Super Bowl 53

VS

New England Patriots vs. Los Angeles Rams

Mercedes Benz Stadium

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Sunday, February 3rd, 2019

6:30 pm ET

    January 21st, 2019: Another NFL season has come and gone and to no one’s surprise, the New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl despite the fact that they were heavily criticized because the Patriots had a shaky season on both offence and defence, finishing with an 11-5 record, their lowest in 10 seasons. People predicted they wouldn’t get a first-round bye and when they did, many people thought they would lose in the first round of the playoffs. That’s an incredible feat.

    Many other incredible stories have floated around the league this year. Many teams had amazing seasons like expected and other teams shocked the world by proving the haters and analysts wrong. Also, quite a few teams that were supposed to have decent seasons simply didn’t.

    The Jacksonville Jaguars, who were one game away from the Super Bowl last season, fell much short of their expectations to get into the playoffs and possibly back to the AFC Championship game this year. They had a lacklustre 5-11 record and their offence and defence reverted back to years prior to their dominant 2017 season.

    Not to mention, the Pittsburgh Steelers missed the playoffs after starting the season 7-2-1. They lost four of their last six games to close out the season including losses to the Broncos, Chargers and Raiders. With Le’Veon Bell not likely to come back, - he appears to want to play for Miami, with Antonio Brown likely to be traded away by the beginning of March - the 49ers, Broncos, Jets and Falcons are all contenders and with Big Ben contemplating retirement, their offence doesn’t look good. This being added to a not so spectacular defence is worrisome for the Steelers going into next year

    The Green Bay Packers experienced something similar. They expected Aaron Rodgers’ return this year after being injured last year would be the spark they needed to get them into the playoffs. It didn’t happen. Packers’ fans went into a frenzy when Rodgers’ got injured in week one before he came back to lead them to victory against Chicago. His injury affected his play all season long and he played well, but not his best. Davante Adams, the wide receiver played well and running back Aaron Jones played well in the few games he played. But due to a lack of depth on the Packers’ offence and defence, they missed the playoffs with a 6-9-1 record. Part of that record includes losing too many games to inferior competition like the Arizona Cardinals and being only 1-7 on the road. The Packers fired coach Mike McCarthy during the season.

    The Seattle Seahawks were projected to have a very bad season, to finish last place in their division and close to the basement of the NFC with a record of 4-12 according to ESPN because of their lack of depth on defence. The Legion of Boom had almost completely dissipated with cornerback Richard Sherman and defensive end Michael Bennett being traded away, Cliff Avril and Kam Chancellor being forced to retire with serious injuries, and with Earl Thomas wanting to go to the Cowboys. He got injured part way through the year too. They still had some weapons but they were not very strong. Their offence was also very underpowered especially because they traded away tight end Jimmy Graham to Green Bay. All they had was essentially Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin and an unproven Tyler Lockett. Despite this, however, they went 10-6, locked up second place in their division, behind the Rams, and earned a playoff spot. They lost to Dallas in the wild-card game. They were the surprise of the year for sure.

    Not to mention, the Browns, who went 0-16 last year, improved to 7-8-1 this season with the help of excellent performances from their rookie class. Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb, Denzel Ward all had outstanding seasons. They were also actually in the playoff hunt even in mid-December, the furthest they’ve been in terms of playoff consideration in a while. They even had a chance to win their division and a better one to make the playoffs. Browns coach Freddie Kitchens says 7-8-1 is not good and they will improve more, but going from zero to 7 wins in a year is impressive. Good move firing Jackson.

    All 12 teams that made the playoffs generally had good seasons. For the AFC, the first seed Kansas City Chiefs had a great season under the second year QB Patrick Mahomes. He had over 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns. The only two other QBs to do that were Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, both of whom won MVP that year and made the Super Bowl. MVP is still a strong possibility, but the Chiefs lost to the Patriots in the AFC Championship game making a Super Bowl appearance impossible. Speaking of the Patriots, they are on to another Super Bowl after beating the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game. The third seed Houston Texans lost their first-round bye because they lost in a head-to-head matchup against the Patriots and they were dominated in the wildcard game by the sixth seed Indianapolis Colts. Houston’s offensive line didn’t protect well, Watson didn’t have a great game, they couldn’t get anything going on offence and their defence gave up way too many yards. The Colts would move on to the divisional round and get dominated by the Chiefs. The fourth seed Baltimore Ravens, who got into the playoffs after beating Cleveland in week 17, eliminating Pittsburgh in the process, lost to the fifth seed Los Angeles Chargers on a forced fumble with 30 seconds to go. The Chargers hung on to avoid a Ravens’ comeback win. The Chargers were then dominated by the Patriots’ run game in the divisional round. Running back Sony Michel had 129 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. The Patriots’ offence steamrolled a helpless Chargers defence. Complete physical domination.

    In the NFC, the first seed New Orleans Saints lost to the Los Angeles Rams on a missed, blatant defensive pass interference penalty with about two minutes left in the game. This led to a Saints field goal, the Rams were able to tie the game in the remaining time and send it to overtime and after a Brees’ interception, the second seed Rams won on a 57-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein, sending them to the Super Bowl. The third seed Bears beat the Vikings in week 17, eliminating them from playoff contention, another team that underperformed this year, allowing the Eagles to take the sixth seed. This bit them in the behind later, because the Bears would lose to the Eagles in the wild-card game on another missed field goal from Cody Parkey. This one hit the crossbar and upright. The Eagles would then lose to the Saints in the divisional round. The fourth seed Dallas Cowboys beat the fifth seed Seattle Seahawks in the wild card game and then the Rams proceeded to run all over the Cowboys with C.J. Anderson and Todd Gurley.

    So, because of all of that, the 53rd edition of the Super Bowl will see the AFC champion New England Patriots will play against the NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams for the right to be called ‘World Champions’.

