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The Andrew Preview: NFL Divisional Round Playoffs

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Andrew Bloom

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The Steelers and the Ravens will face each other for the third time this season.

1. Six of the seven expected coaching vacancies this offseason have been filled. Both Leslie Frazier of the Vikings and Jason Garrett of the Cowboys managed to shed their “interim” tags at  the end of the regular season. From the college ranks, coveted Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh signed a five year deal to coach the San Francisco 49ers. On the coordinator front, the San Diego Chargers’ Defensive Coordinator, Ron Rivera, agreed to become the coach of the Carolina Panthers, and the St. Louis Rams’ Offensive Coordinator, Pat Shurmur, will become the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Finally, former Carolina coach John Fox agreed to become the new head coach for the Denver Broncos. That leaves the Oakland Raiders as the only current head coaching vacancy in the league.

2. This week we have a pair of unpleasant off-the-field tidbits for you. First, former Giants’ linebacker Lawrence Taylor plead guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute this week. As part of his plea bargain, Taylor will serve six years probation and must register as a sex offender. Taylor caught with a sixteen-year-old prostitute in May after the girl’s uncle alerted police. Taylor asserts that he did not know the prostitute was underage and that she told him she was nineteen. In other crime tangentially related to football news, Brett Favre’s sister, Brandi Favre, was arrested on Tuesday as part of a methamphetamine bust in Mississippi. She is currently out on bail, and facing charges manufacturing methamphetamine and generating hazardous waste. Her next court appearance will be on February 8th.

3. The Steelers received a visit from a familiar face yesterday, as Bill Cowher returned to watch the team practice for the first time since resigning as Pittsburgh’s head coach in 2007. Cowher became an analyst for CBS, and it was in this capacity that he watched the Steelers practice for their game against the Baltimore Ravens this Saturday. During the visit, Cowher interviewed many of his former players, including Ben Roethlisberger, James Harrison, and Hines Ward. Cowher, who currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, was seen hugging and shaking hands with many of the Pittsburgh players during the trip.

The Playoff Picture

Your final standings/seedings:

AFC

1. New England Patriots (14-2)
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)
3. Indianapolis Colts (10-6)
4. Kansas City Chiefs (10-6)
5. Baltimore Ravens (12-4)
6. New York Jets at (11-5)

My apologies for the mixup two weeks ago. I did not realize that the Colts could jump to the third seed with a win and a Chiefs’ loss. That’s not bad for a team that was 6-6 a month ago, though that’ll be little consolation now. The AFC playoff picture was exactly what we thought it would be, aside from Indy’s switch with Kansas City.

NFC

1. Atlanta Falcons (13-3)
2. Chicago Bears (11-5)
3. Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)
4. Seattle Seahawks (7-9)
5. New Orleans Saints (11-5)
6. Green Bay Packers (10-6)

Again, pretty much what we expected from the NFC, with the only mild surprise being that the Seahawks managed to become the first sub-.500 team to not only make the postseason, but win a playoff game. It’s a bit notable that the three teams with nothing really to play for in Week Seventeen: Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, all lost in their final week of the regular season. We saw what that lack of momentum did for the Eagles and Saints; we’ll see if the Bears can do better.

Head of the Pack

Your final statistical leaders in:

Passing

1. Phillip Rivers (San Diego) –4710 yards
2. Peyton Manning (Indianapolis) – 4700 yards
3. Drew Brees (New Orleans) – 4620 yards

Phillip Rivers jumped from third to first in Week Seventeen to become the 2010 NFL Passing leader.

Rushing

1. Arian Foster (Houston) – 1616 yards
2. Jamal Charles (Kansas City) – 1467 yards
3. Michael Turner (Atlanta) – 1371

A little bit of a surprise here with Michael Turner jumping back into the top three in the final week of the season, but Arian Foster is the 2010 NFL Rushing Leader by a good 159 yards.

Receiving

1. Brandon Lloyd (Denver) – 1448 yards
2. Roddy White (Atlanta) – 1389 yards
3. Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis) – 1355 yards

There were no changes from Week Sixteen to Week Seventeen, and Brandon Lloyd is the 2010 Receiving Leader.

Sacks

1. DeMarcus Ware (Dallas) – 16.0
2. Tamba Hali (Kansas City) – 15.0
T-3. Cameron Wake (Miami) – 14.0
T-3. Clay Matthews (Green Bay) – 14.0

A bit of surprise here with DeMarcus Ware jumping ahead in the final week to become the 2010 Sack Leader, and with Tamba Hali pulling into second place.

