BY: Tony LiebertThe 2019 Super Bowl has the potential to be one of the most anticipated ever. Rams V.S. Chiefs, Saints V.S. Patriots, Patriots V.S. Rams, or Chiefs V.S. Saints. Any of those matchups have the potential to be insane, and possibly one of the most hyped super bowls ever. Sunday, January 20th - 2:05 P.M. #2 Los Angeles Rams @ #1 New Orleans Saints The Rams and the Saints met earlier this season in week nine. In that matches the Saints defeated the Rams 45-35. This game was played in New Orleans, similar to this week's NFC championship game. This game was dominated by the Saints passing attack. Drew Brees threw for 346 yards and four touchdowns, along with Michael Thomas having 12 catches for 211 yards and one score. This was really the first game of the season that Todd Gurley struggled to get going, he only finished with 79 total yards and once touchdown. I think that this early season matchup will influence how Sean Payton and Sean McVay game plan this week dramatically. One of the biggest positional matchups of this game will be the Saints run defense against Todd Gurley, C.J. Anderson, and the Rams rushing offense. I think the main reason that Todd Gurley struggled so much earlier in the season was because of the Saints young defensive tackle, Sheldon Rankins. Rankins has been playing at an All-Pro level this season. He is one of the best pass rushing interior lineman in the whole NFL. He had eight sacks on the season from the interior position, which are great numbers from a defensive tackle. Rankins has also shown to be very strong in run defense with 12 tackles for loss, and 47 total tackles. The problem is, that Rankins suffered a torn achilles last week against the Eagles, and is now out for the season. I think this will be a tough loss for the Saints and play a large factor in this game. The other matchup I like in this game is Marcus Peters and the Rams defensive backs against Michael Thomas and the Saints receivers. Peters was torched in the first matchup this season against Thomas, with him going for 12 catches and 211 yards while primarily lining up against Peters. Peters was quoted after the first matchup saying, "Tell Sean Payton to keep talking that shit," he said. "We're going to see him soon, you feel me? Peters later downplayed the quote saying that it wasn't that big of a deal. I do still think that this matchup will be very fun to watch with two All-Pro level talents, Marcus Peters and Michael Thomas going at it all game. I think whoever gets the better end of this matchup will win this game. You have been able to tell that the Saints' offense is not able to run as smoothly if Michael Thomas is not playing well, and if the Saints offense is not playing well, I can't see the Rams losing this game. I think that C.J. Anderson, Todd Gurley, and the Rams' rushing attack will be able to keep their hot streak going, while I expect Marcus Peters to back up his "big mouth" and slow down Michael Thomas. The Los Angeles Rams will defeat the New Orleans Saints and advance to the Super Bowl. Rams: 31 Saints: 24 Sunday, January 20th - 5:40 P.M. #2 New England Patriots @ #1 Kansas City Chiefs Similarly to the Rams and the Saints both of these teams met earlier in the season as well. The Chiefs and the Patriots met in week six on Sunday Night Football. This game was played in Foxborough where the Patriots have shown to be unbeatable. Pat Mahomes was himself throwing for 350 and four touchdowns with Tyreek Hill catching three of them on seven catches and 142 yards. On the Patriots side, this was a breakout game for rookie running back Sony Michel who had 24 carries for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Both of these teams are different at this point of the season, but Andy Reid and Bill Belichick will definitely look back to this game while making their gameplan. I think that both teams rushing attacks will affect who wins this game. In the second half of the season Sony Michel has been running terrific for the Patriots he has went over 100 yards three of the past four weeks. The Patriots also have one of the best pass catching backs in the entire NFL, James White. White is coming off a game where he had the most receptions in a playoff game of all time. White had 15 catches for 97 yards. If White and Michel get going I can't see the Patriots losing this game. The Chiefs running game is a different situation. Kansas City obviously lost Kareem Hunt earlier in the season, who at the time was one of the best running backs in the league. I do think that Damien Williams has stepped into the starting running back role very well, and has been doing what the Chiefs need him to do in the later part of the season. In his last five games, Williams has seven touchdowns to go along with 506 total yards. The Chiefs have shown that their offense is not as powerful without the ability to run the ball. Running the ball for the Chiefs opens up their play action game along with their passing game overall. If Williams is able to get rolling again I think that Chiefs offense will be too much handle for the Patriots. Another large factor in this game will be All-Pro level safety Eric Berry's health. If Berry is able to play in this game it will help the Chiefs defense dramatically. Berry is the leader of the Chiefs defense and they have shown to play much better when he is on the field. In this game I expect the Chiefs defense to show up and slow down the Patriots. The home field advantage of Arrowhead stadium will help the young Patrick Mahomes tremendously. And I think that the Patriots passing game flaws will finally stand out. With Andy Reid and Chiefs finally breaking through and reaching the Super Bowl. Chiefs: 28 Patriots: 24 A rematch of the Rams, Chiefs epic Monday Night Football matchup will be arguably one of the most anticipated Super Bowls of all time...