    This is the Patriots’ third consecutive appearance in the Super Bowl and they will try to tie the Steelers for most Super Bowl victories all-time with six. On the other side of the field, the Rams are making their first appearance in the Super Bowl since 2001 when the St. Louis Rams were defeated by the New England Patriots in New Orleans.

    Coincidentally, the two seed Rams beat the one seed New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship game to advance to the Super Bowl. It was an excellent game to

watch and both teams played well on offence and defence. Both QBs Drew Brees and Jared Goff had good games and pretty similar ones at that. He completed 25/40 passes for 297 yards and had one touchdown and one interception. Brees completed 26/40 passes for 249 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

    Despite the excellent game, there was a bit of controversy regarding a missed call that sent the game to overtime. With less than two minutes left, on a third down deep in Rams’ territory, with the game tied 20-20, the Saints tried a pass play. Rams’ cornerback Nickell Robey Coleman made helmet to helmet contact with Saints’ wide receiver Tommylee Lewis before a pass from Brees fell to the ground inside the five-yard line. Not only is this pass interference because Coleman wasn’t looking at the ball when playing the ball, but it is also a helmet to helmet hit and likely hit to a defenceless wide receiver. This penalty should have given the Saints a first and goal inside the five-yard line. The Saints would have then been able to run the clock down and hit a chip-shot game-winning field goal. Instead, because the refs neglected to make the very obvious call, the Saints were forced to settle for a field goal to take the lead 23-20. This left plenty of time for the Rams to drive down the field and tie the game with their own field goal. In overtime, Brees’ threw a costly interception to Rams’ DB John Johnson III, which led to a 57 yard GW field goal from Greg Zuerlein to send the Rams to Super Bowl 53. Even the video game Madden 19 called a penalty on a recreation of the same play the penalty wasn’t called on, that just makes refs look bad.

    There is a special rule in which the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has the authority to reverse the outcome of a game and have a rematch held if “extraordinarily unfair acts” have an effect on the outcome of a game. Nearly 524,000 New Orleans fans have signed the online petition claiming: “Due to refs’ inability to properly officiate at the game, we the undersigned want a rematch against L.A. on Sunday, January 27th,” reads the petition. “It’s the only fair solution to this travesty of epic proportions.” Having a rematch is unlikely, especially on the day of the Pro Bowl, but if any game deserves one this is it. Another tidbit of suspicious information or perhaps just a coincidence: four of the NFC Championship game referees had ties to Los Angeles or the Rams.

    Regardless of the future promises that the NFL makes to be stricter on video replay, challenge rules and future plans to potentially have more referees on the field, the fact stands that the Rams are the NFC Champions and will be representing the NFC in Super Bowl 53. This also makes Jared Goff and Sean McVay the youngest quarterback & head coach duo in the Super Bowl.

   To continue, in the AFC championship game, which also went to overtime, the

New England Patriots beat the Kansas City Chiefs 37-31 after Chiefs’ linebacker Dee Ford was called offside for lining up in the neutral zone which negated a game-winning interception for Kansas City. There were many other terrible calls in this game, giving substantial proof that both games were horribly officiated, even potentially rigged. Calls were missed and made for both teams, however, the serious calls were all inexplicably called or were wrongly called against the Chiefs.

    The first call was on an apparent muffed punt by Julian Edelman after a Chiefs’ three-and-out. The ruling on the field was a muffed punt, picked up by the Chiefs at the Patriots’ 30-yard line. But, unsurprisingly, the refs reversed the call on the field, despite the fact that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove Edelman didn’t touch it. All video evidence was inconclusive, and in order for the referees to reverse the call, they needed to have conclusive proof that Edelman didn’t touch it, which doesn’t exist. Thus, if anything, the call on the field should have stood. Also, the trajectory of the ball did change and in one camera angle shows pretty clearly, the ball hit Edelman’s thumb before going behind his other hand before the ball deflected over his shoulder. Brady threw a pick two plays later, but the Chiefs got the interception just inside the 50, they would have had the ball at the Patriots’ 30-yard line or a touchdown if the player who returned the loose ball wasn’t touched down by contact. 20 yards is huge, especially in a tight game.

    The next play was a very questionable roughing the passer call against the Chiefs, the player only tapped Brady’s shoulder pads and was unjustly fouled. This play in no way, shape or form is entitled to get a roughing the passer call. That is absolutely unacceptable. Sure, this may seem like one very insignificant play, but it meant a lot in terms of the outcome of the game. The Patriots had a third and seven, if the penalty wasn't called, it definitely shouldn't have been called, the Patriots would have punted on fourth down, the Chiefs would have got the ball back up 21-17, and would have had the chance to run the clock out and put more points on the board with their potent offence. Instead, they were down 24-21. People may say the refs were bad to both teams, but only minor and insignificant penalties were called against the Patriots. Those two penalties against the Chiefs were huge and affected the outcome of the game because they kept the Patriots’ drive alive. I’m in no way hating on the Patriots. They are a great team, Brady and Belichick are guaranteed to be in the Hall of Fame and they have significant talent all over their roster. The referees are who everyone can’t stand. We now have another controversy. First, it was “what is a catch?”, then “what is roughing the passer and what is tackling?” and now it is “what is a referee?”

    Let’s ignore the referees for a minute because the game’s outcome wasn’t all their fault. There were things the Chiefs did to shoot themselves in the foot. For example, they couldn’t stop Brady on three third down and longs in overtime. If you can’t do that, do you really deserve a chance to get the ball back after the Patriots score? In addition, the Chiefs apparently don’t know how to line up on defence. Linebacker Dee Ford lined up offside, negating a game-sealing interception. It looked like he lined up offside, however, was he really offside? Regardless, the call on the field was offside, it looked like he was offside and that mistake, as well as a few others, prevented the Chiefs from going to a Super Bowl and cemented Andy Reid’s playoff failure legacy. He is the longest tenured coach that hasn’t won a Super Bowl. He has only made it to one. Finally, despite the fact that the Chiefs didn’t help themselves win because of the mistakes they made; if the referees had made the right calls on the muffed punt and the weak roughing the passer, maybe we’d be talking about a Chiefs vs Saints Super Bowl, if the refs had eyes in the NFC Championship game. Don’t get me wrong, Brady, Belichick and the Patriots are undoubtedly a good team filled with talent all over the roster, but the games should be fairly officiated or else the league is no fun to watch.

