NFL Wild Card weekend (and Black Monday) thread

[Cosmo]

PLAYOFFS!

SATURDAY
Indianapolis at Buffalo (-7), 1:05 (CBS)
L.A. Rams at Seattle (-4.5), 4:40 (FOX)
Tampa Bay (-8) at Washington, 8:15 (NBC)

SUNDAY
Baltimore (-3.5) at Tennessee, 1:05 (ESPN/ABC)
Chicago at New Orleans (-9.5), 4:40 (CBS)
Cleveland at Pittsburgh (-4), 8:15 (NBC)

I know all of the machinations for television have changed but I'm not sure why CHI/NO is on CBS rather than FOX. Anyway ...

I'll go ahead and make my playoff picks here. Feel free to mock me in a few weeks.

AFC
WC: BUF over IND; BAL over TEN; PIT over CLE
DIV: KC over BAL; BUF over PIT
CHAMP: BUF over KC

NFC
WC: SEA over LAR; NO over CHI; TB over WFT
DIV: GB over TB; NO over SEA
CHAMP: NO over GB

SB: Buffalo over New Orleans (this feels weird to type)

 

[MileHigh]

The two late games on Sunday are considered the "new" games and CBS and NBC in their deals to get them were automatically slotted in there. Surprised ESPN has a Sunday game as opposed to the first one on Saturday.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Fired so far:

• Gase
• Marrone
• Anthony Lynn

 

[Cosmo]

Fired so far:

• Gase
• Marrone
• Anthony Lynn

Edited thread title to account for coach firings.

 

[da man]

So six openings now?

 

[playthrough]

The two late games on Sunday are considered the "new" games and CBS and NBC in their deals to get them were automatically slotted in there. Surprised ESPN has a Sunday game as opposed to the first one on Saturday.

Wouldn't be a Wild Card weekend without ESPN having a game with the AFC South.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Wouldn't be a Wild Card weekend without ESPN having a game with the AFC South.

Yeah but for once it seems they have the best on-paper matchup of the weekend, with the live possibility of a high scoring close game, plus several glamorous stars (Henry, Jackson).

 

[Songbird]

I love the idea of the Bills becoming dominant but they need one more punch to the stomach.

Colts are 11-5. They will win the game.

Rivers has thrown for 4200 yards and 24 TDs and just 11 picks.

Taylor has run for 1,169 yards and 11 TDs.

Top 6 receivers are 63, 56, 44, 40, 36, 31.

Defense has 40 sacks, 15 picks, 10 fumble recoveries.

They're 3-4 against playoff teams, including Green Bay, wins by average of 9 points, losses by average of 12 points.

Their LOL? Being the only win for the Jaguars although that was Week 1 on a day Minshew went 19 for 20 with 3 TDs.

 

[outofplace]

I love the idea of the Bills becoming dominant but they need one more punch to the stomach.

Colts are 11-5. They will win the game.

Rivers has thrown for 4200 yards and 24 TDs and just 11 picks.

Taylor has run for 1,169 yards and 11 TDs.

Top 6 receivers are 63, 56, 44, 40, 36, 31.

Defense has 40 sacks, 15 picks, 10 fumble recoveries.

They're 3-4 against playoff teams, including Green Bay, wins by average of 9 points, losses by average of 12 points.

Their LOL? Being the only win for the Jaguars although that was Week 1 on a day Minshew went 19 for 20 with 3 TDs.

Taylor gives the Colts a shot. The season numbers don't do him justice. They seem to be trusting him a lot more later in the season, and I think teams can run on Buffalo's defense.

That said, I still think the Bills win that one. I just don't trust Indy's secondary against Allen. I also don't trust Rivers in big moments. Maybe that is my internal pessimist talking. I'm certainly going to be rooting for the Colts, because if they win, that would help the Steelers. That assumes the Steelers beat the Browns, which is far from a sure thing.

