Allen eventually got his touchdown run, his third of the day to go along with three touchdown passes, a stat line that only Otto Graham put up in the 1954 NFL Championship Game. But that’s why I said on Twitter that they were trying to pad Allen’s stat line with the easy, high percentage score of a run so people can inflate the value of this 3+3=6 stat instead of sticking to a needed strategy of making a throw in this spot, which is usually going to be tougher than someone sneaking over the line for a yard. Again, Allen’s success rate from the 1 on that play here was only 3-for-5 on Sunday.

Sure enough, they made it come down to the onside kick, which they didn’t recover. The Rams ended up punting and the clock expired at the end of the punt. All those points and touchdowns for a wire-to-wire loss where the Bills never even had the ball in a one-score game after the blocked punt for a touchdown early in the second quarter.

I’ve been very critical of McVay in games like this in the past, but he was mostly on the money with his approach here. He outcoached McDermott and the Bills, and Nacua and Stafford were outstanding.

If this propels the Rams (7-6) to a division title run by running the table, then it takes on even more significance. But the Bills gave up a huge opportunity to the Chiefs with a game in Detroit to come next, and with the way that defense is banged up, it could be another 44-42 game.

Will the Bills fall short in that one too? They’re only 2-2 against current playoff teams this year. As for Allen’s MVP odds actually improving from -250 to -450 after a loss, there’s always later in the week for another article on that. I need sleep.

Chargers at Chiefs: Another AFC West Wrapped Up

Like Spotify, the Chiefs were mailing in their AFC West Wrapped for 2024. Another 19-17 victory against a division rival? Just type up the script and send it in. Maybe add a doink FG by the backup kicker to end this one with a little spice.

But it was business as usual for the 2024 Chiefs, which means a win, which means a weekly fraud alert by social media for the “worst 12-1 team ever.” But I would say it’s alarming that the games are playing out so similarly as the 2020 Steelers and 2023 Eagles started falling into familiar scripts before their collapses too. The Chiefs are in a much better spot than those teams and have the track record to believe in them, but you can’t keep blowing 13-point leads this quickly every week, you can’t keep giving up so many pressures and sacks on Patrick Mahomes, and you have to remember to run the ball.

A lot of these Kansas City issues were on display even with new left tackle D.J. Humphries, who left the game with a fourth quarter injury. Pretty bold move to go empty backfield with Wanya Morris back at left tackle, but they made it work out.

Mahomes didn’t play his best game, but he also threw his best pass of the night to DeAndre Hopkins on a 3rd-and-16 with the Chiefs trailing in the fourth quarter, and for the second week in a row, the veteran did not make the catch in a big moment. He had an excuse of the defender hitting him this time, but you still have to hang onto a pass that would have made it first-and-goal. The Chiefs settled for a 50-yard field goal from backup kicker Matthew Wright, and he was good.

But the Chargers held the ball for 8:29 before settling for their own field goal to regain a 17-16 lead with 4:35 left. Justin Herbert was missing his only reliable receiver in Ladd McConkey and his best running back in J.K. Dobbins. That certainly made the job easier for the Chiefs, but once again, they struggled to get any takeaways in a game that didn’t have any again on either side. The only turnover in Kansas City’s last three games was the fumbled snap by the Raiders on Black Friday.

This was also a low-possession game with 9 drives for each quarterback. But after Herbert took the lead, he never saw the field again on a night where he played decently with 213 yards. Even Quentin Johnston made a few nice catches and caught a touchdown.

But in leading his seventh game-winning drive of 2024, Mahomes again used his legs to deliver decisive plays like the 3rd-and-10 conversion to Xavier Worthy. At the 2-minute warning, the Chiefs faced a hug 3rd-and-7, because giving Herbert the ball back there may mean you never see it again in a loss. But Mahomes again scrambled, dodged a sack, and found a waiting Travis Kelce for the conversion.

From there, it was just a matter of setting up the field goal as the last snap. Wright came on and bounced the kick off the left upright before it deflected in okay for the game-winning kick. The Chiefs have won the AFC West nine years in a row, trailing only the record set by the 2009-19 Patriots (11).

The Chiefs are 12-1 and “Chiefs win by 1-13 points” is literally 12-1 as a bet this year. The only other team to win 12 games by 1-13 points in a season was the 2004 Steelers, another record the Chiefs could break with ease this year.

Maybe the Chiefs can throw in a twist next week in Cleveland and introduce some defensive takeaways to the mix courtesy of Jameis Winston.

Panthers at Eagles: Xavier Legette? More Like Leggette Your Ass a Bus Ticket Home After That Drop

If you’re a fan of the Carolina Panthers, this month should be the most optimistic you’ve felt about the team since 2018, if not longer ago. While they didn’t get the win in Philly as a 13.5-point underdog, this should be remembered as the day where Bryce Young was about to lead a 97-yard game-winning touchdown drive against a stingy defense, and Xavier Legette did this:

https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1865862520889618860

I thought he had it live. But after that huge drop, there was a delay of game penalty, and Young eventually threw incomplete on 4th-and-9 to end the game, a 22-16 punch to the gut after it looked like Young did everything right.

Jalen Hurts had a really rough passing day (108 passing yards and 4 sacks), but the running game produced 209 yards with 124 yards to Saquon Barkley. Go figure, I had 125 as my bet, and it probably happens if the Eagles didn’t have a penalty on 2nd down while they were hanging onto their one-score lead, causing them to throw more.

But the Eagles (-13.5) never led by more than 6 points, and even that only happened early in the fourth quarter after Hurts threw a short touchdown pass. Not the most impressive win for the Eagles by any means. They lost the pass-rush battle to Young and the Panthers.

Damn near lost the game too. Pittsburgh gets a shot next.

Falcons at Vikings: Sam Darnold’s Day to Shine

I rarely say this, but I felt kind of bad for Kirk Cousins in Minnesota this week. This was going to be his big revenge game, and while he struck early, it was Sam Darnold who shined with 347 yards and 5 touchdown passes.

After Cousins tied the game at 21 with a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 39 seconds left in the third quarter, by the next time he took the field, it was a 35-21 deficit and barely half a quarter remained. The special teams coughed up a fumble on the ensuing kickoff after Darnold’s go-ahead touchdown pass to Jordan Addison, who caught 3 on the day to go along with a pair for Justin Jefferson.

Then with the clock not in his favor, Cousins’ pass was intercepted by one hand by Byron Murphy with 6:26 left. The Vikings added yet another touchdown in the 42-21 rout that was tied at 21 to start the quarter.

The Falcons (6-7) have lost the division lead to the Buccaneers (7-6), so we’ll see where things go from here, but it’s not looking good for preseason favorite Atlanta.

Browns at Steelers: No Pickens, A Few Problems

I’d be lying if I said the Steelers didn’t have any issues without George Pickens, who was a surprise inactive on Sunday morning due to a hamstring injury suffered late in the week. But the Steelers’ issues early had more to do with the players they were targeting rather than the players they should get involved with Russell Wilson in Pickens’ absence.

Once they started throwing to them, we saw production with Mike Williams down the field and tight end Pat Freiermuth had a good game with 48 yards and a touchdown. But Wilson only threw for 158 yards this week.

This game was also decided by Chris Boswell being a much better kicker than Dustin Hopkins, who missed from 38 and 43 yards. It wasn’t even that cold here Sunday, so he had even less of an excuse for those misses. Throw in a big Jameis Winston pick on a double-clutched screen that led to a short-field touchdown to get the Steelers going, and it was a team loss by the Browns.

You can’t beat the sight of Kadarius Toney (the one and only) muffing a punt with 2:53 left in a 27-14 game. He’s always trying to destroy games for his teams. But the Steelers were able to get to 10-3 and avoid their first sweep at the hands of Cleveland since 1988.

Seahawks at Cardinals: I Guess Geno Owns Arizona?

I know I’m not the only one struggling with these NFC West teams this year. The Seahawks took the first game 16-6, so I figured the Cardinals would play better offense at home and steal this one for the split.

Welp, I didn’t realize the Seahawks are now on a 7-game winning streak against the Cardinals with Geno Smith 6-0 as a starter in those games. Arizona has struggled to score in these games, and that was the problem again after an opening-drive touchdown was followed by a pair of Kyler Murray interceptions.

Meanwhile, it was a clean game for Geno without any sacks or turnovers. Zach Charbonnet was sharp with 134 yards and 2 touchdowns in a starring role without Kenneth Walker available.

