Preview: Ravens vs Bills

 

We head to upstate New York to wrap up the NFL Divisional Round as we will see the Baltimore Ravens take on the Buffalo Bills. The presumably top MVP candidates will square off in a battle for who will head to Kansas City next week. 

Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson have been battling back and forth this entire season to determine who will take home the MVP hardware. These two squads met back very early in the season which resulted in a dominant Ravens win in Baltimore. This time home-field advantage goes to Buffalo. 

Baltimore has been steaming hot. They have not lost a game since December 1st as they ride their five-game winning streak into the divisional round. After not controlling the AFC North for most of the season, the Ravens late season push is what put them over the top.

The dynamic duo of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry has created nightmares for opposing defenses. Baltimore has the best rushing offense in the league and averages just around 190 rushing yards per game. In their wild card win over Pittsburgh, they combined to rush for 299 yards. In a game that will involve lots of weather, the Ravens are not afraid to use their legs. 

Buffalo also is coming off a dominant victory from a week ago. After falling behind 7-0 early to Denver, the Bills scored 31 unanswered points en route to a 24 point victory over the Broncos. Like the Ravens, the Bills also have a scary backfield with Josh Allen not afraid whatsoever to put his head down and run and James Cook as well. 

Ultimately, these teams match up pretty similarly. A top tier backfield accompanied by a subpar receiving corps is what both of these teams are made of. Baltimore will most likely be without Zay Flowers to add to their receiver room woes. Look for Jackson to heavily involve his tight ends. 

Like Jackson, Josh Allen also has a soft spot for his tight ends. The X-Factor in this game could very well be the role of these tight ends. Although the playoffs do not matter towards awards, the winner of this game should determine who is the MVP. 

In my opinion, currently Lamar Jackson has my vote for the MVP award. On a side note, I do believe that Joe Burrow should be involved in this race, but most likely he will not be included. Jackson has been the most dynamic player across the NFL. His amazing ability to run and his improved arm since he entered the NFL makes him so dangerous to opposing defenses. 

In the end, I believe that Baltimore will take this game and head to Arrowhead for a rematch with Kansas City next round. This game will come down to who can be more successful in the run game and I believe that Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry have that edge over the Bills. 

Preview: Rams vs Eagles

 

The final NFC matchup of the divisional round will feature the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles. After both teams won their division in the regular season and handled their wild card matchup pretty easily, these two teams will meet Sunday afternoon. 

Philadelphia and Los Angeles met earlier in the regular season which ended in a statement victory for the Eagles. We saw a historic performance from Saquon Barkley after totaling 302 scrimmage yards with 255 of them coming on the ground. LA will look for that to not repeat come Sunday. 

Los Angeles will arrive in Philadelphia fresh off of a dominant victory a week ago. After having to relocate for their game and losing their home-field advantage, the Rams came out scorching hot and never looked back as they absolutely dismantled Minnesota. 

Like the Rams, the Eagles also took down an NFC North foe as they defeated the Green Bay Packers in their wild card matchup. It wasn't the prettiest of games for the Birds, but they got the job done and lived to see another day. 

Both teams come in very experienced. These two squads are some of the most recent NFC teams to make the Super Bowl after the Rams won it in 2022 and the Eagles made the championship round in 2023. Despite the big difference in the quarterback room, the rest of these offenses are pretty similar. 

Both Philadelphia and Los Angeles feature a dominant running back in Kyren Williams and Saquon Barkley. Along with featuring a two-headed monster in the receiver room. Devonta Smith and AJ Brown for the Eagles, and Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp for the Rams. 

The offensive lines are pretty sharp as well. The defenses are also pretty sound as well. Even after losing hall of famer Aaron Donald, the Rams are still at the top of the NFL in defensive ranks. And even with the Eagles getting younger on that side of the ball, they have improved in this aspect as well. 

A key player to watch on this Eagles defense is linebacker Zack Baun. Baun has been one of the most slept on linebackers throughout the NFL. He is due for a big payday after racking up the third most tackles in the league, and forcing the second most fumbles as well. If he is on his A-game, then it will most certainly be tough sledding for the Rams. 

Weather will also definitely play a factor in this game. What else do you expect on a Sunday in late January in Philadelphia. The game could see some snow and the wind chills dipping down into the 10s and 20s. 

