Image via Julio Cortez, Associated Press
By Lucas Kochevar The Cowboys are one of the few disappointing teams walking away from wild card weekend with a foul taste in their mouths, however, they have to be the most disappointed out of the losing teams. To clean that nasty taste out of their mouth they’ll be having their fair share of blame pie. The question I want to look at is, who is getting the biggest slice? The Cowboys have won double digit games for the last three seasons, they haven’t advanced to conference championship weekend in any of those playoff runs. The common denominators for each of these runs comes down to three guys: Dak Prescott, Mike McCarthy and Stephen Jones. There are other players that have stayed with the team, obviously, but none of them hold the same status as the franchise quarterback. Prescott has to be mentioned as a key player in the losses because he’s thrown picks during every playoff run he’s been a part of. He holds a 2-5 record in the playoffs. Prescott has fought through his fair share of criticisms through the years, but with another contract year approaching, Prescott’s playoff performances will be held against him. The Cowboys weren’t able to make plays when they needed to and a pick six in the first half essentially ended the season for Dallas as they were down 27-0. The Cowboys signal caller was in a nightmare as Dallas’ high-scoring offense couldn’t do anything against the Green Bay defense until the game was already over. While Prescott struggled on the field, head coach Mike McCarthy looked dumbfounded on the sideline. His rear end is feeling the heat as any day now, McCarthy could find himself out of a job. The head coach for the Cowboys has won countless regular season games, but when the lights are the brightest, his team looks unprepared. It’s a common indictment on the longtime head coach, who has had great playoff rosters but little success. Even with this reputation McCarthy has built up, I’m not sure he deserves most of the blame. Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was dreadful. The last guy I want to mention is the architect of this Cowboys team, Stephen Jones. Jerry Jones’ son has built a hell of a team. The offensive line is terrific, the defense has serious talent at each level and there are weapons on offense. The issues come from a couple moves that look rough in hindsight. Trading away Amari Cooper years back, while turning around and paying Michael Gallup looks like a clear error. Cooper has been arguably a top ten receiver for the Browns and his presence would’ve made this Cowboys offense even more dangerous. There’s the discussion that he could have set back CeeDee Lamb’s development as a WR1, but I doubt that would’ve mattered because Lamb already had more targets and yards in Cooper’s last year in Dallas. Another key issue was cutting franchise running back, Ezekiel Elliot, this past offseason. I understood this at the time and I thought Tony Pollard would come back and become the workhorse back. Pollard had a fine year, but it was clear that he was more of a change of pace guy and complemented Elliot well. On top of that, Elliot went on to have a very solid season. His numbers aren’t that far off from his last season in Dallas and he had less touches in New England. These two moves aren’t the reason the Cowboys got blown out by the Packers, but I think these two decisions are minor pieces in what could have made the Cowboys a more well-rounded team and bigger threat. Jones has the smallest share in the blame pie, but he has a slice still. The Cowboys have a lot of soul-searching to do, but ultimately, I don’t know what they can do to make this team any better. There aren’t any quarterbacks that are better than Dak on the market and the options outside of McCarthy are big risks. Bill Belichick likely doesn’t want Jerry Jones over his shoulder and any other option would be a first year head coach. There will be tough discussions in big D for Jerry Jones.
