2021-2 NFL Pro Football (pls, no other sports!)

Okay, it is time to pickum
The Bengals and Chiefs gave us an extortionary game last week, can they do it again.
I'm not sure Joe Burrows can match last weeks performance.
Mahones can, but some of their games have been less that acceptable this season.
I will go with Mahomes, but do not anticipate a repeat performance of last weeks fireworks.
But, that was last week, but we need to remember how two great teams can play their hearts out.

Rams will win, they have been the most frightened team with their front four; however, it also depends on their QB Stafford.
I ve waited for him to 'blow up' as he did in Detroit.
SF may have a decent defense, but there the weakest team in the playoffs; they should not have beat the cowboy, nor should
they have beat Green Bay-but stranger things have happened.

Chiefs to win Super Bowl

America is supposed to be a nation of fair play, not giving the Buffalo Bills a chance to win is a farce
 

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2nd Round Playoffs – Sunday
NYT, MSN.com, WashPost, SB Nation Jan 26, 2022

Rams 30, Buccaneers 27
This was Tom Brady bid to reach the 15th conference championship game of his storied career. He led the TBay Buccaneers back from a 24-point third-quarter deficit, but in another thrilling divisional-round playoff game, fell just short.

After the Buccaneers tied the game with 42 seconds remaining, LA sped down the field and kicker Matt Gay drilled a 30-yard FG as time expired, to win it for the Rams. They ended the attempt by Brady and the second-seeded Buccaneers to repeat as Super Bowl champions. “Every team is really qualified when you get to the final eight, then the final four, then the final two,” Brady said in his postgame news conference. “And it doesn’t feel good to lose any one of those games, and I’ve lost [at] each of those stages. At the end, there’s only one team that’s going to be happy. … It all sucks to lose in the end.”

Playing with a depleted corps of WRs and a patchwork OL, Brady threw one interception in a 30-for-54, 329-yard passing performance. He was penalized for expressing his displeasure to referee Shawn Hochuli for not calling a roughing the passer penalty on Von Miller in the first half, and lost a Q4 fumble on a sack by Miller.

The Buccaneers had their issues with Hochuli. Defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh was penalized for taunting after getting up and saying something to Stafford, his former Detroit Lions teammate, following a hit on an incompletion. Suh could be heard saying to Hochuli: “You see him kick me?”

Brady declined to specify afterward whether this was his final NFL game. “I haven’t put a lot of thought to it,” he said. Brady turns 45 in August. His contract with the Buccaneers runs through the 2022 season. He has spoken in the past about playing until he’s 45. He led the NFL this season in passing attempts, completions, passing yds and TD passes.

His legacy is as unassailable and enduring as it gets. He has seven Super Bowl victories, six of them with NE. He demonstrated last season that he could secure a Lombardi Trophy away from the Patriots and Coach Bill Belichick. He is the NFL’s career leader in passing yds and TD passes, among so many other things.

To defend last year’s championship win, TBay returned all 22 of its starters from last season’s team, a first in the salary cap era. They signed Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown, and added Richard Sherman. But Godwin, Sherman, and Bucs All-Pro RT Tristan Wirfs were lost for the season to injuries, while Brown self-combusted once again. Those losses caused protection issues in the passing game and offensive inefficiency. TBay converted just three of 14 third downs.

The fourth-seeded Rams will host the sixth-seeded SF 49ers in next Sunday’s NFC title game. In their season of high-stakes roster moves, the Rams are one triumph away from playing the Super Bowl on their home field at SoFi Stadium.

QB Matthew Stafford had completions of 20 and 44 yds to Cooper Kupp to set up the winning kick for the Rams. Kupp finished with nine catches for 183 yds. Stafford threw for 366 yds and two TDs on the day, along with a rushing TD. The Rams raced to a 20-3 halftime lead and stretched it to 27-3 in Q3, before the Bucs finally got their offense in gear.

It’s not all about Stafford, of course. McVay got the Rams to the Super Bowl three years ago with Jared Goff at QB. The roster is as top-heavy as it gets with two of the league’s most prominent defensive players, tackle Aaron Donald and CB Jalen Ramsey. WR Kupp led the NFL in catches, receiving yds and TD catches. In mid-season the Rams shook the football world by trading for pass rusher Von Miller and signing wideout Odell Beckham Jr. after he was released by the Cleveland Browns.

Yet Stafford had plenty to prove, even after a dozen seasons and more than 45,000 passing yds with the Detroit Lions. He’d established himself as a tough, durable, productive and respected player, with a 5,000-yard passing season and selection to a Pro Bowl. But Detroit managed only four winnings seasons in his 12 years there, and Stafford didn’t have a single postseason victory, going winless in three playoff games with the Lions.

The Rams didn’t make it easy on themselves against the Buccaneers. But their near collapse allowed Stafford to show his game-on-the-line, postseason-pressure mettle.

Next week they must overcome a SF team that has swept them twice a year for the last three years. It is estimated there will be as many 49er fans as Rams fans in the stadium. Stafford struggled in both games against the 49ers, totaling four interceptions in the two defeats.

“It’s going to be a big challenge for us,” Stafford said. “Hopefully it’s one of those games where we come out and it’s heavy blue and yellow and we have a nice live, loud crowd that makes it tough on them … To be honest with you ... I just wanted the opportunity to continue to play with this group of guys. Now that we have that, I’m excited.”
 
2nd Round Playoffs – Sunday, Jan 26, 2022
NYT, MSN.com, WashPost, SB Nation

Chiefs 42, Bills 36 (OT)
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes sprinted across the field after the game ended, dropping his helmet at the 35-yard line and finding Bills QB Josh Allen. He embraced him and slapped him on the back several times, speaking some private words into Allen’s ear as cameras and boom microphones engulfed them. In a league brimming with young QB talent, Mahomes and Allen are the two whose teams have accomplished the most so far. They have met in the playoffs the past two years, with Mahomes winning both. Since the Chiefs and Bills seem capable of lengthy runs as contenders, Mahomes and Allen just might face each other over and over, this era’s version of Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning. This game can rightfully be called one of the most thrilling playoff games in NFL history.