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BY: Tony LiebertLast week's Wild-Card weekend was one of the most exciting in recent memory. I expect the Divisional round to bring the same excitement. Saturday, January 12th - 3:35 P.M. #6 Indianapolis Colts V.S. #1 Kansas City Chiefs This is one of my favorite matchups of the entire weekend. I think that the Colts' performance last weekend against the Texans, showed that they can beat anyone on the NFL. Andrew Luck has shown that he is a top tier quarterback this season with 4,500+ passing yards this season and 40+ total touchdowns. The Colts this season had one of the quickest turnarounds of recent memory. This was in large part to having a franchise changing draft class. The Colts drafted guard Quenton Nelson with the 6th pick, who has been arguably the best rookie offensive lineman ever. To go along with Nelson the Colts selected linebacker Darius Leonard in the second round who is now leading the NFL in tackles. I think the Colts will be able to put up a fight against one of the NFL best offenses. The Kansas City Chiefs have put together one of the best offensive season in NFL history. The Chiefs are obviously led by future MVP Patrick Mahomes who has just been truly elite this season. A major reason for Mahomes' unbelievable success is the Chiefs' weapons. The Chiefs have arguably the best offensive weapons in the league, headlined by All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce, the past few seasons Kelce has arguably been one of the best tight ends in the NFL. The Chiefs' wide receivers are led by the electrifying Tyreek Hill. Since Hill has entered the league he has shown that he can take it to the house any time he touches the ball. For the majority of the season the Chiefs also had one of the best running backs in the NFL, Kareem Hunt. It obviously has been tough for the Chiefs to establish the running game with out Hunt, but they have still shown to be explosive. I expect the Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense to be too much to handle for the Colts inexperienced defense and I think that offensive mastermind Andy Reid will finally break through after the Chiefs going 1-11 in their last 12 playoff games and they reach the AFC Championship game. Chiefs: 38 Colts: 30 Saturday, January 12th - 7:15 P.M. #4 Dallas Cowboys V.S. #2 Los Angeles Rams This matchup is between two third year quarterbacks, Jared Goff and Dak Prescott. Prescott is coming off his best game in his young professional career. Dak had 226 passing yards and 1 touchdown to go along with 29 on the ground and one more score. The 29 yards on the ground are so significant because he had a 20 yard QB Draw to end the game in possibly the biggest play of Dak's career, which ended the game against the Seahawks. Zeke also had a monster game with 150+ yards on the ground. The Cowboys defense led by Jaylon Smith also showed up and played very well against the Seahawks and the number one rushing attack, so they have some momentum coming into this week. The Rams are coming with possibly the most talented team in the NFL from top to bottom. Jared Goff has played very well this season but not as well in the second half of the season. The Rams offense runs through star running back Todd Gurley. Gurley has 1750+ yards and 20+ touchdowns this season while sitting out of two games this season. The Rams also have a terrific receiving core led by Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks who have been playing their best football in the second half of the season. Their Rams defense is also very talented and is headlined by their star D-lineman Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh. Donald might be playing the best defensive football in the NFL. In this week's game I expect 1 week of time to prepare to be too useful for the Rams and Sean McVay, and they will put their second half struggles behind them. I think Todd Gurley gets back on track and is too much to handle for the young Cowboys defense. Rams: 37 Cowboys: 13 Sunday, January 13th - 12:05 P.M. #5 Los Angeles Chargers V.S. #2 New England Patriots This game is between two of the greatest quarterbacks of this generation, Philip Rivers and Tom Brady. Philip Rivers has been having arguably the best season of his Hall of Fame career. Rivers and the Chargers have arguably one of the best group of weapons in the NFL. Their weapons are headlined by running back Melvin Gordon who has been having a great season but has been dealing with injuries as of late. To go along with possibly the most underrated receiver in the NFL Keenan Allen, and terrific red zone threat Mike Williams. Tight end Hunter Henry will also play a big role in this game after coming back from injury from tearing his ACL back in May. The Chargers defense has been the weakness of their team they have played inconsistent and are very inexperienced led by great pass rushers Joey Bosa, and Melvin Ingram. As well as star rookie safety Derwin James in the back end. The play of the Chargers linebacker will decide who wins this game. The Patriots have had arguably one of their worst season in the "Bill Belichick, Tom Brady" era. The Patriots have looked old and slow at times this season. Rob Gronkowski has not looked the same, and he looks like he is playing hurt at times. Tom Brady has not performed at his usual level, and the Patriots probably have the worst offensive weapons in 10+ years. With Julian Edelman and really nobody else at wide receiver. The defense has also not looked like the normal Patriots level. But the reason I like the Patriots in this game is because of their running game. In the last few weeks to end the season Sony Michel has rushed very well, and James White their other back is one of the best pass receiving backs in the NFL. I see Bill Belichick not taking a week of preparation for granted and I think the Patriots win this game in a close one. Patriots: 32 Chargers: 20 Sunday, January 13th - 3:40 P.M. #1 New Orleans Saints V.S. #6 Philadelphia Eagles The