    Also, the NFL may have intentionally rigged both of these conference championship games because Los Angeles and Boston are bigger markets than Kansas City and New Orleans. This would give the NFL better ratings on the Super Bowl and as a result, it would make the NFL way more money. The Super Bowl would also get more views and the television channel it is on gets better ratings also. This would explain why the past 10 or more Super Bowls have had at least one number one seed or sometimes a matchup of both number one seeds from the AFC and NFC. This Super Bowl has both number two seeds, but they have bigger markets than both number one seeds, a reason to potentially rig both games. However, there is no proof of this, it’s only speculation, but several articles have been written about this including one from TPS, SB Nation, ESPN, etc.

    So as a result of these questionable, but nonetheless very exciting conference championship games, we have the Rams and the Patriots battling it out for Super Bowl 53. The Patriots are going to try to make NFL history and tie the Steelers for most Super Bowl victories with six. Meanwhile, the Rams will attempt revenge on the Patriots for beating them in Super Bowl 36. The last time an NFC team played the Patriots in the Super Bowl to get revenge for a past defeat, was last year when the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Patriots in Super Bowl 52 to earn revenge for when they lost in Super Bowl 39.

    Both teams are very talented all over the roster. The Rams have a very young and talented offence with Jared Goff, Todd Gurley and Robert Woods, and a very talented defence, especially in the secondary with Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters, John Johnson and Nickell Robey Coleman. In addition, they arguably have the best defensive line with players like Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh. The Patriots have a pretty good defence, with some good players in the secondary like Stephen Gilmore and the McCourty twins and have a few good linebackers and lineman too like Donta Hightower and Trey Flowers. They both also have excellent coaches. Bill Belichick is an experienced coach who knows a lot about getting to and winning Super Bowls. On the other hand, Sean McVay, 33, is the youngest head coach to ever make a Super Bowl appearance. He is very intelligent and is creative enough in his play calling to win a Super Bowl.

    The biggest mismatch is by far at quarterback. Brady, at 41 years old is the oldest quarterback to play in a Super Bowl, he can win his sixth and Jared Goff, at 24 years old is one of the youngest ever to win a Super Bowl. Same can be said about the coaches. This is Bill Belichick’s ninth Super Bowl appearance with the Patriots and he’s already won five. He is 66 years old and is 28-10 in postseason games, leading the Patriots to 15 division titles in 19 years. Sean McVay is 33, half of Belichick’s age and he is appearing in his first Super Bowl. He has done a fantastic job leading the Rams from 4-12 to 13-3 in a matter of three years.

    According to McVay, Goff is: “... an unfazed quarterback … I think his way to have success and handle adversity the same demonstrates that poise and confidence you want from your quarterback.” Brady has the experience and edge in talent, but Goff will be dominant in years to come. Belichick is more experienced then McVay, but the young Rams’ coach is very vibrant, full of energy and intelligence. It appears the Patriots have the absolute advantage and it seems that the Rams will be in for a challenge on Super Bowl Sunday. But, the Rams have the advantage in at least category.

    The Rams’ defence. Specifically, their pass rush and Aaron Donald’s DOMINANCE. Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, the only unanimous All-Pro this season, led the NFL with 20.5 sacks. He was 4.5 sacks ahead of J.J. Watt, in second place. However, considering the Patriots have done an excellent job protecting Brady during the two postseason games, giving up no sacks, giving Brady lots of time to throw and allowing Sony Michel and James White to run all over the competition, Aaron Donald and the rest of the defence needs to be a factor on Sunday. Their secondary is very good too and can cover the Patriots offensive weapons in Edelman, Hogan and Gronkowski.

    The Rams have three sacks so far in their two playoff games, but the Patriots have faced the Chargers and the Chiefs, both teams who have good edge rushers, not a lot of talent in the middle. The Rams, on the other hand, are good in both places but are better in the middle than on the edge with players like Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh and Dante Fowler. If the middle of their line is strong, they will disrupt Brady and stop the run better than the Chargers and Chiefs because the Patriots’ guards are weaker than their tackles on the outside.

    The Patriots’ secondary has also been pretty good this season, they have the 16th best pass defence and the 22nd best rush defence. The Rams have a top 5 rushing attack with Todd Gurley and the new reliable tank in C.J. Anderson and their pass attack is pretty good too, with weapons like the mobile and agile Goff at QB, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Brandin Cooks and more at wide receiver and two very good dual-threat tight ends in Tyler Higby and Gerald Everett. The Rams and Patriots both have excellent kickers, and punters, but if the game came down to a field goal, I’d pick Zuerlein. Gostkowski is more experienced, but Zuerlein was a beast against the Saints hitting two field goals 45+ yards including a game-winner from 57 yards out.

    Also experience and being calm is a big factor when it comes to winning Super Bowls. Both teams have experience. Cornerback Aqib Talib, running back C.J. Anderson -- who’s played amazing in four games with the Rams, two playoff games, in relief of Todd Gurley, -- and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, all ex. Broncos, have the chance to win another Super Bowl. The last time they won a Superbowl was Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos. But, it is very clear that Brady and Belichick want another ring, a sixth ring, just as bad as the Rams’ players want another ring, their first since 2002. This game will be very interesting. Both teams will prepare very well, akin to how they’ve prepared for all games this season. Also, there is widespread speculation that this will be Gronkowski’s final game of his career. The all-star 29-year-old tight end has battled through back, knee, ankle and arm injuries throughout his nine pro seasons, and even thought about retirement after last year's Super Bowl loss to the Eagles. If this is it, the dual-threat tight end isn’t letting on; he is not thinking about retirement now, he is only thinking about the game, he will consider retirement in the offseason, but according to sources, this may be the last game of his career, giving the Patriots more motivation to win to send him off into the sunset.