Through the first seven weeks of the season, it appeared that KC was in jeopardy of missing the playoffs outright. The team limped off to a 3-4 start, hurt by uncharacteristic turnovers from QB Patrick Mahomes, who struggled to adapt to opponents’ strategies to counter their downfield passing attack, along with a KC defense that was surrendering close to 400 yds per game.

But parity within the AFC allowed KC to regroup amid a favorable stretch in its schedule. It won nine of its last 10 games. As a team with an all-time offense and a spellbinding young QB, the Chiefs already carried expectations to get more than one title out of this era. Now, after surviving their most arduous regular season and winning the game of the year, the importance of this championship run has increased. Despite the epic degree of difficulty - the Bills’ #1 rated defense and high-powered offense, the historic playoff madness of the final two minutes of Sunday’s game – it doesn’t count extra. KC still stands a win from the Super Bowl, two from another championship. On the other side of the unforgettable lies the unfinished.

The remaining postseason won’t be easy. And it took every bit of artistry and belief KC had to outlast Buffalo in OT. We may never see a QB duel as Mahomes and Josh Allen did. The game went from a 26-21 Chiefs lead to a tie at 36 in the last 1:54. Twenty-five points. Two spectacular Buffalo TD drives. A TD and an unreal three-play, 44-yard drive for a FG by KC with only 13 seconds remaining. The lead changed four times.

In those last two minutes Allen was 5 for 7 for 102 yds and two TDs, while Mahomes went 10 for 13 for 188 yds and two TDs.

Josh Allen played like a terminator, running through defenders, throwing his body around and tossing pinpoint passes, many of which went to Gabriel Davis, who had a record-setting night with eight receptions, 201 yds and four TDs. Allen threw for 329 yds and rushed for another 68.

Both QBs led their teams in rushing. Both played patient, efficient football before striking with big plays late. It’s hard to remember another game in which two QBs shouldered so much responsibility without making a single costly mistake. And it wasn’t just the absence of turnovers from Mahomes and Allen - they also didn’t miss open receivers. Until the end, both defenses played well. Some of the breakdowns in the clutch occurred because the QBs were so accurate and made smart decisions under pressure. Mahomes ended with 69 rushing yds and a score, along with 378 yds and three TDs through the air, the last of which came on the game-clinching pass to TE Travis Kelce in OT.

The Chiefs, who will host the AFC championship game for a record fourth straight year, are unquestionably great. But juggling salary caps and evaluating free agents has made repeat championships more uncertain than ever. The NE Patriots’ dynasty made us forget that “what ifs” are the norm in the NFL, even for some of the most exciting teams the game has known.

With Mahomes as its starting QB, KC has gone 50-15 over the past four seasons. If you did a cumulative power rankings, it has spent more time than any other team atop the league. But the game has gotten more complicated. In 2021 Mahomes went through the first extended slump of his career. Defenses figured out how to prevent the speedy Chiefs from beating them deep, which challenged Mahomes to be more patient and read zone coverages better. He had to learn the value of simplicity. He had to learn to trust his defense and value protecting the ball over seeking the big play.

When the playoffs began, Coach Andy Reid compared the Super Bowl chase to a constant craving for chocolate cake. It means the Buffalo win, though miraculous, isn’t sweet enough.

Led by safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, the Bills completed the regular season as the NFL ‘s top-ranked defense, an element that has them viewed as one of the most balanced teams in the NFL.

Buffalo finished first in several statistical categories, most notably fewest points allowed (289) and fewest yds allowed (4,637). The secondary was particularly smothering, surrendering only 165.9 yds per game and less than one passing TD per game. They did so even in the latter part of the season without CB Tre’Davious White, a two-time Pro-Bowl selection, who tore his ACL against the Saints on Thanksgiving. A formidable defense is the perfect complement for the Bills, who are powered offensively by Josh Allen and WR Stefon Diggs.

Josh Allen deserved better than to watch from the sideline as his team went down in OT -- as Mahomes once endured on this very field against Tom Brady. But those are the breaks. Buffalo’s tired D couldn’t get a stop in OT. The loss doesn’t diminish how marvelous Allen played. Every time K.C. threatened to blow the game open, Allen answered. Down nine, he heaved a gorgeous bomb to Gabriel Davis for a 75-yard TD in the Q4. He responded time and time again, gutting out huge runs, including a fourth-and-4 scramble to set up the go-ahead score. Allen did it with his legs, leading Buffalo with 68 rushing yds on 11 carries, and arm. It was a performance that defines franchise QB. He rifled a bevy of short passes into tight windows and scorched the Chiefs secondary with four TDs when the deep passes opened up. Allen epitomized leaving it all on the field. Alas, those last 13 seconds of regulation and OT, Buffalo’s best player was a spectator in the crushing loss.

In an alternate universe where Buffalo won, this contest is remembered as the Gabriel Davis Game. The WR caught four TD passes, an NFL record in a playoff game. He gobbled up a ridiculous 201 yds on eight catches. Davis tortured the Chiefs secondary all night, particularly in the red zone. Spinning into next season, the 22-year-old should play a massive role in the Bills offense.
 

The Kansas City weather should be fairly nice for this Sunday's game....sunny with temps in the upper 40's to low 50's. Ticket prices have gone off the charts with some seats costing over $10,000. The CBS broadcast may set a new record for viewers.
 
jerry old said:
Great article Lethe200
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Thanks, Jerry, glad you enjoyed it!

One reason it can take so long for me to post these game summaries is because I pull from so many sources, then edit them all down to a size suitable for posting. I think I had 8 pages on the Chiefs/Bills and 13 on the Niners/Packers, LOL - then whittle it down to 2 pages (around 800-1400 words) max.

No one article seems to ever have all the stats and good analyses. Gotta "pick and choose" the best and then link them together into a cohesive summary. It's a lot of fun but does take time....keeps me off the streets, I guess! :LOL:
 
This is hands-down the SWEETEST, most heart-warming football fan story I've ever read. Hats off to the Bills fans!! Am I the only one who didn't know about this tradition?!?