 

[HanSenSE]

So six openings now?

Point of order: Shouldn't we have a NFL coaching carousel thread?

 

[Regan MacNeil]

When was the last time Rivers won a playoff game?

 

[Songbird]

Long time ago in 2019.

 

[DanOregon]

I think Lynn will coach again - I don't know if he would have done much better with the Chargers next year. Have to think he'll end up replacing Fangio in Denver at some point.

 

[Regan MacNeil]

Rivers has a better playoff record than I expected. Maybe I didn't remember his wins because they all came in the Wild Card round. It's the divisional round that trips him up. His only trip to the conference title game came in 2008, I think.

 

[Songbird]

Year    Age  Tm  G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp%  Yds TD Int  1D Y/A AY/A  Y/C   Y/G  Rate 4QC GWD
2006*    25 SDG  1  1   0-1  14  32 43.8  230  0   1   9 7.2  5.8 16.4 230.0          55.5
2007     26 SDG  3  3   2-1  52  86 60.5  767  4   4  35 8.9  7.8 14.8 255.7          85.8
2008     27 SDG  2  2   1-1  41  71 57.7  525  3   2  25 7.4  7.0 12.8 262.5  83.4   1   1
2009*    28 SDG  1  1   0-1  27  40 67.5  298  1   2  14 7.5  5.7 11.0 298.0          76.9
2013*    32 SDG  2  2   1-1  30  43 69.8  345  3   0  19 8.0  9.4 11.5 172.5         116.9
2018*    37 LAC  2  2   1-1  47  83 56.6  491  3   1  24 5.9  6.1 10.4 245.5          80.9
Care       Care 11 11   5-6 211 355 59.4 2656 14  10 126 7.5  7.0 12.6 241.5  84.2   1   1

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table

 

[outofplace]

Tampa will likely be without linebacker Devin White, who is on the COVID list. That is a big hit to the run defense and the pass rush. I'm not sure if he would have been eligible Sunday, but playing that game Saturday definitely doesn't help the Bucs.

 

[outofplace]

The Browns put defensive end Olivier Vernon tore his Achilles tendon yesterday, which will end his season. The Browns will enter the playoff game next week without their second-best pass rusher.

 

[sgreenwell]

Rivers has a better playoff record than I expected. Maybe I didn't remember his wins because they all came in the Wild Card round. It's the divisional round that trips him up. His only trip to the conference title game came in 2008, I think.

For a long time now, the Chargers have been the "good, not good enough" AFC team. Like the NFL's version of the Atlanta Hawks, but more end game misery.

 

[swingline]

I fully expect Rivers to throw an interception at the absolute worst time to lose the game.

 

[Regan MacNeil]

Year    Age  Tm  G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp%  Yds TD Int  1D Y/A AY/A  Y/C   Y/G  Rate 4QC GWD
2006*    25 SDG  1  1   0-1  14  32 43.8  230  0   1   9 7.2  5.8 16.4 230.0          55.5
2007     26 SDG  3  3   2-1  52  86 60.5  767  4   4  35 8.9  7.8 14.8 255.7          85.8
2008     27 SDG  2  2   1-1  41  71 57.7  525  3   2  25 7.4  7.0 12.8 262.5  83.4   1   1
2009*    28 SDG  1  1   0-1  27  40 67.5  298  1   2  14 7.5  5.7 11.0 298.0          76.9
2013*    32 SDG  2  2   1-1  30  43 69.8  345  3   0  19 8.0  9.4 11.5 172.5         116.9
2018*    37 LAC  2  2   1-1  47  83 56.6  491  3   1  24 5.9  6.1 10.4 245.5          80.9
Care       Care 11 11   5-6 211 355 59.4 2656 14  10 126 7.5  7.0 12.6 241.5  84.2   1   1

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table

View attachment 10057

Hate to interrupt you, Mr. Rivers, as you try for your 17th kid or whatever, but those aren't great numbers.