Tag: afc

The Patriots Complete the Comeback En Route to Their 10th Super Bowl

The Jaguars carried a 20-10 lead into the fourth quarter and had a chance to stop the Patriots on a key 3rd and 18 backed up in their own territory.

Let’s rewind real quick.

CBS hit us with a fantastic opener with almost countered the fact that we had to listen to Tony Romo all day

The Patriots opened up with a quick FG on a productive drive to make it look like they weren’t going to have any issues with the Jaguars defense. The Jacksonville offense, however, had other plans.

We saw Marcedes Lewis catch his only pass of the day on an easy, wide-open TD.

And then we saw a Fournette TD to put the Gillette Stadium on edge.

14-3 is not the greatest look against one of the best defenses in the league. The Patriots however did manage to drive down the field and get a TD before half (as they always do well) to go into the locker room at 14-10.  The bad news however, was that they lost Gronk to a brutal hit by Church.

 

It was a lackluster third quarter which saw the Jaguars take a 20-10 lead after two Lambo FGs.

The Patriots looked to be in trouble after a double-pass play from Amendola to Dion Lewis resulted in a fumble caused & recovered by Myles Jack. The Patriots got the ball back and were faced with 3rd and 18 and as all NFL fans know, this went exactly how you thought it would.

 

 

Amendola then capped the drive with a touchdown.

The Patriots then got the ball back and well .. you know how this one goes as well.

The Jags did put up a small drive to end the game but ultimately could not get the pass to Dede Westbrook as Stephon Gilmore (who has barely made a play all year) made the deflection of his career. The Patriots got the ball back and Dion Lewis finishes the job on third down.

Hats off to the Jags — Belichick is never that happy so this game was clearly in danger of being lost. However, in the end it just wasn’t enough to stop the Patriots for going for #6. The Jags will be back but it’s still the Patriots’ time.

 

P.S. Get that trophy the hell away from Bill if it’s not the Lombardi.

 

Jaguars Shock the Steelers

 

We heard all week about how the Steelers were going to beat the Patriots — from the Steelers themselves. Mike Mitchell had a fantastic quote:

Le’Veon Bell followed it up with a nice Saturday night tweet (which has not since been deleted so good for him standing him ground):

And then this happened:

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The 2017-18 season where a team can score 10 points in a home playoff game against Buffalo and follow it up with 45 points at Heinz Field to knock off the Steelers. AND it’s the Jaguars that did it. Crazy.

The Jaguars raced out to a 21 point lead and looked to easily run away with it as Leonard Fournette passed Le’Veon Bell for rushing TDs at Heinz Field this year (crazy stat). However, the Steelers kept fighting back but could never get ahead again. Bortles didn’t play fantastic but he did just enough to keep his team in front of Pittsburgh and never allowed them to take the lead. Pittsburgh had some incredible TDs and Big Ben still threw 5 TDs on the elite Jaguars’ defense but it was not enough.

The Jaguars move on and everyone’s preseason prediction of the formerly 3-13 Jaguars against the Patriots comes true. The Jaguars certainly deserve some respect but run into the immovable object that is the Patriots next week for a chance to play in Minneapolis.

1/13 Divisional Playoffs Roundup: Patriots Destroy Titans

The Titans scored first and actually gave their fans a glimmer of hope that they’d be competitive and then the Patriots showed up. I’ll give credit where credit is due though — Corey Davis’ first TD of his young career was the first score of this game and was what we were hoping he’d be all here.

After that, well…it was all Patriots per usual. The Pats rode Brady’s 53 pass attempts en route to 35 straight points and an easy road win. James White added two TDs and the Pats allowed a garbage time TD to make the score 35-14, which honestly was not even that close.

Business as usual for the Pats as they’ll host the Jaguars next week at Gillette for a 7th straight appearance in the conference championship.

But at least we got to see Gronk and Amendola’s friendship go to the next level?

Fun stat of the night? Brady is 6-2 in the postseason when throwing 50+ times. In the Super Bowl era, all other QBs combined are 3-28.

Le’Veon Bell Threatens To Sit or Retire If The Steelers Tag Him Again

Pittsburgh’s gotta call him out on his bluff right? Playoffs are upon us and the Steelers of course are focused elsewhere. Bell was quoted telling ESPN:

Just get the numbers straight, exactly where we want them. I’m not going to settle for anything. I know what I do and what I bring to the table. I’m not going out here getting the ball 400 times if I’m not getting what I feel I’m valued at.