    Both teams are talented, no doubt, but I think the Rams win the Super Bowl. It will be a very close game, but I predict the Rams win 34-30. I think the game will be close, it will be settled by a touchdown or less. Because the largest margin of victory or defeat for the Patriots in the Super Bowl was when they lost to the Eagles last season. According to the latest odds from Los Vegas, the Patriots are three-point favourites to win the game, with an over/under of 56.5. One of the potential reasons the Patriots are favoured could just be more experience. Most of the guys on the Patriots have been to several Super Bowls, for most players, this will be their third consecutive Super Bowl. For the Rams on the other hand, excluding C.J Anderson, Aqib Talib, Brandin Cooks and a few others, the Super Bowl is uncharted territory for them. So while the Patriots are all relaxed, comfortable and ready to play, the Rams are all anxious and nervous, even during media week leading up to the big game. Comfort is good, but I believe both teams will easily cover the spread, as both offences can score, however, I disagree with the favourite because even though the Patriots have a lot of experience and talent, I feel like the Rams have more young and impact players. I predict the Rams will win. Either way though, it will be an interesting game as long as the referees don’t screw it up. There will be lots of points, trickery, good plays on defence and I think the game will come down to a big defensive play like it has last year and in years prior. I can’t wait!

    Tune into your local CBS television station or your local TSN or sports radio station at 6:30 pm ET on Sunday, February 3rd, 2019, for the kickoff of Super Bowl 53. Tune in starting at 1:00 pm ET for pre-game coverage including interviews, analysis, predictions and more. Who do you think will win Super Bowl 53? Will it be the Patriots or the Rams?

Finland Stuns Canada at the World Juniors, Moves on to Semifinals

By: Adamo Marinelli

January 2nd, 2019

    Vancouver, Canada: After Aleksi Heponiemi forced overtime with 47 seconds left in regulation, Finnish forward Toni Utunen single-handedly shocked Canada with a dramatic goal 5:17 into the overtime period, to send Finland to face Switzerland in the semifinals while Canada faces early elimination the year after they won the gold medal.

    Ian Mitchell scored the lone goal for Canada to give them the 1-0 lead early in the second period. Vancouver Canucks prospect Michael DiPietro stopped 32 of 34 shots in net and was named the player of the game for Canada (3-0-1-1).

    “We told them we were proud of them,” said Canadian head coach Tim Hunter. “They came together, played, compete as hard as they did. That was a Hell of a hockey team. They're a good hockey team.”

    Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 23 saves for Finland (2-1-0-2) on 24 Canadian shots.

    The last time Canada was eliminated in the quarterfinal round of the tournament was in 2016 in a loss against Finland in Helsinki. Finland went on to win the gold medal that year on their home soil.

    “It's a tough pill to swallow but you just reflect on what you feel you could have done better as a player or a coach, what you felt you did well as a player or a coach,” said Hunter. “That's how you get better,” he added.

    DiPietro played a perfect game for the first 59 minutes and was finally beaten at 19:13 of the third period after Canadian defenceman Ty Smith fell in the corner, allowing forward Eeli Tolvanen to shoot the puck off the outside of Canada's net. The shot rebounded back to him and Tolvanen’s second shot bounced off Heponiemi's ankle and squeaked past DiPietro into the net.

    Canada's best chance to win the game in overtime came off a penalty shot after defenceman Evan Bouchard was tripped and hooked on a breakaway. Canada's captain Maxim Comtois took the shot; he aimed for the far side shelf, on the goalie’s blocker side, but couldn’t get enough height on the shot which deflected off Luukkonen's pads.

    Finland kept the pressure high, forcing turnovers and exploiting gaps in coverage. They outshot the Canadians 11 to seven in the first frame, but the scoreboard remained empty at the intermission, thanks to stellar play from DiPietro, who kept an outplayed Canadian squad in the game.

    Canada rested during the first intermission and came back with more energy in the second period. This paid off as they scored 1:30 into the second period and outplayed the Finnish squad until they tied it up with 47 seconds left in the game.

    Arizona Coyotes prospect Barrett Hayton, currently playing center for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds dropped to his knees to protect the puck deep in the Finnish zone and dished it out while being smothered by defenders. His pass connected with Ian Mitchell who quickly fired a rocket of a one-timer past Luukkonen to put Canada up 1-0.

    Midway through the second period, Canadian captain, Maxime Comtois hit Finnish defenceman Ville Heinola hard along the end boards, sending him to the ice. Heinola crawled along the ice in pain as the play moved to the other end of the ice before he was eventually helped off by a trainer favouring his left leg.

    The 17-year-old, who's eligible for the 2019 draft, went directly to the locker-room and did not return for the third period. No penalty was called on the play, though one arguably should have.

    The hit seemed to once again ignite the Finns. Minutes later, Tolvanen stole the puck and streaked down the ice for a breakaway.

    DiPietro made the initial stop, then got on his knees to save the rebound, too. The crowd of 17,047 responded with chants of “Dee-pee-et-ro!” The people in Vancouver are looking forward to having Canadian born DiPietro play for the Canucks.

    The goalie's teammates helped out in the third frame, keeping the puck in the Finnish end for much of the period.

    Finland beat Slovakia and Kazakhstan in the tournament's round-robin phase and lost to Sweden and the US; while Canada put up a trio of wins against Denmark, Switzerland and the Czech Republic before losing 2-1 in heartbreaking fashion to Russia on New Year's Eve.

