At 6-2 in the playoffs, I’m all in with road teams this weekend. Will I end up 8-2, 7-3, or 6-4? Roll the dice, please!
Another 3-1 postseason week has me at 6-2 in the NFL’s second season. My weekend started slowly when the Colts couldn’t come through at Kansas City but, luckily, I was spot on in the other three contests.
This weekend–and for the very first time–the NFL has the regular season’s top-four scoring teams in its Final Four. That should make the games quite interesting.
NFC Championship
Los Angeles Rams 34, New Orleans 31
It’s true that the Saints are a devastating home team. They have a balanced team that’s excellent in all three phases. Unlike many Saints teams of the past, they can win both high- and low-scoring games, and they have the backing of fans across the league who are rooting for Drew Brees to win a second ring.
Sean McVay (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports, Dallas-Fort Worth)
So why am I taking the Rams? One reason is head coach Sean McVay, who seems to be the Patron Saint of Offensive Explosions. Other coaches–those who have just breathed on him lately–are either getting interviewed for (or landing) head coaching jobs. It’s McVay’s time to bask in the limelight–just as it was Sean Payton’s time nine years ago when the Saints recovered from Hurricane Katrina and “Bountygate” scandal.
The 2018 season has also seen a changing of the guard–from veteran quarterbacks, like Brees, to the new generation of signal callers, of which Jared Goff is a big part. Add in how well the Rams ran the ball against a good Dallas defense, and that seals this deal for me.
AFC Championship
New England 30, Kansas City 27
With a 6:40p Eastern time kickoff in late January, it’s going to be very cold in Kansas City–much as it was in New England last weekend. And with the Chiefs at home, it’s bound to be a very loud Arrowhead Stadium–much as it was in Gillette Stadium last weekend.
Team Brady (photo, NBC Sports)
In other words, nothing about this game is going to bother New England, a team that has made “been there, done that” a whopping understatement. That was borne out in the Divisional Round when the Patriots systematically took apart a Los Angeles Chargers team many saw as the league’s most complete outfit.
All of a sudden…. Tom Brady didn’t look old. The Pats’ offensive line isn’t that bad. And Bill Belichick hasn’t lost his coaching touch.
It’s at times like this, and in playing games like this, when the Pats’ usually-soft regular-season schedule (playing in the ultra-weak AFC East) helps them. That’s because this team isn’t down physically or mentally.
I know most fans dislike the Pats intensely, but you have to tip your cap to their two-decade dynasty, which I don’t think will end Sunday.
