2021-22 NFL (Division Round)

Raiders 19-26 Bengals

Frankly, the Bengals played like shit, let this game stay close and escaped with the W (but the final defensive stand was probably inevitable anyway). The memorable kerfuffle of the game was an inadvertant whistle on a TD pass that was simply ignored; look, the rule is that the play should've been nullified and replayed (would they move the clock back to the time of the original snap?), but I would suggest the whistle didn't make any difference on the play and I'm cool with the refs letting it go (although that ref crew has been booted for the rest of the playoffs). The ball was in the air when the whistle came, the only guy that was going to make a play on the ball was the guy that caught it, so to nullify the play just doesn't seem necessary (perhaps I'm a homer--you decide!). The Raiders were a fun team, made a fun game out of this but the Bengals were better even playing as poorly as they did. 

Pats 17-47 Bills

Wow! The Bills went right down the field and scored, impressive but not a shock, not uncommon for a team's first drive to be kinda perfect. Okay. The Pats go right down the field, pass into the end zone is intercepted--brilliant play! Okay. The Bills go right down the field and score another TD--that's when the game was over. I was expecting 1 TD to be the difference in the game, so when the Bills go in the end zone twice in the 1st quarter, it was all over. The Bills: 7 TD's, 1 kneel down to end the game. First game in NFL history where a team had no punts or FG attempts. This was the most casual thrashing I've ever seen. The Pats were in position to steal themselves a major upset and instead got worked like drug dealers in a Steven Seagal movie. Ouch! The Bills knew what they wanted to do and they went forth and did it. The Pats rookie QB will take a lot of the blame, but he was fine--frankly the two interceptions he threw were both amazing defensive plays. Frustrating loss for the Pats, but they'll be back next year. (Ain't gonna lie: hours after this game was over, I was standing in my living room and busted out laughing uncontrollably for a good few minutes...good day to be a Bills fan!)

Eagles 15-31 Bucs

Yeah, the Bucs were just better. The Eagles offense take forever to get going and you just can't do that in the post-season. The Bucs are thin on offense but they still have Tom Brady and that's good enough to get by the Eagles. 

Niners 23-17 Cowboys

The Niners were absolutely brilliant in the 1st quarter, but I thought rather lackluster for the rest of the game. If you think the Niners are going on a run, I still don't see it. The Cowboys should've won this game and were still in it right to the end--even though they played pretty horribly! Dak Prescott's problem is he holds the ball too long: the routes develop, his split second timing is off, then the play flails, repeat. I like Dak but to go forward in the playoffs, you gotta be decisive and make plays and Dak just isn't there yet. Good W for the Niners, but I say the Cowboys let this get away. 

Steelers 21-42 Chiefs

The Steelers sludged it up, scored a scoop-and-score defensive TD to break the scoreless draw, felt like we were gonna have a game. Yeah....that didn't last. Once the Chiefs got going they were unstoppable and the Steelers were powerless. Let's be honest: the Steelers never should've been here and the fact that they benefitted from other teams (Chargers, Ravens, Colts, Browns) misfortune probably threw off their future development. Oh well. The Chiefs are still the team to beat in the NFL.

Cards 11-34 Rams

The Cards just weren't up for it. I like the Cards, I love Kyler Murray, I even still kinda like Coach Kingsbury, but they won games narrowly by making the right play at the right time and lost their nerve late in the season. They were flat as a pancake in this game, never got going, made terrible mistakes and never came close to making the right plays. The Rams, on the other hand, were fine, didn't really have to do too much and took this game without risking any injuries (which is the Rams' real Achilles' heel). Kinda perfect outcome for the Rams, nightmare for the Cards.

And the next batch of games: 

Bengals @ Titans (-2.5) (46)

Are the Titans underrated? I don't think much of them. They've been pretty good in recent years and yet we're shocked that they finished 1st in the AFC, even though they're in a brutally awful division. If that running game is so unstoppable, why didn't they win more games? And why are we so surprised they dominated a crappy division (especially considering that the Chiefs and Bills both had disappointing stretches this season)? Well, I'm going with Burrow and the Weapons over hand-off Tannehill. I think the Bengals are going to move the ball and their interior defense is gonna force Tannehill to make plays. I like the Bengals 24-16. (Bengals, under) 

Niners @ Packers (-5.5) (47.5)

Some see the Niners as ready for a run but I am not one of those. They're a pretty good team with a one-dimensional offense and a QB with a busted thumb and while they got the W against the Cowboys, they did nothing for the final three quarters of that game. The Packers have mostly cruised all season long and I think they'll cruise for at least one more week. I like the Packers 31-16. (Packers, under)

Rams @ Bucs (-2.5) (48)

This should be a fun game. If the Rams bring their best game, they can win and if the Bucs bring their best game, they can still lose. The Bucs are too thin on the offesnive side, I think the Rams move the ball and get stops on D. I like the Rams 20-13. (Rams, under)

Bills @ Chiefs (-2.5) (53.5)

Here we go! This is the real AFC Final. If the Bills bring what they brought against the Pats, then the Chiefs are going down. But hard to be perfect two weeks in a row and the Chiefs will definitely be bringing more offense than the Pats could generate. I see lots of scoring, way more offense than defense from both sides. After the most perfect day possible for Bills fans, this week will either be a heartbeak or the destiny train leaving the station! ....Yeah, I'm going Chiefs. Gotta go Chiefs 37-31 (Chiefs, over)