-Biggest surprise of the season must be how good the Baltimore Ravens are. I think most people figured that Lamar Jackson was going to be more of an average QB with a good season sprinkled in here and there. Yup. Average. The guy has been unstoppable. You can’t contain him, and even if your coverage is good, he uses his feet to either buy time until a receiver inevitably gets open, or he will just pick up the first down himself. I’m always surprised at how fast the ball comes out of his hands with minimal effort for 20-30-yard gains even when his feet aren’t planted. I knew the Ravens defense was already good and with the offseason addition of Earl Thomas it got better. It seems that after the blowout loss to Cleveland, they have been on the warpath. I watched him destroy my beloved New England Patriots with relative ease and my gut says that when they meet in the Playoffs, they will do so again.
-Well it finally happened; the Kansas City Chiefs defense is so damn bad that even the offense can’t bail them out anymore. When is Andy Reid going to learn that you need a defense? Not every game should be a sprint on the scoreboard. They were my AFC pick to make the Super Bowl this year. Wha..? I didn’t pick the Patriots?! More on that later.
-What the hell happened to the Rams? One season after they made the Super Bowl and they look awful. The offense just can’t get anything going and the defense isn’t good enough to keep them in games. Goff looked like the next big thing last year and at this point looks like a very, very average QB. My working theory is that whoever faces the Patriots in the Super Bowl falls off the Max Kellerman trademarked “cliff” going forward. Think about it! Rams? Suck. Falcons? Suck. Eagles? Kinda Suck. Seahawks? Well they slightly sucked for a couple of years after that horrific goal line call in the 2014 Super Bowl, but they are looking decent this year. Maybe the curse wears off?
-I’m still shocked at Marcus Mariota being benched for Ryan Tannehill. Even more shocked that Tannehill is actually playing decently. What happened to Mariota?! He was a world-beater in Oregon! I think sometimes that college-level talent doesn’t necessarily translate to the NFL. Don’t get me wrong, I still think he’s better than a lot of the QBs in the NFL, but he’s just not consistent.
-Buffalo Bills are for real. Yeah. Let that sink in. Josh Allen is not a draft bust like I thought he would be. In fact, for the most part, has been getting better and better as the season goes on. Even more surprising is the fact that they have a really good defense. Only thing going against them is that they are in New England’s division so the most they can hope for is a Wild Card spot.
-San Francisco 49ers are also very much for real. Jimmy G hasn’t always been stellar this season, but he’s done enough to keep me playing the “What If” game. As in what if the Pats didn’t trade him for essentially nothing. Yeah, I’m still crying over that. Also, the 49ers’ defense is ridiculous. At only 1 loss this season, I can see how they are the NFC favorite to make the Super Bowl. I don’t think so though…
-My Super Bowl pick? Well as I stated above barring any injury to Lamar Jackson the Ravens will represent the AFC. NFC? Well part of me thinks that the 49ers avenge their only loss this season to the Seahawks BUT I think Russell Wilson is just too clutch and the Seahawks knock the 49ers out of the Playoffs in what should be a close game. Ravens vs Seahawks. Ravens win 31-17.
-The New England Patriots Offense. Yikes. I know a lot of people are blaming a very green receiver roster for the offensive issues this season but as much as it pains me to say it, Tom Brady is also responsible. I can hear the cries of blasphemy from my fellow N.E fans already, but I do think it’s true. It’s taking him longer to get the ball out of his hand and his accuracy seems to be off. He’s missing a lot of easy throws on screen passes that he used to make with no problem. And we’re talking a lot of missed throws in soft coverage. His awareness in the pocket also seems to be an issue. Ok, enough picking on Brady, the receivers also seem to have a ton of drops on what should be easy uncontested catches. Hopefully they find their rhythm in the next couple of games or they’re screwed. While I think their #1 defense can continue to win games for them, that same defense struggled mightily against Baltimore.
-Speaking of N.E’s defense, Stephon Gilmore is a beast. Best cornerback in the league by far. I knew he was insanely good, but to completely shut down Amari Cooper was mind-blowing. 0 catches. To be fair Dallas should have won that game since Ezekiel Elliot finally had some momentum going and was picking up 5-6 yards per carry. But Jason Garrett is going to do Jason Garrett things like throw the ball on 3rd and 1 against the best secondary in the league. Jerry Jones really needs to grow a pair and get rid of the guy.
-On the subject of good ol’ Jerry, during yesterday’s (Thanksgiving) game against Buffalo, I loved that every time Dallas completely crapped the bed, the camera would zoom in on the owner’s box to get his reaction. It’s like the network wanted to either catch old man tears on film so very badly or they wanted him to hold up sign that read “Jason, if you can read this, you’re fired”. To be fair, it would have been understandable if he did either. I missed it, but I heard that he literally did have tears in his eyes during an interview after the game. Jason Garrett, you are a total dumpster fire of a coach and you also made Jerry cry. I couldn’t help but laugh when he goes for it on 4th and 1 on the 19-yard line when it was a close game, but then when they are down 2 scores in the 3rd quarter, he kicks the field goal. What?!