Bell is only 25 and arguably the best running back in the league so obviously his value is sky high. The only problem is that Pittsburgh won’t give him what he wants.  The Steelers played chicken with him last year and did offer him a contract which was upwards of $30 million in the first two years but Bell declined. He ultimately ended up playing on the franchise tag worth $12.1 million last year. The number will rise up to $14.5 million but Le’Veon wants a long term contract. Highly doubt that they’ll be able to actually get the deal done because he wants BIG money. I think he’s bluffing but let the games begin.

PS – Quoted as saying that but then tweets this? Real believable.

 

 

 

Chicago Bears Hire Matt Nagy

According to Adam Schefter, the Chicago Bears have hired former Kansas City Chiefs’ OC Matt Nagy. The terms of the deal have not been released.

The Bears have struggled offensively for years under John Fox, so it’s no surprise that they  went with a more offensive minded coach. Nagy had been with the Chiefs since 2013 where he was their Quarterbacks coach until 2015 when he was promoted to Offensive Coordinator.

This past year, the Chiefs had the league’s 5th best offense averaging 375.4 yards and 25.9 points per game. On the other end of the spectrum, the Bears were the 30th ranked offense averaging 287.4 yards and 16.5 points per game.

With Nagy now on board, let’s hope he can elevate second year QB Mitchell Trubisky the same way Sean McVay did for Jared Goff this past year.

 

Six Years Ago Today, Tim Tebow Silenced the NFL

In 2012, Tim Tebow and the Broncos hosted the Steelers in a playoff game where everyone was ready to write off the Broncos. The 8-8 Broncos limped into the playoffs and hosted the 12-4 Pittsburgh Steelers. The game went into overtime and finished just as quick as it started.

Tebow, who finished the game 10-21 for 316 yds and 2 TDs, hits Demaryius Thomas on the first play from OT for an 80 yard walk-off touchdown. Things may have been different if Ryan Clark (out due to sickle cell) was able to play but this was the highlight of Tebow’s professional career.

Of course, Tebow & the Broncos ran into the Patriots the next round and well…things didn’t end great for them but this was an iconic moment.

The Patriots Open Up As 13.5 Point Favorites Against the Titans

I will admit — nobody really expected the Titans to be gearing up for a trip to Gillette Stadium this weekend. The Chiefs underachieved, sure but to lose to the Titans after being up 21-3? Crazy.

Two touchdowns for a divisional playoff game — and people will still bet on the Patriots. This just goes to show you how their dominance is overlooked at this point. Sure, the Titans don’t really scare anybody but they still went into Arrowhead, which is one of the harder places in the league to win (not in the playoffs though) and came back from an 18 point deficit. That being said, hammer the Patriots line. The Patriots last home game in the playoffs was a 19 point win against the Steelers — combo that with the ESPN headlines and all the negative talk? Patriots win this game by at least 3 TDs.

Also Brady’s last Instagram post?

Final score prediction:

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The NFC Absolutely Destroyed the AFC This Year

The NFL season is coming to a close and if you take a quick glance at the NFC — you’ll notice there are much stronger teams than the AFC.

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Of course, there’s years that the AFC is like this too and some of the strongest contenders (Patriots, Steelers) are waiting in the opposite conference — but take a look at this stat.

41-23! That’s wild, the most lopsided in 13 years — even with arguably the best QB in the NFC hurt for the majority of the season. Granted there’s not many inter-conference games as in conference but even the bad teams in the NFC did well. The Bears — yes the 5-10 Bears? Well they went 4-0 against the AFC North, usually one of the tougher conferences in the AFC. That means the Chicago Bears managed to beat both the Steelers and the Ravens while going 1-10 in the NFC

The Giants’ 2 wins? The Chiefs and the Broncos, both AFC teams. That means the catastrophe that has been the 2017 NY Giants even went .500 against the AFC. The AFC is certainly top heavy but that is not a good look.

The NFC however is 0-3 in the last three Super Bowls. At the end of the day, the NFC is going to end up beating up on each other and then the Patriots are going to get the battered remains in the Super Bowl. Business as usual.