But the Year of the Kicker falling apart around the league did Arizona in too here. Down 27-18, they rightly settled for a 40-yard field goal with half a quarter left. But it was off the goal post from kicker Chad Ryland, a big miss. He was the bust the Patriots drafted in 2023 and they got rid of after one season. He was doing better for Arizona this season, but that one stings.

The Seahawks burned valuable time and added a field goal to get to the weird 30-18 final score. The game ended with Murray taking a sack deep in the red zone and the Cardinals long out of timeouts since they used them so early in the quarter in an arguably reckless way.

But it’s looking more likely by the week that the Seahawks (8-5) are going to emerge from this division as the winner. But they do play the Packers and Vikings next, so it’s far from over.

Jets at Dolphins: A 14th Straight Postseason Without the Jets

Aaron Rodgers (339 yards) finally had his first 300-yard passing game since 2021, and it still wasn’t enough to avoid a fifth blown lead in the fourth quarter this season for the Jets. This time they are officially eliminated from the playoffs with a 3-10 record.

They were up 23-15 in the final quarter, but Tua Tagovailoa had the hot hand again against this defense, and he found Tyreek Hill on a fourth-and-4. Even after the Jets took a late 26-23 lead, they went backwards on consecutive plays on that drive to make sure the Dolphins would have time left to answer, and instead of getting a touchback, Miami’s long kick return out to the 46 made it a lot easier to get the game-tying field goal for overtime from 52 yards out.

The Dolphins won the coin toss and went on offense. Even though tight end Jonnu Smith has been a revelation in this offense in the last month, he didn’t have a catch until overtime. They found him on back-to-back plays (the same play, in fact) for 20 and 14 yards, then he also finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown to win the game 32-26.

We’re starting to see a lot more 300-yard passing duels in recent weeks, but Tagovailoa took the best Rodgers could do and one-upped him at the end for the win. Miami (6-7) is not dead yet but must keep on winning every week to have a shot at the last wild card.

Bears at 49ers: Well, It Wasn’t ALL Matt Eberflus

Normally, I’d expect a little bump in performance in the first game after a team fires its terrible coach, but I also expected a bounce-back performance from the 49ers (-3.5) in this game against Chicago. I had no idea it’d be 24-0 with the 49ers outgaining the Bears 319-4 in yards in the first half. That’s not a typo.

It got a little closer in the second half, but not even Kyle Shanahan’s mastery of blowing leads could make this one interesting. Caleb Williams fumbled on a Tuck Rule play, except the Tuck Rule is long gone. The 49ers held on to win 38-13, and we’ll see if it’s too little too late to save their season at 6-7.

Saints at Giants: No Field Goal Is Safe Anymore

We can talk about Drew Lock starting 0-for-8 or Derek Carr throwing the first interception by the Giants since Sam Darnold in Week 1, but do you really care at this point?

What’s interesting here is that the Saints blocked a 35-yard-field goal in the final seconds when it looked like the Giants were going to force overtime in a 14-11 game. It was very similar to the endings with blocked field goals in Chiefs-Broncos and Packers-Bears this season. That’s three times for something we rarely ever see.

I think that adds some great, legitimate intrigue to these moments. If you look at the way they blocked the kick, you wonder why we don’t see this a little more often. It feels more doable than recovering an onside kick these days.

Raiders at Buccaneers: Your Average Baker Rollercoaster

There’s some Jameis to this Baker Mayfield season in Tampa Bay. After two early touchdowns to build a 14-0 lead, this one lingered into the fourth quarter after Mayfield turned it over three times in the second quarter.

But the Raiders lost another quarterback to injury with Aidan O’Connell getting an air cast on his leg, and I can only hope it had to do with a previous injury getting worse, because the hit I’m seeing that “caused it” makes it look like contact sports won’t be for him.

Desmond Ridder replaced him for the fourth quarter of a 14-10 game, but he went three-and-out before the Buccaneers put it away with back-to-back touchdown drives in a 28-13 final that was misleadingly lopsided? Or maybe it was fittingly accurate. I don’t know anymore with teams like this. I just know the Raiders almost never win these games anymore.

Jaguars at Titans: No Longer a TNF Special in December for People to Ignore

Remember when they’d throw this game on a Thursday night in December when people probably wanted to go Christmas shopping or something? Well, let’s be glad they have some higher standards these days for Amazon Prime paying out the ass for these games. No one wants to watch a 10-6 shitfest between Mac Jones and Will Levis.

But I really thought this was the one game all season where you could trust Will Levis, who wasn’t horrible the last month, to put up some points and stats at home in an “easy win” against Mac Jones. And yet, it was a 10-6 comeback win as Jones improved his 4QC/GWD record to 3-14 in his career.

Levis had his chances to answer, but some laxed route running by Calvin Ridley and no special catch by Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (no longer under the radar) in the red zone led to a turnover on downs. The offense never got the ball in the end zone and now both teams are 3-10. Terrible stuff and probably one of the lowest-rated Titans-Jags games of all time.

Next week: The big one (Bills-Lions) loses some luster with the Buffalo loss. But that helps bolster Rams-49ers a bit on TNF to start the week and you might as well call that a playoff game since the loser should be done. We’ll see if the Chiefs can actually get some turnovers from Jameis Winston in Cleveland. Is Steelers-Eagles really going to be on the same time as Bills-Lions? Would prefer to see those at different times. Packers-Seahawks is solid for SNF. A weak MNF double-header (Bears-Vikings and Falcons-Raiders) to end it. Desmond Ridder Revenge Game? Ugh.

NFL 2024 Week 14 Predictions: Last Big Bye Edition

~ Scott ~ Leave a comment

After Week 14, the bye weeks will be over, and the NFL will be down to the final four games for every team this regular season. Week 15 has some huge games, and we already had the Game of the Week on Thursday night with Detroit’s win over the Packers. It’s the first time since 1956 that the Lions had the outright best record in the NFL since 1956.

But we could see the AFC West decided Sunday night in Kansas City, and the Steelers could inch a step closer to the AFC North by avoiding their first sweep by the Browns since 1988. The Seahawks-Cardinals game is also huge for the NFC West race.

One thing I tried to take into consideration this week for picks was just how close games were in Week 13. We had 12-of-16 games decided by 1-7 points, and it should have been 13 if Jameis Winston wasn’t so damn INT happy in Denver. Then we had a 34-31 game in Detroit to start this week, so things have been really tight, so I’m thinking about some two-score outcomes this week, which might be hard given how many of these games are evenly matched and/or division games. But that was something I tried to consider when it came to picking the spreads.

This Week’s Articles

NFL Week 14 Predictions

I had the Lions winning 27-24 (GB +3.5), so I was just off by a touchdown for both sides. Good game though. I’d be worried about Detroit’s defensive injuries. It’s likely that Dan Campbell is going to keep rolling the dice on fourth down through the playoffs, and he may be justified each time even if they don’t always make the right play call or convert. At least in the 2nd half of games he should be doing it. Can let some things slide early without giving the opponent a potential edge with field position.

LV-TB: After a scare in Carolina last week and the Raiders losing their personal Super Bowl in KC, I think both teams revert to form in this non-conference matchup and Baker leads his guys to a 7+ point win at home.

CLE-PIT: Browns haven’t won a regular-season game in Pittsburgh since 2003. Let’s keep that streak alive and see if T.J. Watt can answer Myles Garrett’s huge game in the last matchup since he was very quiet for the Steelers, and Russell Wilson threw the ball great in the snow. Just needed more protection early, and I think the Steelers may have unlocked some things about what they can do offensively last week against the Bengals. It doesn’t have to always be the moon balls, Russ. But I still think Jameis is crazy enough to keep it close, so here’s your classic Tomlin win by 1-6 points.

JAX-TEN: Will Levis hasn’t had a terrible month and I think he carves up one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL. Throw in Mac Jones starting for the Jags and this is one of the only times all season I feel some confidence in riding the Titans to cover.

CAR-PHI: Initially I had Carolina +13.5, a bet that would have easily won the last four weeks with two outright wins and two losses by 3 points each for the Panthers, who are getting improved play from Bryce Young. But then I started thinking about the mismatch on both sides of the ball, the quest to get Saquon Barkley the MVP and rushing title, and I changed my pick to the Eagles covering 13.5. Yeah, they’ve already barely survived the Browns (20-16) and Jaguars (28-23) at home during this winning streak. But I think you go against conventional wisdom here that the Panthers are “better now” and just take the Eagles to smash them. Even 34-20 works fine here.

