Post by spiderfan on Dec 29, 2020 12:51:01 GMT -8
Aloha everyone! I am Spiderfan and this is the Web of Football for Week 16 of the National Football League season. We have a lot to talk about and due to both popular demand and the fact that there all sorts of Week 17 playoff implications to talk about I am bringing back Rapid Fire Thoughts to talk about the Week 16 games and then I'll break down the entire NFL playoff picture. Let us begin!
Rapid Fire Thoughts on the games of Week 16:
-Alvin Kamara sure is something ain't he?
-Tom Brady and the Bucs are playing their best football right at the time they need to be playing their best football. They are going to be a tough out in the playoffs.
-Fitzmagic is alive and well and the Dolphins should play him over Tua.
-Congrats to Dez Bryant for his second TD catch of the season!
-The Chiefs continue to play with their prey. That type of play may cost them in the playoffs, but I doubt it.
-I hate that despite being the best player in franchise history and deserving to hoist a Super Bowl trophy, JJ Watt won't do that with the Texans. That sucks.
-Maybe Big Ben isn't washed up after all.
-Dwayne Haskins legacy with the Football Team is going to be this: He almost cost the team a playoff spot, the fact that former St. Louis Battlehawks backup QB Taylor Heinicke played better than him in a crucial game for that playoff spot, and that his suckage led the career revival of Alex Smith. Have fun being Trevor Lawrence's backup in Jacksonville!
-Congrats to Justin Herbert for breaking the rookie TD passing record!
-To quote Stephen A. Smith "Aaron Rodgers is a baaaaaaaaaaad man"
-Belichick thought he could win without Tom Brady. Turns out, he can't and that is ultimately why the Patriots dynasty is dead and why it isn't coming back.
The Fabulous Five
You may remember how earlier in the year I wrote about the 7 AFC teams that at the time had 6-3 records. Well, we are WAY past that now and entering the final week of the NFL season there are 6, count them 6, AFC teams with a 10-5 record. Those teams are (in decreasing playoff seeding) Titans, Dolphins, Ravens, Browns, and Colts. 2 things to keep in mind: 1.) With the exception of the Colts every other team on that list can clinch a playoff spot with a win and 2.) None of those teams play each other thus there will be no "win or go home" games in the AFC this year. What there will be though will be a lot of scoreboard watching by every team involved because depending on who wins and loses each of those games, someone out of those 5 isn't going to make the playoffs despite having a 10-6 record. So who does each team play?
The Tennessee Titans play the Houston Texans (who have neither playoffs nor a higher draft pick to play for, thus they would be a pure spoiler), the Miami Dolphins play the Buffalo Bills (who have already clinched their playoff spot and may rest starters if not all game, at least some of it), the Baltimore Ravens play the Cincinnati Bengals, (who don't have playoffs to play for, their draft pick status is up in the air, and they have played well the past couple weeks), the Cleveland Browns play the Pittsburgh Steelers (who have already clinched their playoff spot and like the Bills may rest their starters if not all game, some of it), and the Indianapolis Colts play the Jacksonville Jaguars (who just clinched the #1 pick and thus they would be a pure spoiler).
Just because they are the Browns and can't possibly have happiness no matter how much they try, I'm inclined to think of the 5 teams they are the ones who end up without a chair in the game of musical chairs. We'll see what happens though.
As for the NFC...
There are also going to be some games with serious playoff implications in the NFC as well. First I'm going to get the complicated ones out of the way and then talk about the simpler ones. What do I mean by that? Well...
Chicago Bears play the Green Bay Packers (who will have the #1 seed on the line and thus they are likely to care about winning the game). If the Bears win, then the game out west between the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams becomes... weird. If the Bears win and Cardinals win, the Rams don't make the playoffs. If the Bears win and Rams win, the Cardinals don't make the playoffs. If the Packers win and the Cardinals win, both the Rams and Cardinals make the playoffs. However, if the Packers win and Rams win the Bears clinch a spot in the playoffs due to the head to head tiebreaker against the Cardinals. Both games are going to be on at the same time, so the scoreboard watching will be serious.
Where there won't be simultaneous scoreboard watching is in the NFC Least because on Sunday Night Football the Washington Artists formerly known as Redskins are going to be playing the Philadelphia Eagles (who the Cowboys eliminated and at this point would be playing for a higher draft pick, if not for Jalen Hurts motivating the team to not tank and thus wanting to play spoiler), and if the Artists formerly known as Redskins win, they win the NFC Least and will make the playoffs with a 7-9 record. However, if the Eagles win then the NFC East champion will have already technically been crowned earlier in the day because the New York Football Tinys and Dallas Cowroaches will have played each other and whoever won will be crowned NFC Least champion. There will be a serious watch party in either Dallas or New York which is weird because the Tinys (as has been well documented in this column over the last several years) are not good, and the Cowroaches were like a roach. They wouldn't die and are now close to the playoffs despite being the 3rd worst team in the league for most of the year.
I still stand by my prediction that the Artists formerly known as Redskins are going to win the NFC Least and if they don't, I'll have egg on my face picking them for the second year in a row.
So the Jaguars got the #1 pick and the Jets got the #2 pick
I didn't think they would do it, but ladies and gentlemen they got him. The Jacksonville Jaguars won the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes and with numerous draft picks and a load of cap space, they are now in the running for Urban Meyer as well. Congratulations to the Jaguars fan base and I hope y'all can get back to being a competitive franchise again! As for the Jets, they can pick between either Ohio State's Justin Fields or BYU's Zach Wilson... or they could always keep Sam Darnold which would be flat out hilarious.
Who Wants the #1 Seed?
With their win against the Atlanta Falcons, the Kansas City Chiefs clinched the #1 seed and home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. On the NFC things are still interesting. If the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears, they will clinch the #1 seed and home field throughout the NFC playoffs. If the Packers lose then the door is open for both the New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks to take the #1 seed. With a Packers loss and a Saints win over the Carolina Panthers, the Saints would get the #1 seed. If the Packers AND Saints lose and the Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers, then the Seahawks would get the #1 seed. All 3 games are on the same time too, so the scoreboard watching for all 3 teams is going to be wild
That is all for this week's Web of Football. As always I hope ya enjoyed and I hope to see ya back for what should be an epic Week 17! This is spiderfan out.