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Image via Kim Klement Neitzel/USA TODAY Sports
By Lucas Kochevar The Tampa Buccaneers are moving on in the playoffs after a convincing win over the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles did their best tribute to the NFC South by getting outplayed from the first drive and on. Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers took advantage and never trailed in one of the multiple playoff game blowouts. How did they get here? The Buccaneers went through massive changes in the offseason with the greatest quarterback of all-time hanging it up in Tom Brady. Multiple players are older and it looked like the Buccaneers were going to be bottom feeders again with Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask competing at quarterback. The Buccaneers have never been really close to competing for multiple seasons so no one paid any mind to them. A 5-1 stretch at the end of the season propelled the Buccaneers into the playoffs as no one truly wanted to win the NFC South. Although they boast a 9-8 record, the Buccaneers tried their hardest to not make the playoffs after losing at home to the Saints in week 17, but someone had to rise to the top in the worst division in football, the NFC South. The Buccaneers are in the playoffs by the skin of their teeth, but there was a very real chance the Falcons or Saints could’ve been in their spot. The Panthers were never close to this as they’re a two-win team that doesn’t have their first round pick, which is also the first overall pick. The Panthers are a good place to start when looking at this cluster of incompetent teams. Bryce Young was the first overall pick in the draft for Carolina and he was coming into a staff that was heavily rumored to want the quarterback taken after him, C.J. Stroud. Alas, Young came in and won the starting job and maybe he’d show those flashes for why he was the first quarterback taken. Not so fast, my friend! Young struggled and just never hit his stride. I watched the Panthers game against the Packers, statistically Young’s best game. Although he made a number of throws that were good, I noticed things missing from his game that he had coming out of Alabama. Throwing outside the numbers was a real struggle accuracy wise. He couldn’t drive the ball and it’s a product of choppy footwork and a messed up internal clock. It’s clear that Young’s confidence was shot by this point in the season. Losing those fundamentals that made him so dangerous in college brought him down to looking like a real amateur in the NFL. Although he could bounce back in his second season with a new head coach, Young will have to overcome incompetent ownership. David Tepper, who bought the team in 2018, has already seen three head coaches come through Carolina. Another wrong choice at head coach could see Young become a bust. The Panthers aren’t the only NFC South team looking down the barrel of a critical head coaching hire. The Falcons' woes have been well-reported and they fired Arthur Smith. He took a gamble on Desmond Ridder being the guy and, my god, he wasn’t close to being the guy. The Falcons were hilariously bad and good at the same time. They beat three of the teams that advanced during wild card weekend, including the Bucs. They lost to three of the teams that pick ahead of them in the draft, including the Panthers. Now, Arthur Blank and shadow GM Rich McKay face the biggest hire of their tenure in Atlanta. If they don’t nail it, “sell the team” chants could break out at Falcons games in the future. They’ll have to find a new franchise guy at quarterback too, whether it’s through free agency or the draft. We’ll see what their franchise-changing move is in the near future. Lastly, there’s the Saints. They’re holding on to one of the worst head coaches in the league and they’re $70 million in the hole with their salary cap. The Saints could be stuck in this ever-ending loop of mediocrity. It’s a brutal place to be, but I can’t see the Saints coming close to being a legitimate playoff contender with head coach Dennis Allen and aging-quarterback Derek Carr. This entire division doesn’t know what their future holds. They each face a unique challenging heading into next season, but right now the Buccaneers are in the moment playing with house money heading to Detroit. If Baker Mayfield can play like he did against Philadelphia, the Bucs could play spoiler on Detroit’s party. Image via AP Photo