ATL-MIN: Another game where I nearly changed my final pick to account for more blowouts, but I just think Kirk Cousins plays his ass off the best he can to keep his job this week. Going up against his former team. The Vikings have had some tight games the last month and you never know when Sam Darnold will offer up some turnovers. I still like the Vikings to win but for Cousins to keep it close.

NYJ-MIA: The Jets have blown so many bets (real money and hypothetical in my spreadsheets) for me in 2024. I’m tired of them. I don’t care for the Dolphins either but I’m taking them at home against a bad team.

NO-NYG: Even without Taysom Hill, I think the Saints can run the ball well against the Giants and am trusting that to cover against Drew Lock. Yeah, it’s probably the trap of the week as the Saints are like the NFC version of the Jets’ 2024 fool’s gold.

SEA-ARI: Could be another low scoring NFC West game where the 4Q is decisive. The Seahawks took the first matchup a few weeks ago. I think the Cardinals play better on offense this time and get to Geno Smith late for a win here. Tough division to figure right now though.

CHI-SF: Normally I’d like to take the team that just fired its bad head coach to get a boost. But at the same time, I think the 49ers remember this week they still have a lot of good players taking the field and Shanahan is supposed to be an elite coach. Brock Purdy will love the California weather instead of snowy Buffalo. They aren’t playing a playoff team like the Packers or Bills this week. They get back on track with a win.

BUF-LAR: This is one of those games where if the Rams win, I think it could propel them to a division title run. But I just can’t trust a team that couldn’t find the end zone at home against Miami, who gave up 255 to Saquon, who probably won’t slow down James Cook and Josh Allen. It should be another Buffalo win.

LAC-KC: Lots of changes since Week 4 when the Chiefs struggled early to come back and win 17-10. Justin Herbert will be healthier this time against a defense that is playing far worse. But the running game takes a big hit without J.K. Dobbins, and he can’t trust any receiver but Ladd McConkey. The Chiefs are better offensively now than in Week 4, but the 10 sacks allowed the last two weeks are a killer. However, it looks like Wanya Morris won’t be destroying the offense at LT this week, they should use Isiah Pacheco more in his second game back, and it’s a chance to clinch the division title at home. Give me KC, and yes, Chiefs by 1-13 points has hit in 11-of-12 games this season.

CIN-DAL: For Monday night’s battle for the 2nd-most disappointing team of 2024 (Jets are No. 1), I am taking Cooper Rush to go to 2-0 in his career against Joe Burrow. Micah Parsons leads a sack parade against Burrow, CeeDee Lamb plays like the mob isn’t holding his family hostage (see Thanksgiving game), and the Cowboys pull it off to end Week 14. Even if I’m wrong, the Bengals are still a massive disappointment with a 5-8 record and virtually no shot at the playoffs.

2022 NFL Predictions

~ Scott ~ 10 Comments

Last season I had a different process where I ended up writing an in-depth preview of all 32 teams over the span of a month. In past years, I would usually get assigned a handful of teams that I’d study the hell out of to write my essays, then I would whip together about 15,000 words here for my final predictions.

We’ll see if taking more time on each team is paying off, or if last year was just a fluke because I had way more accurate predictions than I did for 2013-20:

Twenty-eight teams within two games? I might never see that again. I’m willing to believe 2021 had some fluke to it given no AFC team won more than 12 games and we had the first Super Bowl ever without a top-three seed. The Rams and Bengals were only No. 4 seeds.

This makes it very easy for me to not predict a Super Bowl rematch like I did last year:

Still, I think I very well could have continued my tradition of getting one Super Bowl team right (Chiefs) but with the wrong outcome, had it not been for Patrick Mahomes playing the worst half of his career against the Bengals.

Unlike the last few years, I do not see the Chiefs as the center of the NFL story for this 2022 season. Don’t get me wrong, they are a major character again, but the AFC and particularly the AFC West is so deep that I think it’s hard to focus on any one team.

But I have figured out my narrative for this year’s predictions.

What I’m Watching for in 2022

Like last year, my team write-ups are much shorter here than in past years because I already did previews in the 2,000-4,000 word range for each team on BMR, which are linked below.

I always tend to write these hours before kickoff of the season opener on Thursday, and this year I am extra burned out from work to get to this day. I just want to shoot from the hip my final thoughts on these teams. All the structured analysis can be found in the BMR previews.

Having said that, this introduction is becoming the most important part of the preview because I like to share the things I’m looking for in the new season. We’ve had crazy quarterback movement and COVID causing empty stadiums to deal with the last couple years.

But this is the year of the No. 1 wide receiver experiments.

Historic Wide Receiver Movement

Imagine going back a year to September 2021 and listening to two football fans have this fanciful, Madden-logic conversation about the league.

Fan 1: Man, what if Derek Carr had Davante Adams instead of Henry Ruggs to throw to?

Fan 2: Still mid. Who does Aaron Rodgers get?

Fan 1: Just some non-first round picks. Let’s snatch Tyreek Hill away from Patrick Mahomes too and give him to Tua in Miami.

Fan 2: Sounds too bizarre. Can we take Gronk away from Brady for good?

Fan 1: Sure, they’ll probably both retire after this season. He still has Antonio Brown though…Speaking of Brown, what if A.J. went to Philadelphia with Jalen Hurts, and Hollywood went to Arizona to reunite with Kyler?

Fan 2: Why would they do that?

Fan 1: So the Jaguars can give Christian Kirk $80 million.

Fan 2: Bro… the fuck?

Fan 1: The Browns are going to get Deshaun Watson and Amari Cooper. And for good measure, we’re going to trade Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson to the AFC, bring back Geno Smith and Marcus Mariota as Week 1 starters, send Baker Mayfield to Carolina, and ship Carson Wentz back to the NFC East to the Washington Commanders.

Fan 2: Comman-co-co-come on, man, this shit is beyond silly.

Fan 1: Falcons taking the first wide receiver off the draft board after Calvin Ridley gets suspended the whole year for making a parlay on a game he ain’t even play in..

Fan 2: Now I know you’re just dreaming.

But this became reality, setting up an unusual number of QB-WR experiments with many players still in their prime. This will be very interesting to watch as it’s not like the Packers and Chiefs replaced Adams and Hill with a legitimate No. 1.

Adams and Hill also went to two of the best situations possible with two new head coaches, Josh McDaniels and Mike McDaniel (no relation), who should know how to use them.

The Dolphins and Raiders could be much improved this year, and it still may not show up in the win-loss record that much because of how insanely deep the AFC is, which leads me to the other big story going into Week 1.

The AFC Looks Insanely More Competitive Than the NFC (LOAT Warning)

The Buffalo Bills are the favorites to win it all this year, but any team that comes out of this AFC deserves a round of applause. This division could easily be 11 teams deep for contention with only seven playoff spots available. This is even discounting the Steelers and Browns because of their quarterback situations and ignoring the chance that a second-year quarterback (Trevor Lawrence, Davis Mills, Zach Wilson) could vastly improve.

A team like Cincinnati could go from the Super Bowl to 9-10 wins and no playoffs at this rate. It is going to be something to behold, and of course some teams will end up disappointing and injuries will take out a couple more. But if teams live up to what they look like on paper, this should be an incredible AFC race.

Who does this tight AFC race and the offseason talent shift benefit the most?

Tom Brady, of course. You would end your retirement after 40 days too if you saw this easy of a path open to the Super Bowl between the state of your conference and the Buccaneers’ schedule:

  • Week 1: A Dallas team that already lost Tyron Smith, had a million takeaways last year, beat up on the NFC East, and still hasn’t been to the NFC Championship Game since the 1995 season.
  • Weeks 2 & 13: Sean Payton retired in New Orleans, the team that is 4-0 against Brady the last two regular seasons and the only real division competition. Payton was replaced by a coach who is 8-28.
  • Weeks 3-4: Packers and Chiefs trade away Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill while replacing them with slight upgrades to Joe Rogan and Jackson Mahomes. Tampa Bay hosts these teams in Weeks 3-4, and they also get to host the Ravens and Rams in Weeks 8-9 and the Bengals in Week 15.
  • Week 5 & 18: Matt Ryan left for Indy, leaving Marcus Mariota with a coach he already failed with in Tennessee.
  • Week 6: A Pittsburgh team with Mitch Trubisky at quarterback after Ben Roethlisberger retired.
  • Weeks 7 & 17: A Carolina team that settled for Baker Mayfield, though Sam Darnold could be available for one of these games too.
  • Week 10: Russell Wilson left Seattle for Denver, leaving Geno Smith and Drew Lock in his place for a team that is unrecognizable.
  • Week 12: Guess which game is the final one of Deshaun Watson’s suspension in Cleveland? Yep, it’s TB.
  • Week 16: Once the World Series is over, Kyler Murray acts like football season is over. Guess which day Tampa plays in Arizona? Hint: Bah humbug.