Chiefs fans salute Josh Allen, Bills Mafia by donating to Buffalo children’s hospital
Washington Post 27Jan2022

Kansas City Chiefs fans are taking a page from Bills Mafia by donating generously to a charity associated with an NFL player. The contributions are being made in honor of Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen, many in increments of $13.

Thirteen is the number that immediately entered NFL lore after Kansas City needed just 13 seconds to drive for a game-tying field goal in Sunday’s AFC divisional-round win over the Bills as time expired. The game then went to overtime, at which point Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes led a game-winning touchdown drive as Allen could only watch.

Now the Bills’ biggest star is getting a consolation prize in the form of donations to John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo. On Wednesday evening, the facility announced it had received over a quarter of a million dollars and thanked “Chiefs Kingdom” for setting the windfall in motion.

The hospital also noted the help of a Chiefs fan account called Chiefs Kingdom Memes, which on Monday first shared the idea of making $13 donations to a fund that bears the name of Allen’s late grandmother and benefits the children’s facility in Buffalo.

Brett Fitzgerald, the fan who runs the account, said in a post that his initial plan was to encourage $13 contributions to a charity established by Mahomes. A friend later pointed out to Fitzgerald that based on recent actions by Buffalo fans — a.k.a. Bills Mafia — they would have been likely to organize a fundraiser on behalf of the Kansas City quarterback if the Bills had managed to win. “Changing the donation suggestion to Josh’s charity seemed more appropriate [at that point],” Fitzgerald wrote.

“It’s to celebrate, obviously, the Chiefs’ victory and how it was,” Fitzgerald told Kansas City’s KSHB-TV, “while giving due respect to Josh Allen, the Bills and Bills Mafia.”

The children’s hospital was previously showered with donations from Bills fans following the unexpected death of Allen’s grandmother late in the 2020 season. To help show support for their quarterback, who was in the midst of a breakout campaign after a shaky first two seasons, fans raised so much money — more than $1 million, much of it in increments of $17 to reflect Allen’s jersey number — that a pediatric recovery wing of the hospital was named in honor of his grandmother, Patricia.

“I know my family is forever ingrained here, myself included,” Allen said at the time. “I don’t ever want to leave, obviously. I want to play here for as long as I can and give back to the community and give back to the Bills Mafia here.”

Bills fans were previously known for their generosity toward players from other teams. A tradition of sorts began at the end of the 2017 regular season, when then-Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton helped engineer a win over the Baltimore Ravens that allowed the Bills to make the playoffs for the first time since 1999. To show their appreciation, Buffalo fans donated in large numbers to Dalton’s charitable foundation.

In a similar vein, some Steelers fans donated this month to causes supported by Las Vegas Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson after his last-second field goal knocked the Los Angeles Chargers out of the playoffs and gave a berth instead to Pittsburgh.

During last year’s playoffs, Bills Mafia sent a wave of $8 contributions, referring to Lamar Jackson’s jersey number, to a charity favored by the Ravens quarterback after Buffalo beat Baltimore. That win got the Bills to the AFC championship game, where they lost in Kansas City. Approximately a year later, Buffalo was only 13 seconds from reaching another AFC championship game when Mahomes and Co. pulled off the stunning drive.

“Obviously, it sucks the way it happened,” Allen said after the Chiefs’ remarkable victory. “We wanted to win that game. We had our opportunities. [We’re] taking it all in and holding on to that feeling and making sure that we don’t feel like this again.”

Allen may now be feeling a little better, at least about Chiefs fans if not their team’s penchant for season-ending wins over the Bills. As for the Kansas City fan who got the ball rolling, he was in a mood to give credit where credit was due.

“Bills Mafia was the catalyst in this,” Fitzgerald said Tuesday to Buffalo’s WKBW-TV, “and we’re just following their lead on it.”

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With the twin carousels of coaches and QBs hitting the rumor mill, this was an interesting viewpoint I hadn't thought about before. I think the writer has a good point, especially with Rodgers being the #1 focus for speculation right now:

Should star quarterbacks now avoid the talent-packed AFC?
Reaching the Super Bowl through the AFC now means battling past a host of brilliant young quarterbacks. Has the NFC become the easy option?
London Guardian U.S. by Oliver Connolly 27 Jan 2022

Last Sunday’s epic between the Chiefs and Bills was about more than an individual game. It redefined what is possible in a playoff game, and what is now expected for a team to compete at the top of the AFC.

Twenty-five points in the final two minutes. One haymaker after another. The Mahomes-Allen Show made one thing clear: Having a great quarterback used to be the league’s greatest advantage in making a deep playoff run. Now it is a prerequisite.

The AFC is Mahomes’ conference for now, but Josh Allen is right there. Over the past fortnight, Allen has delivered one of the most impressive postseasons runs in modern history. No quarterback can do much better than lead his team to a touchdown on 75% of his drives against a Bill Belichick-led defense (the second-ranked scoring defense in the NFL) and a feisty Chiefs defense that has been No 1 in scoring defense since week six. And still, it wasn’t enough: Allen and the Bills were dumped from proceedings before they could reach a championship game thanks to the flip of a coin and some Mahomes magic.

This is the state of the AFC, then. The race is on to find a quarterback who can pilot an offense that can keep pace with Mahomes and Allen, the Chiefs and the Bills.

But it’s not just that pair. The league’s top, young quarterbacks are concentrated in the same conference. True, the AFC runs through Mahomes and Allen. But it also runs through Joe Burrow and the Bengals. It runs through Justin Herbert and the Chargers, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. All are former MVPs or current MVP contenders. All typify the changing nature of the sport. They are no longer the game’s future generation, but its current stars.

The median age of that group: 25.

That’s meaningful. If all five play until they’re 38 – the current age of Aaron Rodgers, the reigning MVP – that’s another 13 seasons on average. Thirteen seasons of slogging through an AFC playoff picture featuring the kind of all-world matchups we saw on Sunday in Kansas City. It means, more than likely, going through Arrowhead each and every year, with trips to Cincinnati, Baltimore, Buffalo or Los Angeles along the way.

