NFL Playoffs 2023

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Some Schmo
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NFL Playoffs 2023

Post by Some Schmo »

I've been watching NFL football since Joe Montana and the 49ers crushed the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl in the 1989 season. Since that game was my introduction to the league, I have been a 49er fan ever since.

Not since the 1994 season have the 49ers looked as strong as they do this year. in my opinion, the Super Bowl is theirs to lose. Obviously, the Eagles look very strong this year, but I suspect they peaked too early this season, and may even be one and done against the Giants tomorrow (I don't think so, but it's a harder pick for me than their season records might suggest, especially with Hurts coming back from injury, and how awesome the Giant's played last week).

As a Niner fan, I don't really worry about the NFC too much (I think they're going to crush the Cowboys Sunday). It's the AFC that worries me, especially the way the Chiefs handled my Niners just before San Fran went on their current 11 game winning streak. Of course, the Niners didn't have CMC that game, were missing some key defensive players, and didn't have Brock Purdy at QB (which could probably be its own thread. The Purdy situation is the best story since Brady's first season as a starter).

I'm not so worried about Buffalo (even though I'm pulling for them in the AFC) because they have been a little inconsistent, Allen is turning the ball over too much (he's such a beast though he can usually overcome his own mistakes), and Von Miller is injured. I am, however, concerned if its the Bengals. Burrow and Chase are, well, unreal, and they have a fantastic defense. Their offensive line is banged up right now, though, so they might have trouble getting to the big game. The Jags don't scare me at all (although I'm pulling for them too just because they're a massive underdog and I like their story this season too).

So, here are my picks for this weekend:
San Fran over Dallas
Philadelphia over NY
Buffalo over Cincy
KC over Jacksonville

So yeah, I'm picking all the favorites, but I'm not at all confident about the Eagles/Giants nor the Bills/Bengals games. The other two I doubt will be close.

by the way, the Division round last year was the best weekend of football I ever remember in my life. I think all 4 games came down to the last play of the game (or at least 3 of the 4). The parity in the league these days makes the NFL the premier sports league. I expect another awesome weekend of football starting tomorrow. Last weekend was pretty damn good.

What do you think of this year's season and the playoffs?
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Marcus
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Re: NFL Playoffs 2023

Post by Marcus »

Speaking of the Jaguars, what a record to set last week for Trevor Lawrence! First game in the NFL with FOUR pickoffs followed by FOUR TD, If I recall correctly. I remember watching him play in college.

It took luck to win though, mostly in the form of an unsportsmanlike penalty that cut the distance for a key Jag's 2 pt play to a 1 yard rush. Temper, temper. :roll:

That's going to be a great game agaonst KC, looking forward to it.

Im still favoring Mahomes, but it could be a pretty tight game, Lawrence has a lot of confidence..
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Some Schmo
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Re: NFL Playoffs 2023

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Marcus wrote:
Fri Jan 20, 2023 11:55 pm
Speaking of the Jaguars, what a record to set last week for Trevor Lawrence! First game in the NFL with FOUR pickoffs followed by FOUR TD, If I recall correctly. I remember watching him play in college.

It took luck to win though, mostly in the form of an unsportsmanlike penalty that cut the distance for a key Jag's 2 pt play to a 1 yard rush. Temper, temper. :roll:

That's going to be a great game agaonst KC, looking forward to it.

Im still favoring Mahomes, but it could be a pretty tight game, Lawrence has a lot of confidence..
I sure hope so. I'm pulling hard for Lawrence after what he went through last season, and I'm glad he's been given the chance to mature and start to show his potential as an NFL QB. I've been pretty impressed with his second half play down the stretch. Amazed, really. It's his first half play that should worry Jags fans. If they get too far behind the Chiefs, I doubt they're coming back.

I think the Jags have been on a high for quite a while now after winning some pretty questionable games, some they probably should have lost, and against an excellent, experienced playoff team like the Chiefs, reality is going to teach them some hard lessons.

But who knows? Any given Sunday, right? Go Jags!