Four Big Match Ups

1. Baltimore at Pittsburgh, Saturday, 4:30 P.M. EST on CBS – I have said all year that I’m not sure who the Pittsburgh Steelers have been this season. Most teams that make it to 12-4 either start rolling early and stumble at the end when there’s not much on the line, or perform consistently well with a few aberrant stumbles here and there. The Steelers, on the other hand, arrived at this record in a pretty unusual way. They started out strong, winning five of their first six games and seemed like they might even run away with the division. Then, the Steelers seemed to struggle a bit in the middle of the year, losing by double digits to New Orleans and New England. While they still managed to win at this time, they were just barely eking out victories over bad teams. Finally, they seemed to pick things up at the end, winning four of their last five games, and absolutely crushing the weaker squads in their division. If ever there’s a time to keep up that momentum, it’s now. Mike Tomlin and Big Ben are hoping to roll onto the field with the team that dominated at the beginning and end of the season, not the one that struggled in the middle. The Ravens, on the other hand, are looking to once and for all step out of the shadow of Pittsburgh in the AFC North. The two teams entered the postseason tied at 12-4, but the Steelers got the division and the bye, thanks to the tiebreaker, dropping the Ravens from a potential second seed down to the fifth seed. How did Baltimore respond? With a thirty-point beat down of the AFC West champion’s from Kansas City The Ravens looked like a team possessed as they absolutely manhandled the Chiefs. The Ravens will look to continue that type of play against their division rivals, and pave their way to the AFC Championship game. This game is my pick for the best matchup of the weekend.

2. Green Bay at Atlanta, Saturday, 8 P.M. EST on FOX – The Packers have won their last three games in a row, beating a playoff contender in the New York Giants, and a pair of division winners in the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, they’ll try to defeat their third NFC division champ in a month and unseat the Atlanta Falcons. Aaron Rodgers on offense and Clay Matthews on defense have led these Packers into the playoffs and seem to have the momentum going into this game. That said, the Atlanta Falcons have won nine of their last ten games, will be setting up shop in the Georgia Dome, and have had an extra week to rest and prepare for their opponents. Matt Ryan and the Falcons have been far and away the top team in the NFC this year, and they’ll look to continue their great season all the way to the NFC Championship game. Expect a great fight between two great teams.

3. Seattle at Chicago, 1 P.M. EST on FOX – A great many of us thought, and some still think, that the Seattle Seahawks had no business making the playoffs. Even among those of us who thought they deserved the berth, most expected the high-powered New Orleans Saints to completely steamroll a Seattle team that couldn’t even manage a winning record. Well, in a weekend of upsets, Seattle pulled off the biggest of the weekend, and one of the biggest in NFL history, as they hung on to beat New Orleans 41-36. The Seahawks have pulled off a lot of firsts this year. They were the first sub-.500 team to make the playoffs and also the first sub-.500 teams to win a playoff game. Now, can they become the first sub-.500 team to make it to the NFC Championship game? Not if the Bears can help it.  Chicago is coming off a bye week. They’re rested, and looking to enter the game fired up against Seattle. With Jay Cutler, Julius Peppers, Brian Urlacher, and Devin Hester taking the field, expect the big names of Chicago to look to make an impact in the team’s first playoff game in four years. I expect this to be a much better game than the records portend, and the kick-return battle between Hester and Leon Washington should be worth the price of admission on its own.

4. NY Jets at New England, 4:30 P.M. EST on FOX – It’s Jets-Pats, baby. How much more is there to say? In our second divisional matchup of the weekend, two of the biggest teams from this season will square off for a third time. At the Meadowlands, the Jets got a huge two-touchdown victory over the Patriots in Week Two, and looked to have the fast track to the top of the AFC East. Then, in lucky Week Thirteen, the Pats returned the favor and then some, as they absolutely demolished New York in a 45-3 drubbing at home. Now the Jets will return to Foxboro with both teams’ seasons on the line. New York initially seemed to be reeling from that New England game, but then they appeared to have righted the ship at the end of the season, winning two of their last three match ups, including an important victory over the second-seeded Steelers. The Patriots, on the other hand, have won their last eight games in a row, and scored no fewer than thirty-one points in each outing. This matchup between the top seed and the sixth seed in the AFC has the potential to be a back and forth affair or a blowout. As fans of good football, let’s hope for the former.

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The Andrew Preview: NFL Week Five

Posted on October 6, 2010 by Andrew Bloom

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The Patriots traded Moss to the Vikings for a third round draft pick.

1. The New England Patriots have traded receiver Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings, the for a third round pick. Minnesota drafted Moss out of college nearly twelve years ago. The outspoken reciever had expressed his dissatisfaction with the lack of a new contract with the Pats, saying, “When you have done so much and put so much work in, it kind of feels like I am not wanted.” In Monday night’s game against the Dolphins, Moss had zero catches, a first for him as a Patriot, despite New England scoring forty-one points. Rumor has it that Moss had been angling for a trade since Week One. Favre had apparently sought out Moss as a target for some time. Many source described the Packers’ failure to acquire the receiver for two years in a row, despite Brett’s overwhelming insistence, as a very sore spot between the veteran QB and the Green Bay organization. The addition of Moss will give the Vikings the deep thread receiver they have been lacking since Sidney Rice underwent hip surgery. The Vikings had sought to make a deal with disgruntled Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson, but negotiations fell through. Reportedly, the Vikings and Moss have not yet discussed a new contract. Minnesota and New England are scheduled to play each other in a mere three weeks time.