    The Canadians also dropped a pre-tournament match up with the Finns 5-2. That piece of information doesn’t really do anything except add more salt in the wound for team Canada and its fanbase. Canada will probably root for Finland now because them winning is better than the Americans and the Russians who are both going to the semifinals on Friday.

    All of the teams still in the tournament will have Thursday off before the semifinals kick off in Vancouver on Friday. Finland will face Switzerland who stunned Sweden 2-0 in its semifinal matchup. Meanwhile, Canada will sit on the couch at home to watch the semifinals, the gold medal game and the bronze medal game. You don’t hear that a lot.

2018 NFL Playoff Picture and Predictions

By: Adamo Marinelli

December 29th, 2018

    This season has been a very interesting one in the NFL. Many teams we didn’t expect to be in the playoff picture that are in it like the Seahawks and Bears after last year’s 5-11 record and teams we expected to be secured in a playoff spot aren’t there like the Steelers, the Packers, the Eagles, even the Broncos looked like they would get in after their 3 game win streak.  Let’s take a look at the playoff picture.

In the AFC playoff picture, this is what we have after 16 weeks:

1. Kansas City Chiefs, 11-4
2. New England Patriots, 10-5
3. Houston Texans, 10-5
4. Baltimore Ravens, 9-6
5. Los Angeles Chargers, 11-4 WC
6. Indianapolis Colts, 9-6 WC

In the hunt:

7. Tennessee Titans, 9-6
8. Pittsburgh Steelers, 8-6-1

    On Sunday night’s game which sees the Colts battle the Titans, the winner will take the sixth seed in AFC, and the loser will go home. The Chiefs can lock up first seed with a win against the Raiders and a Broncos’ win over the Chargers. The Chargers can get first seed in the AFC if they beat the Broncos and the Chiefs lose to the Raiders. If both the Chiefs and Chargers win, Chiefs get the tiebreaker. With a Patriots win against the Jets and a Texans loss against the Jaguars, the Pats can lock up the AFC’s second seed. With a Pats loss and a Texans win, the Texans grab the second seed. If both teams win, Pats will get the tiebreaker because of the head-to-head win. The Pats can get the first seed with a win, and a loss by the Chiefs and Chargers. If the Ravens win or the Steelers lose, the Ravens will clinch their division, make the playoffs and the Steelers will go home. If the Ravens win and the Steelers win, the Ravens still get in with a better record. If the Steelers beat the Bengals and the Ravens lose to the Browns, Steelers get in; Ravens go home.

In the NFC playoff picture, this is what we have after 16 weeks:

1. New Orleans Saints, 13-2
2. Los Angeles Saints, 12-3
3. Chicago Bears, 11-4
4. Dallas Cowboys, 9-6
5. Seattle Seahawks, 9-6 WC
6. Minnesota Vikings, 8-6-1 WC

In the hunt:

7. Philadelphia Eagles, 8-7

    The NFC is a lot simpler. The New Orleans Saints have clinched the first seed and a first-round bye. The Rams have clinched their division but if they lose to the 49ers and the Bears beat the Vikings, the Bears will take the second seed and a first-round bye because they beat the Rams head to head. Rams would then get the third seed. The Cowboys have locked up their division with a week 16 win against the Buccaneers and have locked up the fourth seed. They will host the Seahawks, who have clinched the fifth seed, or the first wildcard spot on wild-card weekend in the NFL playoffs. Finally, the Vikings currently hold the NFC’s sixth seed, the second and final wildcard spot. If the Vikings beat the Bears, they lock up the final wildcard spot, regardless of whether or not the Eagles beat the Redskins because the Vikings have the tiebreaker over the Eagles with their week 5 win. However, the Bears are a good team and it is uncertain whether Kirk Cousins, Vikings QB, can perform in big games. If the Vikings lose and the Eagles win, the Eagles take the sixth seed and play the Bears in Chicago in the wildcard round. However, depending on whether or not the Rams are destroying the 49ers dictates whether or not the Bears start their starters against Minnesota. If the Rams are beating the 49ers badly at halftime, even if the Bears win, the Rams will maintain second seed, thus they will rest their starters. If it is a close game at the half, the Bears will assume the 49ers will upset the Rams (this is unlikely) and will play their starters. Surely, that plays a role in who gets the sixth seed.

    Come playoff time, I see the playoff seeding staying the exact same as it is now. I think the Chiefs will beat the Raiders and the Chargers will lose to the Broncos, giving the Chiefs first seed and the Chargers the fifth seed. I see the Patriots beating the Jets and the Texans beating the Jaguars but the Patriots maintain the second seed because they hold the tiebreaker over the Texans who get the third seed. I see the Ravens beating the Browns, as Lamar Jackson is playing just as well as Baker Mayfield lately, and regardless of whether the Steelers beat the Bengals, this clinches the division for Baltimore who earns the fourth seed while Pittsburgh is eliminated. I also see the red-hot Indianapolis Colts, led by QB Andrew Luck beat the Titans to earn the sixth seed sending the Titans home, despite Derrick Henry’s amazing season, especially as of late.

    The Saints have already locked up the first seed in the NFC. However, I see the Rams beating the 49ers pretty easily which gives them second seed. This will allow the Bears to rest their starters, making a Minnesota victory over Chicago relatively easily which will give the Bears the third seed and will sneak the 9-6-1 Vikings in as the sixth seed. The fourth seed has already been locked up by Dallas, Seattle has locked up the fifth seed.

    Finally, my playoff predictions and Super Bowl winners. To win a Super Bowl, a team must have an amazing offence, defence, special teams unit and a stellar coaching staff. The last three Super Bowl champions 2017 Eagles, 2016 Patriots and 2015 Broncos checked off all those criteria.