What else is in the NFC?

  • A Minnesota team with Kirk Cousins that can’t stray too far from .500 or the world will rotate off its axis
  • Washington thinks Carson Wentz is “the one.”
  • Philadelphia should have a good season, but it was 0-7 against playoff teams last year, including 0-2 against the Bucs.
  • The Giants, co-owners with the Jets for the worst record in the NFL since 2017.
  • A San Francisco team that only seems to win when their quarterback is absurdly handsome. Would you even trust Kyle Shanahan with another 19-point 4Q lead against Brady? Or anyone in the playoffs?

At the very least, what keeps this interesting is that Tampa doesn’t look loaded up for 2022. Also, the biggest kryptonite is Sean McVay’s Rams, the defending champs and winners of three straight over Tampa. If Brady somehow avoids the Rams in the playoffs, then we could be talking about him winning every other Super Bowl since 2014. If he can’t get past the Rams, then he may be setting them up as the firs team to repeat since his Patriots in 2003-04.

Needless to say, I absolutely understand why Bills vs. Buccaneers is the preseason favorite pick for Super Bowl 57. But is it my pick? Let’s find out.

One last note: I predicted over/under on each team’s win total at BMR. What I predicted in those articles since late July may be different from my final W-L prediction in September after sitting down with the schedule grid Wednesday night to make these final predictions.

AFC WEST

1. Los Angeles Chargers (12-5)

BMR Preview: This division race being anything but incredible would be so disappointing. The Chargers missing the playoffs again would be the most disappointing of any team in the league.

But I think they are ready to take that next big step in Justin Herbert’s third season and Brandon Staley’s second. Last year, the Chargers were 9-8 despite losing three games to playoff teams on the final snap. Herbert led a game-tying or go-ahead drive in all three of those games. As a rookie, he was 7-9 but the team blew three leads of 17+ points in his first six starts.

The kid just needs a defense. He’s already the only quarterback in history to throw 30 touchdowns in each of his first two seasons. He has the second-most yards thru 32 starts behind only Mahomes. Just find him some defense.

I wrote why I think Justin Herbert will win MVP this year.

I think Khalil Mack and J.C. Jackson are going to help enough. Herbert takes his game to another level and gets the MVP on the strength of coming out on top of this insanely difficult division.

2. Kansas City Chiefs (10-7)

BMR Preview: The Chiefs are trying to become the third team in NFL history to win their division at least seven years in a row. That is a long stretch of dominance, but the competition has never been stronger in the AFC West than it is this year.

I also think there’s high probability this is the weakest team of the Mahomes era so far. Think Peyton Manning’s 2002 Colts when it was just him playing catch with Marvin Harrison (143 times). That was still good enough for 10 wins, and Mahomes is like that too as I expect he’ll still lead a top 5 offense here if Travis Kelce doesn’t get hurt.

But you can’t lose Tyreek Hill and replace him with JuJu Smith-Schuster/Skyy Moore/Marquez Valdes-Scantling and act like it’s the same offense. I said after the Buffalo playoff win that Hill has to have the best clutch play highlight reel of any player in the last five years. When Mahomes needed someone to save a game, Hill was that guy. Think of the fourth down against the Ravens in 2018, the long touchdowns against the Chargers in 2020 and 2021, the plays late in the Buffalo win, and of course, third-and-15 in the Super Bowl. You know, the only play that prevents the Chiefs from being the biggest disappointment in the NFL’s last decade. Hill has to be worth 1-2 wins a season for this team with that rare speed.

I don’t like losing Tyrann Mathieu on defense either as another player who could make the turnovers in big moments. The Chiefs just don’t look as scary anymore. The tipped-ball turnovers shouldn’t be so bad this year, but if you’re game-planning for this offense without Hill, how do you not double Kelce and drop 7-to-8 defenders into coverage and make Mahomes hold the ball like he did in the second half against Cincinnati’s three-man rush when he had the worst half of his career?

After the Super Bowl 55 loss, it was KC figuring out the two-man safety looks that team showed them in 2021. They eventually did that. I don’t think a three-man rush is a sustainable defensive strategy, but I think teams are going to try it. Just make sure Kelce gets doubled or you’re  missing the point of it all. Take away the best receiver on the field and make these new guys, who are mistake prone (MVS, I’m looking your way) beat you.

3. Denver Broncos (10-7)

BMR Preview: Finally, we can look forward to watching Denver games again. I think Russell Wilson is going to have a fine season and no quarterback is better equipped to handle a ridiculously loaded division.

But at the same time, the division is why I think he’ll have a harder time taking this team the distance than what Peyton Manning did when he arrived in Denver a decade ago. This should land somewhere between what Jake Plummer and Peyton did as a Denver reference. I think Wilson is downgrading at his top WR duo, but he’ll make Jerry Jeudy a better player. Tim Patrick was a big loss for this team you won’t hear a lot about this year, but he was the red-zone target and a good third receiver who would start on a lot of teams.

But you bring in Wilson to give a rookie coach like Nathaniel Hackett an instant reason to compete. We haven’t seen Wilson play in the preseason so it’s a mystery what this will look like, but I think it’s going to be a good offense

Funny enough, because of the division makeup, Denver could still have the worst offense and best defense in the AFC West this year. But I think this is going to end in 10 wins and Wilson will end Denver’s 13-game losing streak to the Chiefs. He outplayed Mahomes in their only meeting in 2018, and that’s exactly why you need this kind of quarterback if you are going to compete with Mahomes and Herbert the next decade.

4. Las Vegas Raiders (9-8)

BMR Preview: The Raiders were one of my four biggest misses last year (6-11 to 10-7), and I wanted to somehow fit the team into 10 wins again, which still might miss the playoffs because of these other AFC West teams.

In a normal year, you would look at the Raiders scoring differential (-65) last year and the fact they tied the record by going 4-0 in overtime games and predict regression. It was a fluke, they’ll play better but have a worse record in 2022. Simple.

But then they hired Josh McDaniels as head coach, and while I’m not a big fan, I can’t deny the body of work and that he gave Kyle Orton a glow-up in Denver in 2009. It lasted about six games for success, but this might be the best Raiders roster since the 2002 Super Bowl team when you add Davante Adams and Chandler Jones.

In the end, I only gave the Raiders nine wins, but it’s hard to expect your fourth-ranked team to do more than that in a division. But I will say this…

The season to win is now, Raiders fans. Derek Carr has everything he needs to have the best season of his career. Adams, Darren Waller, and Hunter Renfrow is the best receiving trio in the league, and if McDaniels can use Renfrow the way he used Wes Welker in 2007-12, you might even see him catch more balls than Davante this year. This offense could be incredible, but it’s only going to work if Carr elevates his game in Year 9, which was a peak year of play for Peyton Manning (2006), Drew Brees (2009), and Matt Ryan (2016). You know I don’t think Carr is on that level, but he needs to show us something more this year.

Take the AFC West now before the Chiefs find Mahomes another top-tier weapon, before Herbert ascends to God mode, and before Wilson and Hackett figure things out in Denver. This might be the best chance McDaniels gets in Vegas, so carpe diem.

NFC WEST

1. Los Angeles Rams (12-5)

BMR Preview: I keep having to say it every year, but we are in the longest drought in NFL history without a repeat champion (2003-04 Patriots the last). This was one of my first and favorite previews to write this season, because I get into how we’re going to learn if this team is still hungry for more, or if last year was the culmination of a five-year journey for Sean McVay and even longer for Matthew Stafford and Aaron Donald.

Does this give a new sense of confidence for Stafford now that he has a ring, or are we going to see that going 9-1 in close games and becoming the first team in history to win three straight playoff games by 3 points is a once in a career fever dream? I also think losing Von Miller and Andrew Whitworth hurts, and I don’t like Allen Robinson more than Robert Woods/Odell.

But ultimately, I see an easier division than what the Rams faced last year, and I still have them with 12 wins. Is it enough for the top seed and another Super Bowl run? That will likely be determined by how this team plays Tampa Bay. They have beat them all three times in the Brady era, and they will likely have to continue that mastery if they want to get to the Super Bowl again.

2. San Francisco 49ers (10-7)

BMR Preview: This is a tough one because Trey Lance is the wild card of this NFL season. I can see anything from getting benched in October for Jimmy Garoppolo (still there, still handsome) to winning Super Bowl MVP in February. His athletic skills are impressive and we know the vaunted Kyle Shanahan system can boost his passing numbers. It also doesn’t hurt that no one can tackle Deebo Samuel and George Kittle on the first try.