By Lucas Kochevar The NFL is doing something that’ll get a ton of flack on Saturday when the casual fan tunes in for a playoff game between Patrick Mahomes and Tua Tagovailoa. The Swifties will be in shambles. The Chiefs and Dolphins will be exclusively on Peacock, the NBC streaming service. The NFL has been flexing on their competition a bit with how they’ve handled the scheduling and streaming of their games. The NFL owned Christmas over the NBA and they’re putting games behind paywalls. They know they can do this because they’re numbers are absolutely massive. The NFL owns 93 out of the top 100 most watched programs on TV in 2023. College football’s biggest game of the season, the national championship, was Monday on ESPN. It averaged around 25 million viewers. The Cowboys versus Commanders, a mostly meaningless game during week 18, saw around 21 million viewers. The NFL owns the TV ratings and they can do whatever they want. That’s what the NFL is telling you by putting this wild-card game behind a paywall. They’re right too. I’m sure this game will do great numbers and Peacock will see an insane boost in revenue. I won’t say how I’ll watch the game, but let's just say I’ll find it in a similar way that I find UFC fights. Sadly, most of the general public won’t figure this out and they’ll give money to the machine. It’s a tough reality, but it’s likely what will happen. For those that won’t pay for it, I have a good idea for how this game will go. The Dolphins have been running on fumes. They’ve lost three of the last five games and the two wins were a nasty win over the Cowboys and a win over the anemic Jets. The Dolphins haven’t played well in the winter and Saturday’s game is slated to be the coldest game in HISTORY. The temperature at kickoff could be zero degrees. The Chiefs haven’t played much better than the Dolphins down the stretch. They won more games, but it was ugly. There’s a hitch in how the Chiefs are running their offense and I think it comes back to all of their receiving options being subpar, even Kelce this season. This is a rare season from the Mahomes’ Chiefs as they likely won’t flip the switch. Great teams that win often will sleep walk through the regular season and it’s easy to see. The Chiefs are not one of those teams. They’ve had legitimate growing pains and it hasn’t looked any better at any point throughout the season. The Chiefs will have to win this game through smash mouth football and defense. Their defense has been strong this season and Isiah Pacheco runs the ball with bad intentions. I think the Chiefs will play bully ball and the Dolphins won’t get that momentum going that’s made them successful this year. The game within the game runs through the rushing attack for either team, but give me the Chiefs because of the defense. Image via AP
By Lucas Kochevar The standard of the NFL for the past two decades has been the Patriots and Bill Belichick. The Patriot way was often described as the culture teams wanted to instill in order to be a winner. Countless attempts have been made, but nothing replicated the real thing. How could it? Six Super Bowls won and countless regular season wins is something teams dream of, but all dreams come to an end eventually. Once Tom Brady left, Bill Belichick was forced to prove that his way could last, even without the greatest quarterback of all-time. It didn't work and Belichick is now out of New England, four years after Brady’s departure. It’s the end of an era in New England and football as a whole. Not only is Belichick gone from New England, Nick Saban is retired and Pete Caroll was, effectively, retired by the Seahawks. These coaches are in the top one percent of winning coaches to ever grace the sideline. Saban and Belichick are considered the greatest of all-time. We have to come to terms with the fact that the league and football is changing. College is easy to describe as NIL and the transfer portal can be linked to Saban’s departure. The NFL is a different story. It’s the changing of the guard for coaches in the NFL as the young, offensive guru is the wave in the NFL. Two coaches, however, will likely maintain their old school approach to the game. Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh are now the longest tenured coaches with their one team. Both of them aren’t your traditional Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan, but they’ve won games their own way. Hard-nosed defenses that find effective offenses when they need it. Although the Steelers have struggled with that recently, Tomlin has never seen a losing season. The old way works, as evidenced by these two coaches and Andy Reid, but the new generation is coming up and it’ll be intriguing to see the innovations brought to the game. The west coast offense, that often shows receivers going in motion like the CFL, is taking over the league. The Dolphins have seen great success using motions and fakes to fool the defense. The Rams have seen their offensive resurgence with under center run plays and play-action. The 49ers offense is uber talented, but it clearly comes back to the mastermind running the show in Shanahan. If you can’t tell, I can’t sing the praises of these coaches enough. This offensive system is something I fell in love with watching with the 2016 Falcons, a coaching staff that is similar to the 2012 Washington staff that featured numerous current NFL head coaches. This system puts an unrelenting pressure on defense to play perfect, while the offense runs their fundamentals to perfection. The system flourishes and elevates talent as long as you do your job. Numerous coaches will enter their first NFL job and they’ll run this system. The Texans OC Bobby Slowik could find a job after elevating C.J. Stroud and the Texans. Bengals OC Brian Callahan has been interviewed several times and he’s a grandson on the coaching tree of Sean McVay. Looking at coaching trees is a fascinating exercise and most of them come from either Bill Walsh or Bill Parcells. Back to Bill Belichick, a product of the Parcells coaching tree, he’s now in an interesting position. He could choose almost any team that reaches out to him and it’s no secret the Falcons are putting their chips in for Belichick. We’ll see whether or not he accepts a job again this season, but with the other legendary coaches I mentioned retiring, it could be possible that Belichick follows suit at age 71. Image via Chaz Palla/Tribune Review