Dealing with weather certainly favors the Eagles. The Rams are used to playing in a dome back in Los Angeles and have really not faced much difficult conditions all season. Philadelphia, on the other hand, only played three games indoors this season and one of them was in LA earlier in the season. 

In the end, I believe that it will be a tightly contested game that falls in the hands of the Eagles as they will advance to their second NFC Championship game in the last three years. The weather and the heavy load of Saquon Barkley will be too much for LA in the end and their season will come to an abrupt end. 

Preview: Commanders vs Lions

Two of the most intriguing teams to watch will match up on Saturday Night in the Motor City as the Washington Commanders take on the Detroit Lions. After earning a bye week as the #1 seed, Detroit will face a young and fiery Commanders team after their recent victory in Tampa Bay. 

My initial comparison between these two teams is that the Commanders are last year's Lions. The Lions really broke out last season and became one of the most high-profile and interesting teams to watch. After a 12 win season and their first playoff victory since the 1990s, the Commanders had an eerily similar occurrence. 

For me, during last year's postseason, the Lions were the most fun team to watch, while this year it is the Commanders in that position. Jayden Daniels has completely turned the franchise around. After suffering 13 losses last season, the Commanders have now totaled 13 wins this season (includes their win over Tampa Bay last week). 

I am expecting an offensive showdown and a potential shootout tomorrow night. The over/under is set at a very high number of 55.5. Both of these clubs ranked top 7 in offense and top 5 in scoring offense as well. Both teams specialized in their rushing attack as they both averaged nearly 150 rushing yards per game. 

Washington and Detroit were lead by two-headed monsters on the ground game. For the Commanders, it was Jayden Daniels and Brian Robinson. For the Lions, it was Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. 

Speaking of David Montgomery, he is back and healthy for the divisional round. After Gibbs filled his role perfectly as the sole back for the last couple of weeks of the regular season, Montgomery is back and ready to go. 

Both the Commanders and the Lions are on fire right now. Washington will come into Ford Field after winning their last six games in a row, and Detroit closed out their regular season on a three-game winning streak as well. 

It has been a remarkable turn around for the Commanders in 2024. In year one under both Dan Quinn and Jayden Daniels, they were literally and physically able to turn the script on the outlook of their franchise. Previously, Washington had been the doormat of the NFL, but now it looks like they can be a legitimate team for the foreseeable future. 

As I stated before, Detroit is a similar story as well. After literally being the laughing stock of the NFL, the Lions ended their playoff win drought last year and racked up 15 wins this season. There were seasons for Detroit where just 1 win was hard to come by, now one loss is hard to come by and Lions fans are in heaven. 

That being said, only one team can move on. I really like both of these teams and I do a see a world where the Commanders can come into Ford Field and defeat the Lions. But, that won't happen this Saturday Night as the Lions will advance to their second consecutive NFC Championship, but this time they have home field. 

Preview: Texans vs Chiefs

 

The Houston Texans will head to Kansas City to take on the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. This matchup with kick off the NFL divisional round on Saturday afternoon. 

These two teams recently matched up in the regular season just a couple of weeks ago. The game took place in late December, also in Kansas City, and ended in a one-score Chiefs victory. This game was major for Houston as they lost their star wide receiver, Tank Dell, to a season-ending injury. 

After this game, the Chiefs starters only participated in one more full game. Come this Saturday, a majority of the Chiefs starters will have not played a live snap of football in three and a half weeks. 24 days later, will this take a toll on the team looking to three-peat for the first time in the history of the NFL?

In the Mahomes era, it has been nearly impossible for a road playoff team to defeat Kansas City. It has only happened twice: to Tom Brady and the Patriots in 2019, and the Bengals in 2022. The Texans will most certainly be facing an uphill climb. 

Despite the 15-2 record for Kansas City, the Chiefs had rarely any easy victories this season. 12 of their 15 wins came by just one possession. To add onto that, the Chiefs were one of the few teams to score at least 31 points in a single game this season. The others teams that did that are picking in the top 5 of the NFL Draft. 

As mentioned before, injuries have baffled the Texans. Not only Tank Dell, but Stefon Diggs as well was lost to a season-ending injury. A receiving corps that was deemed one of the best to begin the season is now down to just one of their big three: Nico Collins. 

Houston picked up a dominant win in the Wild Card round over the Los Angeles Chargers. The offense was slow to start, but once it came around, there was no looking back. The defense also put on arguably their best performance of the season. 

