The Daily Briefing Thursday, January 13, 2022

Could this be the head coaching cycle where defensive coordinators prevail? Might the pendulum end up swinging back to side of the ball, at least a smidge?

It’s fair to at least ponder the possibility.

Yes, the game is all about scoring points and protecting quarterbacks and the rules tend to favor the offense. And NFL owners have displayed a growing propensity to hire from that side of the ball, looking for quarterback whisperers and play callers and favoring that profile above all others. But color me at least somewhat optimistic that perhaps some of these decision-makers will keep a more open mind when it comes to which attributes and specialties matter most when hiring a head coach.

We are still quite early in this process, obviously. And I’ve felt like a sucker at times in the past when some of the initial candidate lists represented a wider panorama of potential hires. I won’t fully believe that preferences are changing and searches are more merit-based until I see it with my own eyes, but there is reason to believe maybe this cycle will be different than many in recent history.

There seem to be a higher number of genuinely sought after defensive coaches, and more men on that side of the ball getting the chance to interview for multiple jobs. As it should be. The coupling of an experienced, defensive minded head coach and an innovative offensive coordinator has always made the most sense to me when it comes to managing the entirety of a football team, and maybe that will carry the day in some of these instances.

Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was always shaping up to be one of the most in-demand coaches on this market, reaching a Super Bowl as head coach in Atlanta and getting a ton of attention for turning around the fortunes of America’s Team. Dallas is always in the limelight and Quinn’s work was noted quickly and abundantly, and if you told me he was the next head coach of the Broncos or Vikings or Dolphins, well, I wouldn’t blink in the least.

Winning eight of his final nine games wasn’t enough for Brian Flores to keep his job in Miami, but it was enough to get the attention of other front offices, and he will get an audience with several owners, too. Chicago has always been a defensive kind of town, and former Bear Leslie Frazier would be a great fit there. Todd Bowles may well be the next coach in Tampa should Bruce Arians step aside, and I could also see him in Minnesota, where he was the runner-up to Mike Zimmer eight years ago. Or Las Vegas, if that opens up. Vance Joseph, who had a brief tenure as Broncos head coach, has done a great job with the defense in Arizona and would likely be better as the head man the second time around.

The times might be a changing, at least a smidge. Because the way these owners have been doing it the past few cycles hasn’t been close to working in many instances, and groupthink hasn’t been working.

CHICAGO

Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano of ESPN.com on what they are hearing from the Bears:

Graziano: The Bears appear to be conducting their general manager and coach searches concurrently, which will allow them to identify candidates they like for each spot and figure out which of them pair best together. Coachwise, Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier is the name I’ve heard most strongly connected with this job in the early going, although I think Todd Bowles and Brian Flores will get serious looks as well. And early favorites don’t always end up getting the jobs. If the Bears do pick Frazier or Bowles or Flores or another defensive-background coach (which is totally fine, of course, if you believe in the guy as a leader), the big question that will follow is whom they’re bringing with them for offensive coordinator to shepherd the development of Justin Fields.

Fowler: How a head-coaching candidate sells his offensive coordinator in interviews will be crucial. Not only what you sell, but whether you can deliver that coach. The Buffalo guys could utilize ascending quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey, but he could probably stay in Buffalo and take over for offensive coordinator Brian Daboll if Daboll gets a head job. Former Eagles coach Doug Pederson will be involved in this job, but that might be too close to home, as he, like Nagy, comes from the Andy Reid tree. The word is that Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has a killer staff lined up, as he’s prepped behind the scenes for another head-coaching opportunity. And Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett will bring a detailed plan for maximizing Fields. I get the sense leadership will be high on the list, maybe more so than offensive wizardry. Will the Bears be looking for nostalgia? And is that a mistake?

Graziano: Frazier could be cast as a “nostalgia” pick, since he played on the legendary 1985 team, but I think that undersells him. His work as Buffalo’s defensive coordinator has been stellar, and holding his Minnesota tenure against him feels unfair, given that his quarterbacks were Christian Ponder and the last vestiges of Donovan McNabb. There’s no reason to believe he can’t bring the leadership qualities they’re looking for. But yes, I think it’s entirely possible that Hackett or one of the other offensive coordinators they’re bringing in could dazzle them with their plan for Fields’ development. And honestly, given what they’ve invested in Fields, it would be hard to blame them for leaning that way.

Add Doug Pederson to the mix.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Bears got the ball rolling on their head coaching and General Manager interviews on Wednesday.

The team announced that they have completed an interview with former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. Pederson has also interviewed with the Jaguars last week.

Pederson went 42-37-1 with the Eagles and he coached the team to a win in Super Bowl LII. He was fired after the 2020 season and spent this year out of coaching.

The Bears also announced that they have interviewed Browns vice president of player personnel Glenn Cook. Cook has worked for the Browns since 2016 in pro scouting and also worked for the Colts and Packers.

The Bears have been linked to a number of other candidates for both jobs, so there will likely be more announcements to come about completed interviews in the coming days.

DETROIT

Hall of Fame WR Calvin Johnson may now be in line for a celebration of his honor at Ford Field.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Lions and Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson have had a strained relationship ever since he retired and the team forced him to pay back $1.6 million of his signing bonus. But Johnson is hinting that the relationship has been mended.

Johnson tweeted a picture of himself at Ford Field and wrote, “Back in the Lions Den.”

That Johnson paid a visit to the team strongly suggests that they’ve come to some kind of understanding. The Lions had offered to make things even with him by paying him $500,000 a year for three years to do 28 hours of promotional work, plus a $100,000 donation to his favorite charity. But Johnson turned that offer down, saying that on principle the Lions never should have taken the money from him in the first place and he shouldn’t have to do anything — even work 28 hours a year — to get it back.

Contractually, the Lions had every right to take back a portion of Johnson’s signing bonus, but teams often waive that right for retiring players, especially for first-ballot Hall of Famers like Johnson. So it’s easy to see why Johnson was miffed.

But it now appears that they’ve come to some kind of resolution, one that makes Johnson comfortable spending time with the team again.

GREEN BAY

There was a crazy tale going around that QB AARON RODGERS plan was to take the Packers to the Super Bowl, then boycott the game in a show of support for the unvaxxed.  Mike Rosenstein of NJ Advanced Media:

Aaron Rodgers is mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore.

