NFL Playoff Predictions

AFC:

Wild Card Round

2 Buffalo Bills vs 7 Denver Broncos

3 Baltimore Ravens vs 6 Pittsburgh Steelers

4 Houston Texans vs 5 Los Angeles Chargers

Divisional Round

1 Kansas City Chiefs vs 5 Los Angeles Chargers

2 Buffalo Bills vs 3 Baltimore Ravens

Championship Game:

1 Kansas Chiefs vs 2 Buffalo Bills

NFC

Wild Card Round

2 Philadelphia Eagles vs 7 Green Bay Packers

3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs 6 Washington Commanders

4 Los Angeles Rams vs 5 Minnesota Vikings

Divisional Round

1 Detroit Lions vs 4 Los Angeles Rams

2 Philadelphia Eagles vs 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Conference Championship

1 Detroit Lions vs 2 Philadelphia Eagles

Super Bowl

2 Buffalo Bills vs 1 Detroit Lions

Champion: Detroit Lions

QB Tiers after the Regular Season

Brady Tier: All-time greats in their primes

  • Patrick Mahomes*, Kansas City Chiefs
  • Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
  • Lamar Jackson*, Baltimore Ravens
  • Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

Rivers Tier: Franchise QB who you are happy paying top tier money and building around

  • Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
  • Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
  • Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
  • Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
  • Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
  • CJ Stroud, Houston Texans

Cousins Tier: Solid player who you are happy to have, but don’t want to pay to dollar for. Unfortunately, you may end up having to pay them top dollar or pretty close

  • Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  • Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
  • Russell Wilson*, Pittsburgh Steelers
  • Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
  • Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
  • Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings
  • Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
  • Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
  • Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
  • Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints

Fitzmagic Tier: Bridge QB or washed player

  • Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons
  • Aaron Rodgers*, New York Jets
  • Any Las Vegas Raiders QB
  • Any Cleveland Browns QB
  • Any New York Giants QB

TBD Tier: Jury is still out

  • Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (Trending up)
  • Drake Maye, New England Patriots (Trending up)
  • Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (Trending up)
  • Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (Trending up)
  • JJ McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings (Neutral)
  • Michael Penix (Neutral)
  • Bryce Young (Trending Down)
  • Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts (Trending down)
  • Will Levis, Tennessee Titans (Trending down)

An asterisk indicates a player who I believe has already clinched a spot in the Hall of Fame.

15 Minute Blitz

There will be no podcast this week. Happy New Year. Feel free to catch up on past episodes below.

https://open.spotify.com/show/7FRSwrllknwemMVvghqlRQ

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-15-minute-blitz-230527724/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/15-minute-blitz/id1775746291

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/23d6848d-e967-470e-b1f1-8996bd205feb/15-minute-blitz

NFL Coach Firing Predictions

Black Monday is approaching. In addition to the three head coaches who have been fired, here are my predictions on the other non-interim coaches I think will be canned.

Doug Pederson – Jaguars

He and this team vastly underperformed. They have a lot of talent, but find themselves towards the bottom of the league. I think they look for new coach and fresh start.

Mike McCarthy – Cowboys

They have disappointed in the postseason the past couple seasons and this year was a big let down. They have played with a lot of fight to end the year, but I think they go their separate ways.

Brian Daboll – Giants

The Giants have moved off Daniel Jones and now probably want a fresh start. I don’t know if there is an available coach better than Daboll, but I think the Giants will move on.

NFL Week 17 Reaction

Kansas City Chiefs (15-1) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)

The Chiefs dominated despite missing some great players and once again captured the 1 Seed in the AFC.

The Steelers now fall to 2nd place in their division.

Baltimore Ravens (11-5) @ Houston Texans (9-7)

The Ravens find themselves in 1st place in the AFC North. The Texans are now locked in to be the 4 seed.

Lamar becomes the leading rusher all time by a QB at the age of 27. He’s truly one of the most unique and talented QBs we have ever seen.

Los Angeles Chargers (10-6) @ New England Patriots (3-13)

An absolute beat down. Herbert and the Chargers are a very good team, but it still sucks to get blown out.

Maye and Gonzo are dealing with concussions so we may not see them the remainder of the year.

Green Bay Packers (11-5) @ Minnesota Vikings (14-2)

Sam Darnold has just been insane this year. The Vikings could have 14 wins and be the 5 seed this year and not have a home playoff game. The NFC is wide open this year.

Detroit Lions (14-2) @ San Francisco 49ers (7-9)

The Lions outlast the Niners in a great shootout. Purdy played well, but continues to throw bad interceptions in critical moments.

The Lions now face the Vikings in a huge Week 18 matchup.

Game/Betting Pick Results

Game: 4-1 (43-19 This Season) (81-35 All-Time)

Spread: 4-1 (38-21-3) (77-35-4)

O/U: 3-2 (32-30) (61-54-1)