They forced Justin Herbert to throw four interceptions after he only had three in 17 regular season games. The offense showed off its depth after CJ Stroud completed a pass to eight different receivers. Houston came full force against LA a week ago, but will it be enough to take down Kansas City?

Entering one of the most hostile environments in the NFL, I am taking the Chiefs to advance to their seventh consecutive AFC Championship. We all thought that once Tom Brady retired we would never see a quarterback as dominant as him, well it looks like we were mistaken because Patrick Mahomes will come one step closer to a three-peat on Saturday. 

Midseason Report Card: New York Knicks

 

It's hard to believe, but the New York Knicks have officially reached the midway point of their regular season after playing their 41st game a couple nights ago. The season has been a rollercoaster to say the least, so let's recap and talk about it. 

New York enters their matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers tonight with a 26-15 record, good enough for third place in the Eastern Conference. After starting the season with a record of 5-6, the Knicks have completely turned it around and have won 21 of their last 30 games. 

The Knicks are headlined by their two stars: Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Since being traded to New York, Towns has been putting up the best numbers in his entire career. Along with averaging over 25 points per game, he's grabbing almost 14 rebounds a game as well. 

Jalen Brunson is also having a career season, averaging almost 26 points per game compiled nearly 8 assists a game as well. The Knicks dynamic duo is putting the league on notice. The rest of the starting lineup isn't too bad also with each player averaging at least 14 points per game. 

A case could be made for the Knicks to potentially have 3-4 all stars this season. The major concern that the Knicks are still dealing with which was headlined before the season even began is the lack of depth. Recently, New York has been only using an 8-9 man rotation with their bench players accounting for barely any minutes whatsoever. 

On the other hand, the minutes in which the starters are taking on is starting to add up. We've seen multiple injury scares over the past few games to both Brunson and Towns. New York is still waiting for Mitchell Robinson to come back and have really made no other improvements to their depth besides the signing of Landry Shamet. 

New York has just about three weeks before the trade deadline to decide what areas need to be addressed. A potential injury to one starter could take a huge toll on the rotation itself. Despite the amazing record through 41 games, depth is a key issue that needs to be looked more into. 

Potentially giving more minutes to rookies Tyler Kolek and Pacome Dadiet could help out the rotation. The Knicks seem to be more focused on letting them improve their skillset in the G-League, but it could be time sooner than later to give them a bigger role in the NBA. 

It has been a successful start to the season for New York, but the road only gets tougher from here on out. The Knicks are faced with one of the toughest strength of schedules for their final 41 games. Their resilience as a team will be put on full display as we enter the second half of the 2024-25 NBA season. 

Who Should Win NFL OROTY?

 

The talent that was produced from the 2024 NFL Draft lived up to the hype. The productivity from all skill positions on offense was on full display and throughout the season there was a tightly contested race for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. I am here to tell you who my pick is for this prestigious award. But first, my top 3 rookies at each offensive skill position:

Quarterback: 
1. Jayden Daniels
2. Bo Nix
3. Caleb Williams

Running Back: 

1. Bucky Irving

2. Tyrone Tracy

3. Isaac Guerendo 

Wide Receiver:

1. Brian Thomas Jr.

2. Malik Nabers

3. Ladd McConkey 

Tight End:

1. Brock Bowers

2. Ja'Tavion Sanders

3. AJ Barner

This class was especially deep in both the quarterback and wide receiver classes. Both the running back and tight end classes had a clear and obvious best player and then a pretty big fall off afterwards. 

My top three rookies include: Jayden Daniels, Brock Bowers, and Bo Nix. Coming in at #3 on my Offensive Rookie of the Year rankings is Bo Nix. Nix was taken by the Denver Broncos out of Oregon with the 12th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. 

Bo Nix had a fantastic rookie season over in Denver. After being selected 12th by the Broncos, many overlooked the pick and even in the Denver organization, it was guaranteed that he would be the starter come Week 1. 

However, once he gained the starting role he never looked back. He took Denver to their first postseason berth in almost a decade, while throwing for 29 touchdowns during the regular season. That number was good enough for 6th in the NFL. 

It's not often you see a rookie quarterback of Nix's caliber lead his team to the playoffs in his first season in the big leagues. Nix turned a lot of heads this season and with some more offensive help in 2025, the Broncos could be a scary team in the upcoming future. 

Next, coming in at #2 on my Offensive Rookie of the Year rankings is Jayden Daniels. Daniels was selected by the Washington Commanders out of LSU with the 2nd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. 

