I went 1-7 straight up and against the spread combined, so really what the fuck do I know?
Texans over Bills eventually
An in-game collapse for the ages by the Bills, highlighted by contrasting QB plays. Near the end of regulation, Josh Allen scrambled for a first down near range for the all-important field goal. On his way to the ground, he for some reason blindly chucked the ball backwards toward an unsuspecting lineman, who batted the ball out of bounds. It was a needless play that had like a 95% chance of going horribly wrong. Meanwhile, with 3 minutes left in overtime, on 3rd down right outside of field goal range, Deshaun Watson took a snap, saw rushers collapsing in, somehow stayed on his feet through two hits that spun his body around twice, and rolled out to hit his receiver down the field to essentially win the game. Remember, though, that Watson was a total disaster against the Colts in his first playoff game. So, maybe next year, Josh Allen.
God Bless the Tennessee Titans
So I do think that the Patriots will be back together next year. And I do believe they’ll make the playoffs again. They might even make another super bowl, but I don’t think so. I think We will look back on this game as the end of the age of the Patriots. I really think this is it. I think it was a game where the Pats couldn’t navigate the red zone, where Ryan Tannehill beat them with <100 passing yards, where Tom Brady ended the season throwing a pick-6 to a former Patriot to finalize a loss to a coach who spent his playing career on a roster with Brady. The Titans have very few claims to fame, and I would love for them to have this.
Vikings beat the Saints fair and square
Okay, so the curse is fucking real. The Saints are now the first team to lose 3 consecutive seasons on playoff games ending in walkoff touchdowns, and they’ve lost their last 5 playoff games by no more than one score. Shit’s pretty ridiculous.
Here’s the thing that Saints fans don’t want to hear: There’s no way they could have called OPI on review on Kyle Rudolph’s game-winning catch. No way, no how. It was probably enough that they could have called it on the field, but it was a shove-off only to the degree that just about every goalline fade is a shove-off. And even then, can you really claim to have been robbed when a team that shouldn’t have been able to hang with you was so dominant that you were lucky to get the game to overtime?
And then here’s the part that NFL referees don’t want to hear: That was some bullshit calling the Saints on a false start with like 13 seconds left. It’s debatable whether they were really not set, and even so it was on a play to spike the ball, so it didn’t fucking matter in the slightest, and it’s a stupid and obscure rule anyway. The Saints deserved their chance to score a TD there, and I honestly believe they would have. And while that push-off couldn’t be overturned, it was a bad, bad move to decline to even take it to review, when the entire Saints fanbase feels like they’re the victim of a seasons-long conspiracy by the officiating office. What a shitshow. What an absolute shitshow.
Some Seahawks Bullshit
Okay, so the shamrock is still up Seattle’s ass. One quarter into Carson Wentz’s debut he’s concussed by Jadeveon Clowney (not a dirty hit, don’t let anyone tell you it was a dirty hit). Josh McCown coming into the game gave me mixed feelings. On the one hand, it made it easier for the Seahawks to win. On the other hand, is beating Josh McCown really something to hang your hat on? Then again, McCown is by all accounts a great person who deserved to play a playoff game to end his pretty incredible career (with games for more teams than anyone but Vinny Testaverde and Ryan Fitzpatrick, I believe). But he was hardly set up for success, and Wentz also deserves playoff success. Still, I’ll take the win and the trip to Green Bay.
Postseason: 0-4 / 1-3 / -$10
Title Belt: BAL defended from PIT (9 week reign)
Dangersquirrel vs the NFL 