Sports

[gardenman]

Saturday kicks off with the Jaguars heading to KC to take on the Chiefs. A battle between the mentor (Andy Reid) and his protege (Doug Pederson.) Two good younger QBs facing off also. Trevor Lawrence can't start this game with four interceptions. He needs to be sharp from the start. Lawrence is more of an old-school, hang in the pocket and make the throw type QB, while Mahomes is more of an improvising magician. The Jags will need to corral and bring down Mahomes. He's very eel-like in his ability to escape pressure and make throws that seem impossible. They need to contain and control Mahomes to win. That's easier said than done. Probably a year too soon for the Jags to take down the Chiefs. Next year they might just do it. I'll take KC in this one though.

Saturday night finds the Giants ambling down the NJ turnpike to take on the Eagles. This should be a good matchup for the Eagles. The talent level of the players on the Eagles is higher than the talent level of the players on the Giants. The Giants don't have a receiver the Eagles DBs can't cover. The Eagles' d-line should dominate the Giants' o-line. Put a spy on Daniel Jones to keep him from scrambling, play tight man with a deep safety, and trust the d-line to get to the QB and it should be a win for the Eagles.

The problem is Jonathan Gannon is the Eagles' DC and he tends to play scared in big games. He'll go into a two-deep zone defense and let the QB just play pitch and catch all evening. If he shows some aggression, the Eagles should get the win.

The Eagles' offense is just better than the Giants' defense. There's not a DB on the Giants who can match up with AJ Brown or Devonta Smith. If they focus too much on stopping those two then TE Dallas Goedert has a big game. And the Eagles' o-line can protect Hurts while also opening running lanes for the backs. Third-string running back Boston Scott is the Giants' killer. He's just put up absurd numbers against them over his career. As long as the Eagles don't do anything too stupid (penalties/turnovers), they should score at will. I'll take the Eagles in this one. 

Sunday starts out with the Bengals at the Bills. Neither team looked great last week. I think the Bengals have more o-line issues though, so I'll give a slight edge to the Bills.

And finally, Sunday night finds the Cowboys heading west to take  on the Niners. I don't think the Niners will roll over and play dead like the Bucs did, so the Cowboys will have their work cut out for them. At some point, Brock Purdy will likely remember he's a rookie and play like one. Will this be the game? I don't know. This is pretty much a toss-up game to me. I guess I'll give a slight edge to the Niners.

[mspatmac]

@gardenman 

See you Saturday night!  Never know what can happen, that's why they play the games.  Go Giants!

[teganslaw]

The Cowboys won't go far if Maher has problems with field goals. I don't think that they will score that many points against SF. This might be a defensive game.

Brady looked uninterested during the game. What is keeping him playing? I don't get it. He already has an analyst job lined up, will be making $$$$, he should retire from football. He has nothing more to prove and will be in the HOF on the first ballot. 

I would like to see Jacksonville take down KC. Just to upset the people who bet on the Chiefs. 

[Spurt]

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@teganslaw wrote:

The Cowboys won't go far if Maher has problems with field goals. I don't think that they will score that many points against SF. This might be a defensive game.

Brady looked uninterested during the game. What is keeping him playing? I don't get it. He already has an analyst job lined up, will be making $$$$, he should retire from football. He has nothing more to prove and will be in the HOF on the first ballot. 

I would like to see Jacksonville take down KC. Just to upset the people who bet on the Chiefs. 

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@teganslaw 

Even though I like Mahomes......I wanna see the Jags win because the Chiefs were allowed to keep their nickname and even still do "the tomahawk chop".....it seems that those that insisted on change wanted ONLY SNYDER to change his team because of their hatred of the man....I don't blame them for their opinion of Snyder, he is scum, but not fair to pick on one team and overlook others....JMHO

So GO JAGUARS, afterall they have a FELINE mascot and as a FELINE fancier, cat mascots get extra points with me  🐅🐆🦁🐈‍⬛.....

[teganslaw]

The Chargers fired OC Joe Lombardi. The team only scored 3 points in the second half, but they had more problems than offense. There is talk of Brandon Staley being fired, but he's still hanging onto his job. 

