Not often that Wildcard Weekend lives up to the name. That changed this year.
- The Packers gave up 25 points in the 4th QTR of a playoff game.
- Aaron Rodgers is blaming Pittsburgh’s playoff loss on his vaccinated receivers.
- Chargers’ QB, Justin Herbert, had his season mercifully ended after another six sacks trying to play behind an offensive line made up of zombies.
But hey! There’s action off the field as well. Losing football teams are preparing to introduce new coaches just fired from other losing football teams, demonstrating with complete confidence that a new losing coach is what it takes to stop a perennial loser franchise from constantly losing.
Though there is always that one unlucky loser coach that’s left at the end of the annual losing- coaches swap, thus becoming the newest head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
There’s draft talk too! One of the more salient topics of this past week? The projected No. 2 pick in next year’s NFL draft, QB Dante Moore, opted to return to Oregon for his 4th season…rather than risk a career with the Jets.
But let’s focus on today. The Playoffs can be an excellent escape from overexposure to the 24-hour news Hellscape on TV, however, in the league’s ongoing effort to make watching football as difficult as possible, the NFL has announced that each quarter of the playoff games will be exclusively streamed on a different streaming network.
For example, today’s first game between the Bills and Broncos, the first quarter will be on Hulu, the second on NFL Network, the third on Amazon Prime, and the fourth on Al-Jazeera Plus.
With each game featuring a different combination of streaming services, those wishing to watch every NFL playoff game will need 17 different streaming services, 4 different remotes, and a budget of $1,350 per month.
Let’s do the PIX!
Saturday
Bills @ Broncos: Now who wouldn’t tune in to see a rested No. 1 seed hosting a badly bruised opponent that’s operating on a short week? I mean, some folding tables in the parking lot of Mile High Stadium are in better working order than most of the players for the Buffalo Bills right now.
As for the game, Denver showcases an elite defense that can give Josh Allen a lot of trouble (Allen struggles against man-coverage), but it’ll have to sell out to stuff the run, making the Bills one-dimensional.
Still, since 2020, the Bills have a post-season record of 8 – 0 when they’re NOT playing a team with a QBs that’s named Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow.
Do I put my trust in QB Bo Nix over QB Josh Allen? His supporting cast is simply better, and you just can’t dis a QB named “Bo Nix!”
Pick — Broncos
49ers @ Seahawks: Under pressure from the New York Times and 11 people on Twitter (X), the Seattle Seahawks franchise is rumored to be considering a team name change after it came to light that birds are unable to give consent to have their names used as mascots.
Seriously. Will Seattle QB turn into a playoff pumpkin again? He’s had one postseason start, and it happened last year with the Vikings. He was sacked nine times in a 27-9 loss to the Rams.
It’s one of the reasons that Darnold is now a Seahawk.
Pick — Seahawks
Sunday
Texans @ Patriots: The Texans’ defense is absolutely phenomenal. Can it feast on an offensive line that’s starting 2 rookies?
Look for Mother Nature to crank up the volume on this one. 15mph winds and single digits. That’s a lot for a Texans QB who, in one playoff game this season, has already lost two fumbles, thrown an interception, and had two other near-turnovers in the team’s Wildcard title with Pittsburgh.
Coming into Foxborough in this kind of weather is gonna be a real tight-rope walk for Houston QB, C.J. Stroud.
Pick — Patriots
Rams @ Bears: Halloween is over, but Chicago is still pretending to have a playoff-caliber football team. In round one of the playoffs, Caleb Williams and the Bears proved all the Naysayers wrong by beating a shitty team that was stumbling through a 5-game losing streak, though they had to overcome an 18-point deficit to keep their season alive.
The Rams are the first real contenders to play in what’s become the “Bermuda Triangle” of NFL stadiums. Let’s not forget though, the Rams are a team that just made QB Bryce Young look like Steve Young in the Wild Card Round. And it’s going to be freezing in Chicago on Sunday.
Are the 2025 Bears cut from the same cloth as the 2024 Commanders? Last year, the Commanders were in the NFC Championship game. This year, they have a top 10 draft pick.
Pick – Rams
Enjoy Divisionals ~ Love you Guys,
Jason
themetalpix.blog 