The Green Bay Packers quarterback joined The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday. One of the topics discussed was the debunked rumor that he would consider skipping the Super Bowl.

Even though the rumor wasn’t true and was later classified as a prank, Rodgers wasn’t having any of it.

“I’ve giving a lot less f**ks the last couple years but 1 thing I do give a major f**k about is ridiculous narratives about me. I’m gonna boycott the Super Bowl.. that’s the dumbest s**t I’ve heard.”

Funhouse, aka @BackAftaThis, posted a clearly-edited video clip on Friday from WFAN’s Boomer & Gio show.

In it, Gregg Giannotti read a tweet Boomer Esiason received. The unnamed source of the tweet claimed Rodgers will threaten to boycott Super Bowl LVI if the Packers advance to the big game.

“Boom! The Rodgers saga continues to get crazier and crazier. I’ve been told by multiple people in Aaron’s direct circle that if the Packers make the Super Bowl, he will use the week leading up to the Super Bowl to prove a major point. He will threaten the NFL by saying he won’t play in the big game or next season if they don’t eliminate some of the COVID-related rules. One big one that upsets him the most is the testing of non-symptomatic players. He’s told Jordan Love to be ready. Like you said, he’s got to make it first, but Super Bowl week will be set on fire and send (Roger) Goodell in a frenzy navigating the situation.”

In the edited clip, Giannotti followed up by asking, “Is it someone that we should be trusting with their information?” Esiason’s answer? “I would, yes.”

However Giannotti later tweeted an unedited video clip from the same show, in which he and Esiason conclude the text was a “prank.”

“Before this gets even more out of control, here is more context to the text Boomer got about Aaron Rodgers. By the end of our discussion we all came to the conclusion that we believed it was a prank.”

Rodgers, as you may remember, tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this season, after which it was learned he misled the public on his vaccination status.

Rodgers also opined on other aspects of his health.  Myles Simmons ofProFootballTalk.com:

Aaron Rodgers has been dealing with a fractured toe since coming off the COIVD-19 list back in November.

It hasn’t impacted his performance much, as Rodgers completed 70 percent of his passes for 2,221 yards with 20 touchdowns and one interception in the eight games since his return.

And that interception was in his first game back, Green Bay’s 17-0 victory over Seattle.

But with the playoffs arriving, Rodgers said Wednesday that his toe should be just fine by next Saturday or Sunday’s game. He also noted that he hasn’t received a pain-killing injection for the toe in weeks.

“That’s been the most encouraging thing. Got through last week without doing one,” Rodgers said in his press conference. “It was just a pretty standard shot in the toe — very painful, but numbing agent. So that helped me get through the games. The whole goal was to be able to not have to do that and it’s been a few games now without doing that.

“So, I’m feeling good, practiced today. [I’m] close to 100 percent. I think I should be 100 percent probably by next week.”

Rodgers, who is widely expected to win his second consecutive MVP award, completed 69 percent of his passes for 4,115 yards with 37 touchdowns adjust four interceptions in 2021, good for a league-leading 111.9 passer rating.

NEW YORK GIANTS

Jason LaCanfora of CBSSports.com with some thoughts on the Giants:

Sometimes, common sense still prevails in this league. Eventually, it did with the New York Football Giants.

Joe Judge had no business being an NFL head coach for two years. It was a gross miscalculation on ownership’s part, a panic, knee-jerk reaction, and they should know better than to let Bill Belichick steer them. Shame on them. And, better late than never for Giants fans, by the time they spent a few more hours with Judge this week, exploring his vision for the team after his egregious in-game malpractice and ridiculous press conference pablum, they came to the only reasonable decision, which was to terminate his contract.

Getting a reasonably accomplished general manager candidate to take the job while having to stick with Judge would have always been silly. And trying to sell him to your fanbase with season ticket renewals going out and a half-year offseason set to begin would have been backwards. History would indicate that John Mara won’t get this latest reboot right, either, but at this point anything would be better than keeping this cursed experiment going.

If you read this space regularly, you know that I was always a skeptic that even Mara would stick with this, despite all of the smoke being put out for all these weeks about how much support Judge had with ownership. Even those who kept just cursory tabs on this two-year debacle would know that Judge’s lack of self-awareness and ever-running lips could lead him to hang himself come early January. And he did just that.

The one name I head heard the most buzz about connected to the Giants GM job has been Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen. Very impressive dude with a very impressive resume …

The Giants put in a request to interview Ravens scouting director Joe Hortiz, which makes sense. But I also would be very curious to see what kind of reaction they got if they reached out for permission to interview Hortiz’s boss, Ravens GM Eric DeCosta, about his interest in the position. There’s been mutual admiration there before. Worst the Ravens could do is deny permission …

ATLANTA

SAK (Swiss Army Knife) CORDARELLE PATTERSON is waging a campaign to be re-signed.  Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com:

Cordarrelle Patterson had the best season of his career with the Atlanta Falcons in 2021, and heading into NFL free agency in a couple of months, Patterson has made his preference clear: He’d like to stay in Atlanta.

And he’s going about sharing his desire for a new deal in a different way: on his shoes.

Patterson posted a pair of cleats on Wednesday portraying two people on what appears to be a bus with one saying, “Cut the check Mr Blank,” less than a week after he wore cleats during Atlanta’s season finale saying, “Why not retire in Atlanta?”

He led the Falcons in rushing this past season and was third on the team in receiving, and his 11 total touchdowns from scrimmage were almost three times as many as the next Atlanta player.

Patterson’s 205 touches represented the first time he had more than 100 touches on offense in a season, and his 1,166 yards from scrimmage was the first time he topped 700 yards from scrimmage in a season.

Members of Patterson’s family have been clear about their desired destination for him.

“My mama, she actually wants me to stay here, because it’s only three hours away from the house, and they get to come out to all the home games and stuff like that.” said Patterson.

“She told me like two days ago she would love me to be here. But the business side, man, a lot of people don’t see it, the business side of everything, so I’m just going to let my agent and the GM handle that and just sit back and keep grinding.”

The 30-year-old Patterson, who was a first-round draft pick in 2013, played for the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots and Chicago Bears, before signing with the Falcons on a one-year deal in March.