What does that do to the calculations of the disgruntled quarterback of your choice? The upcoming quarterback carousel will feature some of the game’s biggest names. Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, and Deshaun Watson have all teased (or demanded) trades. Denver? Cleveland? Pittsburgh? Tennessee? All have either historical relevance, a championship backbone to the roster, smart personnel czars, or high-level, proven coaches. All have been linked to taking a big swing for a veteran quarterback to try to play catchup in the QB Arms Race this offseason.

Yet each of those teams is stuck in the AFC. Would Rodgers or Wilson really trade in Green Bay or Seattle to join Denver and do battle with Mahomes and Herbert in the AFC West for the next five years?

Over in the NFC, the picture is clearer. There are seven quarterbacks in the NFC who have been the league MVP or have, at some point, been a frontrunner for the award. Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, Dak Prescott, Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford.

The median age of that group: 33.

There is a dearth of superstar-caliber quarterbacks in the prime of their careers in the NFC. Already, Brady is musing about retiring. The end may soon come for Wilson (33) or Ryan (soon to be 37). Both may be trade targets for the maybe-nearly bunch in the AFC, too.

Rodgers represents the most interesting case of the lot. Denver has always felt like the right choice. The culture. The current roster. The cap space. The assets. The chance for Rodgers to bring a coach of his choice along for the ride. The Broncos have the means (picks and cap space) to try to pull off a Rodgers-Davante Adams double swoop, and on Thursday news emerged they are set to appoint Green Bay’s offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett, as their new head coach.

But moving to Denver would not merely mean setting up a potential postseason run against five upper-tier quarterbacks all moving into the prime of their careers, but jumping into a division with both Mahomes and Herbert. And not only that, but jumping into that division instead of sticking in one with the retooling Bears, the resetting Vikings, and the Fighting Dan Campbells – loveable upstarts still a ways away from competing for the division crown.

That’s … less than ideal.

We may soon be looking at an AFC-NFC quarterback swap that has one or two of Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, or Matt Ryan plying their trade in Cleveland or Tennessee or Denver, while Teddy Bridgewater, Baker Mayfield, or Rookie Quarterback X take up spots in Seattle or Minnesota or Carolina.

Really? That’s the conference that Rodgers would be happy to leave to go to try to fight through the Mahomesification of the AFC for the final 24 months or whatever of his career? What if Trevor Lawrence or Zach Wilson (don’t laugh) or Mac Jones live up to their billing over the next two seasons?

Moving within the NFC would make more sense for Rodgers as he nears 40 – if the Packers are willing to sanction a move within the conference.

The Saints were a logical fit before the announcement that Sean Payton was stepping away on Tuesday. Could Tampa become the quarterback outpost, the place the veterans go to win one more Lombardi before they retire? If Brady walks away, few teams will have a better overall situation to offer veteran quarterbacks, even as they lose some of the essential pieces from the championship team. What the Bucs will lose in talent with Brady stepping away, perhaps they will make up for in the cache of their all-in, let’s-please-the-legend moves. Other legends will take note.

If not there, where? Would Rodgers want to walk into the Anchorman stand-off that is the NFC West? Does Washington or Philadelphia or the dregs of a Giants organization really inspire a burning in the football loins? And do any of those spots represent a tangible on-field upgrade over whatever semblance of a core the Packers are able to keep together this offseason?

It’s doubtful. You can make the same case for Wilson in Seattle, or Ryan in Atlanta.

Mahomes, Allen, Herbert, Burrow, and Jackson have changed the game. If the final stage of his career is to be about winning championships, Rodgers should steer clear of the AFC’s young pups, try to orchestrate a move within the NFC, or patch things up in Green Bay.
 
Rah-Rah said:
My husband is an Anesthesiologist and that is suppose to be one of the top paying jobs in the world. In comparison to these athletes and celebrities he makes little compared to them. You then can also compare the sort of job that my husband does compared to an athlete or actor/actress. Now I am not saying an athlete does not have talent or does not put in hard work because they definitely do and they entertain a lot of people, but they get paid to play a game. The same could be said for celebrities who get paid to entertain. There is a lot of talent in that for sure and I couldn't do it, but my husband is part of a team that saves lives everyday. I don't see the comparison in that at all.
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Unfortunately nobody wants to pay to watch your husband put people to sleep. Supply and demand.
 
Lethe200 said:
This was just reported, a real shock. I thought Payton deserved his suspension for Bountygate, but no denying he made the Saints a respectable football team at last (remember photos of fans wearing paper bags over their heads labeled "Aints"?).

He was definitely right in changing the rules on pass interference. The Saints were peaking in 2019 playoffs and had both the offense and defense to get to, and win, the SB. That uncalled pass interference play was robbery against the Saints, pure and simple. One of the most blatant fouls ever, with the cameras right on it. Even the TV announcers were aghast.

Saints’ Super Bowl Coach Who Fought NFL Rules Steps Down
Sean Payton was the most successful coach in the New Orleans Saints’ franchise history, but he drew rebuke from the league over targeted tackling and fought the NFL on rules.
NY Times Jan. 25, 2022

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, who led the team to its only Super Bowl title and, with QB Drew Brees, created one of the NFL’s most successful tandems, announced his retirement in a news conference on Tuesday.

Payton’s 16-year run with the Saints will be remembered for all the winning — 152 games for a .631 winning percentage, the fifth-highest among current coaches and a high-water mark for a historically moribund franchise — but also his pugnacious attitude toward the league and the rules governing the way the game is officiated.

Payton was suspended without pay for the 2012 season for his role in a scheme to pay players who hurt opponents and knocked them out of games, a scandal that became known as Bountygate. It was the first time the NFL had suspended a coach, and it cost Payton more than $7 million, while the team was fined $500,000 and lost two second-round draft picks.

Payton, 58, also butted heads with the league in 2019 after the Saints lost the N.F.C. championship game, in part because the referees failed to call what appeared to be defensive pass interference on Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman. That off-season, Payton successfully lobbied other teams to make pass interference a reviewable play.

He had been a member of the league’s competition committee, which reviews rules, technology, game-day operations and player protection, since 2017, but he stepped down from the group this season.

