The season is winding down, so get your HOT TAKES while you
still can.
1. And Still……
As expected, the Drew Brees and the Saints gave the Panthers
everything they could handle at the Silverdome, brother, but the Panthers still
walked away undefeated. After a rough first half, Cam Newton played lights out
in the second half, throwing four of his five touchdowns, including the
game-winner to Jericho Cotchery. The Panthers defense didn’t play as well as
they have for the majority of the season, but they came up with the
game-winning stop in the final two minutes.
Carolina certainly didn’t play their best game, but the fact
that they still walked away with a victory tells you the makeup of this this
team. They were down early but managed to comeback to take the lead and they
trailed in the final few minutes but managed to put together a game-winning
drive. I still have my doubts about the receiving core, doubts that only grow
larger with every drop, but Cam Newton is playing like the MVP of the league
and the defense is still a top five group.
The team clinched the NFC South before they even took the
field on Sunday and can lock up a first round bye this weekend with a win or
losses by the Packers and Vikings.
2. AFC Battle
It seemed unthinkable that the Patriots would lose at home
to the Eagles, but that’s the NFL for you. You can say injuries played a part,
and obviously they missed Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edleman, but this was a
lifeless Eagles team in Foxboro. The Patriots should’ve put the game away by
halftime. Instead, the Eagles won thanks to a blocked punt that was returned
for a TD, a punt return for a TD, and a 99-yard pick six. The Eagles didn’t
even play great, their offense is still pretty lifeless, but they got the big
plays when they needed them.
Now the top of the AFC looks a lot different. It seemed like
the Patriots were well on their way to home-field advantage in the playoffs,
but now they’re third in the division behind the Bengals and Broncos, who hold
the tie breaker over them thanks to their week 12 victory.
The Patriots are still the best team in the AFC. It’s going
to remain that way as long as they have Brady and Belichick. Once Gronkowski
returns, the offense will be fine. The Bengals might be the most well-rounded
team in the division, but it’s tough to trust Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton in
the playoffs until they give me a reason to do so. The Broncos still have one
of the best defenses in the league, but Peyton Manning is washed up and I’m not
100% sold on Brock Osweiler, especially since he hasn’t proven anything in the
playoffs. I don’t care if they don’t have home field advantage, the AFC goes
through New England.
3. Seahawks Dominate Vikings
Don’t look now, but the Seahawks seem to have things figured
out. All it took was Jimmy Graham getting hurt. It’s weird how acquiring a pro
bowl player can actually screw up your team, but that’s what happened with
Seattle. They tried to placate Graham so much that they got away from what made
them good: running the football and getting big plays from their receivers.
Their run game suffered with Graham because he’s a terrible blocker and Wilson
tried a little too hard to get Graham the ball when they went for the big play.
I don’t think the Seahawks defense is as good as it’s been
in years past and they’re still having trouble protecting Wilson, but they’re
still back-to-back NFC champions and I don’t think any team wants to play them
in the playoffs. If the playoffs started today, the Seahawks would travel to
Green Bay to play the Packers and I’d have a hard time picking the Packers in
that game.
As for the Vikings, even though they’re a favorite team here
at the USB, they still have a lot to prove. They had a chance to make a
statement in two of the past three weeks with the Packers and the Seahawks
coming into Minnesota and they laid an egg in both contests. Luckily for them,
if they can hold on to the five seed, they’ll play the NFC East champs.
Speaking of…
4. Fuck the NFC East
We should all rag on the NFC East just as bad as we ragged
on the NFC South last year. Expect 100 times more because no one actually paid
attention to the NFC South since it involved teams from Carolina, Atlanta,
Tampa Bay, and New Orleans. Meanwhile, the NFC East features four big market
teams with a lot of history so they’re covered every week and somehow had a
Monday Night Football game in week 13.
Fuck the NFC East. They’re not getting another mention in
this column until someone wins the division.
Quick Takes
*Obligatory Chiefs mention. Actually, the Chiefs have been
playing really well (Dustin James tells me that they’ve won six straight) and
are the team that you don’t want to see in the first round of the playoffs.
Until you realize that the team is coached by Andy Reid and quarterbacked by
Alex Smith.
*Not sure if God hates Detroit or Cleveland more.
*The Buccaneers aren’t making the playoffs this year, but
there’s a lot to like about this team moving forward. What the hell has happened
to Mike Evans though? He’s not having a bad season, but he definitely didn’t
take the next step after a brilliant rookie year.
*Dustin James is still writing Marcus Mariota’s hall of fame
speech.
*LOL Bears
*Everyone enjoy the AFC Wild Card chase because the NFC has
been decided.
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