But then I remember the fact that Shanahan is 35-16 (.686) with Garoppolo as his quarterback and 8-28 (.222) with everyone else. It’s a stunning split, the kind you’d expect to see for a team starting one of the best quarterbacks of all time and going to trash as backups. But no one would dare characterize Garoppolo that way despite him having the highest YPA (8.4) of any quarterback born since WWII.

I found myself at the last minute trying to knock them down another win, but let’s just roll with it as Lance is truly a wild card.

3. Arizona Cardinals (10-7)

BMR Preview: Honestly, I didn’t check the tiebreaker between Arizona and San Francisco, so it’s possible these standings should be switched. But anyway, you are probably surprised I still have the Cardinals making the playoffs after going 4-7 down the stretch last year and making plenty of bad headlines surrounding Kyler Murray in the offseason.

But what if last year’s last unbeaten team (7-0) is still good, is still getting better, and what if it doesn’t have injuries to Murray, DeAndre Hopkins, and J.J. Watt again? Most importantly, what if Kyler bumps up his study time and has his best season yet with what should be a huge chip on his shoulder?

I know it’s a gamble and I should probably give this record to a more deserving team, but I oddly feel good about Arizona having some success this year after a taste of the playoffs in 2021.

Do I think they have a shot in the playoffs to make it three straight years of a team hosting the Super Bowl in their own building? Scroll to the bottom to find out.

4. Seattle Seahawks (5-12)

BMR Preview: Pete Carroll hasn’t won fewer than seven games in the NFL since he was a rookie coaching the 1994 Jets (6-10). But now he’s in his 70s and he’s coaching two Jets rejects in Geno Smith and Jamal Adams, so he might as well be back in Jersey.

Look, this is a rebuilding team with a terrible quarterback situation. They also have 10 games against the AFC West and NFC West where I basically just declared all seven teams are playoff caliber.

5-12 might be generous.

AFC EAST

1. Buffalo Bills (13-4)

BMR Preview: Not long after Buffalo’s 13-second meltdown in Kansas City, I thought this team would be my Super Bowl pick next year. It seems many agree as the Bills have consistently had the best odds for the Super Bowl and #1 seed all offseason.

This is what happens when you combine a super talented quarterback with a defense that should get Tre’Davious White back soon and added Von Miller to the pass rush. That is a Super Bowl formula.

The only real concern is the offense lost coordinator Brian Daboll, but great quarterbacks overcome those changes all the time. They get their OCs hired; bad quarterbacks get the OC fired.

With Allen, the regular season was not what it could have been after his dazzling 2020, but that playoff performance is why everyone is so high on this team. He led a perfect game in single-digit temps against Bill Belichick’s defense in a wild card game. The Bills scored seven touchdowns on seven possessions. Then we saw him put the team ahead with 13 seconds left in Kansas City, but we know what happened the rest of the way.

Still, 12 touchdowns in 16 drives in the playoffs. Insane stuff that could have put Allen on the path to having the best postseason ever, yet the Bills were bounced in the second round. It can’t happen again.

At least it can’t happen if Sean McDermott wants to win a Super Bowl in Buffalo with Allen. Remember my Five-Year Rule? No team has ever won its first championship by starting the same quarterback under the same head coach for more than five seasons.

This is Year 5 for Allen/McDermott. It also happens to be Year 5 for Lamar Jackson/John Harbaugh in Baltimore. Maybe we’ll get a playoff rematch from two years ago between these two.

2. Miami Dolphins (10-7)

BMR Preview: You know my usual talking points on the Dolphins. Boring, irrelevant, one of the Three Stooges, even when they have a winning record it means nothing, and some quip about still trying to replace Dan Marino.

Some of that may still be true, but that linked preview is probably the most optimistic thing I’ve ever written about this franchise. I’m all in on Mike McDaniel bringing the Shanahan system to South Beach with Tyreek Hill adding the speed to a receiving corps that couldn’t separate the last few years.

Am I believer in Tua Tagovailoa? Eh, not really. But we have seen this offense inflate the numbers of Matt Schaub, Robert Griffin III, Kirk Cousins, and Jimmy Garoppolo. Even some extent for Nick Mullens and that best Matt Ryan season ever in 2016 when Shanahan was in Atlanta. It just works, and the Dolphins are bringing talent with the scheme.

The Dolphins have had winning records in consecutive seasons but still missed the playoffs both times. That hasn’t happened since the Dolphins did it in 2002-03. Can it happen for a third year in a row? That would be the most Miami thing ever, but I think we are going to see better results from this team. If Tua can’t get the job done, then someone else will next year.

3. New England Patriots (9-8)

BMR Preview: Feels good to no longer just hand the Patriots 10+ wins and the division title. We know Buffalo surpassed them in 2020 once Josh Allen exploded, and now the Dolphins have won all three meetings started by Tua. It’s not like he was great in those games, but he avoided the big mistakes.

But the Patriots are looking rather ordinary in a stacked AFC. Bill Belichick turned 70 and he lost Josh McDaniels to the Raiders and hired back Joe Judge to share duties with Matt Patricia. That is discouraging for this team building on last year where Mac Jones was the best rookie quarterback.

That doesn’t mean he will remain that way for his class. I think they are going to miss McDaniels and there’s still not a great receiving corps here. The defense also lost pick magnet J.C. Jackson to the Chargers and we know defensive back is a position they have their problems evaluating.

I trust Belichick enough to get a winning record, but 8-9 wouldn’t surprise me either.

4. New York Jets (5-12)

BMR Preview: Is this team going to have any left tackles healthy for the season? I already had low expectations, and I think 5-12 is generous enough. Robert Saleh was supposed to be a defensive guru and the defense was arguably worse than the offense last year weighed for expectations. I also think it’s troubling that little known Mike White had the best game and moment of the season for the team instead of Zach Wilson last year.

Believe it or not, but when the Jets miss the playoffs for a 12th year in a row, that will set the new franchise record for longest playoff drought.

NFC EAST

1. Philadelphia Eagles (11-6)

BMR Preview: No one has won the NFC East in consecutive years since the Eagles did it in 2001-04. I think that streak continues, and the Eagles take it from Dallas this year. The addition of A.J. Brown should work out great, but the team will have to show more willingness to throw with Jalen Hurts this year.

The Eagles were also 0-7 against playoff teams last year. But with a favorable schedule in 2022, I think 11 wins and a home playoff game is in their future. Just be warned that come January, I’ll be here pointing out said schedule and asking if we can trust this team to do anything in the tournament.

2. Dallas Cowboys (9-8)

BMR Preview: The night I finished my Dallas preview and predicted under 10 wins, I saw the tweets about three hours later that Tyron Smith could miss months, if not the whole season with a serious injury. I wasn’t going to bother sending an email to change anything as I’m already down on Dallas this year. That just reinforces the pick for me.

Weakened the receiving corps and offensive line while the defense relied on way too many takeaways last year. If you look at Dan Quinn’s history, his defenses are almost always below average in turnovers except for 2013 (Seattle) and last year. Trevon Diggs gave up a lot of completions last year on his way to all those picks.

Of course, I think Dak Prescott is legit enough to have a winning record again, but I don’t see the team around him being good enough to get back to the playoffs. The Cowboys were 6-0 against the division and 6-6 out of it last year. They really beat up the 2021 NFC East, but I think the other three teams are improved while Dallas is taking steps backwards.

3. New York Giants (6-11)

BMR Preview: Brian Daboll was my favorite head coach hire in this year’s deep cycle. But I have to throw some cold water on any hopes that he’s going to turn 2022 Daniel Jones into 2020 Josh Allen. Jones throws some nice deep balls and can run, but he’s not the same caliber of quarterback. Kenny Golladay was also a mess last year, Saquon Barkley always disappoints, and it looks like Kadarius Toney might be earning a “candybone” nickname as he always gets hurt.

I wanted to give the Giants a seventh win because of how easy the schedule looks, but they became a go-to team when I was going through the schedule and trying to find wins for some of the worst teams in football.

Remember, the Giants are tied with the Jets for the worst record in the NFL since 2017. It is going to take some time for Daboll to fix this. I’d expect Jones to look his best in 2022, but it still won’t be enough to satisfy fans.

4. Washington Commanders (6-11)

BMR Preview: New name, same game. I dropped plenty of great Wentz diss tracks in this one, so check it out.