Payton made eight trips to the postseason, compiling a 9-8 record, including a victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl in the 2009 season. His departure adds the Saints to the list, now nine franchises long, of teams searching for new head coaches. Most of the other teams fired their coaches weeks ago, giving them a head start on interviewing replacements.

According to NFL Network, the Saints’ defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen, is the leading candidate to take over for Payton, and Aaron Glenn, the defensive coordinator for the Lions who coached in New Orleans under Payton from 2016 to 2020, may also be interviewed.

Payton’s departure, which comes a year after Brees’s retirement, throws into flux the balance of power in the N.F.C. South, which the Saints have dominated for years. The future of QB Tom Brady’s tenure with the TBay Buccaneers only adds to the uncertainty.

It is unclear whether Payton is retiring from coaching, or if he is taking time off before finding another assignment. Payton’s name has been floated as a potential coach of the Dallas Cowboys, for whom he was an assistant head coach and QBs coach from 2003 to 2005, when Bill Parcells led the team.

“I don’t know what’s next,” Payton said, addressing his future. “I don’t like the word retirement. I still have a vision for doing things in football, and I’ll be honest, it might be in coaching. It might be, but it’s not where my heart is right now.” Payton said he would be staying in the New Orleans area.

Payton’s departure leaves a big hole to fill for the team’s owner, Gayle Benson. Payton called the offensive plays on the sideline and was involved in nearly every aspect of the team’s football operations, working closely with General Manager Mickey Loomis and Dennis Lauscha, the president of both the Saints and the N.B.A.’s Pelicans.

Payton helped turn around a largely moribund franchise that had only seven winning seasons before he took over as coach in 2006, the same year that Brees arrived as a free agent from the San Diego Chargers, and a year after New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

“We took a chance on Drew at the time because we weren’t going to win any jump balls,” Payton said. “In other words, we had to be overly aggressive.”

Brees immediately became the centerpiece of the team and reeled off 12 consecutive seasons with 4,000 or more passing yds. He and Payton won 10 games and made the postseason in their first year together, and by 2009, after recording a 13-3 record in the regular season, won the team’s first and only Super Bowl title, which became symbolic of the city’s recovery.

With Brees gone, the Saints were not nearly as explosive this season, finishing 9-8 and failing to make the playoffs. Because of injuries, Payton was forced to use four different QBs, who collectively could not muster the statistics that Brees compiled even in his weakest years.
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He stepped down so he can take another job. He'll be back.
 
NFL Playoff Predictions: Our Picks for the Conference Championships
The upstart Bengals head to daunting Arrowhead Stadium to face KC’s Patrick Mahomes, as the Rams’ all-in plan to make the Super Bowl runs into a 49ers team that has won six straight meetings.
NYTimes Jan. 27, 2022 All times are Eastern

The drama of the NFL’s divisional-round playoff games — punctuated by three walk-off FGs and an OT TD — will be impossible to live up to this weekend, if only because there are fewer games to be played. But fans needn’t worry: Rich story lines in both of the conference championship matchups should divide onlookers and offer stylistic clashes on the field.

First up is the AFC championship game on Sunday, where the ascendant Cincinnati Bengals, who entered the postseason as the No. 4 seed, will try to prevent the KC Chiefs from advancing to the team’s third consecutive Super Bowl.

Then, in the later game, the star-studded LA Rams, who traded much of the team’s draft capital to build a roster capable of competing in a Super Bowl in their home stadium, will be tested by the dogged SF 49ers, the lowest remaining seed and an NFC West division rival.

No. 4 Cincinnati Bengals at No. 2 KC, 3p, CBS
Pick: KC
In only his second season, Bengals QB Joe Burrow has led a bottom-feeding franchise to its first conference championship game since the 1988 season. Much of that success has been fueled by his connection with the rookie receiver Ja’Marr Chase, as well as a cohort of skill position players. That group includes RB Joe Mixon, who in his fifth season in Cincinnati put up career-high numbers in yds (1,205), TDs (13) and carries (292) to help take some of the offensive load off Burrow, who was the most sacked QB in the league in 2021.

It stands to reason that the Bengals’ feel-good run may end in Arrowhead Stadium, where KC has hosted a record four consecutive AFC championship games. The team’s dominance and the home crowd make the venue a tough place to play and, as Mahomes showed last week against the visiting Bills, it’s a place where a game-tying drive can happen in just 13 seconds.

But the Bengals have thrived this season by keeping games close — Cincinnati has lost only one game by more than 7 points — and then either having Burrow find a playmaker or getting a timely stop or takeaway from its defense. Burrow, like Josh Allen, is capable of going throw-for-throw with Mahomes, and a shootout is a real possibility, especially since it’s unclear whether KC’s Pro Bowl safety Tyrann Mathieu will play on Sunday after he left last week’s matchup against the Bills with a concussion. Pick: Bengals +7

No. 6 SF 49ers at No. 3 LA Rams, 6:30p, Fox
Pick: Rams
For all the talk about the Matthew Stafford trade and the Rams’ headline acquisitions of defensive back Jalen Ramsey, linebacker Von Miller and receiver Odell Beckham Jr. en route to a title run, the team’s success on Sunday will hinge on whether Coach Sean McVay can deploy those players to do something he has yet to accomplish in six previous tries: beat Kyle Shanahan and his 49ers.

McVay and Kyle Shanahan were assistants under Mike Shanahan on Washington’s 2013 team (along with Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur) and, as division rivals, are deeply familiar with each other’s game plans. But Kyle Shanahan has had the upper hand because the 49ers’ scheme perfectly counters the Rams’ Aaron Donald-led pass rush by coupling physical run plays with elaborate pre-snap motions, effectively playing hide and seek with the defense. Short throws across the middle keep the lurking Ramsey at bay.

Shanahan expects a key cog in making all that offensive strategy work, the versatile receiver Deebo Samuel, to practice and play this week after he took a helmet to his right leg in last week’s win over the Packers. Less certain is whether left tackle Trent Williams (sprained ankle) will be available, and his absence could be a significant blow to the 49ers’ efforts to stave off Donald and Miller.

