Divisional Round Observations
Another odd week
What a strange slate of games. The Seahawks-Niners was normal, as in a normal blowout, but the rest seemed off. The Pats beat the Texans in a snow game, thanks to CJ Stroud’s four picks, including one that got taken to the house, along with a Woody Marks’ fumble. Marks had 14 carries for 17 yards and a lost fumble. That’s the guy I rostered all year!
The other two were even odder. The Broncos moved on to host the AFC title game, but lost Bo Nix for the year. Seems like they’re drawing dead, but the line in Denver was only 4.5, so maybe they could win with running and defense and get blown out in the Super Bowl.
The other controversy about that game was the overtime pick by Josh Allen that Brandin Cooks caught and handed to the DB as he was going down. I thought the call was right at the time — had Cooks hit the ground and dropped it, they’d have called it incomplete, so if he dropped it into the DB’s hands, it’s a pick. But apparently (I saw only the 40-minute edited version) they rushed the call and never showed a full replay, so people were suspicious. As I said it seemed okay to me given the usual problems with the “What is a catch?” nonsense with which we’ve lived the last 15 years. (Not nearly as retarded as the “What is a woman?” discourse probably five percent of people take seriously but another 20 percent of pussified midwits still pretend is legitimate, though that’s a topic for my other Substack.)
Finally there was Rams-Bears which had a similar ending and a similar controversial play with Davante Adams making a catch, going down and losing the ball to a DB, but it was called a catch instead of a pick. I think the difference was that Adams caught it on his feet, and his knee touched down before he lost the ball, so the play was over, whereas Cooks caught the ball off his feet, so the catch wouldn’t count unless he survived contact with the ground, and he lost the ball before surviving it. If you have a problem with it take it up with the menstruating and mostly non-menstruating individuals on the rules committee.
The Niners got smoked from the outset when Rashid Shaheed took the opening kickoff to the house. The Niners have a bright future so long as they figure out a way to turn off that WMD powerplant next to their stadium. Hilarious how the legacy media sycophants rushed in to debunk that speculation, questioning the credentials of the OP too. Whether or not that’s contributing to the soft tissue injuries, I don’t know, but I do know for sure those apparatchiks writing for the Washington Post have zero clue, either. Make sure you don’t fall for the lab leak conspiracy theory!
Kenny Walker looks like a playoff league winner, when everyone else had JSN. They also seemed to save Cooper Kupp for the playoffs.
This will sound weird, but I saw some online photos from a Hamptons party (this summer?) and all the most famous celebrities, rappers, Kardashian types were there. Even Tom Brady, sad to say, but he’s retired. But I was surprised to see Stroud there, and it occurred to me this isn’t good for a young player. I’m not implying he was doing drugs or anything inappropriate with underage coeds, just seemed like the wrong place for a serious athlete in his prime to be spending time, even in the summer. (Again, it was one party, one day, might be nothing, but I remembered it.)
People are killing DeMeco Ryans for punting down 12 with four minutes and one timeout left, but it was 4th-and-18 in the snow with no Nico Collins. Chances of making that aren’t that much better than getting a muffed punt or a fumble from your defense, and if you do it’s 40 yards down the field. I agree they should probably have gone for it, but I don’t think the punt was that crazy.
Drake Maye’s numbers were decent, given the defense he was up against, but Kayshon Boutte made an unbelievable one-handed catch to beat Derek Stingley for a TD, and Stefon Diggs’ TD catch was also a good one.
The Pats had the league’s easiest schedule this year, and it’s continued in the playoffs with a Chargers team missing an O-line, the Texans with their QB coughing up the game and the Broncos without their starting QB.
Josh Allen is going down the Dan Marino career path, only without the Super Bowl appearance. Allen is one of the all-time greats, but even with Patrick Mahomes missing the playoffs, the Bills couldn’t get it done.
The Bears should’ve gone for two at the end of regulation. I guess with 18 seconds left, you’re vulnerable to the FG, and if you tie it, you encourage them to kneel, but better to win in regulation and lessen the wear and tear on your team. Plus, all things roughly equal, choose the option that takes more balls.
Caleb Williams made an unbelievable throw on fourth down (the game-tying TD to Cole Kmet) for the second week in a row, but the Rams DBs were standing around like idiots. In fairness, no one thought he could get that off running backward under so much pressure, but play to the whistle, especially with a Josh Allen or Williams under center.
Williams’ soul-crushing pick in overtime was apparently DJ Moore’s fault as the area of the field was open, and Moore made a slow and lazy cut.
Matthew Stafford made the throws he had to make in tough conditions. The Bears at home in freezing weather were not an easy out.
Kyren Williams is a rock solid back. Somehow he’s durable at his size, and he always seems to make the right cut, away from the defenders.
In the Erickson bet, I have the Rams, Pats and Broncos left, and he has the Seahawks. (I lost the Packers last week.) The Seahawks are the most favored, but I’m roughly a 2:1 favorite now given I’ll have the AFC team for sure and it’s about 45 percent I lock it up with the Rams. (The Nix injury hurts me though because if Seattle and Denver win, I’m probably toast.)