By Lucas Kochevar The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the playoffs, but they’re 9.5-point underdogs against the Bills. T.J. Watt is missing the game with an MCL sprain, but I don’t think he’s the reason for the big spread. The issues this Steelers team has faced come back to the most important position: the quarterback. It’s been a bumpy season for the Steelers offense was historically bad. A November matchup against the Bengals told you everything you needed to know about the inefficiencies the team had under offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Pittsburgh finally relieved Canada of his duties. The Steelers won the game in Cincinnati 16-10, but the jarring stat involves their yards gained. The Steelers eclipsed over 400 yards for the first time in 58(!) games They did this and still only scored 16 points. It was a massive step forward, but the bar was in hell. The Steelers have a plethora of weapons. George Pickens, Diontae Johnson, Jaylin Warren and Najee Harris. They have invested in the offensive line through the draft and free agency. Both the skill positions and linemen have had their inconsistencies, but it leads back to the most important position in all of sports: the quarterback. I was watching the week one game between the 49ers and Steelers (Be on the lookout for some 49ers-related content with Koch’s Corner). I started to wonder, is it time for the Steelers to give up on Kenny Pickett already? Pickett suffered an ankle injury that has kept him out for a month now and, even though he’s healthy, they’re rolling with Mason Rudolph. Rudolph is the hot hand for the Steelers so it makes sense, but if Pickett is the guy, he should be starting. The writing is on the wall and I think it’s more than likely Pickett isn’t Pittsburgh’s quarterback next season. It would be a different story if Pickett was having a good season prior to his injury, but that really wasn’t the case. The 2022 first round pick completed 62% of his passes with 2,070 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions. The worrisome part of this is the fact it was through 12 games. In his last six full games, he only had one touchdown. Going back to that game I referenced earlier between the 49ers and Steelers, I noticed that Pickett’s accuracy was just abysmal on any passes past 20 yards. They needed to hit those passes to beat the 49ers and Pickett couldn’t deliver them. It was a one game sample size for my eyes, but it’s been a consistent criticism from many that follow the Steelers. The chemistry was off for every throw that Pickett made to push the ball downfield. Once again, I don’t know if this was a scheme issue or a Pickett issue. What I do know is that if the Steelers think Pickett is the guy and can hit the throws they need, he would be starting on Sunday against the Bills, not the third string quarterback. It’ll be an intriguing offseason for one of the most consistent franchises in league history. They appear to be a team that could be one of the quarterback-needy teams for 2024. Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images
By Lucas Kochevar As we close the chapter on the regular season, I wanted to look back and reflect on this unique season of football. It wasn’t always pretty, but it was full of interesting storylines throughout. The Ravens seem to be running away with the regular season crown, but they’ll have to turn it up a notch in the playoffs to claim their third Super Bowl. In a season full of quarterback injuries, Lamar Jackson remains standing on top of the mountain, likely looking at his second league MVP. It’s hilarious because of how numerous teams went out of their way to deny they even had INTEREST in Jackson. The Ravens, happily, let the market kill itself and welcomed back a franchise guy with a new offensive coordinator and new weapons. The league is paying for this as the Ravens claimed the one seed. The rest of the AFC has been cannibalizing itself. Teams that should have been cruising to playoff spots are fighting, while teams that shouldn’t be there have a chance at the playoffs, I’m looking at you Colts and Texans. The Colts and Texans were slated to be near the top of the draft order in the preseason, but both teams are looking at a win and get-in against each other. The AFC has been a wild ride. The NFC, on the other hand, has been a bumpy ride. The Super Bowl “contenders” all have their questions and I’ll be curious to see how these top teams do in the playoffs. The 49ers have been the best team, but absolutely crumbled in their big game against the Ravens. The Cowboys can’t travel. The Lions defense is a liability and the Eagles had the bumpiest road to 11 wins I’ve ever seen. I can frankly see any of these teams losing in the first round, especially if Matthew Stafford and the Rams travel to Detroit. I’m sorry, Lions fans. Most seasons are defined by the playoffs and this season will likely follow that script, but it will have the footnote of numerous season-ending injuries to quarterbacks. I hate that, but it has to be said. Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and Aaron Rodgers to name a few. Still, the quarterbacks will be on display in the playoffs. Patrick Mahomes will try to overcome his struggling receiving core. Dak Prescott will have his best chance at a Super Bowl since his rookie year. These are just a few of the names that will have legacy-defining playoffs. There will be more time to reflect on teams that will make their coaching changes on Monday, but for now, we should look forward to a very exciting playoffs. Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post
Tis’ the season to bench your quarterback. In a season that has seen numerous great quarterbacks go down with injuries, there have been numerous benching's across the league. From multi-million dollar starters to likely career backups, the league has seen multiple guys get benched towards the end of the season. The most notable one is Russell Wilson. He was traded to the Broncos last season and was extended. He was extended for $245 million over five years. Immediately, it didn’t work as Nathaniel Hackett didn’t make it to the end of his first season as head coach. The duo was a failure, but they pivoted and traded for head coach Sean Payton. Payton was retired on TV, but accepted the job. I thought the fit made sense as Payton had most of his career success with a short quarterback that excelled in dumping the ball off. I was very wrong as the Broncos struggled and hilariously lost to the Dolphins 70-20. Even with that, they managed to bounce back to be in the playoff mix, until a devastating loss against the god-awful Patriots this past Sunday. The Broncos are now looking down the barrel of a ton of money with Wilson. He might not play another snap for the team. Along with Wilson, Sam Howell with the Commanders and Tommy Devito with the Giants were both benched. Taking out injuries, 12 quarterbacks have been benched this season. There’s been a discussion of how the quarterback position has weakened over the years, especially compared to what we had in the mid-2000s to early 2010s. There’s some truth to this, but I don’t think it’s the quarterbacks getting worse. Patience and development is at an all-time low. Players will get thrown to the fire and sometimes they succeed, but way more often than not, they fail. Outside of the young guys, I think there’s far too many bad coaches that don’t keep it simple. In a league where the boy genius offensive guru has taken over, there’s been too many coaches that want to be that guy and over complicate the offense for their young quarterback. Bryce Young suffered from that. Jordan Love, early in the season, suffered from that. Young still has hope and Love has been much better since Lafleur adjusted to Love’s skillset. I don’t think the over-complicated part league is going away, but team’s have to realize that they have much more to do with a player’s failure than the player just being a straight-up failure. In a system of stability, a player can exceed. Jared Goff’s level of stability was a big part of the Rams success years ago and the Lions recent success. Although McVay is one of the best coaches in the league and Lions OC Ben Johnson is the hottest name on the head coaching market, Goff has executed each of their offenses to the best of his ability. He’s won a bunch of games in the NFL, despite the moniker that he’s a system QB. Although the system is in place, someone has to execute the system to its best efficiency. This leads me back to Russell Wilson. He’s running Sean Payton’s system, which has won a ton of regular season games. He’s not doing it to the best of his ability. He hasn’t emulated the consistent, steady play that Drew Brees showed with Payton. I’ve been anti-Rusell WIlson for years now, but this is a new-low for him. I do think he still gives Denver the best chance to win games this season, but it’s clear this is a move for the future. The Wilson-Broncos marriage is heading for a quick divorce. By Lucas Kochevar
It turns out picking the team with the better quarterback, head coach and defense was the right play as the Chiefs took down the Dolphins in Germany. The light was shining bright Sunday morning on whether or not the Dolphins were serious. As Logan Roy told his children in Succession, "You are not serious people." The Dolphins really won't face another test until their Christmas Eve game against the Cowboys. It'll be curious to see how they fare the rest of the way n their Canadian Football League style offense. This upcoming week isn't full of very exciting games, if I'm being honest. For that reason, I'm going to call this my bye week and just let Koch's Corner give you the full analysis of this week. Before I leave you to the rest of your weekend, I'll still give you the lock of the week after a narrow victory last week. LK's Bet of the Week: Arizona Cardinals +1.5 vs Atlanta Falcons The triumphant