LA expects to return its starting left tackle, Andrew Whitworth (knee, ankle), as well as safety Taylor Rapp (concussion) — and has the added motivation of wanting to avenge having blown a 14-point halftime lead against SF in its final regular season game, a meltdown that allowed the 49ers to make it to the postseason. Still, Shanahan has the Rams’ number.
 
My personal thoughts on the Conference Championships games:

Chiefs vs Bengals:
I've watched Mahomes since he came into the league in 2017, and he is far and away the best young QB I've ever seen in 50 yrs of NFL watching. Stats bear this out, btw. Just an amazing talent, and the Bengals have had serious trouble scoring during the playoffs.

However KC's D is porous, and Burrow is always a threat - that's how the Bengals won their divisional title in Week 17, beating KC with a stunning second half comeback. The Bengals and the SF 49ers Ds are similar in their strategies. Unlike the Rams, for example, they do not depend on the blitz to rattle opposing QBs. Instead they use their end rushers to contain long ball and pressure passing accuracy, with blitzes used in certain situations and often, later in the game rather than early on. The difference is that the Bengals are fast and young on D, while the 49ers are hard and physical (they are known as one of the most physical of DLs in either conference).

Similar to SF, KC's secondary is a concern. Even with Tyrann Mathieu playing, Burrow torched the CBs on that Week 17 win with sideline passes. Latest info is Mathieu is still day to day, in concussion protocol. My guess is he'll play if humanly possible.

If the Bengals again place their safeties high - and I think they will - Mahomes will need to go back to being patient with the dink/dunk offense. It's not natural for him but he showed he could do it, and he will need to do it again. If the Rams win and he faces them in the SB, he can start throwing bombs then. The Rams have Jalen Ramsey but the Chiefs have multiple weapons, and Ramsey can't cover them all. It's one of the reasons the Niners have beaten the Rams six straight times - beat the blitz, and spread the ball around.

EDIT: I was incorrect, the Chiefs do have RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire active this week. He was out for the regular season Chiefs/Bills game, not the playoff.

Still, when the chips are down Mahomes is ice-cold solid. Literally! He wears a fitness watch during games, and it showed his heartrate actually goes down when he's on the field in critical drives.

Niners vs Rams:
A classic rivalry and an example of two teams that match up strategically. As I've pointed out before, QB Jimmy Garoppolo has one of the fastest releases in the NFL at 2.2 seconds. This negates the Rams blitzing, as does the running of RB Elijah Mitchell and RB/WR Deebo Samuel. It's why these two teams are always a study in coaching duels, with Shanahan and McVay trying to outthink one another. They know each other very well, having worked together for years, but have very different offensive styles.

The Rams have quite famously front-loaded their team for bear in 2022. Their future is mortgaged to the hilt (no first round draft picks for the next 7 years), and the likelihood of keeping all their famous players together for 2022-23 is somewhere south of the planet Mercury.

The Niners have over-achieved this year, especially considering Garoppolo's erraticness, the injury-devastated CBs (they lost both first and second string CBs to season ending injuries), and a special teams unit that sucked eggs until unexpectedly coming up in the GBay game smelling like roses.

Despite this, they match up perfectly against the Rams. The Niners D does not blitz often - they ranked as having the fourth fewest blitzes in the NFL. Their raison d'etre is pressure - constant, unrelenting, physical, smash-mouth beating, all game long. Sacks are great, but pressure is what eases the burden on the secondary and causes normally-accurate QBs like Rodgers and Stafford to throw awry.

There is NO QB who throws well under constant pressure. Even Tom Brady's accuracy suffers; his passer rating drops from 108 to only 64 in games when his pocket consistently collapses play after play. A good OL is more than just the QB's friend; they are his lifeline to winning. Even mobile QBs suffer; Mahomes threw a record (for him) 13 interceptions this year, almost all because they moved one of his tackles from one side to the other. Once KC stopped the "experiment", only two of those interceptions occurred in the remaining games.

Stafford is mentally vulnerable to being hit; he really doesn't like it. Mahomes, Rodgers, and Brady keep calm and steady, but Stafford (and Garoppolo) can get rattled. In the Week 17 Niners win over the Rams, Stafford's uniform was covered in grass stains and he was limping by the end. Niners Jimmie Ward was able to cover Cooper Kupp like a wet blanket, with Kupp only breaking out for one long run.

But Odell Beckham wasn't fully integrated into the Rams offense yet. Can Mosely or Thomas cover Beckham? They're good (not great by any means), but it's not going to be possible to shut down Beckham entirely. He's not quite as fast as he once was, but those long arms and sure hands make him the perfect target for Stafford when the QB can get an accurate throw off. That's how he pulls off those catches with double coverage draped all over him.

The addition of RB Sony Michel is what gives the edge to the Rams, I think. Kupp is having his moment, and Beckham remains just dangerous enough to be a sneaky threat. But it's Michel - and his Niners counterpart Elijah Mitchell, just to be verbally confusing - who will be tasked with keeping the Ds honest and the QBs upright.

The Rams have to run (or get the ball to Kupp) enough to keep the Niners front four playing back. The Niners have the harder task of having to run to keep Garoppolo's mistakes to a minimum, because he doesn't have Stafford's strong arm and good mechanics.

If I can fault Niners HC Shanahan for one thing, it's mentally screwing with JG's head that he's lost some of the perfect throwing form he came with from the Patriots' OC Josh McDaniels. Under stress he now throws flat-footed or off his back foot, making mistakes because he's trying too hard not to make mistakes. His arm is not that much weaker than Stafford's, but Shanahan's silent but constant disapproval (even Kyle's wife says he's a negative person) hasn't helped JG to mentally "slow the game down", an essential quality to make it in the NFL.

It's why JG is a much better QB when he just reacts; rather than thinks about Kyle's rigid system and what he has to do right and what he shouldn't do wrong yadda yadda yadda. Garoppolo is one of the best QBs in the NFL at the 2-minute drill, by stats. Belichick, btw, tried to get Garoppolo back via trade even after he had Mac Jones starting.

If the Niners score twice early, the game is theirs to lose. They don't even need to be winning, but they MUST score. When they start slowly in games, they usually lose. Although they have come from behind several times during the season and in the playoffs, it's mathematically improbable you can successfully do it twice more in sudden death games. Possible, but not likely.

