Four Down Territory: NFL Week 9

November 7, 2019
142

First Down

And just like that we’re halfway through the NFL’s 100th season. There have been a few surprises both good (Lamar Jackson‘s dominance), bad (Baker Mayfield‘s facial hair), and downright hilarious (also, Baker Mayfield’s facial hair).

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With that, it’s time to revisit each conference and make somewhat of an educated guess about how the rest of the season is going to unfold.

First up; the AFC. Here’s a look at the playoff picture.

Nothing out of the ordinary, right? The Patriots are in complete control and will probably end up with the one seed and home field throughout the playoffs.

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What about the other teams? What does the future hold for them?

Let’s look at their remaining schedules.

New England: (Bye, @Philadelphia, Dallas, @Houston, Kansas City, @Cincinnati, Buffalo, Miami) The Patriots have quite the schedule ahead of them after essentially cruising the first nine weeks. The Ravens may have exposed their rush defense and the offense hasn’t been setting the world on fire.

Prediction: The Patriots will finish 13-3 and will have the top seed in the AFC.

Baltimore: (@Cincinnati, Houston, @LA Rams, San Francisco, @Buffalo, New York Jets, @Cleveland, Pittsburgh) Outside of the Houston and San Francisco game the Ravens have a pretty manageable schedule. The Rams game will be harder than expected but they should still win. They’ll lose the Pittsburgh game but that’s because the division will be wrapped up and the second seed will be wrapped up.

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Prediction: The Ravens finish 12-4 and will have the second seed in the AFC.

Houston: (Bye, @Baltimore, Indianapolis, New England, Denver, @Tennessee, @Tampa Bay, Tennessee) Houston has a murderers row after their bye followed by four very winnable games to end the season. The AFC is tough so a win over Indianapolis is a must, especially if Jacoby Brissett is out an extended period of time with an MCL sprain.

Prediction: Houston finishes 11-5 and wins the AFC South due to divisional wins. They get the third seed due to a head-to-head victory over the Chiefs.

Kansas City:(@Tennessee, @Los Angeles Chargers, Bye, Oakland, @New England, Denver, @Chicago, Los Angeles Chargers) Kansas City will be wracking up miles being that four out of their final seven games are on the road. They still have four divisional games left but luckily the AFC South isn’t that tough.

Prediction: Kansas City finishes 11-5 to win the AFC South. They will keep the fourth seed.

Wild Card Predictions

The Colts will grab the higher of the two seeds and will have a showdown with the divisional rival Texans to start the playoffs. That’s going to be fun, trust me.

Here’s a hot take: the Steelers are going 10-6 and will sneak into the playoffs. They, along with the Bills, will finish with the same record but they play each other in Pittsburgh on 12/15. That’s the tiebreaker.

Second Down

Let’s transition to the NFC playoff picture.

Breakdown/Spicy Take time.

San Francisco: (Seattle, Arizona, Green Bay, @Baltimore, @New Orleans, Atlanta, Los Angeles Rams, @Seattle) We’re about to find out who the 49ers really are. They get the chance to play the elite of the NFC and that includes battling Seattle twice. I’m a believer but not that much of one. Get ready for some rough roads, San Francisco.

Prediction: The 49ers finish 11-5 and lose the NFC North to Seattle. They will go in the playoffs as a wild card.

New Orleans: (Atlanta, @Tampa Bay, Carolina, @Atlanta, San Francisco, Indianapolis, @Tennessee, @Carolina) The Saints have a favorable schedule with the two hardest games at home. Teddy Bridgewater (who is going to get PAID this offseason) set the team up for a deep playoff run and essentially gave Drew Brees a five week vacation. He should be fully rested and ready to pounce on the NFC. They could very well run the table but I see them dropping at least two games.

Prediction: New Orleans finishes 13-3 and grabs the top seed.

Green Bay: (Carolina, Bye, @San Francisco, @New York Giants, Washington, Chicago, @Minnesota, @Detroit) Green Bay’s schedule consists of only two teams with winning records. This leads to a favorable finish and a bye week for Aaron Rodgers and a team that just suffered a nasty loss to the Chargers. Devante Adams is back and they’ll probably start peaking at the right time.

Prediction: Green Bay finishes 12-4 and gets the second seed.

Dallas: (Minnesota, @Detroit, @New England, Buffalo, @Chicago, Los Angeles Rams, @Philadelphia, Washington) Dallas’ road to the playoffs won’t be easy but isn’t the hardest, either. The two important games for them is Minnesota and @Philadelphia. Wins against them would give them the division and a playoff spot, all things considered.

Prediction: Dallas finishes 11-5 and gets the fourth seed. (this is painful to say, btw).

Seattle: (@San Francisco, Bye, @Philadelphia, Minnesota, @Los Angeles Rams, @Carolina, Arizona, San Francisco) This isn’t an easy schedule by any means. Every team other than Arizona has a winning record and four out of their last seven are on the road. So why am I giving them the division?

Russell Wilson. That’s it, that’s the reason.

He and Lamar Jackson are neck and neck in the MVP race and that’s going to be the difference between Seattle and the rest.

Prediction: The Hawks finish 12-4 and get the third seed.

Wild Card Predictions

The 49ers will fall to the five seed.

Minnesota will do just enough to edge out Philadelphia for the last wild card spot. They have the head to head victory against the Eagles and that’s going to be the deciding factor. Unless Kirk Cousins does the Kirk Cousins thing where Kirk Cousins has a meltdown and single handily ruins the Vikings playoff hopes.

Third Down

Cam Newton‘s career in Carolina is probably over. The team placed him on IR this week following a foot injury.

The Panthers can save $19 million if they cut or trade him this offseason and after three years of injuries keeping him off the field it seems like it’s a done deal.

Cam seemingly acknowledged his fate on the Instagrams.

So what does this mean?

For Carolina they’ll probably ride the Kyle Allen train until Will Grier is ready to start. For Cam this means a journey that will probably end with him  playing for the Broncos and winning a Super Bowl because that’s how this works.

Fourth Down

PICK TIME!

Last week I went 9-5 which puts the record to 54-29.

Let’s do this again. Winners highlighted in red.

Thursday Night 

Los Angeles Chargers @ Oakland

Sunday Afternoon

New York Giants @ New York Jets

Atlanta @ New Orleans 

Kansas City @ Tennessee

Baltimore @ Cincinnati

Buffalo @ Cleveland 

Arizona @ Tampa Bay

Detroit @ Chicago

Miami @ Indianapolis 

Carolina @ Green Bay 

Los Angeles Rams @ Pittsburgh

Sunday Night

Minnesota @ Dallas

Monday Night

Seattle @ San Francisco

Extra Points

Cleveland loss, they aren’t good, now let’s get to these Mayfield jokes.

MORE. I NEED MORE!

HOW IS TWITTER STILL FREE?

Don’t forget that the NFL is blackballing Colin Kaepernick for protesting police brutality and racial injustice in America.

@madads14

As always, thanks for reading.

 

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November 7, 2019
142