And it's game day one of the division round of the playoffs. We start out with the Colts at the Chiefs. This is a game the Chiefs should win. They're the more talented of the two teams, with the more experienced coach, playing at home in a stadium with a real home field advantage. Andy typically has his teams playing well coming off a bye also. The one edge the Colts have is psychological. The Chiefs have been horrible in the playoffs lately. If the Colts can get ahead early and put some pressure on the Chiefs, they might just fold. That "We always lose in the playoffs" mantra can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The players and coaches decide "We're not losing this one" and they start to try too hard. Instead of playing their game they try to elevate their play and make mistakes. A DB will drop his coverage to try and steal a pick only to have the ball go to the guy he was supposed to be covering. A defensive lineman will jump out of his gap to try and make a play only to have the back run through the hole he vacated. It should be a fun game to watch. The Colts are loose and playing from a "What have we got to lose?" perspective while the mental pressure is really on the Chiefs. "We can't lose yet another playoff game!"
I find myself in the awkward position of actually hoping the Cowboys win in the second game today against the Rams. The more they win, the lower their draft slot goes and if the Eagles win tomorrow and the Cowboys win today, there will be one heck of a rematch in Dallas next week for the NFC championship. Every Eagles player thinks the refs stole that last game in Dallas (and the NFC East title) from them. From that opening kickoff where the Cowboy player fumbled the ball, an Eagle recovered it, but the refs gave it back to the Cowboys anyway, to lots of other calls throughout the game, the Eagles felt the game was stolen. They'll go back into Dallas breathing fire next week given the chance. Can the Cowboys win in LA? Well, it'll be pretty much a home game for them. They have their training camp in nearby Oxnard, so there will be more Cowboy fans than Ram fans there. (All four of the Rams' fans may disagree, but I'm pretty sure that will be the case.) The Rams need to come out and punch the Cowboys in the mouth in this game. Be the more physical team. Run Gurley over, under, and around the Cowboys. It should be a good game to watch.
In other news around the league, the interview with Steelers president Art Rooney II, makes it sound like there's no chance Antonio Brown stays a Steeler. He leaves the door open just a crack, but it's not a large crack. Instead, he's more pouring kerosene on the bridge and standing there with a lit match, ready to drop it and burn the bridge completely. That would leave the Steelers with two rather large holes to fill, losing both Brown and Bell. Losing two all pro caliber players and finding suitable replacements isn't all that easy.
The Bengals may not hire Hue Jackson as their head coach afterall. (Gee, I wonder why?) They seem to have now targeted the Rams QB coach Zac Taylor as their next head coach. They had an interview with him over the bye and apparently came away very impressed.
That would leave just the Dolphins still in the hunt for a new head coach. Mike McCarthy, who everyone assumed would be the top target this year, now apparently plans to sit out the year and wait for job openings next year. (I'm thinking the Cards might be looking for another new head coach this time next year, but maybe Kliff Kingsbury will surprise me.) Interesting how the interest in McCarthy petered out so quickly. Did he have bad interviews? Did word leak out from Green Bay about issues of some sort with him? His career record (135-85-2) is Hall of Fame worthy, yet with eight openings this year, he didn't land one. When Hue Jackson (career record 11-44-1) is considered a serious candidate and almost lands a job, but Mike McCarthy doesn't, something is screwy. It's not like he's old (he's 55) or his team has been horrible. Kliff Kingsbury who took over Texas Tech which had a twenty year winning streak and turned them into losers despite having three NFL caliber quarterbacks got a job for God's sake. Something's a bit screwy there. I'm guessing McCarthy has an "issue" of some sort that he needs to get taken care of, that the teams know about but the fans don't. Him not getting a job makes no sense otherwise. Then again lots of stuff that goes on in the league (see the Kliff Kingsbury hire for example) makes no sense, so who knows?
It should be a fun day of football watching. I'd love to see the Colts win to set up a game against the Patriots. Having Frank Reich knock the Patriots out of the playoffs after him only getting the job by them stealing McDaniels back from the Colts would be hilarious. Then a Cowboys/Eagles rematch (hopefully with less blind refs) for the NFC Championship would be fun also. Let's see how things play out and go from there. Go, Colts! Go, Cowboys! (It really pains me to write that, but I've got my reasons.)
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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