TAMPA BAY

They may be great comrades in arms, but QB TOM BRADY and TE ROB GRONKOWSKI apparently don’t break bread together postgame (not that Brady would ever eat bread).  Jaclyn Hendricks in the New York Post:

Tom Brady helped Rob Gronkowski increase his bottom line Sunday, but that doesn’t mean it banked him a dinner invite.

During Monday’s episode of his “Let’s Go!” podcast on SiriusXM, the Buccaneers quarterback opened up about not making the guest list for Gronkowski’s postgame celebrations, even after doing his part to ensure the tight end would earn $1 million in incentives from Tampa Bay’s Week 18 win over Carolina.

“I don’t know, man. That’s OK. I know what he eats. Let’s just say it’s not along the guidelines of TB12 so he can have his dinner without me,” Brady said.

Gronkowski unlocked two $500,000 bonuses in Tampa Bay’s season finale this past weekend. He needed to hit 55 receptions and 750 receiving yards for the season, according to Spotrac, and finished the year with 55 catches and 802 yards.

“He’s amazing, I mean, what he’s done this year,” Brady said of Gronkowski. “He just, the guy’s an incredible player, he’s a great teammate, and I think what he does day in and day out to prepare himself is what blows me away. I think he’s the greatest tight end in NFL history.  What he does in the run game, the pass game, the kind of teammate he is, he’s amazing.”

Brady was seen barking at his coaches and forcing his way back into the game, even though it was out of hand, to ensure his longtime friend cashed in. As soon as Gronkowski reached the 55-catch mark, Brady exited for backup Blaine Gabbert.

Following the 41-17 win, Gronkowski, 32, joked that he was going to take his teammates to dinner, sans Brady. The 44-year-old quarterback responded Monday by saying he’d treat his offensive lineman to a fancy meal instead.

“I’m going to take my linemen out because those guys balled out all year. Maybe I’m going to take them to Morton’s and get them a nice steak because those boys deserve it. Those guys had a hell of a year. Tristan [Wirfs], Alex Cappa, [Ryan] Jensen, Donnie [Smith], and Ali Marpet, man, those guys balled out,” Brady continued Monday. “Gronk can have his dinner with all his tight ends. I’m going out with the o-linemen. Sorry, Gronk, I’m going to miss you. Just make sure you’re not out too late.”

SAN FRANCISCO

The best record in the NFC since Week 8?  It belongs to the 49ers, but not by much:

NFC PLAYOFF TEAMS

RECORDS SINCE WEEK 8

49ers                8-3

Buccaneers      7-3

Packers            7-3

Eagles              7-3

Cowboys          7-3

Rams               6-4

Cardinals         4-6

The 49ers losses were to Arizona, Seattle and Tennessee.

Best wins were probably the Rams, Bengals and Chargers.

SEATTLE

The “DUI” incident against QB GENO SMITH also had some other complications like 96 mph and threats to cops. TMZ:

Geno Smith was allegedly a huge jerk during his arrest on Monday … with cops saying he threatened them and even told one, “you have a little d**k.”

Washington State Patrol officers spelled out the allegations in new police documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, claiming the Seattle Seahawks quarterback was combative and argumentative with them through much of the process of his arrest.

In the docs, cops say they pulled over Smith at around 2 AM in King County — just hours after Seattle finished beating the Cardinals in Arizona on Sunday — after they claim they clocked his Rolls Royce going 96 MPH in a 60 MPH zone.

Officers say Smith was also driving erratically and changing lanes without signaling … and during questioning, they say he reeked of booze.

Cops say Smith told them he had consumed wine before getting behind the wheel — and then became upset with them during ensuing field sobriety tests.

In the docs, officers say Smith argued with them … and eventually decided to stop doing the tests altogether. That’s when cops say they arrested him and took him back to the station — where they claim he made a comment about a cop’s penis size.

One of the officers wrote in the docs, “I joked with him about how my wife thinks I work too much. Somehow he said that’s because ‘you have a little d***.'”

“I said, wow, maybe that is the problem, then he said you have a little d***, ‘you have little d*** syndrome.'”

Cops say Smith ultimately refused to take a breath test, so they took him from there to the hospital to have his blood drawn.

But while at the medical facility, they say the 31-year-old refused to have his blood taken and then became enraged.

“I’ll f*** every one of y’all up,” one officer says Smith told them.

Another officer said Smith told them, “you don’t want to see me out of these cuffs, you don’t want to know what will happen.”

Officers say they eventually had to put restraints on Smith’s arms and legs in order to take his blood … and claim the entire time Smith said, “that we were going to regret this and that we would all be famous for this.”

After the blood was successfully taken, cops say they took Smith back to the station and booked him on a DUI charge.

A Rolls Royce?

DENVER

Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano of ESPN.com share the latest buzz on the Broncos coaching job:

Denver Broncos

Where it stands: The Broncos fired Vic Fangio on Sunday after finishing last in the AFC West for the second year in a row. Fangio went 19-30 in three seasons at the helm. Denver has missed the playoffs the past six seasons. “Our search to find the next head coach of the Broncos will be a comprehensive, collaborative process,” said general manager George Paton, who will conduct the search and has the authority to choose the next coach. “We’re approaching it with an open mind and look forward to spending time with some outstanding candidates. … You can’t keep recycling coaches and expect to sustain a winning culture.”

Fowler: Paton was once torn over whether to keep Fangio, but a third straight losing season and struggles on offense made the status quo untenable. Paton and the Broncos pivot to a diverse group of candidates, already requesting nine coaches for an interview. The search has predictable names (Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett) and surprises (Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, Packers quarterback coach Luke Getsy). The early buzz is those first two names are primary candidates, especially Quinn. And the team has done a lot of research/work on Hackett. Where do you stand on Denver, Dan?

Graziano: I have also heard Quinn as a potential front-runner, but he’s drawing interest everywhere right now and might be able to pick which interviews he takes and which he doesn’t. It’s also important to note Eric Bieniemy’s spot on Denver’s list. He has interviewed all over the league the past couple of years and hasn’t been offered a head-coach job yet. Can he dazzle the Broncos and persuade the Chiefs’ division rival to be the one to take a shot? I find it interesting that they’re interviewing two members of the Packers’ offensive staff, given that they need a quarterback and Aaron Rodgers could — could! — be available in a trade this offseason. And I was surprised to see Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn on their list, but only because you don’t see a lot of coordinators from losing teams get these interviews. Speaks to what people around the league think of Glenn, who is a compelling guy to interview and should do well in the room.

