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Week 14 Discussion (The Final 4)

JO_75

Hall of Famer
13 weeks of the NFL are in the rear view mirror and we have now reached the NFL's version of the Final 4. The battle for the final playoff spots heat up, playoff seeding up for grabs and coaches making one final attempt at avoiding the chopping block come Black Monday.

Cowboys @ Bears: The Bears welcome the Dallas Cowboys fresh off their Thanksgiving day loss to the Bills and hope to climb back into the NFC Playoff picture. Jerry Jones says Jason Garrett will be coaching somewhere in 2020 but will it be Dallas? Mitchell Trubisky hopes to carve up the Cowboys defense who will be without Leighton Vander Esch and Safety Jeff Heath as he continues to turn things around when all seemed lost and people were calling for his head. Can Chicago find themselves making a late playoff run leaving the Vikings with coal in their stocking and not a playoff berth?

Panthers @ Falcons: The Panthers have fired Ron Rivera and I'm not too sure it was the right decision but Dan Quinn may have just saw his future with the Falcons after reading that news. Both teams are going nowhere at this point of the season with assistant coaches and players doing well enough to land with another team come 2020.

Bengals @ Browns: The Cleveland Browns can still live up to their expectations and make the playoffs as they sit two games out of the last wild card spot. The Bengals returned to Andy Dalton and they won their first game of the season. If the Browns still want to have any hope of January football, they have to win to stay in the tight race for the sixth seed. The Bengals are hoping to play spoiler but it would be a Bengal thing to win enough to drop out of the first overall pick wouldn't it?

Redskins @ Packers: The Packers look to bury the Redskins NFC East title hopes in the snow this weekend as the Redskins look to somehow win enough and steal the NFC East away from Philly and Dallas. Green Bay got some help in the division with a Vikings loss on Monday and look to move another step forward to winning the NFC North Title in 2019.

Lions @ Vikings: Minnesota has got to be careful, teams are starting to lurk and ready to pounce if Kirk Cousins continues to prove he can not win in big games. Matthew Stafford is still out and the Lions are now turning to David Blough who had a nice Thanksgiving game and almost won them the game against the Bears. This is a trap game for the Vikings as a loss here coupled with wins from a few other teams will make the final wild card in the NFC a bit more wide open than we thought.

49ers @ Saints: Going 1-3 during a stretch that included the Packers, Ravens & Saints could see the 49ers traveling to an average Eagles or Cowboys team instead of hosting a playoff game in the BYE week. The 49ers look to recover and hope the Rams beat Seattle to keep the NFC West in their sights. Or maybe hoping Seattle wins so the 49ers can clinch a playoff spot with a Rams loss. New Orleans has now taken over the number one seed thanks to the 49ers loss last week and look to stay home for January during the playoffs. Will the Saints write the next chapter in the history of sports when it comes to redeeming themselves from the following season?

Dolphins @ Jets: The Jets gave the Dolphins their first win of the season and just gave the Bengals their first win of the season. Ryan Fitzpatrick apparently didn't get the memo on losing every single game and currently is ruining the tank season for Miami. Both teams seem to be looking ahead toward next year where Miami hopes for a franchise Quarterback under their tree come Draft season.

Colts @ Buccaneers: You never know which Winston will show up on any given Sunday. Will he show up looking good or will he be the guy who shows up to the holiday gathering with a bunch of turnovers? The Colts head to Tampa with a new Kicker and they may actually win some games.... a little too late for that. Both teams can still be wild cards and the loser only has next year to look forward to.

Broncos @ Texans: The Texans are coming off only their second ever win against the Patriots and welcome in a Broncos team who just beat the Chargers with a 53 yard field goal. Drew Lock looked solid in his first career start last week and for John Elway's sake, he needs to continue to get better and spoiling the Texans AFC South hopes will only justify the pick and a strong finish to 2019 could mean a brighter things ahead for Drew Lock and the Broncos in 2020.

Chargers @ Jaguars: Two teams who are 4-8, both have quarterback issues and seem to be in the mix for a new QB come April 2020. Looks like Father time has also found time to kill off Philip Rivers' career and Tom Brady's career at the same time. Nick Foles just wasn't meant to be for Jacksonville and it seems Blake Bortles wasn't that bad after all now was he?