(I guess they're playing Saturday. Oh well.)
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Re: NFL Playoffs 2023

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Some Schmo wrote:
Sat Jan 21, 2023 12:17 am
I sure hope so. I'm pulling hard for Lawrence after what he went through last season, and I'm glad he's been given the chance to mature and start to show his potential as an NFL QB. I've been pretty impressed with his second half play down the stretch. Amazed, really. It's his first half play that should worry Jags fans.
Ikr? "Slow to warm up" is NOT an attribute qb can thrive with lately.
If they get too far behind the Chiefs, I doubt they're coming back.

I think the Jags have been on a high for quite a while now after winning some pretty questionable games, some they probably should have lost, and against an excellent, experienced playoff team like the Chiefs, reality going to teach them some hard lessons.
Excellent points, especially re the experience factor.

And , i know this is dumb and relatively minor, but my stats background is nagging me-- a taller QB can see the field better, right?!!! for those deep throws...

But then, i still maintain mahomes throws like yankees fav Jeter, and if all his toes are ok ( knock on wood, shades of previous SBowl! ) he runs like him too!

On another note, Glad to see hamlin seems to have fully recovered. He was literally dead on the field for what, 9 minutes? Vegas must have been seriously irritated over that game. /s. :twisted:

My theory is, sadly, that will happen again. Penalizing helmet to helmet hits and targeting just moved the bullseye down from the brain to the chest. There will be more cardiac arrests, and they need another solution.
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Re: NFL Playoffs 2023

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I just wanted to say something here. I'm not really a football person but my spouse is. So.. i embrace it 1from a statistician's point of view, watching games with him, and following stats.

In exchange, he watches every sci fi, jamie lee curtis and sigourney weaver movie with me, and also goes to the ballet and broadway shows with me. In December it was the Nutcracker (of course) and next month,Carmina Burana and the following month, the revival of Fosse's broadway show "Dancin." !!

Anyway, long story short, i am learning to like football. stats are fun. And yea for compromise!!!! :D
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Re: NFL Playoffs 2023

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Marcus wrote:
Sat Jan 21, 2023 12:32 am
And , i know this is dumb and relatively minor, but my stats background is nagging me-- a taller QB can see the field better, right?!!! for those deep throws...

But then, i still maintain mahomes throws like yankees fav Jeter, and if all his toes are ok ( knock on wood, shades of previous SBowl! ) he runs like him too!
Yes.
On another note, Glad to see hamlin seems to have fully recovered. He was literally dead on the field for what, 9 minutes? Vegas must have been seriously irritated over that game. /s. :twisted:

My theory is, sadly, that will happen again. Penalizing helmet to helmet hits and targeting just moved the bullseye down from the brain to the chest. There will be more cardiac arrests, and they need another solution.
Me too on Hamlin. That was scary crap.

You know who I sort of felt sorry for after that game? People who had bought tickets from a scalper. No refund or make up game for you (not even sure fans got a refund for that game... they must have, right?)

Yeah, I'm not sure how to make football less risky without just making it flag football. These are huge, hard dudes smashing into each other for three hours a week (not including practice). I don't know how to mitigate the risk inherent in the very concept of the game.

I have heard the suggestion they play without helmets. You'd think they'd run and tackle a lot more carefully then (at least helmet to helmet and head-first occurrences would have to drop, I'd imagine. You wouldn't want to smash your skull). Not sure what the actual statistics say on that one, though (comparing when they wore those leather things to today).

The game would look weird without helmets.
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Re: NFL Playoffs 2023

Post by Brack »

Three of the four teams that were in the Conference champion games last year are back in the Conference champion games this year. We get to watch Cincinnati at Kansas City for the AFC championship game again.
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Re: NFL Playoffs 2023

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Some Schmo wrote:
Fri Jan 20, 2023 8:30 pm
I've been watching NFL football since Joe Montana and the 49ers crushed the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl in the 1989 season. Since that game was my introduction to the league, I have been a 49er fan ever since.

