The NFL playoffs kick off today with the Las Vegas Raiders visiting Cincinnati in the opening game. Playoff weekend extends through Monday night as the NFL pushes to continue its dominance on television and maximize ratings.
As we start the payoffs, NFL futures have the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs as the favorites to meet in the Super Bowl as you can see above. Both teams are playing great football and a matchup of these two squads would probably give us a great Super Bowl, though we all know the NFL playoffs rarely work out that way. This is what makes the NFL great.
Here’s a quick look at the NFL lines for the playoff games:
This video is pretty awesome, as Buffalo Bills players watch the Cincinnati Bengals pull off a late win over the Baltimore Ravens to help the Bills break the longest running playoff drought in the NFL.
It was a wild finish last night in Cincinnati, and some of the game actually included great football plays. But the Bengals suffered an epic meltdown with the antics of Vontaze Burfict and Adam “Pacman” Jones at the end of the game.
This was after Jeremy Hill fumbled the football after an impressive strip by Ryan Shazier late in the game after it appeared the Bengals had sealed an improbable comeback off a Burfict interception of Big Ben. Hill should have been the primary goat in this game, but then idiocy took over.
Chiefs vs. Colts, 4:35PM ET The Colts hammered the Chiefs 23-7 in Indianapolis in Week 16 but expect a different outcome today. Kansas City wasn’t prepared for the hurry up that Pep Hamilton threw at Bob Sutton’s defense but with more time to prepare, the Chiefs should adjust. Injuries could impact this game from Kansas City’s side of things, as Tamba Hali is questionable and Eric Fisher has been ruled out for the contest. But Fisher the Chiefs expect Hali to play and Fisher wasn’t performing well before suffering the injury so his loss shouldn’t play a significant role in today’s outcome. The Colts aren’t a very good first half team but they’ve done well playing from behind with Andrew Luck under center. Unfortunately that plays into Kansas City’s hands. Look for the Chiefs to build a lead and then protect it with a combination of Jamaal Charles and their pass rush. FREE PICK: Chiefs -2.5
Saints vs. Eagles, 8:10PM ET The Eagles have only beaten one playoff team this year and that came in Week 10 against an Aaron Rodgers-less Packers squad. But you’re naïve if you believe that Philly’s success this year is somehow marginalized by its schedule. Look at the NFL this year – half the league is garbage, which contributed to the Eagles’ “soft schedule.” Regardless, the Saints are a completely different team on the road than it is playing on the fast track of the Superdome. Drew Brees can talk about the Saints’ road record since 2009 all he wants but the fact remains that he’s a less accurate quarterback, Sean Payton is a more conservative play-caller and Rob Ryan’s defense isn’t as potent. Look for the red-hot Eagles to advance to the next round with a victory. FREE PICK: Eagles -3
Chargers vs. Bengals, 1:05PM ET The side is difficult to handicap for this matchup because nobody knows which Andy Dalton will show up. He’s as likely to throw for four touchdowns and 350 yards as he is to turn the ball over four times and keep his opponent in the game nearly single-handedly. Thus, the true value of this matchup may be in the total. The over is 4-0-1 in the last five meetings between these two teams in Cincinnati and 7-2-2 in the last 11 meetings overall. The over is also 4-0 in the Bengals’ last four games overall, 5-0 in their last five home games and 4-1 in their last five games versus AFC opponents. FREE PICK: OVER 45.5
49ers vs. Packers, 4:40PM ET Everything about this matchup screams 49ers, at least on paper. They have the significantly better defense, they’re built to win on the road thanks to their running game, and they’ve owned the Packers in the recent past. But this Green Bay team is eirly similar to the one that won the Super Bowl in 2010. That year, the Packers suffered key injuries throughout the season and barely made the postseason before riding a red-hot Aaron Rodgers to the title game versus Pittsburgh. Rodgers looked rusty last week versus the Bears but his second-half magic makes it hard to bet against him at home tomorrow night. If this game turns into a shootout, I like Rodgers over Colin Kaepernick, who has gotten a free pass for his inconsistent play this season after leading the Niners to the Super Bowl last season and playing with Michael Crabtree for most of this season. FREE PICK: PACKERS +3
Andy Dalton is a pretty good quarterback. The question is whether he can ever be any better than that and actually lead the Cincinnati Bengals to a playoff win, let alone the Super Bowl. With his lame performance against the Cleveland Browns this past Sunday, questions are starting to emerge around the league and in Cincinnati as to Dalton’s ceiling as a quarterback.
Dalton has a decent arm, but not a great arm. Under pressure his accuracy seems to falter as well. The Bengals were looked at as a legitimate Super Bowl contender, but Dalton always made me skeptical about that prediction, and now his recent performances are causing more people to be skeptical as well.
Comments Off on Questions about Andy Dalton in Cincy