2. In other trade news, the Buffalo Bills sent RB Marshawn Lynch to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for two undisclosed draft picks. This will leave the running game in Buffalo to backup Fred Jackson and first round draft pick C.J. Spiller. For its part, Seattle hopes the addition of Lynch will add a spark to its running game, which has been sorely lacking through the first quarter of the season. In order to make room for Lynch, the Seahawks cut Julius Jones, who had been their leading rusher the past two years. Jones had restructured his contract to take a pay cut this season, but still had only been given the ball a dozen times and gained minimal yardage. He was inactive this past Sunday against the Rams. Lynch will join Seattle’s other running back, Justin Forsett. The two were teammates and friends at Cal, with Lynch having even been a groomsman at Forsett’s wedding earlier this year.

3. The Miami Dolphins fired Special Teams coordinator John Bonamego this week after the team’s miserable failure to perform against the Patriots on Monday Night. The special teams play was particularly weak, including two blocked kicks, both of which led to touchdowns on the ensuing Patriot drives and a 103-yard kickoff return. The Dolphins also had a punt blocked against the Jets the week prior. Special Teams assistant Darren Rizzi will replace Bonamego as coordinator. Head coach Tony Sparano called the move a “hard decision” adding, “Nobody works harder than him at what he does.” The Dolphin currently rank last in the NFL in both punting and kickoff coverage.

Undefeated Teams

Kansas City Chiefs

Last season it took us until Week Fifteen until we had only one undefeated team left. This season, it only took us until Week Four. The 1972 Dolphins may be popping the champagne early this year as the Chiefs, with thirteen more games left to play and a 3-0 record, are the last undefeated team in the NFL. The Bears lost to the Giants and the Steelers lost to the Ravens, whittling us down to only one team in the NFL without a loss.

2008 Detroit Lions Memorial Winless Teams

Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers

Only one team made it out of the cellar this week as the Browns upset the Bengals to earn their first win. The Bills, Lions, and 49ers are all playing teams at .500 this week, and will hope to avoid to 2008 Lions’ fate.

Three Big Match Ups

1. Kansas City and Indianapolis, 1 P.M. EST on CBS – Who in the world would have guessed that the last undefeated in the league would be the Kansas City Chiefs? Matt Cassel’s group has scored wins in close games against the division rivals Chargers, as well as the Browns, and then pulled off a big, three-touchdown victory over the 49ers. As the sole remaining team without a loss, and bye week to rest up, expect Kansas City to come out looking to prove their mettle this week. They’ll play the team that went the longest without a loss last season. The Colts have gone a meager 2-2 in the first four weeks of the season, and have only shown flashes of the dominating team that made it to the Superbowl last year. After back-to-back resounding wins over New York and Denver, Indy lost a heartbreaker in final seconds in Jacksonville, giving them their second loss in the division. Still, the Colts are in the thick of the AFC South race, only one game back from Texans, and joining the glut of NFL teams at .500. Expect them to come out firing and remind the Chiefs why Indianapolis spent so much of last season undefeated.

2. Denver at Baltimore, 1 P.M. EST on CBS – The Broncos have been playing tight, but solid games these past few weeks. Kyle Orton appears to have come into his own this season, making last year’s Cutler-Orton trade seem a bit more even that initially thought. With a close win in a hard-fought game against Tennessee, the ponies have a tough pair of games ahead, with the Jets waiting in the wings after Denver finishes with Baltimore. Still, the Broncos showed a lot of toughness last week and will assuredly give the Ravens a run for their money. Baltimore, on the other hand, has looked stellar through the first four weeks of the season. Each of its games has been close, with the margin of victory never being greater than a touchdown. Still, with two division wins already, the Ravens are sitting pretty in the AFC North. Last week, they handed the vaunted Steelers their first loss in an exciting 17-14 showdown. The renewed Baltimore D will look to stop the Denver offense in its tracks and extend the Ravens’ dominance by another week.

3. NY Jets at Minnesota, Monday, 8:30 P.M. EST on ESPN – This one just got a little more interesting. The Jets keep making this list because they continue to play quality games against quality opponents. For all of Rex Ryan’s bluster, the Jets have so far managed to back it up, winning three of their first four games of the season and sweeping the rest of their division thus far. Despite an initial shakiness, Mark Sanchez is playing like a franchise quarterback, and he’ll have a new target this week with the return of Santonio Holmes. However, he won’t be the only one with a new star to throw to, as Randy Moss will suit up in the purple and gold for the first time since he was traded to Oakland in 2005. Moss will be playing in his second consecutive Monday night game. The Vikings looked to be in freefall, starting 0-2 until they got their first win of the season against the Lions. Now, with the addition of Moss and a bye week to rest and prepare, Minnesota looks like a much tougher game, especially at home. Expect Brett Favre to utilize his new weapon early and often in a match up that just became much more intriguing.

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