Saints come in with one of the most complete teams of recent memory. The are led by the best statistical quarterback of all time Drew Brees. They also have the best running back duo in the NFL with Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara who have been terrific this season. The Saints' weapons are rounded out by All-Pro receiver in Michael Thomas who has been arguably the best receiver in the NFL this season.. The only weakness that the Saints have is their receivers after Michael Thomas, they have struggled to find a receiver after Thomas this season. Beginning with signing Dez Bryant, then he got hurt and didn't play a single game, rookie wide receiver Trequan Smith has tried to get involved but has struggled to remain consistent. And lastly they have Ted Ginn Jr. returning from injury who I expect to play a big role in this game. Their defense has also been terrific headlined by Cameron Jordan and Marshon Lattimore while Sean Payton has been Sean Payton and has been coaching at a hall of fame level. The Eagles on the other hand may have the best postseason quarterback of all time. Nick Foles has put together on of the greatest postseason runs of all time. There is really not anything that I like about the Eagles team as a whole, the struggle to run the ball and they may have the worst defensive backs in the NFL. But there is something about Nick Foles that just changes how the whole Eagles team plays and they look like the super bowl team of last year. I just won't bet against Nick Foles until he proves me wrong. I think Foles puts together another great performance, and Darren Sproles will help the running game show up. With their great defensive line being to much to handle for the Saints, and I think the Eagles advance the the NFC championship game once again. Eagles: 28 Saints: 20 BY: Tony LiebertThis years NFL playoffs are as wide open as they have ever been. You could make a legitimate argument for almost any of the teams to win the Super Bowl. Saturday, January 5th - 3:35 P.M. Indianapolis Colts (10-6) V.S. Houston Texans (11-5) Both of these teams have been playing their best football at the end of the season, which is what you need to be doing to make a deep run in the playoffs. The Colts have won 9 out of their last 10, and the Texans have won 11 of their last 13. Overall I think that Andrew Luck has been playing to well for the Texans to stop and I think the Colts will win. The only matchup that I expect the Colts to struggle with is DeAndre Hopkins. I believe that Hopkins is at least one of the top three receivers in the NFL. Their starting corners are Nate Hairston and Kenny Moore II, I don't the average NFL fan can legitimately say they have even heard of those two guys. I think it's a given that D-Hop will have a big game, but I think the Colts can get past that and pull out a win. Colts: 28 Texans: 20 Saturday, January 5th - 7:15 P.M. Seattle Seahawks (10-6) V.S. Dallas Cowboys (10-6) The Seahawks and the Cowboys have two of the most balanced teams in the NFL. The Cowboys have one of the best defenses in the NFL, to go along with NFL's leading rusher Ezekiel Elliott. The Seahawks also have one of the best running games with a running back by committee approach, headlined by Chris Carson with Mike Davis and Rashaad Penny also getting carries. In this game I expect Russell Wilson to out duel wildly overrated Dak Prescott. Russell Wilson is one of the best quarterbacks of all time at being great with below average weapons. I expect the Cowboys defense to stall out in this game and Russell Wilson and the Seahawks offense will outperform the Cowboys defense. Seahawks: 30 Cowboys: 14 Sunday, January 6th - 12:05 P.M. San Diego Chargers (12-4) V.S. Baltimore Ravens (10-6) I think that this will be the best game of the entire "wild card weekend." These teams both have a strong chance of making a deep run to the super bowl. This may be the best roster top to bottom that Philip Rivers has had during his time with the Chargers. The Chargers have one of the most well rounded teams in the NFL, and if Philip Rivers plays at the MVP level that he has been, I think the Chargers could possibly be playing in Atlanta in February. The Ravens on the other hand, might have the best rushing attack in NFL. Since Lamar Jackson has taken over the staring job the Ravens have been 6-1 while having the second ranked rushing offense. I expect the Ravens to get out to a lead early, and I think the Ravens having the number one ranked defense and number two rushing offense will be two much to handle for an inexperienced Chargers defense to come back from. Ravens: 35 Chargers: 30 Sunday, January 6th - 3:40 P.M. Chicago Bears (12-4) V.S. Philadelphia Eagles (9-7) The Bears and the Eagles are two of the hottest teams in football. The Chicago Bears have had the best defense in football all season. The Bears defense is headlined by Khalil Mack, who has been the best defensive player in the league not named Aaron Donald, along with Eddie Jackson in the secondary who tied for second in the NFL in interceptions with six, and lastly Akiem Hicks has been one of the best run stopping defensive tackles in the NFL. Along with their great defense, they have a big play offense led by the "human joystick" Tarik Cohen, and second year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, along with one of the best play callers in the NFL, Head Coach, Matt Nagy. If Mitchell Trubisky plays to his potential I see the Bears playing in Atlanta for the Super Bowl. The Eagles on the other hand have dramatically underperformed this season. Although in the last three weeks of the season Nick Foles has completely revitalized the team and has been playing out of his mind. I think Nick Foles' luck runs out and the Eagles flaws are shown. This game being at cold Soldier Field in Chicago will play in favor of the Bears elite defense and not the Eagles "streaky" offense. Bears: 31 Eagles: 20 I'll give you guys my prediction for the entire playoffs along with previews each upcoming week.