He’s not “the one” and Ron Rivera will find out the hard way as Doug Pederson and Frank Reich did.

AFC SOUTH

1. Indianapolis Colts (11-6)

BMR Preview: Can you believe the Colts haven’t won the AFC South since 2014? I like it to happen this year as Matt Ryan should be a welcome addition after Carson Wentz last year. This team does need to stop blowing leads though, and I don’t expect as many takeaways as they had last year. But I think you get much steadier quarterback play, and Ryan will have his best running game, offensive line, and defensive support in years. Ditto for coaching with Frank Reich having to adjust to a new starting quarterback in all five seasons.

I also expect the Colts to get back to beating Tennessee, which is why they should leap ahead to a division title. Looking forward to seeing this team play the Chiefs after that upset win 2019 was such an outlier for the Chiefs at the time.

The Colts might have the right stuff to go on their deepest playoff run since 2014 too, but I think expectations should be tempered There is not enough elite talent on this team at the right positions to win a Super Bowl this season.

2. Tennessee Titans (8-9)

BMR Preview: Frankly, I was jumping off the Tennessee bandwagon before the A.J. Brown trade on draft night, and before the news that Harold Landry tore his ACL, leaving the Titans without their leading receiver and best pass rusher. I also soured on Ryan Tannehill after his playoff implosion, spoiling a No. 1 seed that was earned with a record eight wins over teams with winning records.

Good luck repeating that success against a tough schedule in 2022. I know the Titans haven’t won fewer than nine games since 2015, and Mike Vrabel is one of the better coaches, but I just couldn’t find more than eight wins this year. I think they blew their golden opportunity last year with the top seed and everyone coming back healthy for the playoffs.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars (6-11)

BMR Preview: I am interested more than most to get more data on Doug Pederson in games without Carson Wentz as his quarterback. I like this hire for the team, but man, I do not like paying Christian Kirk, Evan Engram, and Zay Jones as the supporting cast. The Jaguars are not doing Trevor Lawrence any favors. There’s no Ja’Marr Chase to the rescue here, so I do not see a second-year surge like you might bet on with a talented, young quarterback getting a Super Bowl-winning head coach.

Or even just a coach you can confidently say won’t be grinding on a college girl’s ass in a bar after your team loses another game.

Also, tough year to hold the No. 1 pick in the draft, but I really think they should have picked Aidan Hutchinson. We’ll see how this shakes out but I don’t expect much from Travon Walker, who can push Eric Fisher as the most anonymous No. 1 pick in the 21st century.

4. Houston Texans (5-12)

BMR Preview: The Texans are a good example of the difference in trying to judge a team’s over/under win total and then go through the schedule for everyone and actually hand out said wins and losses with it needing to add up to 272.

Just a day ago, I wrote that Texans over 4.5 was the best bet in the AFC South this year. Then when I went through the schedule last night, it was so hard to find them wins. But I eventually landed on 5-12 as I think Davis Mills will be better than his rookie year, which was surprisingly impressive in a way if you read the linked preview.

But promoting Lovie Smith after his defense was so bad last year? It’s the most uninspiring coaching hire in years. We’ll see if they keep him beyond this year.

NFC SOUTH

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (12-5)

BMR Preview: If you skipped the intro, you should read that too as I really highlighted there why Tampa Bay is the betting favorite in the NFC for a Super Bowl again. But I do think there is a good chance this is the weakest of the three Tom Brady teams in Tampa.

Ali Marpet, Rob Gronkowski, and Bruce Arians retired. Chris Godwin is already back, but that first year off a torn ACL can be underwhelming. We know Antonio Brown’s crazy ass won’t be back in Tampa.

Throw in the 45-year-old quarterback who took a 40-day retirement and is in the tabloids because his wife is pissed about his return. I don’t know what’s true there or why he dipped on the team for 11 days in August, but I get the sense even Gisele is getting sick of him playing football.

Join the club.

But Brady’s won the Super Bowl every other year since 2014, and things could be setting up again for another one in 2022. If that’s what it takes to send him away for good, then so be it. I am just beyond ready to see an NFL without him, but I said even when he retired that I refuse to believe it until it’s Week 1 and he’s not there.

Same applies next year.

2. New Orleans Saints (8-9)

BMR Preview: This preview did a good job of covering just how bizarre the 2021 Saints were. Now we have to see this team without Sean Payton? I’m not sold on them having a winning record with Jameis Winston and Dennis Allen. In fact, Allen’s 8-28 (.222) record with Oakland makes him the coach with the worst winning percentage to get a second job in the Super Bowl era. This preview explains why that usually does not lead to a successful second shot.

Would I enjoy seeing Jameis send Brady into retirement with another sweep and actually win this division? Sure, but let’s be realistic about things. That’s never going to happen.

3. Carolina Panthers (7-10)

BMR Preview: Matt Rhule has yet to figure out how to win games when his team is down in the fourth quarter or allows more than 17 points. Enter Baker Mayfield, who had the same problem in 2021 with Cleveland. But I do like the return of Christian McCaffrey, and Baker is an upgrade over Sam Darnold, and he is going to at least get a 1-0 start by beating Cleveland in a legit revenge game.

But seven wins is the rosiest of predictions for this team.

4. Atlanta Falcons (3-14)

BMR Preview: Based on scoring differential, the Falcons went from the best 4-win team ever in 2020 to the worst 7-win team ever in 2021. A fitting way to end the Matt Ryan era. But I have the Falcons finishing with the worst record in football this year with Marcus Mariota taking over an offense with a coach (Arthur Smith) he failed to have success with in Tennessee in 2019. He was benched for Ryan Tannehill because he turned into a sack machine. Then you take away Calvin Ridley for the whole year for a stupid gambling punishment he doesn’t deserve, and it is hard to see this offense, which struggled more than ever under Ryan in 2021, doing much to improve.

The defense is still bad too. Maybe I’ll regret not going to five or six wins, but I’ll be shocked if the Falcons have a decent season this year.

AFC NORTH

1. Baltimore Ravens (12-5)

BMR Preview: My confidence in Baltimore to win 12 games last year despite a bunch of preseason injuries was not rewarded. But the fact that an 8-3 start turned into an 8-9 finish was shocking. The close wins at the beginning of the season turned into close losses late as the Ravens were losing by a single point to the Packers (top seed) and Rams (eventual champs) with their backup quarterback.

But this is why I keep saying the Ravens are (positive) regression darlings for 2022. Injuries and close games. Way too many of both last year, and Lamar Jackson is back and looking for that huge, second contract while working as his own agent.

The Five-Year Rule was referenced in the Buffalo section. No team has won its first championship by starting the same quarterback for the same coach for more than five years. This is technically the fifth year for Jackson and Harbaugh in Baltimore. Lamar didn’t start the opener in 2018, but he was the guy in the playoffs that season.

It took Harbaugh five seasons with Joe Flacco (2012) to get to that elusive Super Bowl, and he hasn’t been back to an AFC Championship Game since. The Ravens still bring that unique offensive attack with Jackson’s rushing ability and the defense should be much improved. I still like what this team has to offer and expect big things.

2. Cincinnati Bengals (9-8)

BMR Preview: This one was tough because I had the Bengals winning some really key matchups down the stretch of the schedule, but in the end, I only came up with a 9-8 record. The AFC is just too deep, and schedules aside, can you honestly say the Bengals stand out that much from the pack of the AFC West teams, Buffalo, Baltimore, Indy, or even New England?

Most people would have said it’d be crazy not to have the 2019 Rams or 2020 49ers in the playoffs or double-digit wins again after they lost the Super Bowl, but it happened to both. It happens to the Super Bowl loser frequently.

Plus, the Bengals were one of the rare Super Bowl teams to come out of nowhere, not having a winning season since 2015. We know Chase had a big impact on Joe Burrow’s breakout season, but is it sustainable when the conference is so loaded?

In 2021, the Bengals skipped many steps at once. I think they fall back this year.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-10)

BMR Preview: When you consider that the Steelers won eight games in 2019 without Ben Roethlisberger, and Matt Nagy won at least eight games multiple times with Mitch Trubisky in Chicago, then it is not at all crazy for Mike Tomlin to get eight wins (in 17 games) with Trubisky in Pittsburgh.

But in the end, the best thing I could do for the Steelers is have them sweep Cleveland, finishing ahead of the Browns in every season since 1990.

Whether it’s 7-10 or 8-9 to decide a perfectly set over/under by the bookies, I think this is the first losing season for Tomlin in Pittsburgh. Roethlisberger at his worst is still better than Trubisky, who is 1-18 in his career when he’s trailing by more than a field goal in the fourth quarter.