After taking home the Heisman Trophy just in his final season at LSU, Daniels had an astounding rookie campaign in Washington. Immediately, Daniels drew comparisons to 2x MVP Lamar Jackson for his impressive dual threat ability with both his arm and legs. 

Daniels nearly rushed for 900 yards while throwing for 25 touchdowns as well. These stats were good enough to earn Daniels the 4th best QBR in the NFL. A season ago, the Commanders amounted for a total of four wins, earning them to pick to select Daniels. 

In year one, Daniels guided Washington to 12 wins and their first playoff berth since 2020. Jayden Daniels turned the Commanders into one of the most interesting and dynamic offenses in the entire National Football League. Daniels joined a team in desperate need of a franchise quarterback in absolute stride. 

And finally, coming in as my official pick for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year is Brock Bowers. Bowers was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders out of Georgia with the 13th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. 

Bowers took the league by storm the second he got his first reception in the NFL. He was always forecasted in college as the best tight end prospect and he sure did live up to that hype in his rookie season. Many people, including myself, consider him to be one of the best, if not the best, tight end currently in the NFL after just his rookie season!

Brock Bowers didn't just come in the NFL and break records, he shattered them. He set a new record for most receptions by a rookie in a season. He broke hall of fame tight end, Mike Ditka's record for the most receiving yards by a rookie tight end. With Las Vegas, he broke the Raiders all time most receptions in a single season record as well. 

On top of all of that, he ranked third in the NFL in receptions and received All-Pro honors in his rookie season. If you want to talk about one of the most impressive rookie seasons of all time, Brock Bowers must be in that conversation. 

Preview: Vikings vs Rams

 

Finally, to cap off this Wild Card Weekend, we will see the Minnesota Vikings take on the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football. This matchup is a rematch of their showdown earlier in the season in Los Angeles, but this time they will be playing in a neutral site. 

The devastating wildfires throughout Los Angeles caused this game to relocate to Glendale, Arizona, the home of the Arizona Cardinals. The two respective teams are adjusting to this location as if it was the Super Bowl with neither team having home field advantage. 

It's not often we have a 14 win team as the #5 seed in the NFL playoffs, but the Minnesota Vikings have fell into this spot. The only three losses that Minnesota suffered were to the Detroit Lions twice, and the team in front of them, the Los Angeles Rams. 

The two teams squared off to kick off Week 8 in late October on Thursday Night Football. The Rams eventually won this game by a score of 30-20, but was a tightly contested battle throughout the contest. If this game was anything like what we are going to see later this evening, then we are in for a treat. 

Both the Rams and Vikings were not pictured to be here before the regular season. Throughout the NFL, people believed that the NFC West would just go to the 49ers once again when it actually went to the Rams. 

Critics also suggested that the Vikings would finish towards the bottom of the NFC North, while in the end they were a win away from having a first round bye. Many people alluded to this because of the Vikings quarterback situation prior to the start of the regular season. But to put it plain and simple, Sam Darnold is the main reason behind the Vikings success. 

Darnold was just supposed to be a backup and a mentor to rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy. But that all was changed when McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury before his rookie campaign even began. Darnold needed a spark to revive his underwhelming career, and boy did he ever find that spark. 

Sam Darnold was arguably the best quarterback in the NFC and could finish in the top 10 in the MVP voting. The relationship with head coach Kevin O'Connell paid off in ways we had not even thought of prior to Week 1. O'Connell definitely has my vote for Coach of the Year. 

This game features a matchup of two of the youngest and brightest head coaches in the league in Sean McVay and Kevin O'Connell. Both of these coaches didn't let preseason narratives get to them and both had great seasons. 

However, the Rams went through a rollercoaster of a season compared to Minnesota. Los Angeles started off the season with a 1-4 record, before winning 10 of their last 13 games. Usually when you start your season 1-4, the playoffs are well out of reach. The Rams defied these odds. 

Minnesota and Los Angeles have a lot in common. The offenses are near mirror images of one another, and the defenses are not far behind either. The quarterback matchup of Matt Stafford and Sam Darnold should be a great one to watch. 

Despite the similarities between the two teams, I believe that Minnesota will advance to the next round and take this game. The relocation of the game heavily plays into the favor of Minnesota with no home-field advantage established. To finish, I believe this game will be a close one, but Minnesota didn't get 14 wins just to go home after the 1st round.