Fowler: Correct. Glenn has the leadership qualities going for him. That defensive roster in Detroit might have been the worst in the NFL, and he at least made it competitive. Bieniemy has interviewed with more than half the league at this point, but Paton has intimate knowledge of Bieniemy’s coaching from their Minnesota days together, so the request speaks to Bieniemy’s acumen. He’ll be in the mix. Uphill climb, though. Also heard on Wednesday that Denver will probably add one or two more candidates to the mix. I don’t think that’s Doug Pederson, as it stands. Who could it be?

Graziano: They put in a permission slip Tuesday night on Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, so maybe that’s one of the guys you heard about. Like a lot of these guys, Callahan is getting his current team ready for a playoff game this weekend and can’t talk to other teams until next week. Interesting name with strong NFL-coach bloodlines, and the fact that he’s getting a call underscores how important it is to teams that these candidates come from places that win. No Bengals coordinators were getting these calls a year ago. Heck, they were just trying to hold on to the jobs they already had!

JACKSONVILLE

Is Bill O’Brien the favorite for the Jacksonville coaching job?  Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano of ESPN.com:

Graziano: Jeez, who could have imagined Meyer was a bad idea? Except, like, everyone? The Jaguars have lost 130 games in the past 11 years — an average of 11.8 per season. This is not because they are a well-run, smoothly operated organization from the top down. And the announcement that general manager Trent Baalke is staying in place and leading the coaching search hasn’t made it more appealing to potential candidates. Still, the presence of Trevor Lawrence, still regarded as a historically high-level prospect at quarterback, will entice plenty of people to coach this team.

Former Eagles coach Doug Pederson and former Colts and Lions coach Jim Caldwell are both interesting candidates who interviewed a couple of weeks ago. Former Texans coach Bill O’Brien, now Alabama’s offensive coordinator, was slated to interview this week now that the Crimson Tide’s season is over. These are all former NFL head coaches who have had success in places where many have not. Caldwell had winning records in Detroit. O’Brien had a perennial playoff team in Houston. Pederson coached the Eagles to their first Super Bowl title. The Jaguars are further ahead than anyone else in their process and could make a hire first. They’ve also talked to some of the high-profile coordinators, including former Jags quarterback Byron Leftwich, who is the Bucs’ offensive coordinator, and Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, among others.

Fowler: Dan, it’s hard to knock Jacksonville for experimenting at head coach after all the losing, but given Meyer’s shocking lack of self-awareness at every stop in Jacksonville, the Jaguars absolutely can’t miss this time, even if that means playing it safer. The Bill O’Brien buzz is real. He has a real shot at this, and Jacksonville would work to pair him with a killer defensive coordinator (it would probably aim for Vic Fangio, who will have a gazillion options). But I’m also told Jacksonville will take its time, finalizing the first round of interviews this week before narrowing the search to three candidates. Caldwell and Pederson both had strong interviews, from what I was told. This is still very much wide open.

Graziano: O’Brien is a good coach! He was 54-52 in Houston, with five winning records and four playoff appearances in his first six seasons. It was O’Brien the GM who got them both fired four games into his seventh season. If he doesn’t need to pick the players, he might be a really good call in Jacksonville. But that’s going to depend on his and their faith in Baalke to put together a winning roster.

MIAMI

Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano of ESPN.com say the Dolphins are looking for a nice guy who could be Brian Daboll:

Where it stands: The Dolphins fired Brian Flores after missing the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season and third under Flores. He departed with a record of 24-25. Flores ran through four offensive coordinators, two defensive coordinators and four offensive line coaches, among other personnel changes, a fact not lost on Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. “I think an organization can only function if it’s collaborative and it works well together,” Ross said on Monday. “And I don’t think that we were really working well as an organization that it would take to really win consistently at the NFL level.”

Fowler: That’s quite the admission from Ross, and it speaks to the problem being about relationships rather than performance-based. Otherwise, it’s hard to argue with the job Flores did. When was the last time a coach won eight of his last nine games and got fired? Just about everyone in the league is shocked about this one. I talked to more than a few people who wonder whether Miami fired the wrong guy, that maybe general manager Chris Grier should have been expendable. Dan, working well with others will be a key criterion for Miami brass in this search.

Graziano: Absolutely. I’m really watching Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll here. He’s got a prior connection with Tua Tagovailoa from his Alabama days, and a couple of people who know the landscape there have told me Daboll’s personality might mesh with the Miami brain trust. As you hinted, the relationship between Flores and Grier was not in a good place, and obviously they’re going to look for someone they feel they can work with and get along with.

Fowler: That checks out on Daboll. Plus, he’s a coach at his core — don’t think he’s looking to usurp personnel power, for example. He has coached basically every position on the field and will be tasked with coaching players and coaches. I wouldn’t see a power struggle here. 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel will be interviewing, and it won’t surprise if he knocks out his interview. He’s an incredibly smart guy with 15 years under the Kyle Shanahan tree.

Graziano: McDaniel absolutely should not be dismissed as a head-coach candidate. He’s well-regarded around the league and a big part of the design and operation of Shanahan’s run-based offense in San Francisco. For this job, the candidates should have as many questions for ownership as vice versa. Why was a coach with a record as good as Flores’ fired after only three years? Who’s really going to be the quarterback? Do I have to try to build up Tagovailoa, or are we in the Deshaun Watson/Russell Wilson market? There’s some uncertainty in Miami.

Fowler: Well, some candidates will assuredly hope for the latter. Tagovailoa showed promise in the second half of the season, and he’s incredibly accurate. But the Dolphins also managed him well, rarely letting him cut loose. There are limitations in his game.

NEW YORK JETS

Somehow the Jets have succeeded in keeping massive T MEKHI BECTON out of the public (media) eye.  Mark Canizzaro of the New York Post thinks something is up – probably Becton’s wait:

Has anyone seen Mekhi Becton?

Six-foot-seven men weighing some 370 pounds don’t fit on milk cartons, so putting that kind of APB image out on the Jets’ second-year left tackle would do no good in the way of a search.

Yet Becton, the No. 11-overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, has been essentially invisible to the public for nearly five months.

