NFL wildcard weekend playoff predictions

With the NFL playoffs starting this weekend We have so many games throughout the weekend to go through and look at, some teams are projected to win by over a touchdown and some are going to be nail biters. Let’s go through all of the wildcard weekend games and give my predictions for each.

         San Francisco 49ers vs Seattle Seahawks 

    When: Saturday 4:30 PM ET

    Score: 28-20 49ers win

    Los Angeles Chargers at Jacksonville Jaguars 

    When: Saturday 8:15 PM ET

    Score: 24-21 Jaguars win

    Buffalo Bills vs Miami Dolphins 

    When: Sunday 1:00 PM ET

    Score: 27-17 Buffalo wins

    New York Giants at Minnesota Vikings 

    When: Sunday 4:30 PM ET

    Score: 24-23 Vikings win 

    Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals 

    When: Sunday 8:15 PM ET

    Score: 27-20 Bengals win

    Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Dallas Cowboys 

When: Monday 8:15 PM ET Score: 24-21 Cowboys win

Tua Tagovailoa out for Bills-Dolphins playoff game

Miami Dolphins starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will miss his first career playoff due to not clearing the NFL concussion protocol. with Tua missing his now third straight game because of a concussion. He will miss the Dolphins Bills wildcard weekend playoff game and what was shaping up to be a great rematch once again.

With Tua having multiple concussions in the same season, it was likely that he was going to miss extended time once he suffered his second concussion, which was in the beginning of the Green Bay Packers game in week 16, it was confirmed that Tua was playing the whole second half of the Green Bay game with a concussion that the NFL did not check him during the game. In the second half of the Green Bay game, many teammates, and fans thought Tua had a concussion due to his horrible play in the second half in which he threw three interceptions quickly after getting concussed

With Tua dealing with lots of injuries and concussions this year, some believe and speculate, that he could retire due to all of the physical wear and tear on his body and brain that he suffered in the last couple seasons of his career, Tua has not ruled that out yet and many believe he is considering retirement.

The Miami Dolphins will be starting third string quarterback Skyler Thompson, in which he has played the last couple weeks, filling in for Tua Tagovailoa and back up Teddy Bridgewater, who has a pinky injury on his throwing hand, and when he suffered in week 17 against the New England Patriots.

My top 3 NBA MVP candidates

As we are closing in halfway through the NBA season, we are starting to have some clarity on who is going to be in the MVP conversation and what teams are good and what teams are underperforming from our original season expectations. Let’s go through my top three NBA MVP candidates as these players may not average the most points, but I take into account all aspects of the game like winning stats, and impact on the floor.

Luca Doncic

        With what Luca Doncic is doing on the floor for the Dallas Mavericks it has to be recognized as one of the top MVP candidates thus far into the season. Luca is averaging a whopping 34 points 9 boards and 9 assists per game and is doing it on a winning team over the last couple weeks as he’s sprung the Mavericks back into the playoff race in the wearer conference. Even though Luca isn’t a great defender he’s still capable of making big plays on the defensive end when you need it most.

Jayson Tatum

        Tatum on the Boston Celtics is having a career year once again as Tatum is leading the best team in the NBA and is averaging 31 points 8 rebounds and 4 assists per game. With Tatum being such a good all around player for the Celtics on both the offensive end and defensive end. With the Celtics having the best record in the NBA Tatum is not only putting up MVP numbers he’s also doing it in a winning fashion.

Nikola Jokic

Even though Nikola Jokic isn’t have the greatest statistical season of his career, what he’s doing on this Denver Nuggets team is remarkable. Jokic is averaging a triple double of 25 points 11 rebounds and 10 assists per game which is crazy, what’s crazier is Jokic’s advanced metrics as he’s one of the most efficient players in the league to go along with his winning style of basketball that he’s playing right now. Currently the Nuggets have the best record in the western conference and continue to make their case as a top team in the league this year.

Ranking the open NFL head coaching vacancies

With the NFL already having five open positions for a head coaching job, there’s expected to be at least 1 to 2 more, and with some of these organizations being very dysfunctional these may not be very attractive jobs to most head coaches and candidates in this upcoming off-season. Let’s go through each team and give my overall thoughts on why this is an attractive or unattractive job for a head coach.

Arizona Cardinals

Overall, I think this is a somewhat attractive job for the right head coach, but there are very many things that could go wrong rather quickly such as quarterback Kyler Murray, a poor NFL owner, an old and aging roster and a team that is not a big brand. But there are some good things about this job that makes it attractive like it’s a warm weather state, they have the quarterback, weapons on offense, and some decent pieces on defense.

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are one of the more unattractive jobs in free agency once again as they have a couple pieces on the roster and some good draft picks but overall that’s about it as they are unattractive because it’s one of the smallest brands in the NFL, you’re in the AFC conference, this is a long multi year rebuild and you have a ownership which is very shaky.