James Harrison Officially a Patriot

It didn’t take long for the rumors to turn into reality. James Harrison posted on Instagram announcing he will be signing with the Patriots for the remainder of the season. The terms of the agreement haven’t been released but the move will most likely be for 1 year and then a retirement announcement from Harrison.

The Patriots aren’t asking much from him but lets hope he has 4 games left in him.

Week 14 Top 10 Power Rankings

With 3 quarters of the season in the books, the good teams are starting to separate themselves from the pack. We’re going to highlight the top 10 teams and who will be contenders in the playoffs that are fast approaching.

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  1.  New England Patriots (10-2)

The Patriots are back and doing the same thing they always do.  They started off slow and the defense was looking bad — now they can’t lose and opponents have failed to score more than 17 points in 8 straight games. Dion Lewis is back to form and Tom Brady is well…Tom Brady. Hard to see this Patriots team losing in the AFC playoffs.

Image result for minnesota vikings2. Minnesota Vikings (10-2)

The Vikings being in first place in Week 14 after losing both their starting QB and RB is about as improbable as the way Case Keenum is playing but we have arrived here. The Vikings have looked to be unstoppable and slotted in the #1 seed in the NFC after the Eagles’ loss. This team is for real and has the potential to never leave Minnesota during the playoffs — even the Super Bowl.

Image result for philadelphia eagles3. Philadelphia Eagles (10-2)

The Eagles have been beneficiaries of an easy schedule but have came out and took care of business. A road game in Seattle in the month of December is a very difficult but the Eagles got exposed a bit as they were outplayed in every asset of the game. I’m sure this team will bounce back but for now they’re going to have to accept that the playoffs may not run through the Linc.

4. New Orleans Saints (9-3)Image result for new orleans saints

The Saints check in at 4 after an impressive season sweep against Cam Newton and the Panthers. The Saints are firmly in control of their division race but they still have two matchups left with rival Atlanta Falcons. If the Saints win at least one, it’s hard to see them not on top of the NFC South when the dust is settled.

 

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5. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-2) 

The Steelers round out the top 5 after a tough AFC North Monday night game against the Bengals. The Steelers sport the same top record as the top 3 but they have been shaky in recent weeks, barely beating the Bengals, Packers, and Colts. This team does keep winning but the injury to Shazier is a huge blow. The Steelers-Patriots showdown in two weeks will decide home field advantage.

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6. Los Angeles Rams (9-3) 

The Rams clinched their first winning season since 2003 with the win over the Cardinals this weekend. Sean McVay has done a tremendous job turning around this team but it’ll be interesting to see how their offense performs when the playoffs are on the line. This is the same team that was only able to put up 7 on the Vikings.

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7. Jacksonville Jaguars (8-4) 

Nobody is scared of Jacksonville’s offense but their defense is scary good. Calais Campbell just broke the franchise sack record .. in week 13. This team is definitely on the rise and probably will not be able to beat the AFC top contenders. Still fun to watch and deserving of the #7 spot.

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8. Seattle Seahawks (8-4) 

Speaking of defenses — the Seahawks check in right behind the Jaguars ahead of a showdown this weekend. The Seahawks, despite huge losses of Sherman and Chancellor are still ball-hawks on defense. Russell Wilson is having a MVP caliber season and they may have found their running back in Mike Davis. Watch out for the Seahawks in January.

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9. Carolina Panthers (8-4) 

The Panthers had a let-down game in which one that they could have made a solid statement in the NFC playoff run. They are however still in prime control of the first wildcard spot and with Cam Newton at the helm — anything can happen. Lack of receiving depth is going to hurt them but the return of Greg Olsen can definitely boost this team to dangerous.

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10. Baltimore Ravens (7-5) 

The Ravens are very quietly having a solid season in Baltimore. The defense has pitched 3 shutouts and made the Lions offense look foolish. The season-ending injury to CB Jimmy Smith definitely hurts but nobody should want to play against Joe Flacco in January. The Ravens have a Sunday night showdown against bitter rival Pittsburgh this week which will say a lot about where they’re at.

 

JUST MISSED: Tennessee Titans (8-4), Atlanta Falcons (7-5), Los Angeles Chargers (6-6)