He suffered a dislocated right kneecap in the first game of the season at Carolina in September, an injury that was originally diagnosed to have a recovery period of about two months, according the team. That led you to believe he perhaps had to chance to play again by November or December.

Those two months bled into three, then four and finally the rest of the season.

Sure, the Jets, who finished 4-13, have no more games to play this season, but let’s make this as clear as it can be: Becton is one of the two most important players on the Jets, along with quarterback Zach Wilson.

And his prolonged absence has been a cause for concern.

Once it became apparent that Becton’s second NFL season was finished at the 48 snaps he took in Carolina, requests to the team were made by reporters a week before the season finale to make him available to speak the day after the season.

That request somehow never was executed.

Monday’s postmortem to the season with the media, which included interviews with nine team-selected players, head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas, didn’t include Becton despite repeated requests.

This increased the shroud of mystery surrounding Becton, leading to speculation that, with his issues battling weight gain, the team wanted no part of reporters seeing how big Becton has gotten via a Zoom call.

THIS AND THAT

BROADCAST NEWS

The NFL’s ratings in 2021 were just fine.  Jay Busbee of YahooSports.com:

America’s not out of the pandemic quite yet, but here’s a sign that some aspects of life are returning to normal: the NFL’s drawing larger TV audiences again.

The NFL released its ratings numbers from the 2021 season, and the league enjoyed a 10-percent bounce from 2020 and the highest average ratings since 2015. The league recorded an average viewership per game of 17.1 million.

Moreover, NFL games stomped the entire TV landscape; during the season, NFL games came in as the top 16, 48 of the top 50, and 91 of the top 100 telecasts.

In and of themselves, ratings don’t matter to anyone outside the NFL except advertisers and broadcast executives. But they give context to the league’s health relative to other sports and entertainment properties. Pick a reason for the NFL’s ratings decline in 2020 — the pandemic, other entertainment options, lack of fans, political messaging — and it’s clear that the league has rebounded from the factors that caused the decline. 

The top-rated games from the season ran as follows:

Raiders at Cowboys, Week 12, 40.8 million: The Thanksgiving special crushed everything in its path.

Cowboys at Chiefs, Week 11, 28.7 million: America’s team vs. one of the NFL’s brightest stars is money in the bank.

Browns at Packers, Week 16, 28.6 million: Apparently we like to watch football on Christmas, too; sorry, NBA.

Bears at Lions, Week 12, 28.2 million: If you’ve ever wondered why the NFL keeps putting the wretched Lions on Thanksgiving, here’s why. Clearly we will watch even two garbage teams to avoid helping with the meal.

Buccaneers at Patriots, Week 4, 27. 2 million: People seemed interested in Tom Brady’s return to New England.

To slice that data another way, here are the teams that appear the most among the top 20 most-watched games of the 2021 season. If you wonder why the NFL keeps forcing the Dallas Cowboys on America, well, it’s clear that America wants to see the Dallas Cowboys:

@BenFischerSBJ

Appearances in the most-watched 20 games in the

@NFL

 this year: 

1.)  @dallascowboys    7

2t.)  @Buccaneers        5

2t.)  @packers              5

4t.) @steelers               3

4t.) @chiefs               3

This season marked the first time the NFL expanded to 17 games, with 272 total games broadcast over the course of the season. The season included 34 games decided on a final-play walkoff, the most ever in a single season. A total of 49 games were decided by a score in the final minute or overtime, tied for the most ever. And 175 games, or 64 percent of the entire slate, were within one possession in the fourth quarter.

As always, regardless of any off-field concerns or controversies, the best thing football has going for it is football.

HOW THE PLAYOFFS PLAY OUT

Save yourself the time and aggravation of watching 13 football games.  Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com lays it all out (edited version below):

Time to preview the 2021 NFL playoffs by running through my playoff bracket. I’ll pick winners for each of the six games we’re going to see this wild-card weekend and project who wins the games that follow and who will make it all the way to Super Bowl LVI. In all, I’ll break down 13 different matchups and why I think they’ll favor one team or the other.

Of course, it goes without saying that this bracket will not be correct. Even if we were being generous and assuming that my pick had a 65% chance of winning each game, the chances of hitting 13 consecutive selections are just over 240-to-1. Injuries, COVID-19 absences and bad luck will pop up. Even with a 17-game season, we overestimate how much we actually know about each team and its true talent level. This makes the playoffs hard to predict and wildly entertaining to watch.

AFC wild-card weekend

(7) Pittsburgh Steelers at (2) Kansas City Chiefs

These two met three weeks ago, and it wasn’t exactly pretty. The Chiefs won 36-10 in a game in which nothing went Pittsburgh’s way. There were five fumbles; guess how many the Steelers recovered? The answer is zero. Teams that have recovered zero of five fumbles in any game since 2000 are just 11-25, and even that seems high. As significant underdogs against the Chiefs in Kansas City with even neutral luck, the Steelers can’t afford to have the Chiefs recover five fumbles in any matchup.

I don’t suspect that will happen again, and if it doesn’t, the Steelers might be a tougher matchup for the Chiefs than it would seem on paper. T.J. Watt was able to play only 55% of the defensive snaps in the first game, and he should be in a full-time role against a Chiefs team struggling with injuries up front.

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The problem for the Steelers is that there isn’t much doing on the other side of the ball. It would be one thing if we could count on them to pick up a blocked punt for a score or a short field, as they did in the Week 1 win over the Bills, but the Chiefs have the league’s third-best special teams unit. The Steelers don’t have the offensive line to protect Ben Roethlisberger, the running game to control the clock or the consistent big-play ability to scare the Chiefs in coverage. This could be closer than expected, but I would expect Roethlisberger’s career to end here. Prediction: Chiefs 24, Steelers 20.

(6) New England Patriots at (3) Buffalo Bills

These two teams have played twice since the start of December, with the Patriots overcoming howling winds to win 14-10 in Buffalo before the Bills returned the favor with a 33-21 victory in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Western New York is expected to face sub-zero conditions Saturday night, but the wind gusts that rendered the passing game irrelevant in Week 13 aren’t expected to be in place.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, opening up the passing game reveals the biggest advantage between these two teams. Josh Allen played one of the best games of his career in the win over New England, threading immaculate passes through tight windows against one of the league’s best defenses. He has been inconsistent over the past month — he followed that Patriots game by going 11-of-26 for three picks in a win over the Falcons — but we know he typically has the sort of ceiling that rookie Mac Jones hasn’t really shown so far.