For the playoff picks in the AFC:

    In the wildcard round, the first game sees the Colts visiting the Texans. The Colts have been playing well as of late, especially with Andrew Luck at the helm. Luck has had one of the best seasons in his career this year, with 4,308 yards, 36 TDs and 14 INTs. The season series between these two division rivals are tied at one win each. Wide receiver TY Hilton has also had an amazing year, and tight end Eric Ebron has had a breakthrough year, really getting involved in the offence. The Colts defence is also playing amazing this year, they’ve had one of their better years being middle of the pack or better in all main defensive categories. However, I think the Texans win, even with the injury to Demaryius Thomas and Will Fuller. The Texans offence is too powerful with Deshaun Watson and Deandre Hopkins. RB Lamar Miller does not only rush but he can also catch the football and make plays in the backfield. The Texans also have a complete defence. Their stellar pass rush with J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney, their solid run defence and secondary can lead them to victory with a mediocre offence, the Texans have a great offence.

    The next wildcard game in the AFC sees a rematch of the week 16 game when the Chargers visit the Ravens. Quite frankly, the Chargers are a very complete team having a good offence and defence. But for the past several seasons the Chargers have been ‘all bark but no bite’, this is the first time since 2013 the Chargers made the playoffs because they’d always start strong and choke towards the end of the year or fail to win a big game to get them into a playoff spot. I say this year is no different. The Ravens, with Lamar Jackson who has been playing amazing all season long and with the NFL’s highest-scoring defence takes care of business at home vs LA.

    In the divisional round, we have two rematches: Baltimore visiting Kansas City and Houston visiting New England. In the first AFC divisional round game, we have two mobile quarterbacks in Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes going at it. The two teams also have very good offences, but with confidence, I say the Ravens will win this game. The difference between the Ravens and Chiefs is their defence. Despite the Chiefs run defence and pass rush have been pretty good this year with Justin Houston and Chris Jones, Baltimore’s defence has been better in those two departments. Sure, the Chiefs have 52 sacks, and the Ravens have 43, but the Ravens are the highest scoring defence in the NFL and have more turnovers. Not to mention, the Ravens have way more forced fumbles and fumble recoveries from sacks that lead their offence to score points. Their offence is better under Jackson than Flacco, but it was still great under Flacco. The Ravens lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Chiefs already, they don’t want that to happen again. Not to mention, the Ravens also have a much better secondary. Apart from Eric Berry and maybe Orlando Scandrick, the Chiefs don’t have any playmakers in their secondary and they are not playing with as much confidence as they used to with Marcus Peters. They are one of 10 teams to have a passer rating of over 100 to opposing QBs and a team that averages giving up just over 300 yards per game. Baltimore’s defence, with fewer interceptions, doesn’t give up those huge numbers, that’s what’s helped them win games. And the Chiefs would have fewer sacks and interceptions than the Ravens if their schedule wasn’t so easy. Playing the Bengals, Browns, 49ers, Raiders twice and the Broncos’ beat up offensive line twice early in the season when Keenum threw too many picks, that is the only reason. The Ravens had a tough schedule including playing the Steelers’ amazing o-line twice. Ravens have more elite names on their pass rush unit too. The Chiefs also don’t have a solid running back after losing Kareem Hunt, the Ravens do in Alex Collins; you must run the ball in the cold to win. Collins isn’t the best back, but he is pretty good.

    The next playoff game sees the Houston Texans visiting Gillette Stadium to play the Patriots. I see the Texans winning this game, by 3 to 7 points. Mainly because the Patriots haven’t been playing their best football as of late. Sure, the Patriots handily beat the Bills and Jets in the last two games, however, the Jets and Bills are both mediocre at best with two rookie QBs at the helm. So that doesn’t leave the Patriots in the best light going into the playoffs despite their first-round bye with an 11-5 record, good enough for the AFC’s second seed. Brady’s number’s have deteriorated with age, like expected, however, he has still played really well this season for the most part. Despite having an unstable wide receiver core, with Edelman suspended the first four games, Josh Gordon stepping away from football to focus on mental health issues and Amendola being traded. He started the year better than he finished it, he had 16 TDs and 7 INTs in his first 8 games and 13 TDs and 4 INTs in his final 8 games, but he has played sloppier football and took more risks and made more mistakes he normally doesn’t make (the game-clinching pick against the Steelers). All in all though, he’s had a good season for a 41-year-old, but with several weapons gone on their offence, like Flash and with Gronk being kept in check, along with the Patriots defence playing soft (minus their last two games of the season), I say the Texans control the game this weekend. Even with Demaryius Thomas out with injury, Deandre Hopkins is a threat and feasts against anyone, especially secondaries that are mediocre like New England’s and a mobile QB like Watson can extend plays by scrambling and either keeping the ball and running or throwing the ball downfield. In addition, the Texans have two amazing playmakers on the pass rush unit in Watt and Clowney who led the team to 43, which is tied for 5th in the league, 1 sack back of the Broncos’ 44 sacks and they have a secondary that has played pretty well this year, arguably a top 10 with 15 interceptions and only 28 touchdowns allowed through the air. The Patriots might still win, but I say the magic’s gone. Houston goes to the AFC Championship.

    That leaves an AFC Championship between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans. It seems a bit far-fetched because the Chiefs and Chargers, even the Patriots are the favourites, but they all have their flaws, and despite Baltimore and Houston aren’t perfect teams, I see them fighting for a trip to Atlanta for Super Bowl 53. Both the Ravens and the Texans have each played incredible football all year: the Ravens won 6 of their last 7 games, to clinch their division and the Texans won 9 consecutive games after starting 0-3 to lock up their division. The Ravens offence and defence has been electrified by the emergence of new QB Lamar Jackson, potentially a new Michael Vick in terms of his ability to run the football. The offence is being revitalized by the presence of Jackson and they’ve been playing much better football than with Flacco. Their defence also became the #1 scoring defence with Jackson at QB. The Texans even with injuries to Will Fuller and Demaryius Thomas have been playing excellent football on offence and defence, they have a top 10 unit on both sides of the ball and they are very dangerous especially with a mobile Deshaun Watson throwing to a quick Deandre Hopkins, but the Ravens’ have the number one scoring defence in the league, which has been playing well in the pass rush game, run defence game and secondary game. Unless the Texans can get creative with Lamar Miller and disguise coverages to mess with Baltimore’s defence, I see Baltimore’s defence being too much for Houston; which sends Baltimore to the Super Bowl with a seven-point win.

