Playoff Power Rankings – Wild Card Round

by | Jan 2, 2015 | 2014 season, NFL Playoffs

It appears as though the teams playing the best heading into the playoffs come primarily from the NFC.

Here’s how I rank each of the remaining teams and their respective chances of bringing home the Lombardi Trophy this year.

1. SEAHAWKS: Seattle started a little slow this year, but played insanely good defense down the stretch, holding opponents to single digits in five of their last six games. Russell Wilson is playing great football, Marshawn Lynch’s “Beast Mode” is back and the 12th Man will be in full effect with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The biggest knock: Repeats are rare in the NFL.

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NFL Picks 2014: Wild Card Weekend

by | Dec 30, 2014 | 2014 season, NFL Picks, NFL Playoffs

We did fairly well picking games through the 17 week regular season. We’ll see now if we can carry that through the playoffs, where 11 good teams and the Carolina Panthers will vie for the Lombardi Trophy.

There are some great story lines this weekend. Can the Lions withstand the loss of Ndamukong Suh, who was suspended for stepping on Aaron Rodgers (for the record, I don’t feel sorry for the guy, but I also don’t think the step was intentional – I know, I know, I’m in the minority, but I believe it was lack of balance and momentum – he never looks down – how does he know he’s stepping on Rodgers and not one of his own teammates?)?

Can the Steelers beat the rival Ravens without LeVeon Bell? Can Andy Dalton finally step up and act like a big-game QB? Can the Cardinals and their third-string QB knock off the sub-.500 Panthers?

Here’s who we think is going to win this weekend: (more…)

Super Bowl Odds: The Top Four Contenders

by | Dec 22, 2014 | 2014 season, NFL Gambling, NFL Playoffs

It’s shaping up to be a very interesting NFL postseason in 2014-15. Heading into Week 16 action, it’s fair to say that no team has separated itself from the pack the same way the Broncos and Seahawks did a year ago, and one could make an argument that there are legitimately seven or eight teams that seem at least capable of winning the Super Bowl. This may well be the case, but when you look closely, there do appear to be four teams that have gained some separation from the rest, though not in the emphatic way we saw Denver and Seattle do so in 2013.

Specifically, the betting odds show four teams out in front. You can view the Betfair sports betting site’s updated odds (heading into Week 17) for each team in the league here, and while these are subject to change over the coming weeks, they should provide the most accurate picture to date of which teams are best positioned to win it all. At this stage, in fact, even if the odds do shift around somewhat, it looks as if the top four should remain the same. So here’s a current look at your four leading Super Bowl contenders as ordered by the odds.

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Wrapping up the postseason

by | Feb 5, 2014 | NFL Gambling, NFL Picks, NFL Playoffs, NFL Random Thoughts

As a matter of course, I like to provide a year-end wrap-up of our picks and bets. It’s a good reference for the future and it provides a level of accountability.

So … after a pretty decent regular season of straight up picks, things were less stellar in the playoffs. I guess that makes sense, as most of the teams that make the postseason are pretty good (for now – but just wait until the playoff field inevitably expands).

You can check out our regular season wrap-up by clicking here.

As for the Super Bowl, coin flip my backside. A game that on paper looked like one of the more intriguing match-ups in quite awhile turned out to be a snoozer.

The Seattle Seahawks made all of us at Zoneblitz look like fools by getting a quick lead on the Broncos and then teeing off on Peyton Manning, making the future Hall of Famer look downright ordinary in the first blowout Super Bowl in awhile. I was not at all surprised Seattle won. I was stunned at the ease with which the Seahawks dispatched Denver.

Each of us picked the Broncos in a close game. Each of us was wrong. That gave Tony the postseason win for correctly predicting seven of the 11 outcomes straight up. Anthony Maggio and I both hit six.

Throughout the entire regular season and into the playoffs I was abysmal against the spread this season. I’m going to have to do some reading during the offseason in order to improve on that in 2014. What an embarrassment. After a 27-38-3 debacle during the regular season, I nailed the line just 3 of 11 times during the playoffs, including botching the Super Bowl — switching to Denver after entering the season having picked Seattle to  take home the Lombardi Trophy. Disappointing choice.

I saved face a bit going 6-5 in over/under picks during the postseason, but I’d still be getting killed in Vegas if this were anything more than hypothetical.

And so, with that, we’re heading into the post-season. We’ll have some more thoughts on the Hall of Fame class in the days ahead. We’ll also start looking ahead at fantasy football in 2014 and at the draft. Stay tuned.

 

Playoff expansion money grab rewards mediocrity

by | Jan 4, 2014 | NFL Playoffs, NFL Random Thoughts

Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager/president/player personnel (snicker) guru Jerry Jones Friday, on 105.3 The Fan ESPN radio in Dallas/Fort Worth, revived one of my least favorite ideas regarding the NFL: Expanding the playoffs.

Jones argues that giving teams that were .500 an opportunity to reach the postseason and, possibly, the Super Bowl creates excitement.

“From the standpoint of looking at how exciting it is for a city or a community to be involved in the playoffs and the fact that you can have a team that might have literally operated at .500 or in that area … you can have that team win the Super Bowl,” Jones said. “That makes a big case for adding a couple of more cities or communities that have NFL teams to make the playoffs.”

This argument may be a bit self-serving from Jones. I was in attendance at the last playoff game the Dallas Cowboys actually participated in, a 34-3 whipping at the Metrodome at the hands of Minnesota in 2009. Under Jones’ lead as, cough, cough, general manager of the Cowboys, an expanded playoff may be the only way his team qualifies in the near future (though a two team expansion would not have helped him in any of the last four seasons).

But as Jones was finishing his speech on the radio, Vince Lombardi, who actually stood for excellence, just rolled over in his grave. Back in his day, the championship was decided by pitting the best team in the Western Conference against the best team in the Eastern Conference. Don’t win your conference? Don’t play for the championship.

That is pushing for greatness. That is requiring a team to accomplish something before they get to play for the big prize. (more…)