return of Kyler Murray is a big factor in me picking the Cardinals this week. The Falcons are the second part of me picking the Cardinals. The Falcons are on a fast track to nowhere with how they're using their weapons and how the defense looks after Grady Jarrett's injury. The last time these two teams played in Arizona was an absolute shootout and the Cardinals won after Matt Bryant missed the game-tying kick. Kyler Murray torched the Falcons for over three hundred yards and three touchdowns. I think Murray will comeback and be strong throwing the ball. I could understand him not running too much, but the pressure can be taken off with James Conner also coming back from injury. The Falcons offense doesn't scare me in this and I think the Cardinals are live in this spot. Give me the red birds. Record on the season: 5-4 By Lucas Kochevar
The Bengals are back and the 49ers are dead. Maybe dead is a bit harsh, but its gone downhill quickly for the 49ers as of late. San Francisco has really just been a tire fire with both sides of the ball being downright bad. The offense has been fine, but Brock Purdy's turnovers at certain points have just been killers. The defense isn't helping him that much at all too. They allowed Joe Burrow to find his rhythm and it might be the beginning of the Bengals resurgence. The Bengals seem to love starting out slow and really it was Burrow's calf that was slowing them down. He seems to be healthy and the Bengals are set up nicely to try and take control in the AFC. They're still behind the Ravens, but they're really rounding into form. The Panthers also decided to leave the winless record club and beat the Texans. It was a terrible game, but Bryce Young finally showed those flashes of the Bryce Young at Alabama. Miami Dolphins (+1.5) vs Kansas City Chiefs The first game on the day in Germany between the Dolphins and Chiefs. The Dolphins are on the fraud watch since they really haven't beaten a real team. Their most impressive win is over a Chargers team that's deeply unserious. The Dolphins also have an energy about them that doesn't scream "They can win in the cold weather." and I'm not sure they can. They got manhandled by the Bills and Eagles and their defense doesn't seem as strong as they were coming into the season. They did get Jalen Ramsey back and he got an interception in his first game with them. He'll be a big part in trying to stop the Chiefs, who are trying to get back on track too after an embarrassing loss against the Broncos. There's also the factor in travel, where the Dolphins arrived on Monday and the Chiefs waited until Thursday. This game is a revenge game for star receiver Tyreek Hill as he takes on the Chiefs for the first time since the trade. The easiest bet in the world will be Tyreek Hill anytime touchdown. He's going to score once, guaranteed. The Chiefs defense has been really solid this year and they'll have their hands full with all the speed that Miami possess. I am curious to see how the Chiefs look after their worst performance of the season. There hasn't been a receiver to really separate themselves from the pack, but I have a feeling rookie Rashee Rice can have an impact on this game. They'll definitely need to turn down the drop issue that they've run into. Most of the time I would pick the team that has the better coach, quarterback and defense, but I think the Dolphins will make a statement win over the reigning champs in Germany. Seattle Seahawks (+5.5) @ Baltimore Ravens The Seahawks are travelling out East to Baltimore to take on the surging Ravens. Although the Ravens never feel like they're the best team in the AFC, they continue to stack wins and remain among the best record-wise. They Ravens are coming off of a win against the Cardinals, where Gus Edwards scored three touchdowns. It wasn't a great win as they only beat the worst team in a league by a touchdown. The Seahawks are coming off a win against the Browns. They didn't have a great win either was they beat a backup quarterback by four points at home. Geno Smith doesn't quite look the same as he did last season, but they're still getting good games from him. The Seahawks have a chance to really go ahead of the 49ers with a win over the Ravens, but I'm not sure it'll be that easy. The Ravens offense has started to hit it's stride and it will go against a very solid Seahawks defense. The Seahawks secondary has a unique task of slowing down Mark Andrews and Zay Flowers. I want to add Odell Beckham Jr. to that but he hasn't quite been productive for Baltimore yet. Andrews and Flowers, on the other hand, have been very solid and I think they can be even better. Playing against Tariq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon will present a unique challenge against these guys with their physical play. I like the Ravens to win this game and really separate themselves from the rest of the AFC for the time. Buffalo Bills (+1.5) @ Cincinnati Bengals As I mentioned earlier, the Bills are travelling to play the Bengals in Cincinnati for the first time since the Damar Hamlin situation last season. Despite not playing that much, I'm sure Hamlin will be a lead story for Sunday night. Outside of Hamlin, there are some great