The Steelers were 9-2-1 last year in close games, leading the league in 4QC (6) and GWD (7). Roethlisberger had as many game-winning drives in 2021 as Trubisky has his whole career. The close games are not going to go Pittsburgh’s way this year.

And the defense is still going to get blown at times out despite the efforts of T.J. Watt, who could break the sack record if he stays healthy for 17 games.

With Kenny Pickett on the bench, this is the first NFL season since 2007 where we won’t have a rookie quarterback starting in Week 1. If the Steelers get off to a really bad start, I could see Pickett starting after the bye in Week 10.

But I would not bet on him for Offensive Rookie of the Year. This offensive line is going to be badly exposed this year when the quarterback isn’t getting rid of the ball in record time.

4. Cleveland Browns (6-11)

BMR Preview: I guess we’ll find out what the price of shame is in 2023 for Cleveland, assuming Deshaun Watson can stay out of the DMs.

NFC NORTH

1. Green Bay Packers (10-7)

BMR Preview: It’s not that I think Davante Adams is worth three wins to the Packers. I just think this is the closest situation to 2015 for Aaron Rodgers, which is the season where he started 6-0 before falling apart after that Denver game and going into his weird odyssey before we saw the return of Peak Rodgers in 2020. But there won’t be a three-peat MVP for him, and the division is better this year.

2. Minnesota Vikings (10-7)

BMR Preview: I enjoyed writing this preview just because I got to take shots at Mike Zimmer’s nepotism and Kirk Cousins’ fondness of staying around .500. Granted, I am nervous about this pick for that latter reason, but I think Kevin O’Connell is going to be a good hire that will make proper use of the skill players here. The defense can’t be any worse than it was the last two years. Minnesota was high on the list of “losing teams who should have had a winning record” last year, but that’s what you’ve come to expect from a Cousins-led team. Silly me, I expect something more along the lines of 2019 when they won 10 games and a playoff game.

But with O’Connell coming from the Rams, don’t discount him looking at this as a last-chance season for Cousins akin to the Jared Goff situation when the Rams moved on to acquire Stafford. The league is kind of running out of proven quarterbacks to move for 2023, though if Mr. Rodgers wanted to follow in Brett Favre’s footsteps to the Purple Team next year…

3. Detroit Lions (6-11)

BMR Preview: The Lions could have easily won six games last season if long field goals went their way against the Ravens, Vikings, and Steelers. This team will compete hard under Dan Campbell, but it’s still hard to see them eating many W’s in 2022. Aidan Hutchinson falling into their laps with the No. 2 pick was pretty convenient though in a draft without quarterbacks. Now we’ll see if Jared Goff could show more or if they will just move on next season.

4. Chicago Bears (5-12)

BMR Preview: I ended up changing this win total three times before writing this as the final team of 2022, including a last-second flip with Detroit in the division. I’m just not sold on Matt Eberflus coming over from Indy, nor do I like the receivers, or losing Allen Robinson, Khalil Mack, and Akiem Hicks.

The cards are stacked against Justin Fields breaking out this year, but we’ll see what happens.

Ending on a personal note: It’s wild to think that when I was in 10th grade computer class, I shared a corner with a senior and the best athlete in our school, and 20 years later, he is the offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears. I wish Luke Getsy well, but I really wish I could go back in time and joke to him that his football future will involve trying to turn around the offense of an NFL team that had better quarterback play before 1950 than anything we’ve seen since.

PLAYOFFS

Truth be told, my first run through of the schedule had Cleveland at 4-12, Philadelphia at 14-3, and all four AFC West Teams with 10+ wins. Things didn’t finish that way, but we’ll see how it goes.

AFC

  • 1. Buffalo (13-4)
  • 2. LA Chargers (12-5)
  • 3. Baltimore (12-5)
  • 4. Indianapolis (11-6)
  • 5. Kansas City (10-7)
  • 6. Denver (10-7)
  • 7. Miami (10-7)

This looks exciting with five new playoff teams, no? The Chargers did come out on the winning end of two memorable playoff games with Miami in 1980 and 1994. Maybe they’ll do it again here. I’d pick Baltimore to win at home against Wilson’s Broncos. Chiefs at Colts brings back more playoff memories for sure. Lousy ones for KC fans, but I can see Mahomes winning there, and it’d be in the best interest to set up the Bills rematch people probably want most from this postseason.

Look, I get it. Bills-Chiefs could be the best rivalry going if they keep meeting in big games, and last year was unbelievable drama. But I have it in the second round here, and I think the Bills will love not seeing Tyreek in that one. Allen is also 3-0 in home playoff games and 0-3 on the road. Ravens at Chargers is a big one. It was 34-6 when they met last year. Feels like a close loss for the Chargers coming there at home. But a great year nonetheless.

Ravens at Bills for the AFC Championship Game. Rematch from two playoffs ago. Both Allen and Lamar trying to adhere to the Five-Year Rule and get the Super Bowl ring this year. I have Bills Super Bowl futures bets from right after Super Bowl 56 ended. They were the team I was all for, and I’m a little annoyed to see them enjoy the best odds all summer and going into Week 1. Teams like that do sometimes win it all as the 2018 and 2016 Patriots prove, but it is hard to be the favorite all year long in the cap era and deliver.

Either way, you’re getting your fifth-year QB narrative here. It’s either going to be Allen taking that next step or Lamar betting on himself, almost like Joe Flacco in 2012, and getting Harbaugh to another Super Bowl.

Since I have to make a pick, I’m going to stick with Buffalo, but you can see the hedge I have on Baltimore here. They both make so much sense to me, but Allen’s playoff highs are too hard to ignore while Jackson has struggled in January. Von was a great addition too.

NFC

  • 1. LA Rams (12-5)
  • 2. Tampa Bay (12-5)
  • 3. Philadelphia (11-6)
  • 4. Green Bay (10-7)
  • 5. Minnesota (10-7)
  • 6. San Francisco (10-7)
  • 7. Arizona (10-7)

Of course, I fought to get Arizona in the playoffs only to lose right away in Tampa Bay, another No. 2 seed after losing the tie-breaker to the Rams. I think the Eagles can beat the 49ers at home, and Rodgers would probably love seeing Minnesota in Green Bay in January.

Philly loses in Tampa Bay for the second year in a row. Packers at Rams is a good one in the second round we thought we’d see last year. I like the Rams at home. Then look at that: Buccaneers at Rams rematch in the NFC Championship Game. Like Bills-Chiefs, maybe this is just the best matchup anyway and the one fans want to see the most.

Brady is taking this one after Stafford has his worst playoff game ever.

SUPER BOWL LVII

Buffalo 45, Tampa Bay 17

We’re only going to score 17 points?

No reverse jinx this time. No Scott Norwood bullshit. Josh Allen cements his legacy by putting an end to New England’s run in the AFC East and Brady’s run in the NFL by dropping 45 points on the 45-year-old quarterback’s team.

Buffalo, you are finally Super Bowl champs. Enjoy it.

TL;DR version: I will stan any AFC quarterback, even if it’s Derek Carr, as long as they don’t let Brady win one more.

NFL Week 9 Predictions: Relevant Oakland Edition

~ Scott ~ Leave a comment

We’re nearly at the true halfway point of the regular season. On Friday, I wrote a piece about the lack of parity in the NFL, especially in the AFC. One team could change some of that perception with a good win this week.

Steelers at Ravens

Rare to see two teams have a bye week before their regular-season matchup, but here we are. The big question is: will he or won’t he play? We’re talking about Ben Roethlisberger of course, who I swear is contractually obligated to miss at least one Baltimore game per season. The Ravens are 6-1 against the Steelers when Ben is out, but he also has a bad history of playing in his first game back from injury too. This torn meniscus was potentially a 4-6 week injury too, so questionable in this case may truly be questionable. Overall, I think the Steelers have the better team this year, and should have enough firepower to outscore a Baltimore offense that has been very lackluster, already firing its offensive coordinator. Joe Flacco is loading up on failed completions (four weeks in a row with 10+), but I can see a motivated Mike Wallace catching a bomb in this one to stick it to his old team. Fortunately, he’s still pretty limited to showing up on one or two drives per game instead of being a true dominant threat like he was in 2010-11. I want to see if Le’Veon Bell can make it look effortless against a stingy run defense, or if he’ll struggle to gain much traction and have to rely on being a threat in the passing game instead. Last year, Roethlisberger played his worst game of the season in a classic “played down to the competition” game for the Steelers in Week 16 with the playoffs hanging in the balance. Seriously, this team was hanging 30+ on everyone, and came out with a piss-poor effort against a Baltimore team that was starting Ryan Mallett at quarterback. The Steelers made him look like Joe Montana (KC version at least). We know these teams usually play a close one, and my half-assed reason for picking Pittsburgh is that I just can’t see them losing three in a row, but it’s certainly a possibility as long as the quarterback isn’t 100 percent, which I doubt he could be so soon.