For the playoff picks in the NFC:

    In the first game of the wildcard round, we have the Vikings visiting the Bears. It is incredible how the Bears go from 5-11 to 11-4, possibly 12-4 in one season, that just proves they have talent on both sides of the ball. But the real catalyst, in my opinion, was when the Bears acquired pro bowler pass rusher Khalil Mack from the Raiders at the expense of a few draft picks. Khalil Mack has electrified the Bears defence, making their pass rush a top 10 unit in the NFL joining the likes of the Chiefs, Ravens, Broncos, Texans, Steelers, Rams, etc. Their secondary, though flagged a lot, the majority of the fouls coming from Prince Amukamara, is pretty good, it was projected to be a middle of the pack unit, and quite frankly that’s where they are; only allowing 26.3 points per game, which is 9th in the NFL, and they rank 21st in yards and pass yards per game. The Bears offence has been middle of the pack. Trubisky had a decent year with 3200 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 14 games, Chase Daniels played the other two when Trubisky was injured. Their rush game was excellent too, with 12 touchdowns from their running back duo in Tarik Cohen and Jordan Howard. The Vikings have many pieces from their excellent defences from last year, when they went 13-3, only to lose to the Eagles in the NFC Championship. The Vikings thought they could improve and go to a Super Bowl with a new QB, so they signed Kirk Cousins to a 3 year $84 million guaranteed contract. So far, Cousins’ stats have been excellent. He’s thrown for nearly 4300 yards, with 30 TDs and only 10 INTs. However, the Vikings 8-7-1 record told us something. Cousins cannot play in big games. He is only 1-6 against teams with a winning record this season. That only win was week 5 against the Eagles. His inability to perform in the clutch when it matters, in addition to the Bears’ excellent defence and semi-productive offence, tells me the Bears win.

    The next wildcard game sees a game in which we’ve seen a lot before. The Seahawks visiting Dallas to play the Cowboys. A wild card game in 2006, saw Romo fumble the snap on a 19-yard field goal down 21-20 with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter. This is a wild rivalry and will be a great game. The Seahawks were projected to finish in the NFC’s basement with a 4-12 record according to ESPN, because of their lack of a defence, but due to stellar play from linebacker Bobby Wagner and a career season from Russell Wilson with 3,448 yards, 35 TDs and only 7 INTs, they clinched the 5th seed with a 10-6 record, beating some incredible teams on the way like the Chiefs. The Cowboys with amazing play from their first-round draft pick Leighton Vander Esch and thanks to another stellar season from Zeke who had 1,434 rush yards and six rush touchdowns. He also had 3 receiving touchdowns despite 1 lost fumble. Amari Cooper, who came via trade from Oakland after week 8 also helped electrify the Cowboys’ offence with 1,005 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns through the air. He was the much-needed 2nd WR behind Beasley after Dez Bryant left. This game is a coin toss. I can see either team win. I’ll go with the Cowboys, who despite winning a weak NFC East, looked pretty good all season long.

    That makes my two divisional round matchups Dallas visiting New Orleans and the Rams hosting the Bears. Two rematch games from four heated rivals. For the first matchup, we have the Cowboys visiting the Saints. The last time these two teams played, in week 13, the Cowboys’ defence led by Demarcus Lawrence and Leighton Vander Esch absolutely stopped the Saints’ red-hot offence flat on their feet and shut down Brees, Kamara, Ingram, Thomas and shocked the world with a 13-10 win at home. The Cowboys have a good team with an offence and defence that has played particularly well all season long with players like Dak, Zeke, Cooper, Vander Esch, Lawrence, etc. But personally, I have the Saints winning. Not only do I think they have the better offence and defence, but the Cowboys barely beat the tanking Giants after starting more than half their starters. Mind you, one game doesn’t tell the whole season’s story, but after what the Cowboys did to the Saints last time they played, I predict the Saints go all out at home - where they’ve played excellent this season - against the Cowboys and beat them by over two touchdowns.

    The next matchup sees the Rams hosting the Bears. Both teams have had incredible seasons, and despite the Bears beat the Vikings to eliminate the Vikings and get the Eagles into the playoffs, the Rams also handily beat the 49ers to secure the 2nd seed in the NFC which gives the Bears the 3rd seed. The Rams have a potent offence with Jared Goff, Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and Todd Gurley and a very strong defence: an excellent pass rush with Aaron Donald, Ndamaka Suh, Samson Ebukam, etc and an amazing secondary with Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib who is back from an injury that left him sidelined for most of the season. But running back Todd Gurley, the electrifying running back that has been very helpful in making this Rams offence top 3 in the league with the Saints and Chiefs, is injured and head coach Sean McVay isn’t 100% sure, he’ll be ready for the playoffs, even with the extra week of rest because of the bye. C.J. Anderson, the Rams backup running back is good but was at his prime with the Broncos, and as of this season, considering he only played two games, is no Todd Gurley. And sure, the Bears will be tired from their wildcard clash with the Eagles, which they will handily win, even with Nick Foles making Christmas miracles happen every week; but the Bears beat the Rams already this year. And they shut down the Rams’ offence even with Todd Gurley and kept them to 6 points in a 15-6 win. Matt Nagy the Bears’ head coach operated his offence beautifully to control the game against a Rams’ defence that was tired because they were on the field so long, Bears had 60+ % possession and his defence led by Khalil Mack, shut down the Rams’ run game and interrupted the passing game by getting to Jared Goff. I say the Bears repeat the formula and upset the Rams. The Rams have a complete team, but so do the Bears and I think the loss of Gurley is too much to overcome. Bears win by a touchdown or by 10 points max.