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The other advantage the Bills have, as the wonderful Mike Reiss noted on Twitter, is health. The Patriots have a number of defensive starters who either aren’t 100% or might be out for Saturday’s game, notably breakout rookie tackle Christian Barmore, who left the Week 18 loss to the Dolphins with a knee injury. The Bills are relatively healthy outside of the long-term absence of star corner Tre’Davious White. I’d expect a low-scoring slog and a home win for Buffalo over its hated rival. Prediction: Bills 19, Patriots 10.

(5) Las Vegas Raiders at (4) Cincinnati Bengals

While the regular-season finale against the Chargers came down to a frantic conclusion, the Raiders got their just desserts when Daniel Carlson hit his winning field goal. They outplayed the Chargers throughout Sunday’s game, only for Justin Herbert to bail out the offense with a series of preposterous plays on fourth downs. The Raiders dominated the line of scrimmage, as the offensive line did an excellent job of protecting Derek Carr, while Maxx Crosby dominated Storm Norton and harassed Herbert throughout the contest.

To get to that point, though, the Raiders rode their luck against a series of compromised quarterbacks. After dropping to 6-7, they landed consecutive games against backup quarterbacks Nick Mullens (Browns) and Drew Lock (Broncos). In Week 17, they played Carson Wentz after the Colts’ starter spent the entire week on the COVID-19 list, only to be cleared hours before game time. Wentz averaged just 5.5 yards per attempt in the first of Indianapolis’ two upset losses to end the season. The Raiders won those games by a total of just nine points.

Of course, you could make the same case that the Bengals might be overrated by their recent performance. Joe Burrow played like an MVP candidate in consecutive wins over the Ravens and Chiefs, throwing for a combined 971 yards and eight touchdowns. Those games matter, but they’re also way out of line with his performances from week to week. The 2021 No. 1 overall pick had thrown for 995 yards and five touchdowns over his prior four games up to that point while also mixing in four giveaways. Burrow and the Bengals are for real on offense, but expecting them to be the Greatest Show on Turf Rams is probably an exaggeration.

The problem for the Raiders is that I’m not sure another dominant game from Crosby would even be enough.. Prediction: Bengals 27, Raiders 17.

NFC wild-card weekend

(7) Philadelphia Eagles at (2) Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Here’s a list of quarterbacks the Eagles have beaten this season: Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Darnold, Jake Fromm, Garrett Gilbert, Jared Goff, Taylor Heinicke, Matt Ryan, Trevor Siemian and Zach Wilson. We’re looking at four backups, a guy who was benched, two players who were salary dumped this offseason, a struggling top-three pick and Ryan. When Tom Brady faced this secondary in Week 6, he went 34-of-42 with 297 yards in a game the Bucs led 28-7 before two late Philly scores.

Prediction: Bucs 34, Eagles 10.

(6) San Francisco 49ers at (3) Dallas Cowboys

The 49ers have the sort of roster capable of giving any team fits, and they are one of the few organizations with the sort of star-laden core that can match the Cowboys. We just saw Jimmy Garoppolo produce one of the best drives of his career in marching the 49ers down the field for the winning score against the Rams, which helped push San Francisco back into the postseason.

As was the case for the No. 7 seed, though, I don’t like this matchup for the 49ers.

With the 49ers bereft at cornerback against a team with multiple star receivers, they will need a heroic effort on the ground to stick with Dallas, and while that’s possible, I don’t trust an injured Garoppolo to protect the football, especially with star left tackle Trent Williams questionable to play. Prediction: Cowboys 27, 49ers 14.

(5) Arizona Cardinals at (4) Los Angeles Rams

I’m not sure there are many teams that have seemed less convincing while winning five of six than these Rams. Matthew Stafford has alternated white-hot stretches of passing with halves in which he has made inexplicable decisions with the football. In Los Angeles’ season-ending loss to the 49ers, he went 15-of-16 for 153 yards with two touchdowns in the first half, then threw two picks after halftime, including a game-ender to rookie Ambry Thomas.

The Cardinals weren’t able to take advantage in Week 18, as their 38-30 loss to the Seahawks handed the NFC West to Los Angeles. Facing an inconsistent Seattle offense, the Cardinals looked like they were still working out preseason mistakes.

Perhaps more disconcertingly, the Arizona offense has undergone yet another second-half fade. During their 1-4 run to finish the season, the Cardinals ranked 17th in offensive EPA per play, below the Texans and Lions. That drop-off came when receiver DeAndre Hopkins, running back James Conner and center Rodney Hudson were each missing for stretches, but Hopkins will miss the wild-card game because a torn MCL. It’s hard to believe the Cardinals are suddenly going to turn things around without him. Prediction: Rams 27, Cardinals 20.

AFC divisional round

(4) Cincinnati Bengals at (1) Tennessee Titans

The reward for the Bengals would be a trip to Nashville to play the top-seeded Titans, who might be the most difficult team in the league to figure out. Advanced metrics don’t just see them as less impressive than their record; they see them as a pretender. DVOA ranks Tennessee as the league’s 20th-best team, below the likes of the Vikings and Broncos.

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As I mentioned on the ESPN Daily podcast a couple of weeks ago, though, I’m not sure that Henry will offer the sort of bump we would expect. He was absorbing the largest workload in league history before his foot injury, but his efficiency had cratered in 2021. His per-carry stats were significantly down across the board. Furthermore, replacement D’Onta Foreman has been a similar back to Henry since joining the team:

The last time these two teams played was back in 2020, and it was a vintage rushing performance from Tennessee. Henry and Co. ran the ball 29 times and racked up 218 yards and two touchdowns. And as teams often do when they rack up 200-plus yards of offense, the Titans … lost by 11 points? In a game in which they ran the ball at will, turned the ball over only once and posted impressive conversion rates on third down and in the red zone, the Titans were blown out by a 2-6 Bengals team.

The problem then is that the Titans weren’t able to get pressure on Joe Burrow, who cooked them for 249 yards and two touchdowns. During a 2020 season in which Burrow was under pressure constantly, the Titans didn’t sack him once. They struggled despite the fact that Cincinnati was without running back Joe Mixon and four of its starting offensive linemen. The Bengals went 10-of-15 on third down and 4-of-5 scoring touchdowns in the red zone. It was their best offensive performance of the season.