I think this is the Rams game to lose, much as I hate to say that. Buying a Super Bowl trophy is somewhat distasteful from this fan's viewpoint, but their future probably will be unpleasant win or lose, regardless.

That said, it would be pretty exciting to see the Niners vs the Bengals again! They haven't met since 1989, when the Niners and Montana won SB XXIII against the Bengals and Boomer Esiason (they also defeated the Bengals in 1982, Montana vs Ken Anderson).

BUT - realistically, looks more like Rams vs Chiefs. I'd take the Chiefs, but if they can keep Stafford upright the Rams could make it a tough game.

(Edited to add note: I forgot Von Miller’s addition to the Rams. Definitely, the Rams get the edge.)
 
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Good stuff Lethe 200, details worth knowing.
Y ou can't argue against the front four of the Rams, perhaps they will add a fifth rusher to confuse Jimmy G.

Also, it is possible Stafford has a brilliant game somewhere hidden in his back pocket-but I don't think so.
Stafford is the key, if SF can rattle him they might have a chance, I can't see it, but it is possible.

I don't remember a game where an opponent (SF) was so over matched.
(However, remember the Jets and Baltimore with Joe Namath)
It looks like a Rams massacre.

Mr. Mahomes will show us how to beat the Rams, as soon as he dispatches the Bengals.
Many of us are pulling for Joe Burrows, but the Mahomes looms too large.
 
I was 1 for 4 in last weekend's picks. So why the hell not make more picks? :ROFLMAO:

Actually, these are teams that I want to win more so than those I think will win.
  • Chiefs vs Bengals: Like last weekend's Chiefs/Buffalo game, this will be two young guns shooting it out, and will no doubt be a good if not great game. Bengals is not a name we're used to hearing in post season. If I were to bet, it would probably be on K.C. But since they beat the Bills last week and I'm holding a grudge, I'm pulling for the Bengals.
  • Niners vs Rams: I just don't like the Niners. I'm not sure why, but I just don't like them. So I'm picking the Rams. I've been a fan of theirs all season.
Some teams are just fun to watch. I think that's what I base my pics on more so than any serious analysis.
 
If the Niners lose to the Rams it will be because Trent Williams, their All Pro OT, was injured in the GBay game and is out. He is their mainstay on the OL, and would be needed against Von Miller. The Rams have had good luck on the injury lists this year and lost only one first-stringer, Robert Woods, to season-long injury; that was why they signed Odell Beckham. Woods is an outstanding WR and a better blocker than Beckham. Sony Michel has been less effective with Beckham instead of Woods on the sweep.

The question is how effective Von Miller is going to be on the edge rushing if Deebo Samuel starts running for yardage. If Shanahan incorporates Brandon Aiyuk into the playcalling (which he should do IMHO), Jalen Ramsey will need help and Miller will have to cover the middle of the field instead.

When healthy the Niners match up equally with the Rams. They swept the Rams two years ago even in a losing season, and have beaten them decisively four more times since. As referred above, blitzing does not work well against Garoppolo. But with Williams out, and Garoppolo, Samuel, Fred Warner, and George Kittle not at 100%, I agree the Rams have the edge.

For a long time I have felt that it's injuries that determine who gets to the Super Bowl. Very few teams these days are consistently good at all aspects of the game - let alone "great" - so injuries often make the difference.
 
PamfromTx said:
Tom Brady has finally retired. The 44-year-old quarterback plans to retire from the NFL after a 22-year career, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington.
Click to expand...

Yes,, we will miss him!
template-pic.jpg
 
A funny article, and very true. I might add, there are just a lot of sports to follow in the LA area. The Dodgers are world champs. The Lakers have LeBron. The Chargers moved up to LA (they share the stadium with the Rams). There's UCLA and USC basketball and football teams. UCLA is a major US gymnastics power as well! There's pro hockey and pro soccer.

Also, the Rams have moved five times, losing their established base each time. They went from Cleveland to LA, from LA to Anaheim (no, people from LA don't go watch a team in Anaheim! - I-5 is a mess 24/7), from Anaheim to St Louis, then back to the LA Coliseum - before departing for Inglewood. Inglewood is south of Santa Monica - from my brother's house in Glendale it takes an hour without traffic to reach SoFi, LOL.

Why doesn't LA seem to care about the Rams like SF cares about the 49ers? I have a few theories.
SFGATE columnist Rod Benson, who's lived in the bay and now, LA, assesses the state of Rams fandom
SFGate Jan. 29, 2022

As soon as the Los Angeles Rams clinched a spot in the NFC championship game, the text messages started flooding in.

My Bay Area friends were already making plans to come down to LA (where I live) for round three of 49ers-Rams. They’re going all out: nice hotels, daytime parties on Saturday, legit seats at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. These folks seriously care about their team and this game, and many already traveled to Dallas and Green Bay over the last few weeks. Their energy for the Niners is that of most NFL fan bases: manic.

And then there are Rams fans. I do know some Rams fans going to the game on Sunday, albeit mostly for the “scene” (on a related note, Super Bowl party/activation invites are already going like prom tickets). Otherwise, though, I haven’t heard much about people in LA looking forward to the game. That’s admittedly my anecdotal experience, but it’s backed by hard numbers: estimates from ticket resellers indicate there are likely to be more Niners fans than Rams fans this Sunday at SoFi.

So the question is, why? Why don’t LA sports fans seem to care as much as other NFL fan bases? Why does SoFi Stadium try to limit ticket sales to the Greater Los Angeles region, a strategy that always backfires? Why do we love the Dodgers and Lakers and a competitive USC team more than we love our very good pro football team?

To figure out the answer, you have to look at Los Angeles for what it is: an absolutely enormous region of the country with wildly disparate demographics.

First, the Rams p**sed off and kicked out a bunch of their own would-be fans when they built their behemoth of a stadium. It’s the most important factor here, and it’s odd how little it’s discussed. An area chock-full of middle- and lower-middle-class Angelenos, many of whom are Black, was completely upended when the Rams causally decided to drop back into town. Rent prices and property values in Inglewood went through the roof, pun intended, and the people who lived there — people who had roots in LA — were displaced. The instant gentrification machine that is the AEG complex was something wealthy residents wanted, but, as is always the case, they wanted it nowhere near where wealthy people reside. So who paid the price? The Angelenos who might otherwise support the team week after week. Go figure.