storylines to follow in this game. The Bengals have started to turn it around, especially after their win on the road last week. The Bills are also coming off a solid win on Thursday against the Buccaneers, however, they still haven't looked cohesive. The Bills are a team that are just a rollercoaster ride with insane peaks and valleys. Josh Allen has shown the glimpses of the great Josh Allen, but he's been just flat out sloppy. On the other side, Burrow has really just been on an upward trajectory. This trajectory could be a deciding factor in the game. I feel great about the Bengals chances in this game because the Buffalo defense is beat up like no other. With several key guys missing for the year, the Bengals wide receivers can stretch the Bills defense out. The player that needs to get going is Tee Higgins. After coming into the season with a contract dispute, Higgins hasn't quite gotten off the ground in terms of his production. This can be his breakout game with a banged up secondary. The Bills are once again facing questions about their run game as they signed Leonard Fournette recently. The Bills haven't been close to a real competent run game with Josh Allen as the starter, but I thought that they were trending in a good direction early on this season with James Cook. I think Cook is the X-factor for the Bills this week. As I said earlier, I think the Bengals have a chance to dominate Buffalo and further cement themselves as a contender. LK's Bet of the Week: New York Giants @ Las Vegas Raiders U37.5 There are some DASTARDLY games going on this weekend. Absolutely terrible games that shouldn't be seen by mortal eyes. The film from some of these games should be taken out back and set on fire. With that being said, it's UNDER TIME. The last time I took an under it was the worst bet I've ever gave out. This time, however, I feel absolutely terrific about. The Raiders just fired their head coach and GM in a smart move and they're also benching Jimmy Garoppolo. It's a complete overhaul and they're starting a rookie quarterback. Rookie quarterback's are a bad recipe when you're looking for points, unless you're Will Levis playing the Falcons. The Giants are also in a weird spot coming off a game that just didn't make any sense. Tyrod Taylor got hurt and Tommy Devito came into the game. Yes, that's a real person and not a character from "The Sopranos". It was weird because the game was teleported to the 1930s and the Giants lost. I'm not sure who will be at quarterback on Sunday for the Giants, but it won't matter either way. The under is going to be incredible television to root for, but it'll be an ugly game. Let's win this bet. Record on the season: 4-4 Sources: Image via Fan Nation Dolphins By Lucas Kochevar
The Ravens might be the biggest threat in the NFL and the Chargers have some soul searching to do. These are a few of the storylines around the league and I still couldn't tell you who the best team is in the league. That's why I labeled the Ravens as the biggest threat. I don't think they're the best team in the NFL, however, they've put together impressive wins along with their most dominant win over the Lions. Lamar Jackson was slow out of the gate but he looked impressive through the air and on the ground. The Lions weren't able to get anything going against the Ravens defense too. The Chargers are a lifeless corpse at 2-4 and I'm not sure how much longer head coach Brandon Staley can hold on. Once he's fired, Justin Herbert will be on his third coach and the question's are starting to mount about the stud young quarterback. I'm a Herbert fan, but it's hard to keep making up excuses for him. He needs to right the ship as a leader with the next coach and win some meaningful games. He's starting to really resemble his Chargers predecessor Phillip Rivers. Jacksonville Jaguars (-2.5) @ Pittsburgh Steelers The Jaguars have owned the Steelers as of late and I'm curious to see whether or not this trend continues under the Trevor Lawrence-led Jaguars. I remember the days of Blake Bortles rocking the teal and beating the Steelers in Pittsburgh 45-42. The Jaguars are coming off a mini-bye week after beating the Saints and they've been inconsistently good against their opponents after getting blown out by the Texans. When I say inconsistently good, I mean that they start hot and end slow, but they've snuck out their wins late. The Steelers are starting to find some success, despite offensive coordinator Matt Canada's incompetence. The team in black and gold are coming home after a win in Los Angeles against the Rams. The Jaguars offense will have their hands full with the Steelers defense. A key to the Jaguars success has been relying on running back Travis Etienne and I think he'll be key in this game in Sunday. Calvin Ridley hasn't quite had a breakout game for Jacksonville so if they could get him going, that would be huge, especially against a rookie corner in Joey Porter Jr. The Steelers also need to continue their offensive success, which includes a heavy dose of George Pickens. Pickens has three straight games of 100-plus yards and he could extend that streak against an opportunistic secondary in Jacksonville. I like the Steelers to win this