Pressure was a problem for the Titans in 2020, but with Harold Landry breaking out and the secondary taking a step forward in 2021, they rank 10th in pressure rate this season. Burrow ranks third in the league in QBR when he gets time to throw, but when he’s pressured, he drops to 20th. The week off should help refresh Landry and Bud Dupree, who spent the entire season trying to catch up from his torn ACL and a midseason core injury. I think the pass rush does just enough to get the Titans back to the AFC Championship Game. Prediction: Titans 27, Bengals 20.

(3) Buffalo Bills at (2) Kansas City Chiefs

How much stock are you willing to put into what we saw when these teams played in Week 5? In what was widely perceived at the time as a changing of the guard in the AFC, the Bills wiped the field with the two-time defending conference champs. Josh Allen & Co. averaged more than 12 yards per play in the first half while scoring 24 points. The Chiefs improved in the second half, but one long drive ended in a tipped interception, while a Micah Hyde pick-six helped seal a 38-20 victory for the Bills.

Since then, the Chiefs are 10-2, while the Bills have gone 7-5.

My concern in the big picture might be the player who turned this into a great rivalry. Allen’s first- and second-half splits over the course of 2021 are dramatic:

Josh Allen’s Curious Step Back

SPLIT   CMP     ATT      CMP%  YDS     Y/ATT   TD        INT       RATING

Weeks 1-10       230       347       66.3%   2602     7.5        19         6          99.6

Weeks 11-18     179       299       59.9%   1805     6.0        17         9          83.5

Averaging just under a 60% completion percentage and 6 yards per attempt over the course of two months is a problem, and two of Allen’s worst games of the season have come in consecutive weeks against the Falcons and Jets, of all teams. The Chiefs have their problems on offense — and they could be seriously compromised if Hill’s injury turns out to linger throughout the AFC playoffs — but their floor is high enough on offense to be a safer bet. Prediction: Chiefs 27, Bills 20.

NFC divisional round

(4) Los Angeles Rams at (1) Green Bay Packers

We already saw this game once, and it wasn’t pretty. The Packers beat the Rams 36-28 in late November, but that required the Rams to score 11 points in the fourth quarter to make things look close. Scarily enough, the Packers are expected to have three of their best players who missed that game back in the fold for the postseason, as left tackle David Bakhtiari returned for Week 18, while cornerback Jaire Alexander and edge rusher Za’Darius Smith are projected to return in the divisional round.

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I think these teams are relatively close on both sides of the football, but there is one huge gap that might make up the difference: special teams. The Rams rank fourth in special teams DVOA, while it’s the one point of weakness for the Packers, who rank dead last in the category. When Rodgers is around, the Packers are usually good enough to overcome a disastrous special teams performance, like the one we saw against the Bears in Week 14. I think this game comes down to some element of special teams, like a missed field goal or a muffed punt, and the Rams are the team less likely to make that mistake. Prediction: Rams 24, Packers 23.

(3) Dallas Cowboys at (2) Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Think back to the teams that have given Brady fits in postseasons past. What do the 2007 Giants, 2011 Giants and 2015 Broncos have in common? They all had multiple devastating pass-rushers capable of winning one-on-one. With Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory, the Cowboys can threaten Brady without having to blitz. They also have a quarterback who excels against the blitz-heavy schemes Todd Bowles runs in Prescott, who ranks fourth in the NFL in QBR against the blitz and 16th when teams don’t send extra pressure.

All of that is true, and yet, I still can’t bring myself to pick the Cowboys. I can see them slowing down Brady — and they’re the best team in the league at forcing takeaways — but I don’t think they can count on generating four turnovers again. Dallas’ dream scenario would be a game that played out exactly the way the game in Week 1 did … and the Cowboys still managed to lose that one. I don’t think they’ll get as favorable a script here. Prediction: Buccaneers 20, Cowboys 17.

AFC Championship Game

(2). Kansas City Chiefs at (1) Tennessee Titans

As it turned out, the changing of the guard in the AFC might have come two weeks later, when the Chiefs were stomped 27-3 by the Titans in Nashville. Unlike the Bills game, this one came with Chris Jones on the field. With Patrick Mahomes fumbling twice and throwing an ill-advised interception toward Josh Gordon, this was the rare Kansas City blowout loss bad enough to get Chad Henne on the field in the garbage time.

Unlike the narrow Titans win over the Bills, which required a goal line stop of Josh Allen and a spectacular game from Derrick Henry, this victory also felt like a standard Titans performance. Henry and the rushing game weren’t even that effective, turning 35 carries into just 103 yards, but the Titans gouged Steve Spagnuolo’s defense through the air. Henry threw a 5-yard touchdown pass in the red zone, while Ryan Tannehill averaged 10 yards per pass attempt. This wasn’t even the product of a dominant play-action day; A.J. Brown had 80 receiving yards in the first quarter, beating L’Jarius Sneed and Mike Hughes for big gains on iso balls.

From that point forward, though, the Chiefs have been a better team on defense. Through the first seven weeks of the season, which culminated in that Titans game, Kansas City allowed 0.17 EPA per play, the worst mark in football. Since that game, the Chiefs have bounced back to the tune of minus-0.05 EPA per play, which is the sixth-best mark and just behind the Titans over that same time frame. Willie Gay and Charvarius Ward took over and returned as regulars, respectively, for the Titans game, and while they weren’t able to make a difference in that contest, the Chiefs have been much better since they became regulars. Juan Thornhill has also taken over as a starting safety, pushing Daniel Sorensen into a backup role.

Go back further and we’ve seen how each of these teams can win. When the Titans beat the Chiefs 35-32 in 2019, it was the product of a classic Henry game, as he ran for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Later that postseason, the Chiefs overcame an early 10-0 deficit, limited Henry to 69 yards on 19 carries and forced Tannehill to try to keep up with Mahomes in what became a shootout. Kansas City won 35-24. Both those formulas are plausible paths to victory for these teams this postseason.

In a way, the Chiefs and Titans are similar. We know they’re capable of being very good on both sides of the ball, but more often than not, they’ve won while mixing a great day on offense or defense with a messier performance on the other side. The Tennessee win over Kansas City, ironically, might represent one of the few cases in which the Titans were great all around.

