It's game day number two! Yesterday saw the Texans eke out a win over the Bills. Josh Allen of the Bills did not look like a calm, cool, and collected QB near the end of that game. He looked panicked. Worse, he played that way also. When he was on the sidelines he seemed to go straight to the end of the bench and just sit there looking scared. Not a good look. You want a QB who's a take charge, let's go get em, kind of guy. You want him going up to his offensive guys and rallying them. Assuring them that he's got this. They'll get the win. We didn't see that from Josh Allen. That's an area where he has to improve.
In the second game the Patriots fell to the Titans. Not surprising really as the Patriots haven't looked right for a while now. Brady looked better yesterday, but he's just got too few weapons. So, both of last year's Super Bowl teams are out of the hunt now. The Rams never made the playoffs and the Patriots are out in the wildcard round. That opens things up for everyone else.
Today we see the Vikings go into the Super Dome to try and find a way to beat the Saints. They've got the capability, but they'll need Kirk Cousins to be at his very best to get the win. (Unless the officials go out of their way to help like they tried to do yesterday with the touchdown they later reversed when the guy fielding the kickoff didn't officially kneel.) The Vikings have the firepower in Diggs, Thielen, Dalvin Cook, and Rudolph, but they need Cousins to be at his best to get the ball to those guys. Sadly, Cousins has been cold heading into the playoffs. Unless he heats up in a hurry, the Saints should win.
Game two today features the beat-up Eagles facing the Seahawks. Some good news for the Eagles. The Zach Ertz broken rib and kidney laceration seems healed enough for him to play. Reports now indicate it was a very small cut on the kidney that's already healed and he's wearing a flak jacket that resembles a parka in practice to protect the broken rib area. How much that affects his ability to catch the ball remains to be seen, but he wants to play and it looks like he will.
The big issue for the Eagles could be the right side of the offensive line. Two backups will be starting there. Vaitai will be starting at tackle and Matt Pryor will be starting at right guard. Vaitai's got lots of experience and should be okay, but this will be Pryor's first start. He's a big kid (6'7" 332 lbs) and a beast as a run blocker. He's not as nimble as a pass blocker however. Expect to see the Seahawks throw a lot of tackle/end stunts at that side of the line to see how those two handle things. If they hold up (a big if) the Eagles have a good shot at winning the game.
The Eagles added a few new pieces to the line-up in running back Elijah Holyfield and wide receiver Shelton Gibson. (Gibson's a former Eagle, but he spent the past year in Cleveland.) Gibson gives the Eagles some legitimate deep speed. There is the slight problem of him almost never actually catching the football. Maybe that's gotten better in his year away from the team in Cleveland. He's got decent size and excellent speed, but he also drops more passes than he catches which is why the Eagles moved on from him.
Back to yesterday's games for a minute. With Tom Brady's season now over the speculation turns to what will he do? He's a free agent and can't be tagged due to language he insisted be inserted into his last contract. Does another team try to lure him away in free agency? I've seen some speculate the Cowboys could make a move, but I doubt that. They seem committed to Dak. The Chargers, on the other hand, might be tempted. Brady will want to be someplace where he feels like he has a real shot to win and a solid supporting cast. The Vikings could be another option. Their offensive talent in Minnesota is very good. Maybe the Raiders? The Browns with OBJ and Landry could be attractive to Brady. The Colts? Maybe. What would it take to land Brady? $40 million a year? $50 million a year? Would he follow Josh McDaniels if McDaniels gets a head coaching job someplace? It's going to be interesting watching what happens there.
This could be a really crazy offseason as teams scramble for coaches and players. If Brady makes himself available a whole lot of teams will show interest in him. The list of teams that wouldn't be interested is probably smaller than the list of teams that would be interested. In the AFC the Ravens, Texans, and Chiefs wouldn't be interested in Brady. Probably not the Steelers either if Ben gets healthy. The rest of the AFC might be intrigued though. In the NFC the Eagles, Saints (assuming they resign Brees), Packers, Seahawks, and Rams would be out of the hunt, but the rest might be tempted. Brady will be getting lots of phone calls once free agency kicks off and could interest a whole lot of teams.
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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