Outside of Inglewood, it’s an uphill battle convincing longtime residents to support a franchise that relocated here in 2016. The Rams do have a meaningful base of Hispanic fans, but it’s unclear how many people in LA are really, truly invested in the team. I spoke to a guy just yesterday who said he was excited about the game, which surprised me. I asked if he was a big Rams fan, and he responded, “No, but I’m from LA so I root for them when they’re on.”

Who can blame him, or anyone else? If you were born in LA in the ’90s, you have zero frame of reference for a hometown NFL team and either already picked a different squad or never got into football to begin with. If you were born in LA before the ’90s, then you watched the Rams leave once already. That’s not a recipe for devoted fandom.

Then there are the transplants, many of whom aren’t interested in changing their sports allegiances. This week, I went to a stand-up comedy show where a comedian asked who was excited about the upcoming game. Three people clapped. The comedian lamented the lack of enthusiasm in the room, then asked one of the guys who put his hand up where he was from. “San Francisco,” the man replied.

Heck, this past summer, I met dozens and dozens of people who moved down from San Francisco during the pandemic. In my own social circles, for whatever reason, I know a bunch of people from Ohio or Minnesota. For lots of transplants, their hometowns are still a source of pride and identity, even if they don’t want to live there anymore. I’m more likely to see a bar full of raucous University of Michigan fans than I am a bar full of Rams fans. How are we expected to commit fully to the Rams when half of us are actually Browns fans and call it “pop” instead of “soda”?

After that, you’ve got LA’s tastemakers and influencers, who don’t even know what’s south of Wilshire, let alone where SoFi is. This is a city of stars, and NFL football just doesn’t have the star power to compete. Reggie Bush was probably a bigger name than any NFL player who’s played here since Eric Dickerson.

And generally speaking, regardless of one’s position in LA’s social scene, there’s just other s—t to do here that entices people more than posting up at a football game. I don’t say that to disparage other parts of the country. During my pro hoops career, I lived in North Dakota and Reno and spent significant time in every city from Sioux City to Little Rock. I genuinely loved all of it.

But those locales, unlike LA, don’t have what could be described as too many entertainment options. People here routinely say yes to plans, only to cancel because something else came along. I can admit to agreeing to a Sunday hike, getting a text that Too Short is throwing a party at a water park, then fully bailing on the hike. For people to invest in football, the draw would have to beat whatever else we could be doing. If I could go watch the Rams play the Cardinals, or I could meet actor Clive Owen for lunch in Malibu, I’m going to go to Nobu and start with the yellowtail, like a gentleman. The Lakers and Dodgers are legitimate destination spots, but no one would say that about a Rams game. I’ve never seen a single lady on Hinge with a Rams jersey. Meanwhile, in Denver, a common dating app prompt is “if you don’t like the Broncos, don’t swipe right.”

Add it all up and what you get is apathy. Since the Super Bowl is here too, these next few weeks will turn LA into as much of a football city as it will ever be — just with an LA twist. Some people will have tickets to the game but will pass on going because they have an audition. Some will head to Joshua Tree for the weekend because they can’t stand all the activations. That, or they’ve been meaning to go microdose and had no idea there’s even a game in town. That’s LA as a football city. It’s still LA.
 
Bengals @ Chiefs
Do I really believe the Chiefs will lose... No. Do I want them to go down to the Bengals... Yes. I do realistically think this game is going to be a shootout game and the Bengals will hang in there. I think players such as Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, and Mecole Hardman will get there share of yards and even touchdowns. The key for the Bengals in my opinion is stopping Running Back Clyde Edwards- Helaire. I think if they can do that then they can focus more on the passing game of Mahomes. As for the Bengals offense of course Joe Burrow is going to have to have a spectacular night spreading the ball around and Joe Mixon is also going to have to open up that passing game with a great running game. I am going out on a limb and saying the Bengals will pull it out with another last minute FG by Evan McPherson to win it 34-31.

49ers @ Rams
There are a few keys for the 49ers and they are to force mistakes from Stafford. If that occurs they will be in the game. Also keeping Deebo Samuel involved in the offense as much as possible is important for there success. The Rams need to keep the mistakes down to a minimum on offense and use the best defensive player Aaron Donald along with Von Miller and Jalen Ramsey to do what they do best. On the offense Stafford has the tools in Kupp, Beckham Jr, and Higbee to put the points on the board. The Rams actually are stacked on both sides of the ball. I think if they stay away from the mistakes they will run away with this one. Rams. 30-17.
 
Mega cities:
New York has it's buroughs which retains a neighborhood aspect to this mega city, Chicago has it's Bears who have always been
LA has it's gypsy team with their wagons packed for flight. Cleveland had it's run away Browns, soon replaced by the New Improved
Browns, then of course, there the saga of 'itchy pants' Al Davis...

Are your fans acting reluctant to approve an increase in their taxes for a new stadium-move they will build your stadium and no taxes on
anything for ten years.
and so it goes

(Opinion only: I think Eric Dickerson could have surpassed everyone's memory of Jim Brown had he been able to stay in LA)
 
Rah-Rah
Every team can go into their dumpster, as we saw Dallas do, but i cannot see Mahones doing anything but great on this world stage.
I don't look for Burrow in a shootout, there are only so many games a guy can do that (the same for Mahones, he may go into the dumpster,
but i doubt it.) KC 38, Buffalo 27

Were all cautious about Stafford, but what if he has a great game, what if the front four has a great game, what if the score is LA 65-SF 21
I'm looking for Jimmy G to spend a lot of time on his butt LA 33-Sf21
 
I'll be rooting for Stafford and the Rams today. I just feel he deserves a break after all the time he spent in Detroit, spinning his wheels.

The first game is a toss up for me - I like both teams.
But the Bengals, a little more, being part of the AFC North. That's where my loyalty has been for many, many years.
 

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