Denver Broncos 

This is the most attractive job out of them all so far because you have a great and steady organization, a huge brand, some great pieces on the roster, and a quarterback who has shown he can be one of the best in the league. Some of the downfalls to this job is the quarterback is very expensive and the roster is getting expensive and you’re in the hardest division in football by far.

Indianapolis Colts 

This job is somewhat attractive, but is becoming more unattractive by the day as ownership is very shaky at the top, the GM is likely on the hot seat and doesn’t have a great record of getting quarterbacks, the roster is expensive at certain spots where it doesn’t need to be and you don’t have the quarterback, which means it’s very hard to win in this league without a decent starting quarterback. Some good things about this job is the GM is one of the better drafters in the league, you have an indoor stadium and you have some great pieces on this roster.

Carolina Panthers 

This Carolina Panthers job is somewhat attractive as they have many pieces on this roster that are young and still developing, you’re in a warm weather state, a very shaky division, and NFC conference, a very wealthy owner, and not tied to any bad contracts. Some unattractive things about this job are, you don’t have the quarterback, there is not much of a brand outside of Carolina for this team, and some of the spots on his roster are very shaky.

NFL week 18 recap

With the NFL capping off the regular season, week 18 has been absolutely crazy as there were countless scenarios for teams to make the playoffs and fight to make a playoff push. Let’s go through my top three takeaways from Sunday’s game for week 18 and give my overall thoughts. 

    Miami punches ticket into the playoffs

        With the New England Patriots losing to the Buffalo Bills, the Miami Dolphins have officially punched their ticket to the playoffs with a narrow 11-6 win over division rival New York Jets. with third string quarterback Skylar Thompson starting for the Dolphins in place of Teddy Bridgewater and Tua Tagovailoa and pulled out the must-needed win. With Miami’s defense holding Jets quarterback Joe Flacco to just six points, there was no way Miami could have lost this game with the playmakers they have on offense. 

    Shaping up the NFC playoffs

         The Philadelphia eagles officially locked up the number one seed in the NFC and secured a bye week in the playoffs with a win over division rival New York Giants 22-16. Even though the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings both won since the Eagles won against the Giants, they lock up the one seed. With the 49ers wrecking, the Cardinals and the Vikings wrecking, the Bears those two teams will be heading into the playoffs on a winning streak and feeling good about their chances.

    Battling for a playoff spot

The Detroit Lions upset the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night football to eliminate the Packers from playoff contention and end their season. Even though the Lions won they still missed the playoffs as the Seattle Seahawks had a better record and is officially the seventh seed in the NFC playoffs. The Detroit Lions pulled out the shocking win 20-16 in Lambeau Field to cap off both Green Bay and Lions season.

Reviewing the Saturday NFL games for week 18

As we head into the last week of the regular season in the NFL we have two slated games which are set to be good ones, we have the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Las Vegas Raiders and the Tennessee Titans taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars for the AFC south crown and a playoff spot in the AFC conference. Let’s go through each game and give my overall thoughts on the game.

Chiefs vs Raiders 

The Kansas City Chiefs absolutely demolished the Las Vegas raiders to continue their win, streak into the postseason and secure the number one seed in the AFC conference. With a dominating 31-13 when on the road the Chiefs jumped out to a very early lead scoring 24 points at halftime. The Raiders will officially missed the playoffs and look to search for their next quarterback of the future, with the Raiders not have any success, they thought they would have Jared Stidham really struggled to keep up with this chiefs offense, which is what I predicted going into this game..

Jaguars vs Titans

The Jacksonville Jaguars have punched their ticket to the playoffs as they come back to beat the division rival Tennessee Titans 20-16. With the Jaguars continuing their winning streak going into the playoffs, the Jags have a good shot to upset a team in the wildcard round in which many speculate the Jags first round opponent to be the Los Angeles Chargers. The Tennessee Titans have a lot to think about going into the offseason as they started the season with a record of 7-3 and have lost seven straight games to miss the playoffs.

Previewing the Saturday NFL games for week 18

As we head into the last week of the regular season in the NFL we have two slated games which are set to be good ones, we have the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Las Vegas Raiders and the Tennessee Titans taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars for the AFC south crown and a playoff spot in the AFC conference. Let’s go through each game and give my overall prediction of the games on Saturday. 

Chiefs vs Raiders 

Let’s start with the Chiefs vs Raiders in what could potentially be a good game as the Chiefs are looking to continue their win streak and punch their ticket as the number one seed in the AFC conference once again. The Raiders on the other hand are looking for a morale victory as they have nothing really to play for other than momentum going into next season as head coach Josh McDaniels has had a rough first year with Las Vegas. My prediction for this game is the Chiefs jump out to an early lead and bench their starters for the playoffs as the Raiders struggle to keep up on offense, my prediction is Chiefs win 24-20.