    That means the NFC Championship will be the Bears visiting the Superdome to play the Saints for a chance to win a trip to Super Bowl 53. Both teams are loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. This game will be a coin toss, either team can win it because both teams have a potent offence and defence hence the Saints’ 13-3 record and the Bears 12-4 record. Both teams have potent weapons on offence although, I’d argue the Saints have the better offence in both the pass and rush game with all-stars like Brees, Thomas, Kamara, Ingram, Taysom Hill, Benjamin Watson, etc. In 15 games in 2018, he threw for 8 yards under 4000, had 32 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions with a 74.4% completion rate. The running game featuring Kamara and Ingram had a very productive season. Kamara had 883 rush yards and 14 touchdowns and 709 receiving yards with 4 touchdowns through the air. Mark Ingram had 645 yards and 6 touchdowns. The Bears offence was pretty good this season too, but not as good as the Saints’. Trubisky had a decent year with 3200 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 14 games. Their rush game was excellent too, with 12 touchdowns from their running back duo in Tarik Cohen and Jordan Howard. Both defences are pretty good too. I will give the edge to the Bears in the pass rush department, Bears have 50 sacks on the season compared to the Saints 49, both teams have 19 forced fumbles. So statistically it is close, but the Bears have more super-stars on their pass rush with Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Roquan Smith, Eddie Goldman, etc. Those guys are more well known have more experience than players like Cam Atkinson, Marcus Davenport and Alex Anzalone, defensive lineman and linebackers for the Saints. Both units are very good though, but Bears get the edge. Also, the Saints have more well known and disciplined secondary than the Bears, the Saints take fewer penalties in the secondary (Prince Amukamara, Bears CB is the most penalised CB in the league) but the Bears have 27 INTs compared to the Saints’ 12. Playmaking defences like the Bears’ are what gets you wins in the regular season or playoffs, especially when a team has an excellent offence like the Saints’. The Saints have a better offence, but the Bears have a better defence because they have the fewest points against with 17.7 per game, a league-leading 27 interceptions, the fewest rush yards per game allowed with 80, the lowest passer rating allowed to opposing QBs with 72.9 and a league-leading 6 defensive TDs, 2 from Mack. However, the Saints can contain blitzes when they're against stellar defences, like the Bears’, Brees doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, that includes throwing interceptions and when their offence gets going, no one can stop it. Saints win a close game and go to the Super Bowl.

    As a result, Super Bowl 53 will feature a matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the New Orleans Saints, a rematch of the week 7 matchup between these 2 teams. This is the ideal Super Bowl in my opinion. Number one offence vs the number one defence. Like in Super Bowl 48, the Broncos had the best offence, and the Seahawks had the best defence (the game would’ve been close if not for the safety at the beginning by Denver). A Super Bowl matchup like this is something I’d look forward too. When the Rams vs Chiefs games was on, everybody was hyping it up because ‘the two best offences’ in the NFL at the time, were battling it out, and don’t get me wrong, that game was amazing to watch, Jared Goff single-handedly won my fantasy matchup that week, we’ve never seen a game where both teams scored 50 or more points in a Rams’ 54-51 win, but I just like many other football enthusiasts like to see both offence and defence in a football game, because a good defence changes the outcome of a game just as easily as an electrifying offence. Another great thing about the best offence vs the best defence in a game, especially in a Super Bowl, is that the first team to cause the other team to make a mistake will win the game. Seattle’s defence forcing a Denver safety is proof of that. If Baltimore’s defence is able to disrupt the Saints offence and cause turnovers, they will win the game. If the Saints’ offence is too much for the Ravens’ defence, chances are the Saints will run away with the game and win. After all, the Saints have scored over 30 points 10 times this season and have scored 40 points 6 times, even scoring 51 against the Bengals. So the Saints’ offence is amazing, but so is the Ravens’ defence. The Bears have the highest scoring defence, but the Ravens and Bears are 1&2 in the league when it comes to talent and production on defence. Either way, this game is a coin toss. Both teams are good and have played excellent football on both sides of the ball all year and have had great coaching to lead them to this point. So, I predict the Ravens’ stellar defence keeps the Saints offence in check and keep it a close game for the most part, however, I think Drew Brees will lead another game-winning drive with less than two minutes left in the game to win his 2nd Super Bowl (the second in Saints’ franchise history) and he rides off into the sunset and calls it a career after the win just like Peyton Manning after winning Super Bowl 50. After all, Brees beat the Ravens for the first time in his career in the week 7 matchup this season, to improve to 1-5 against them, so I don’t see why Brees can’t beat the Ravens again, this time in the Super Bowl.

    Those are my playoff predictions. Considering the week 17 games haven’t happened yet, a lot can still change. But I don’t see anything changing. I believe the same teams in the playoffs right now, after week 16, will be in the playoffs after week 17 and they will remain in the same seeding too. The only possible change I see happening is the Eagles making it in over the Vikings, because the Eagles have a guaranteed win against a very injured Redskins team with a 4th string QB in Josh Johnson who is playing on his 9th NFL team in his 12 year NFL career. He’s also played for several AAFL and UFL teams too. The Redskins have over 25 players on IR and over 35 out with injury. Also, the Bears will likely play their starters against the Vikings, according to HC Matt Nagy, and try to beat the Vikings so that they can grab the NFC’s second seed with a Rams loss a. Even if the Rams beat the 49ers, the Bears still want to end the season on a good note, going to wildcard weekend. And maybe the Browns play spoiler to the Ravens and get Pittsburgh in the playoffs, that is way less likely than the Eagles getting into the playoffs to defend their title.  

    What do you think will happen in the playoffs? Who will get in? What will the seeding look like? What two teams will get to the Super Bowl? Who will lift the Lombardi Trophy as world champions?