BY: Tony Liebert Lamar Jackson looked terrific in his debut, but he still was not utilized correctly. Lamar Jackson might be one of the most unique players in the NFL in recent years. Jackson is one of the most talented players in the NFL, and it has still taken him until week 11 to get his first start as a quarterback. If you did not know Lamar finished his first career start with 27 carries for 117 yards along with being 13 of 19 passing and for 150 yards and one interception. Yes, he had 27 carries as an NFL quarterback. 27 carries is the most by a quarterback in the entire super bowl era. Yes Lamar is a great runner, if not the best running QB in the league, but he should not be getting 27 carries in a single game. In Lamar’s college career at Louisville he showed that he was a capable thrower by average 272 and 281 passing yards a game his final two seasons as a Cardinal. While averaging 6 and 6.9 yards per carry in those seasons, compared to the 4.3 he averaged in his first NFL start. Lamar is often compared to another great running quarterback Tim Tebow, who only average 196 and 206 passing yards a game his final two years in college at Florida, this should show that Lamar is a far better passer than Tebow. You might think only a 70-80 yard difference a game that’s not that much. For reference a quarterback in Lamar’s draft class Sam Darnold who was viewed as a great pocket passing quarterback, only average 295 passing yards his final season at USC. These statistics should be shown that Lamar is at his best when passing the ball, and he is far than more capable of doing so. Even though this video looks incredibly sketchy it should show you that Lamar Jackson needs more opportunities to throw the football. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlaiDT9Px8I The Ravens can keep letting Lamar run the ball nearly 30 times a game and he will produce solid rushing statistics. But if give Lamar more opportunities throwing the ball, it will keep the defense guessing, and lead to more explosive plays throwing and running. A 6’3” 212 pound quarterback will not be able to sustain the beating that comes with 27 carries a game in the NFL. Three of the biggest workhorse running backs in the NFL don’t even average 20 carries a game this season. Ezekiel Elliott averages 19.1, Saquon Barkley averages 15.8, and Todd Gurley averages 19.8. This should be enough evidence to tell you that 27 carries are far too many. Lamar can keep running the ball and he’ll be great, but if you let him pass the Ravens success will be taken to another level, and you will see those big plays from his time at Louisville. I obviously know that this is Lamar’s first career NFL start, and they just could be easing him into throwing in an NFL game. I know that his usage can change week to week depending on the game plan and gameflow. I just hope this is not a pattern for how Lamar Jackson’s NFL career pans out because his talented would be wasted in the long run. And he would not last in the league being a 25+ carries per game runner. Lastly, now that the Ravens have started Lamar Jackson it is time to move on from Joe Flacco. I know that it would be a tough pill to swallow for the Ravens front office to move on from Flacco’s monster contract, but it needs to be done. You could obviously just cut Flacco and have a substantial amount of money to pay him while he is not on your roster. Or you can trade him. I think that Joe Flacco is still a competent starting Quarterback in the NFL. A team such as the Jaguars, Giants, Dolphins, Buccaneers, or the Broncos (when they realize how bad Case Keenum is) will gladly take Flacco. Being that the upcoming draft class is not very strong for quarterbacks I can see any of those teams wanting a more veteran QB to lead their team because they feel like they could win now. And they do not want to patiently wait for an inexperienced quarterback to develop. Joe Flacco had a great career as a Raven, leading them to a super bowl. But it is now time for Lamar Jackson. |
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