TY Hilton seems to fit in with the Cowboys. Strange, after the years he's spend with Indy. I'm glad he's taking an active part in the games. 

[Spurt]

I can't wait to see what happens in these playoff game.

Jaguars vs Chiefs----it would be fun if the JAGS pulled off the upset.....How about some "karma" for the Chiefs for the "tomahawk chop".....I don't think it will actually happen but GO JAGUARS!

Giants vs Eagles.....Coach Dabs is an excellent coach and has the Giants playing well....particularly Daniel Jones....Now the Eagle's roster is LOADED with talent, but even @gardenman has criticized his DC's play calling from time to time and that's what the Giants need to exploit to have any chance in this game......The Eagles barely squeaked out an edge over the Giants on January 8th...Should be an excellent game..but in the end with all said and done I think the EAGLES prevail and move on in the playoffs...

Bengals vs Bills.....Neither team played well last weekend but I think the BILLS have the extra motivation to win for #3.....Should be a fun game...

Cowboys vs 49ERS---- Finally the Cowboys get some real competition, both from a coaching standpoint and a roster standpoint both offensively and defensively....Yes Purdy is a rookie but he's playing like a veteran thanks to an excellent coaching staff....The Cowboys offense isn't going to waltz to the end zone like they did with Bucs......and they cant afford missd extra points either but even with his Kicker's performance "coach" Jerry Jones has basically said to quote country singer Tammy Wynette he will  "stand by his man" and not make any changes....SMH🙄😒..wonder if Jones will feel the same about McCarthy WHEN the Cowboys lose......GO 49ERS 😁👍.......JMHO the 49ers are the best team in the NFC and will be moving forward towards the NFC CROWN 🤴🏈

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE......

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[Spurt]

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@teganslaw wrote:

The Chargers fired OC Joe Lombardi. The team only scored 3 points in the second half, but they had more problems than offense. There is talk of Brandon Staley being fired, but he's still hanging onto his job. 

TY Hilton seems to fit in with the Cowboys. Strange, after the years he's spend with Indy. I'm glad he's taking an active part in the games. 

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@teganslaw 

Wow the Chargers didn't wait for emotions to settle down before firing their OC....I heard their HC Staley was on the Hot seat too even before the performance of that last game 

Just pray Ty Hilton doesn't follow the antics of many of his Cowboy teammates OFF THE FIELD..... so many seem to follow a "certain history"...maybe there's something in the air in the Dallas/Frisco metroplex area.😒

[gardenman]

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@teganslaw wrote:

The Chargers fired OC Joe Lombardi. The team only scored 3 points in the second half, but they had more problems than offense. There is talk of Brandon Staley being fired, but he's still hanging onto his job. 

TY Hilton seems to fit in with the Cowboys. Strange, after the years he's spend with Indy. I'm glad he's taking an active part in the games. 

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Yeah, this feels like a situation where the owner/GM said, "They go or you and they go" and Staley said, "See ya!" to the OC and QB coaches. That tends to buy the head coach one more year, but seldom fixes the real issue. It's not like Staley hired dunces as his OC and QB coaches the first time around and now knows better guys for the roles. Any coach taking those roles in LA knows they may be out next year when the owner/GM realizes the problem is Staley.

Whenever you see a head coach making these moves, it's typically because he's been given the "It's them or you" ultimatum. And firing the coordinator seldom fixes the issue.

[On It]

@gardenman Oops! I am in so much trouble. My husband is not happy with me. I showed him your post just now. He thoroughly enjoyed reading it. He commented on how well-written the post is and said he agreed with your predictions.

The trouble part came when he asked if this was your first post. I admitted you had been posting all season. He said he would have enjoyed reading your weekly posts and wanted to know why I hadn't shown them to him earlier. He will be following you and your predictions all the way to the Super Bowl. 

[gardenman]

@On It 

I've been doing this here for probably fifteen-ish years. In an earlier iteration, QVC had a football only forum. Now they combine all of the sports, but I've been here doing this forever.