2022 NFL Season

[PatrickRox80]

And then Tampa Bay fails on a two-point conversion. I was thinking Cartoon Network should have been airing this game.

Not that it matters now, but you couldn’t fault Tampa Bay on that one. Dallas got away with a pretty blatant holding penalty on that play.

[FieldsFan336]

Buffalo and Cincinnati will get to finish on Sunday what they started over a week ago when Damar Hamlin went down

[SeaBreeze341]

What's rather concerning is how the line is moving way too much for my comfort (in favor of Buffalo).  I think it's changed at least once or twice a day since the game became official.  I'm not saying that I hate Buffalo (quite the opposite).  It's just that I'm looking for a great game; Cincinnati is banged up on the O-Line.  The practice period (typically Wednesday - Friday) should determine how the game will play out on Sunday

[SeaBreeze341]

Ravens & Greg Roman have parted ways

[Ccook]

So have Tampa Bay and OC Byron Leftwich. Eight other Bucs coaches are riding off into the sunset.

[SeaBreeze341]

A lot of teams have booted their assistants.  Minnesota in terms of defense, and as mentioned, Baltimore's offensive leadership along with the Jets and the Chargers.  Looks like the Ravens have zero plans to get rid of Jackson.  The six-time AFC North champions have a great culture, so I imagine they'll add extra stuff to the offense.  Sorta how Phil Jackson and Chicago added to the Bulls so it wasn't all MJ as the only threat to an opposing team.  OTOH, they might have to send him to another team, which isn't complementary.

Anyway, time for picks.  BTW, I'm going with the home teams outright, but in terms of picking against the spread...


Jacksonville/Kansas City
Chiefs 9.5
52.5
Jaguars & over

New York/Philadelphia
Eagles 7.5
48.5
Giants & under

Cincinnati/Buffalo
Bills 5.5
49.5
Bengals and over

Dallas/San Francisco
San Francisco 3.5
46.5
Niners and over


I was going to go with Jacksonville and the points regardless of the recent increase from 8.5 to 9.5, but I feel great for Kansas City.  I didn't think much of it, but this is the first playoff game for the 15 time & current AFC West champs since their meltdown on 01/30/2022

[SeaBreeze341]

Couple more thoughts:


The Eagles have the Giants number.  They are the better team.  However, if trends hold, the Giants are headed to the Super Bowl.  From there, the New York Football Giants will win the Super Bowl unless Kansas City loses either one of their next 2 games.

Buffalo is undefeated at home in the playoffs.  I'm not going to rank this era of the Bills over the one from the Wilson/Levy/Kelly/Smith Era.  I might if they win a Super Bowl.  However the Bills, who have dealt with their own injuries, get the AFC Champs at Orchard Park.  Not sure why that is the case no questions asked, but that's the deal.  Cincinnati has been great on the road.  Not an easy game to pick, but the Bills have never lost a home playoff game.

Sure the Cowboys got hosed for playing a short week against a team with an extra day in general.  Blame the league for that one.  However, and IMO, the Niners shouldn't even have played last week at all.  I think the 49ers win a close game, but they cover since Dallas can hang with them but in their attempt to win/take the lead, they'll flip the points for yet another backdoor cover

[GameShowsRule95]

Buffalo is undefeated at home in the playoffs.  I'm not going to rank this era of the Bills over the one from the Wilson/Levy/Kelly/Smith Era.  I might if they win a Super Bowl.  However the Bills, who have dealt with their own injuries, get the AFC Champs at Orchard Park.  Not sure why that is the case no questions asked, but that's the deal.  Cincinnati has been great on the road.  Not an easy game to pick, but the Bills have never lost a home playoff game.

Actually they did lose one playoff game in Buffalo, that being the 1996 AFC Wild Card game, which they lost to the second-year Jacksonville Jaguars 30-27. It also happened to be the final game in the Marv Levy/Jim Kelly era.

[SeaBreeze341]

Kansas City is one of the final 3 teams for the NFL's 2022-2023 season.  It's KC's 5 consecutive trip to the AFC conference championship game, and Jacksonville is the 25th NFL team & the 3rd division winner booted from Super Bowl contention.  The AFC South is completely done.  Just 2 teams remain for a chance for a brand new Super Bowl winner

[SeaBreeze341]

Actually they did lose one playoff game in Buffalo, that being the 1996 AFC Wild Card game, which they lost to the second-year Jacksonville Jaguars 30-27. It also happened to be the final game in the Marv Levy/Jim Kelly era.

That's right; pretty much forgot about that one!  Plus I spent some time a year ago doing a recap elsewhere on the post merger playoff history & results; Thank you for that reminder!   I was an end of an era for sure.

The Bills have been rather successful at home nonetheless just losing once.  I stand corrected; looking back, those Jacksonville teams were a nightmare which made sense given the fact that a seasoned legend in Coughlin was running the team.  A guy from the the Giants dynasty & had been in the sport for decades.  It was still a surprise at the time but thinking back, it was no shocker either. 

I was doing some research on the history of not just Buffalo postseason, but everyone as a whole.  I had to double check on the history of road teams & underdogs and their playoff success to see if what Pittsburgh did in 2005 was duplicated in the past and in the future.  The road success had been done from a 5 seed, but not really a 6 seed

[JayC]

The Eagles dismantled the Giants 38-7, ending their Cinderella run. Jalen Hurts looked to be completely recovered from the injury he suffered late in the season. Eagles will host the 49ers or the Cowboys next Sunday in the NFC Championship game.

[Ccook]

Tom Brady becomes a free agent. If he doesn't return to the Bucs, they'll be left with $35 million in dead money. So what's his plan...sign with another team (Tennessee, Las Vegas and San Francisco are interested) or take Fox up on a $375 million 10-year offer to do color for games?

[SeaBreeze341]

A couple notes with the Giants/Eagles game: Philadelphia became the first 1 seed to defeat the Giants in the postseason.  I believe New York was 6-0 against the top seeds.  Had history been on their side they would've won, and then against next week against San Francisco or Dallas since they're 5-0 in the NFC Title game.  One of two teams undefeated in conference title games (Cincinnati is the other).

That being said, trends are trends.  What determines the winner is on-field play, and the Eagles are just that good.  Even though GameShowsRule95 mentioned that Buffalo had actually lost at home in the playoffs, 1 loss or zero losses in the postseason means nothing (more than some confidence).  This was a tough game to forecast.  Well I did take Cincy & the points, but despite the line moving in favor of the Bills, it held firm at 5.5 for most of the week; it didn't matter for me.  3 OL people missing for Cincinnati, but Buffalo's defense isn't that scary.

Exactly half a decade prior to Eagles/Giants featured another game at Lincoln Financial Field where the score ended up being 38-7 (hosting Minnesota on 01/21/2018).  Two weeks prior to their first Super Bowl title

[PatrickRox80]

Buffalo's inspirational run comes to an end. The Bengals will be going to Kansas City next weekend.

[SeaBreeze341]

Kansas City is favored by 2.5 over Cincinnati with a 47.5 over/under (opening line).


While Kansas City gets the extra day to rest (unlike last year), it's going to be Cincinnati vs Dallas, San Francisco, or Philadelphia.  There's no reason for the AFC Championship Game to take place.