Not since the 1994 season have the 49ers looked as strong as they do this year. in my opinion, the Super Bowl is theirs to lose. Obviously, the Eagles look very strong this year, but I suspect they peaked too early this season, and may even be one and done against the Giants tomorrow (I don't think so, but it's a harder pick for me than their season records might suggest, especially with Hurts coming back from injury, and how awesome the Giant's played last week).

As a Niner fan, I don't really worry about the NFC too much (I think they're going to crush the Cowboys Sunday). It's the AFC that worries me, especially the way the Chiefs handled my Niners just before San Fran went on their current 11 game winning streak. Of course, the Niners didn't have CMC that game, were missing some key defensive players, and didn't have Brock Purdy at QB (which could probably be its own thread. The Purdy situation is the best story since Brady's first season as a starter).

I'm not so worried about Buffalo (even though I'm pulling for them in the AFC) because they have been a little inconsistent, Allen is turning the ball over too much (he's such a beast though he can usually overcome his own mistakes), and Von Miller is injured. I am, however, concerned if its the Bengals. Burrow and Chase are, well, unreal, and they have a fantastic defense. Their offensive line is banged up right now, though, so they might have trouble getting to the big game. The Jags don't scare me at all (although I'm pulling for them too just because they're a massive underdog and I like their story this season too).

So, here are my picks for this weekend:
San Fran over Dallas
Philadelphia over NY
Buffalo over Cincy
KC over Jacksonville

So yeah, I'm picking all the favorites, but I'm not at all confident about the Eagles/Giants nor the Bills/Bengals games. The other two I doubt will be close.

by the way, the Division round last year was the best weekend of football I ever remember in my life. I think all 4 games came down to the last play of the game (or at least 3 of the 4). The parity in the league these days makes the NFL the premier sports league. I expect another awesome weekend of football starting tomorrow. Last weekend was pretty damn good.

What do you think of this year's season and the playoffs?
Were you angry wihen the 49ers got rid of Kaepernik? Do you think racism was at the root of this decision? Or was Kaepernick perhaps just not a very good quarterback?
Last edited by ajax18 on Tue Jan 24, 2023 1:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: NFL Playoffs 2023

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Brack wrote:
Mon Jan 23, 2023 7:11 pm
Three of the four teams that were in the Conference champion games last year are back in the Conference champion games this year. We get to watch Cincinnati at Kansas City for the AFC championship game again.
Yep, remarkable.

So, this was another weekend that showed me the NFL is impossible to predict. The two games I thought would be close were blowouts, and the two I thought would be easy wins weren't. My Niners were not as solid on offense as I'd have liked to see, but they still got the job done. If Prescott hadn't sucked so bad, the Dallas defense did enough to win that game (although they should have capitalized on their interception opportunities).

I'm much more scared of Philadelphia than I was before I saw them play against the Giants. I know the Niner defense will do a much better job than NY's defense, but still, Philadelphia can move the ball, and the bigness of the playoffs might be starting to affect Purdy. He threw two balls that should have been intercepted (it's weird how lucky he's been with throws like that). The NFC Conference Championship game is set up to be epic, so long as both teams bring their A game. I think the Niners can win it, but they'll have to play a lot better than they did against Dallas.

Also, man, Cincy looks scary good. They made Buffalo look pedestrian. I'm pretty confident they're going to beat the Chiefs (again!), especially with Mahomes a little hobbled. Joe Burrow looks as confident as ever, and with the team around him, they could certainly win it all. I mean, they destroyed the Bills. That game was never close. If it's not the Niner's, the Bengals winning wouldn't be bad. Well just have to see how their defense holds up against prolific offenses, because that's all they're going to get going forward.

So yeah, I'm looking for a classic Super Bowl match up: San Fran against Cincinnati. Man, that would be a good game. Course, I think any matchup from the four remaining teams will be a good game. The four best teams in the league this season are still playing.

I'm more confident Cincy will beat the Chiefs than I am about my 49ers against Philadelphia, but we'll see. Maybe Dallas was just an off week for the Niners. I sure hope so.
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Re: NFL Playoffs 2023

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Some Schmo wrote:
Tue Jan 24, 2023 6:07 am
The four best teams in the league this season are still playing.
The teams still playing are automatically the best in the league by default.
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