Titans @ Raiders: The Raiders come limping into this game being outscored 74-12 by their last two opponents and the Titans are on a three game winning streak looking to take home the last wild card spot in the AFC. Tennessee is riding high on Ryan Tannehill who has made their offense more competitive than Marcus Mariota ever did. Derek Carr may or may not join the team in Vegas depending the conclusion of the season but both teams look to keep up with Pittsburgh for that last wild card spot.

Steelers @ Steelers West: I believe the hype around Mike Tomlin being Coach of The Year because for the Steelers to be starting their third string QB, no AB and no Bell and 7-5 clinging on to the last playoff spot in the AFC? He deserves it. Rookie coaches have not had much success this season but Murray has shown some hope going forward for the Cardinals. Terrell Suggs gets one crack at Devlin Hodges and if Sizzled Duck is on the menu for the game, Suggs can return to Baltimore and hand the AFC North Crown to his former team with a Cardinals upset.

Chiefs @ Patriots: The AFC Championship Rematch we've been waiting for all season except this time the game is in New England. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs head to Foxboro to take on Tom Brady and an offense that can't find a rhythm. If the Chiefs win and the Raiders lose, they can clinch the AFC West on Sunday. The Pats meanwhile just need a win to clinch a playoff spot, and a loss here would open the door for the Bills to potentially take the AFC East away from them but importantly, cost the Pats significantly in the final seeding meaning playing on Wild Card weekend, and not being on a BYE.

Seahawks @ Rams: The Seahawks on a short week head to LA to take on a Rams team that looked like it's 2018 counterpart last week. While the Rams are hoping to make a late playoff push, the Seahawks look to punch their ticket to the big dance with a win over the Rams. Will Sean McVay and the Rams spoil Seattle's playoff clinching scenario and stay in the wild card hunt or will Russell Wilson and company end all hopes for the defending NFC Champions to return to the playoffs?

Giants @ Eagles: Eli Manning is back in the starting lineup which means Tom Brady needs to run for his life.... if this were 2007 or 2011. The reality is that it's 2019 and Eli is taking over for Daniel Jones while he nurses his ankle back to health and the other reality is that the NFC East stinks but someone has to win this division. The Eagles failed at taking advantage of the Cowboys loss to the Bills by losing to the Dolphins because their secondary is trash. Will the Eagles secondary make Eli Manning look like the old Eli Manning and once again fail to capitalize on the misery of the Cowboys?
 
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Dom McRaven

Hall of Famer
@JO_75 , when you do your write up for the PIT/ARZ game, make sure to title it "Steelers vs. Steelers West." Come to think of it, you missed a great opportunity last week for the MNF game aka Vikings vs. Vikings West lol.
 
What’s the deal with the Fox broadcast crew of Aikman and Buck? I can hardly hear either one of them. I can hear the stadium announcer better. I noticed our game Sunday on Fox I could hear Burkhardt and Davis perfectly. It’s annoying.
 

allblackraven

Hall of Famer
What’s the deal with the Fox broadcast crew of Aikman and Buck? I can hardly hear either one of them. I can hear the stadium announcer better. I noticed our game Sunday on Fox I could hear Burkhardt and Davis perfectly. It’s annoying.
I can hear them fine
 
Really hate that Trubisky is just getting scathed I would like to see him claw his way back. It’s not his fault the Bears overdrafted him. He lacked experience big time and shouldn’t be tossed to the scrap heap yet.
 

Ellicottraven

Ravens Ring of Honor
Dallas stinks and every time they play poorly I think back to 2008 when Bisciotti wanted Jason Garret over Harbs! I am just so thankful to Jerry for keeping his man! Imagine the disarray our franchise would be in at this time with Garret!
 

RavensMania

Staff Member
Administrator
Dallas stinks and every time they play poorly I think back to 2008 when Bisciotti wanted Jason Garret over Harbs! I am just so thankful to Jerry for keeping his man! Imagine the disarray our franchise would be in at this time with Garret!
Garrett would have been gone long ago, if we had him as coach.
 
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