Jaguars vs Titans

This is one of the best slated games of the week as this game is going to come down to the wire, as both teams are looking to pinch their ticket into the playoffs with a win on Saturday night. The red hot Jaguars are feeling good about themselves as they have won four straight games and have all the momentum in this game, as for the Titans they have lost six straight games and are slowly trending downward over the last month and a half, my prediction is the Titans win 24-23 and send Jacksonville home.

NFL quarterback carouse for the offseason

With the players switching teams more than ever we have another year and what seems like there’s lots of quarterbacks that are going to be on the market for free agency and or available for trade in 2023 after this season, from players like Tom Brady to Derek Carr to Daniel Jones, we have a nice mix of players from different age groups and archetypes that could fit multiple teams, let’s go through some of the big name quarterbacks in what team will land them.

Derek Carr

First, let’s start off with Derek Carr as I predicted I believe he will go to the New York Jets as this Jets team will likely have to trade a second and third round pick to get Carr but with a ready to win jets team they have multiple players on rookie contracts and extra draft capital from trades in the previous years.

Tom Brady

As rumors have been swirling for the last couple months, my prediction is Tom Brady is going to the Las Vegas Raiders and reuniting with head coach Josh McDaniels, who was his offensive coordinator for over a decade on the New England Patriots. The Raiders have lots of great pieces on this roster like wide receivers Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow, tight end Darren Waller, and superstar running back Josh Jacobs. This raiders team with Brady could do some damage in the AFC and be a real contender.

Lamar Jackson

Lamar Jackson situation is definitely an interesting one as he is likely to get franchise tagged by the Baltimore ravens, but many speculate Lamar could sit out, if he is franchise tagged, like we’ve seen in the past by other players and specifically quarterbacks. With Lamar and the Ravens seemingly on different ends of the spectrum with what they both want in a contract Lamar could be on a different team next year.

Daniel Jones

I believe Daniel Jones will resign with the New York Giants as he has had a very good year with the Giants and head coach Brian Daboll. I believe Jones will sign a two or three year contract with the Giants, that will be very team friendly, and hopefully New York can put some pieces around Jones and re-sign star running back Saquon Barkley.

Jimmy Garoppolo

Jimmy Garoppolo is one of the more interesting free agents in this class in 2023, I believe Garoppolo will sign with the Washington commanders who are a good but not great team in a weak NFC conference, and could potentially do some damage with a very strong defense and some good offensive weapons.

NFL week 18 must win scenarios

As we head into the final week of the NFL season, many teams are still fighting for a playoff spot and still fighting for the number seven seed to go into the playoffs and hopefully make a Super Bowl push. Let’s go through three games that are in a must win scenario, and what I think will happen during the game.

Tennessee Titans vs Jacksonville Jaguars

This divisional matchup will be a good one as bowl teams are fighting for the AFC south divisional crown whoever wins this week 18 matchup will get a guaranteed playoff spot. With the Tennessee Titans having a dreadful last couple weeks, they look to bounce back as the red hot Jacksonville jaguars look to continue their win streak into the playoffs.

Green Bay Packers vs Detroit Lions

As this game will determine who the number 7 seed in the NFC playoffs is, the Green Bay Packers will be taking on the Detroit Lions at home in Lambeau field. Green Bay had a good shot to win this as Detroit is a subpar outdoor team and with both teams on a winning streak. This game will be a nailbiter, I believe the Packers will win this game and punch their ticket into the playoffs.

Philadelphia Eagles vs New York Giants

Some of you might say this game isn’t as important as both teams have already locked up a playoff spot but with the Philadelphia Eagles, not clinching the number one seed, they really need to win this game and regain momentum as they are on a two game losing streak and are missing quarterback Jalen hurts and many other important players who are injured right now If the Eagles lose this game they won’t be the number one seed and potentially will have to travel on the road and some playoff games.

My top 3 NBA MVP candidates

As we are closing in halfway through the NBA season, we are starting to have some clarity on who is going to be in the MVP conversation and what teams are good and what teams are underperforming from our original season expectations. Let’s go through my top three NBA MVP candidates as these players may not average the most points, but I take into account all aspects of the game like winning stats, and impact on the floor.

Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant is averaging a whopping 37 and 5 on very efficient shooting even at this stage in his career he is still one of the best players in the league and he’s doing it on an overachieving Brooklyn Nets team that has had many distractions this last off season and coming into this season. The Nets currently have the second best record in the east and look like a very scary team going into the playoffs.

Jayson Tatum

Tatum is averaging 31 8 and 4 on a very good Celtics team who currently has the best record in the NBA and look like the best all around team in the league as of right now. With Tatum being considered the best player in the league he is having a phenomenal season on both ends of the court, and his overall impact is huge for the Celtics team to make a playoff run.

Luka Doncic

Luka may not have the wins on his team but with what Luka has to work with on this Mavericks squad he can’t be doing any more. Luka is averaging 34 9 and 9 and he’s having historical games in what has not been done in a long long time. Even though Luka isn’t the greatest player on defense, his offense and what he does for this Mavericks team when he’s on the floor is astronomical.