Colts at Packers

This will most likely be the second of three career meetings between Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers. The first was a classic in 2012. The Colts, just getting the news about Chuck Pagano’s cancer, rallied from 18 points down to beat the Packers 30-27. It was really the first special Luck performance in the NFL, and set up the Colts for a season of success. Luck will have to be even better on Sunday, because I think Green Bay’s offense is going to continue looking good against bad defenses, like it has against Detroit, Chicago and Atlanta this year. The Colts may be worse than all three of them, and when they go on the road, forget about it. Rodgers at home is often dynamite, and I think he gets back on track with the big play to Jordy Nelson this week. It can still certainly be a shootout or big Indy comeback if Luck is on point with T.Y. Hilton (ailing a bit this week), because we know the Green Bay secondary is very banged up too. I just don’t think the Colts have enough to slow Green Bay down, while the Packers will contain Frank Gore and make this another one of those one-dimensional games for Luck.

Broncos at Raiders

This is the big one this week. Since Sunday Night Football became the premiere prime-time game in the NFL in 2006, the Raiders have appeared on it just one time: a completely forgettable 13-3 loss in Denver over 10 years ago. You know things are moving in the right direction if Oakland is hosting Denver in a battle for first place in the tough AFC West. This is a huge statement game for Jack Del Rio’s team. So far, the Raiders have got by weak competition, often on the road (5-0), but have faltered at home to the only two contenders they have faced (Atlanta and Chiefs). That’s not a good sign for a schedule that gets much tougher starting this week. Oakland needs to show something here, because it’s first real AFC West test this season (KC) went poorly. The Broncos are a similar team with an even better defense.

On offense, Oakland has been good in the passing game with Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, but I don’t think this is a great matchup for the three, even if Aqib Talib isn’t 100% or playing. Denver has the secondary to match up with those outside receivers. Seth Roberts isn’t a bad #3 slot guy, but most of this passing game runs through those two wideouts. Cooper really struggled last year with Denver, and we know Carr has yet to have a really good game in four tries against this defense that has just terrorized some really good QBs this year.

As for Carr specifically, I don’t think he’s playing any better this year than the likes of Matt Ryan, Andrew Luck, Drew Brees, Matthew Stafford, Philip Rivers or Ben Roethlisberger. The main difference between him and most of those guys is that he’s played an easier schedule, his team’s had better health, and he has one of the best offensive lines in the league. Denver has the talent to get through that line and put Carr under pressure. He has some gunslinger in him, so he’ll force plays from time to time and give the defense turnover opportunities. I think Carr’s first eight games last year were better than his first eight this season, and we know about his decline last year when the schedule got tougher. He needs to avoid doing that again this year so Oakland can definitely make the playoffs instead of piss away a 6-2 start. Fortunately, the AFC seems weak enough for the Raiders to at least be a wild-card team, but I honestly believe Denver and KC are better teams at this point.

The Broncos just need to stick with their brand of great defense and to not screw things up on offense/ST. Unfortunately, the offense has tried screwing things up such as the three turnovers against San Diego last week that made that a game late. This is a huge game for Trevor Siemian too, as he likes to risk some dangerous plays each week as well. If he can just play within himself, then I think Denver scores just enough for the big road win. Oakland beat the Broncos last year in Denver thanks to a dominant performance from Khalil Mack (5 sacks), which we really haven’t been getting this year. They also got their GWD after Emmanuel Sanders muffed a punt at the 11-yard line. Brandon McManus later missed a game-tying field goal in the 15-12 loss. For a team that plays so many games tightly, these mistakes are almost impossible to overcome.

I don’t see a big rushing night coming from Oakland, so it will be on Carr’s shoulders to produce against this defense. If he does so, then great, but if not, then that stigma of not being able to beat the good teams is still heavily weighing on this team and its young quarterback. This game is very important for Oakland to show that it is indeed another new year, and that the AFC isn’t just about the Patriots, Broncos and Steelers again.

(Yes, I just shafted the AFC South winner, but why wouldn’t I?)

2016 Week 9 Predictions

Felt good about the Falcons on Thursday, and they came through in a big way on a short week against a divisional foe.

Winners in bold:

  • Cowboys at Browns
  • Jets at Dolphins
  • Steelers at Ravens
  • Eagles at Giants
  • Jaguars at Chiefs
  • Lions at Vikings
  • Panthers at Rams
  • Saints at 49ers
  • Colts at Packers
  • Titans at Chargers
  • Broncos at Raiders
  • Bills at Seahawks

Definitely put the Chiefs on upset alert with so many key guys out, but this is the Jaguars. While this may not be a game for Blake “The Garbage Man” Bortles to do what he does best, I can see a failed 4QC/GWD attempt from the Jags that I’ll have to write about for Tuesday. Yay, fun.

  • Week 1: 7-9
  • Week 2: 10-6
  • Week 3: 8-8
  • Week 4: 8-7
  • Week 5: 7-7
  • Week 6: 12-3
  • Week 7: 10-5
  • Week 8: 7-6
  • Season: 69-51

Another bloody tie. I gave myself the loss again only because I said the AFC team (Bengals) would win, while the NFC team (Redskins) actually should have won. Damn kickers.

NFL: Once Upon a Time in the AFC West

~ Scott ~ Leave a comment

The 2012 AFC West is being billed as a very competitive division where just about any of the four teams can win it. Last season three teams finished 8-8 with Kansas City at 7-9.

It may end up being a very competitive division, though it’s still a highly flawed one, and a great source of myths.

First there’s last season. I updated the regression model and in today’s article at Bleacher Report, I looked at 2011’s biggest overachievers and underachievers, where the 2011 AFC West cleans up the overachiever category. Denver, Kansas City and Oakland are the top 3,and it’s easy to see why when you look at these interesting graphics:

They may have been 7-8 win teams, but they are easily among the three worst in NFL history when you look at the scoring differential.

You can check the pulse of a team by what they have at QB and head coach.

Denver – John Fox brings stability in year two, and if healthy, Peyton Manning brings HOF QB play back to Denver. Of course I like the Broncos as a 10-6 division winner, assuming Manning is what he used to be. What I don’t like is the myth that Denver has a great defense. Elite offenses like Detroit, New England and Green Bay destroyed this unit last season. The Broncos have a strange tendency for allowing 40+ point games, and Manning should know this well from his days at New England. He’ll make the defense better by giving them more rest and keeping them out of bad field position, but there’s still a lot to prove from this unit.

San Diego – Major stability with Norv Turner and Philip Rivers. The problem is it’s Norv Freakin’ Turner, and his neck wrinkles are beginning to suck in the rest of Rivers’ career. This team has become very NORVOUS in the clutch the last two seasons, as evident by a 2-11 record at 4QC/GWD. Combined with red zone problems, and that’s part of the reason why I think Rivers had a very overrated season in 2010. San Diego’s had a lot of success against Manning, but we’re talking a ton of changed parts since 2010 and beyond compared to this season.

Oakland – It’s probably been five years since a lot of people thought Carson Palmer was a top-tier quarterback, and rightfully so. Had it not been for Jason Campbell’s season-ending injury last year, we’re likely not even talking about Palmer in a Raider uniform. Dennis Allen comes from Denver as a rookie head coach. This team has the potential to field a decent offense if Palmer plays better than last year, though the defense should find little answers for a lot of the strong offenses they’ll be playing. Looks like the non-winning season streak will hit 10 for Oakland.

Kansas City – While the win over Green Bay was great, it may have duped Chiefs fans into a year or two of a bad head coach. Romeo Crennel was not the answer in Cleveland, and he’ll be relying on the healthy returns of Cassel, Charles, Moeaki and Berry. There is talent on this team, though Matt Cassel has proven he can’t do anything unless he plays a ridiculously soft schedule like he did in 2008 and 2010. He also had better offensive coaching in those years (Josh McDaniels, Charlie Weis). Personally, this is a team I think Manning should have explored ahead of a destination like Denver. There’s more talent here than in Denver, though just based on who the QB is, I’d choose Denver to win the division for that reason alone.

Next week I’ll take a look at the plight of Denver’s offense.