FMQB: It was the Best of Games, it was the Worst of Games
Kind of a strange Wild Card weekend to be honest, felt more like the divisional round. There was only 1 upset out of 6 games which is rare, and 4 of the 6 were blowouts and never really competitive. But the 2 games that were competitive (CIN vs LV and SF vs DAL) were well worth the watch! Both games came down to the final drive, and those will be the ones I focus on the most.
Bengals:
First win since 1991 in the playoffs! There was a controversial play at the end of the 1st half with an inadvertant whistle on a TD play. Couple things to say about this. 1st, it came so late that it didn’t cause any player on the field to dial back at all. The corner defending the play was still actively engaged through the end. Had they ruled otherwise, that the whistle made it a dead play, you also get 1 team that gets royally screwed. So no good answer here, but realistically the play was a TD and the whistle didn’t change anything vs. a TD that gets erroneously nullified.
49ers:
The 49ers look surprisingly tough coming into the playoffs. Their last 2 wins were over the 3 and 4 seed in the playoffs, and their defense for the most part held a high flying Cowboys offense to 17 points. The final drive is the big story, but Dak couldn’t get it going all day. A couple notes on the last play(s). First, without a timeout why the heck are you running it with 14 seconds left when at best that gives you 1 shot at the endzone from 25 yards out. They were getting 10 yards while knocking off 5 seconds off the clock on the plays leading up to it. If you want one more to get you to the 35 or 40, do that and you still have 2 shots at the endzone. Bonehead play call there. Second, I’m with Tony Romo all the way, Dak tried to give the ball to his center to snap, when it needed to be given to the ref to spot. Error in judgement there as well.
What I’ll say about the Bills game, if you’ve ever wondered what retaliation looks like for 20 years of frustration, that game was it.
Total Domination by the Chiefs. I think any talk about them being weak this year is gone and teams are nervous again.
The Bucs also dominated the Eagles, and without garbage time they would have won by 31 points.
Surprised by the Rams output, these teams play close, and Kyler Murray had a few gaffes and missed throws that were not like him.
Roethlisberger, been in the league for 18 years, some off the field issues but likely a 1st ballot hall of famer.
For The Record:
FMQB was 4-2 with last week’s picks
If there’s an argument against letting a 7th team into the playoffs, last weekend was it.
Quick Hits:
* I thought it was super impressive that the Bengals scored on every drive of the 1st half, UNTIL:
* The Bills had a Perfect Offensive Game! They had 7 possessions, and 7 TD’s! No Punts, no turnover, and not even a Field goal! They scored a TD every time they touched the ball!!!
* The Bengals playoff win was the longest playoff drought in all 4 major sports
Wasn’t Jerrick McKinnon the mediocre backup RB in Minnesota years ago? He was lighting it up for KC
Stats:
* Josh Allen had more TD’s (5) than Incompletions (4)
* Only 3 of the last 20 Super Bowl hosts had their home team have a home playoff game in the same year.
* In 3 years, OBJ had 6 TD’s with the Browns. In the past 8 games, he’s had 6 TD’s for the Rams
In this weekend’s matchup, Tom Brady has 35 playoff victories vs Matthew Stafford’s 1.
Divisional Round:
Bengals at Titans: The Titans are rested and getting a fresh Derrick Henry back for this game. I find it hard to pick against them, however they have some really bad losses this year against the Jets and Texans, so anything is possible. I think Joe Burrow will keep it close, but a late INT will seal it. TEN 27, CIN 21
49ers at Packers: The 49ers played them really tough in Week 3, actually taking the lead with 37 seconds left before a miracle drive by the Packers. I think this is a different 49er team, and against my gut and my bracket, I’m going to pick SF to win 31, GB 28
Rams at Buccaneers: I’m going to sound like a homer, but I’m also going to pick an upset in this game as well. The Rams handled TB back in September, and Brady was their leading rusher with 14 yards! The Bucs have a lot of weapons missing that were there that day, so despite it being on the road I think the Rams take it in a high scoring game: LA 34, TB 28
Bills at Chiefs: This is the biggest “what if” game. Both have different but strong offenses, and both have different but strong defenses. And both teams have had struggles during the year, so it depends on what team shows up. In the end, I’m taking a shootout game, KC 38, BUF 35.
Quote of the Week:
“It’s a little early for tears” Jim Nance with 4 minutes left in the Cowboys game
Quote of the Week:
“Let’s go to Peyton to breakdown that touchdown”- Eli
“Can’t Hear Shit” Peyton
“Nevermind!” Eli
Meme’s of the Week:
FMQB 