There are two reasons I lean toward the Chiefs. One is special teams, which can be a deciding force in close games. Under the stewardship of legendary special teams coordinator Dave Toub, they rank third in the league in special teams DVOA. The Titans rank 22nd. The variance over a handful of special teams plays in a single game means anything is possible, but in most cases, we would favor the Chiefs to be the team to make a significant dent with their work on that underdiscussed facet of football.

The other is the formula we’ve seen to beat these teams: takeaways. When they’ve turned the ball over three or more times in 2021, the Chiefs and Titans are a combined 1-7. The rest of the time, they’ve gone 23-3. When I look at which of these defenses is more likely to generate those sorts of turnovers, I lean toward Kansas City, which has forced 29 takeaways to Tennessee’s 22.

If we believe the advanced metrics such as DVOA and ESPN’s FPI, the matchup between the Chiefs and Titans shouldn’t be close. I’m willing to believe that the Titans are better than the numbers indicate, but I still think the Chiefs head to Super Bowl LVI. Prediction: Chiefs 30, Titans 20.

NFC Championship Game

(4) Los Angeles Rams at (2) Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Rams’ most impressive victory of the season came back in Week 3, when they went up 34-17 in the fourth quarter on the Bucs before a garbage-time touchdown by Gio Bernard. The Rams controlled the line of scrimmage, holding the Tampa running game to just 35 yards on 13 carries while sacking Tom Brady three times. If the mentions of Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin made the Bucs-Cowboys game seem like another era, though, consider that the leading receiver for the Rams in this game was DeSean Jackson, who had 40- and 75-yard catches. He finished the season with the Raiders.

Both teams look different than the units we saw back in September, but I’m more concerned about the injuries on the Tampa side of things. I mentioned its various absences and ailments on offense. The early-season injury stack at cornerback has healed up, but the Bucs just recalled star linebacker Lavonte David from injured reserve after the veteran went down with a foot injury against the Saints. David might be back as early as the Eagles game, but if he’s not 100%, it hurts the Bucs, especially against a team that works play-action as well as the Rams.

Los Angeles, on the other hand, is down two starters in wideout Robert Woods and safety Jordan Fuller, who just went down for the rest of the season in the loss to the 49ers. Both are big absences, admittedly, but their injury issues are not as pervasive as what we’re seeing in Tampa. The Bucs are also the league’s oldest team by a considerable margin in terms of snap-weighted age, so it’s entirely possible they’re more likely to develop new injuries over the next couple of weeks.

As much attention as Brady and the skill players get, the Bucs win a lot of games by dominating the line of scrimmage. Few teams can make a case for having the best offensive line and the best defensive line in football. The Rams aren’t quite there, but they also have the single most devastating defender in football in Aaron Donald, who has been on fire heading into the postseason.

I also think the Los Angeles offense matches up well against Tampa’s plans on defense. Dak Prescott is good against the blitz, but the league’s No. 1 quarterback against the blitz this season has been Matthew Stafford, whose 92.3 QBR against extra rushers has made it difficult to go after him. We know Stafford can get white hot when he’s on his game; it wouldn’t shock me if he had a career performance in the NFC Championship Game and helped propel the Rams to the Super Bowl. Prediction: Rams 34, Buccaneers 27.

Super Bowl LVI

Los Angeles Rams vs. Kansas City Chiefs

In full disclosure, this was the pick I made before the season on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt. Last year, my preseason pick was Buccaneers-Chiefs, so I looked pretty good when those two teams made it to the Super Bowl. Of course, I also picked the Chiefs to win before they were blown out by the Bucs, so I don’t deserve too many pats on the back there.

This is the long-awaited rematch of the legendary 54-51 Monday Night Football game from 2018, although the Rams’ leading passer (Jared Goff), rusher (Todd Gurley), receiver (Brandin Cooks) and scorers (Gerald Everett and defender Samson Ebukam) from that day are no longer on their roster. Kareem Hunt and Justin Houston are gone, but many of the key players for the Chiefs in that game are still around. The result might have been different if Kansas City had already had Tyrann Mathieu, who would join the team in free agency after the season.

There would be some fascinating tactical matchups here. Would Jalen Ramsey cover Travis Kelce or Tyreek Hill, who would have an extra week of rest for his heel injury? Could Kansas City’ star rookie duo of Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith neutralize Aaron Donald? Do the Chiefs have anyone who can move around and cover Cooper Kupp? Given Kansas City’s perennial issues stopping the run, would the Rams be able to march down the field with their rushing attack of Sony Michel and Cam Akers, who will be another month removed from his torn Achilles by February?

The first mismatch that stands out to me, though, is Chris Jones against the interior of the Rams’ offensive line. Los Angeles is stout at tackle with the ageless Andrew Whitworth and Rob Havenstein, but we saw the Titans give them fits with interior rushers Denico Autry and Jeffery Simmons in Tennessee’s win earlier this season. Jones could have that sort of impact against what might be the weakest spot on the Rams’ roster.

The other problem for the Rams is that they struggle to get off the field on third down, ranking 21st in third-down conversion rate. That mark unsurprisingly gets worse in their losses, where they allow opposing teams to convert 50% of the time, which ranks 27th when compared to other teams in their respective losses. The Chiefs have been the league’s best team at moving the chains, converting more than 52% of the time this season.

Of course, the Chiefs have their own problems to worry about. I don’t think they have a great answer for Kupp. They have the worst QBR in the league against play-action, and while the Rams aren’t as play-action intensive as they were in 2018, it’s something I’m sure the Rams would notice as they have two weeks to prepare for the Super Bowl. Los Angeles also is one of the few teams that has a cornerback like Ramsey, who can credibly match up one-on-one against Kelce on the backside of 3×1 sets or run with Hill as the No. 3 receiver on the frontside.

With that said, given two weeks to prepare for any game, I like Andy Reid’s chances. Patrick Mahomes might not have hit the heights we’ve seen in years past, but he has been more consistent and collected than Stafford, who has run hot and cold in the same game at times. I don’t think we would see another 54-51 classic, but if it comes down to Chiefs-Rams, I’ll stick with my preseason prediction for which team wins, too. Prediction: Chiefs 31, Rams 24.

He has all seven teams winning the Wild Card round.  And only the Rams (twice) winning on the road after that.