game and fake out the media as some sort of contender, even though I don't think they provide a threat to the AFC's best. The Jaguars have been playing around with easy games too much and I think a well-coached team like Pittsburgh will expose that. Cleveland Browns (+3.5) @ Seattle Seahawks Although Deshaun Watson is out on Sunday, I think this game won't be missing much with him out. The Browns quarterback situation has been a flat out disaster this season and I don't think it'll get any better the rest of the way. Watson wasn't particularly good when he was playing and then the "shoulder" injury happened. It feels a tad convenient, but whatever because P.J. Walker is leading Cleveland to Seattle after a thrilling win over the Colts (we'll get to that later). The Seahawks are coming off a very bland win over the lowly Cardinals. The Browns have an all-time defense, but offensive woes keep them in an unserious category. The Seahawks have a blend of young talent and win-now players, but can't put together consistent performances. The teams are at a fork in the road and this game can be the deciding factor in which path they take. The Browns defense against Geno Smith will likely decide this game. Smith was paid handsomely in the offseason, but I think he would be the first to tell you he isn't living up to it. They recently started to get rookie Jaxson Smith-Njigba into the offense and he could be an important player to get going for Seattle to make it into the playoffs. In general, the Seattle passing game needs to get back into what it was last season. Myles Garrett could wreck that entire gameplan as he goes against a second year tackle in Charles Cross. The Browns offense will have to scrape by with Walker and Kareem Hunt carrying the offense. They managed to hold it together against the Colts, but I'm very curious how they'll fair with a full weeks worth of prep against them. The uncertainty of that makes me lean towards the Seahawks here, but I also would've picked Seattle to beat the Bengals two weeks ago. I'm skeptical on both teams, but give me Seattle. Cincinnati Bengals (+3.5) @ San Francisco 49ers These two teams have Super Bowl aspirations but they both have had a bumpy road so far this season. The 49ers looked like world beaters, but have quickly hit a wall these past two weeks with the Browns and Vikings. I'm not sure why that is exactly, but it's happened. They also run the possibility of missing Brock Purdy this week due to a concussion. If he can't go, Sam Darnold will be in line to start, who looked good in the preseason. The Bengals are coming off a bye week that they desperately needed. It's another week that Burrow's calf can heal and Higgins' ribs can heal. The Bengals started off slow last season and picked it up late, could this be another season of that? I think there's a chance but they have to win this to start that hot streak, especially if Purdy can't go. The biggest matchup here will be the 49ers defensive line against the Bengals offensive line. The Bengals offensive line has been well-documented as the struggle group and it's tough to see because it's not like the Bengals front office has ignored this group. They've spent big money at the position and they've used draft capital there, but I don't think anyone has lived up to the hype. This could be a big statement game for that group. The 49ers defensive front features monsters in Nick Bosa and Arik Armstead so I think they'll pose problems against the Bengals. The other side of the ball is interesting too because the 49ers have a monster in Trent Williams at left tackle, while the Bengals have good edge guys in Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard. This game will be decided in the trenches as much as it'll be decided by the playmakers. In the end, it'll come down to whether old Joe Burrow can make an appearance and I think that'll happen. I think he'll get the ball out of his hands quick and that'll be enough to steal this game and raise more questions about the 49ers. LK's Bet of the Week: Minnesota Vikings -1.5 @ Green Bay Packers The loss from last weeks lock was one of the worst losses I've ever had as the Browns and Colts went over by 37 points. An unbelievable game and shootout from both of these teams. It was awful, but now, we must bounce back. I love this pick with all my heart and I can't believe the spread is this low. The Vikings are coming off their biggest win of the season over the 49ers and the Packers are coming off a terrible loss against the Broncos. These teams feel like they're going in different directions, although if there's ever a chance for Jordan Love to get going it's against this Vikings defense. I don't think that'll be the case and the predictable Packers offense won't be able to keep up with the Vikings. Also Jordan Addison has been a phenomenal rookie receiver and I think he'll score a touchdown to continue his strong rookie season. We will win this bet and get back to .500. Record on the season: 3-4 Sources: Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images |
Lucas KochevarI love sports and I'm a local fan of the Falcons, Hawks, and Braves. You can find my quick thoughts and more on my twitter @lucaswkochevar |