Dallas hit an absolute home run with Mike McCarthy. Jerry Jones wanted a coach with NFL experience, and McCarthy has that and then some. Things may have ended badly in Green Bay, but he led one of the NFL's other marquee franchises to nine playoff appearances in 12 years. And, he won a Super Bowl, which is more than I can say about any other Cowboys coach over the last 25 years. McDaniels, meanwhile, assuming he doesn't leave the Browns hanging the way he did the Colts two years ago, is the perfect guy in Cleveland. He almost got that job twice previously, and the Browns already have a talented roster. With the right coach, it won't take much to build a winner there. And McDaniels seems like the right coach.
As for the Giants, what are they doing? They also hired a Patriots assistant. Joe Judge. Who's never been a head coach at any level and was completely unimpressive in his introductory press conference. They whiffed on their last two coaching hires. And they go with an unproven guy whose only claim to fame is being an assistant for Nick Saban and Bill Belichick? The Redskins, meanwhile, went with the only guy they interviewed, Ron Rivera (so the Rooney Rule only applies one way?). Frankly, I don't think it's the coaches that are the problem in Washington. Dan Snyder is. He's the Jim Dolan of football, and any coach who works for him is resigning himself to the same fate as anybody dumb enough to coach the Knicks.
Then there's Rivera's former team, the Carolina Panthers. Other owners are not happy with Panthers owner David Tepper, who gave seven years and $60 million to a college coach with all of one season as an NFL assistant on his resume. He might've thought he had to do that or else Matt Rhule would go somewhere else, but he's making quite a commitment by overpaying him so ridiculously. And, frankly, it seems doomed for failure. There's no way Rhule lasts all seven years.
Now on to the Divisional Playoffs. No team without a bye has been to the Super Bowl since the 2013 season, and that streak seems likely to continue. Because the one team that played last week that seemed capable of getting there--New Orleans--was upset by the Vikings. As a result, we don't get the Saints-Packers game we were all looking forward to. It's Packers-Seahawks instead. And there won't be a Patriots-Chiefs rematch, either. Which is just fine with Kansas City.
And I must say, it's refreshing to see they changed the rules and New England isn't required to have a home game this week anymore. As Cris Collinsworth said, it'll have a different feel without them lurking around. (And could Tony Romo have kissed Brady's ass any more at the end of the Patriots-Titans game? He's not going anywhere, Tony!)
Vikings (11-6) at 49ers (13-3): San Francisco-The biggest beneficiary of the Saints' shocking loss last week (other than, obviously, the Vikings) might've been San Francisco. The 49ers went from potentially playing the Seahawks, who already beat them in Santa Clara this season, to facing the Vikings. And they saw their Super Bowl odds get a massive boost as a result.
Kirk Cousins finally got his big time moment last week with that beautiful game-winning touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph. Now it's Jimmy Garoppolo's turn. The 49ers may be the No. 1 seed in the NFC, but they'll only go as far as their quarterback takes them. He's had plenty of experience watching Brady from the sidelines. But he's never had one himself. This is his chance, though. San Francisco is a better team than Minnesota. The 49ers will host the NFC Championship Game.
Titans (10-7) at Ravens (14-2): Baltimore-My favorite part of Tennessee's upset over New England is how Mike Vrabel beat the Patriots by doing things Bill Belichick would do. He deferred the coin toss for the Belichick-patented double possession. Then there was the brilliant false start-after-false start strategy to waste time in the fourth quarter. I was expecting that to backfire when Brady led New England to a touchdown with 30 seconds left and the Titans didn't have those 90 seconds they wasted. But it was so great that it didn't!
For their reward, the Titans got a trip to play the best team in the NFL and prohibitive Super Bowl favorites. And, unlike the Patriots, the Ravens have both a formidable defense AND a formidable offense, led by MVP frontrunner Lamar Jackson. I'm simply not sure Tennessee has enough weapons to keep up. They did the entire NFL-watching world outside of New England a huge favor last week. But their run will come to an end in Baltimore.
Texans (11-6) at Chiefs (12-4): Kansas City-Maybe last week was the start of something for the Texans. That was an impressive comeback against the Bills, then the Titans did them a huge favor by sending them to Kansas City, where they won earlier this season, instead of Baltimore. And against the Chiefs, the Texans have a much better chance of finally getting over that Divisional Playoff hump and losing that distinction as the only team in the NFL never to play in a Conference Championship Game.
However, the Titans also did the Kansas City Chiefs a huge favor. The Houston matchup is far more beneficial for them than facing Bradicheck in January. Although, I'm not sure it would've made a difference. Because I have a feeling about the Chiefs this year. Especially with the way they played in December. This team got hot at the right time, and the bye week is only going to help them. The Texans will have to wait at least another year for that maiden AFC Championship Game appearance.
Seahawks (12-5) at Packers (13-3): Green Bay-Of the four road teams, Seattle has the most realistic chance of coming away with a win. After all, the Seahawks are 8-1 on the road this season after winning in Philadelphia for a second time last week. Can they make it two straight playoff road victories by stopping the Packers at the Frozen Tundra, though? That seems like a tall order.
Despite going 13-3 and clinching a playoff bye, the Packers still feel like they have something to prove. They "didn't beat anybody" and "aren't as good" as the 49ers or Seahawks, or even the since-eliminated Saints. However, they're not playing New Orleans, which would've been a much tougher matchup. And is it really a good idea to count out Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau Field in January? The Chesseheads will have plenty to cheer about, as the Cal grad sends his team to the Bay Area next week.
Last Week: 2-2
Overall: 156-103-1
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