NFL's back again.

Lots of turnovers by both sides, just watched the highlights. Even if the Steelers sneak into the wildcards i can't see them getting any further to be honest.

Ravens have to be favourites for the Superbowl now surely?

[quote="Norpig"]

Ravens have to be favourites for the Superbowl now surely?[/quote]
They do look good but there’s stilll plenty of time for things to change and still plenty of teams with the potential to do it.

Bills v Pats coming up this weekend Boncey - could be a cracker as a Bill’s win would tie the Division  lead At 11 and 4.

Well, well, well...the regular season concludes with a flourish.
Steelers finish even on 8 and 8 - not bad but needed to beat the Ravens and hope the Titans muffed it and it was not to be this year.
Boncey's Bills 10 and 6 - and despite losing their last game have made a WCP v Texans 
 
Pats 12 and 4 but in losing to the Dolphins - who were a joke in the first half of the season - have to go into the wild card playoffs (v Titans) for the first time in years - and frankly don't look like doing anything given their second half of the season form.
Pats massacred the Dolphins 43 - 0 in week 2 so it just goes to show how their form has declined as the Dolphins has improved.

NFC WCPs are Saints v Vikings and Eagles v Seahawks.

That'll get sorted next weekend and then it'll be time for the big boys.

The NFC is so much stronger than the AFC again, any of the NFC teams in the top 6 could win the Superbowl not sure you can say the same about the NFC.

The Chiefs are coming into form at the right time but still think it will be a Ravens vs 49ers Superbowl which would be a cracker!

Titans KO the Pats and move on!
Brady "unlikely" to retire though apparently.
Bills unlucky to lose in overtime.

wanderlust wrote:Titans KO the Pats and move on!
Brady "unlikely" to retire though apparently.
Bills unlucky to lose in overtime.

Josh Allen was so frustrating for the Bills. Been a decent season overall though.

boltonbonce wrote:

wanderlust wrote:Titans KO the Pats and move on!
Brady "unlikely" to retire though apparently.
Bills unlucky to lose in overtime.

Josh Allen was so frustrating for the Bills. Been a decent season overall though.

...and regardless of which team you support, it's shaping up nicely.
Be interesting to see if the Titans can put a stranglehold on the Ravens as they did with the Pats - personally I doubt it. Kinda feels like that was their final.

I know the Patriots have been average this year but still expected them to beat the Titans. Shocked as well at the Saints going out, thought they would beat the Vikings but their defense was well on top for the whole game.

boltonbonce wrote:

wanderlust wrote:
Bills unlucky to lose in overtime.

Josh Allen was so frustrating for the Bills. Been a decent season overall though.

Just watched the highlights again and it beats me how they were so dominant at the beginning to go 16 - 0 up and then capitulate like that. But how Watson got out of that double tackle was amazing.

Overall I'm struggling to see who will win it.
49ers/Vikings? Has to be 49ers doesn't it?
Ravens to beat Titans?
Chiefs/Texans? Dunno
Packers to beat Seahawks?
After this last few weeks I've got a feeling anything could happen.

Gotta sleep now - halfway through Q2 of the Titans v Ravens game. What a start for the Titans!
They strangled the Pats, but here they're playing great offensive and defensive football to lead 14 - 0.
Ravens looking slightly better this drive so maybe they'll score this time....?
Nope - Titans stopped this one too. 14 -3 and the Titans will try again.
Could be a shock result on the cards but still a long way to go.

Watching Q3 now - unbelievable job the Titans are doing on the Ravens! 28 - 6 FFS.
Jackson needs to produce a miracle with 20 minutes left.

What a job they did. Wouldn't put it past them to progress if these last two games haven't taken it out of them. 49ers now favourites.

Texans v CHiefs game was a cracker. Texans going 24 - 0 up before Mahomes  leads the charge back for the chiefs to win it 31 - 51. Helluva comeback.
Chiefs v Titans will be a total clash of styles next week.

Love watching the Chiefs, they have a mentality of you can score a TD we'll just score 2 more.

Can't believe how well the Titans are doing, beating the top 2 seeds in their own backyard is amazing but i think they will lose to the Chiefs next week.

I'm really looking forward to it. The cheese snacks are being stockpiled.

Watched the Packers beat the Seahawks (as expected) but wasn't overimpressed. Rodgers is a great QB and for parts of the game they dominated an average Seahawks defence but I have to say I can see why Russell Watson is the highest paid player in football as he single-handedly put up a fight with next to nothing to work with given their injury-decimated attack. They had two receivers who have only played for a month, two who didn't start the season and the 4th choice running back and yet he drove them up the field and made it a close game and if a couple of borderline decisions had gone their way they might have even won it.

Packers will struggle to get past the 49ers unless they up their game considerably IMO.

Wouldn't write the Titans off just yet. I know they are up against Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and probably the overall best attack in the game, but their defence has been phenomenal in stifling the Pats and the Ravens - and they have Big Derrick! Totally unpredictable game.

Totally agree about Henry, he is a monster and hard to stop when he gets going! The key for the Chiefs is to find a way to stop him which is easier said than done, If they can do that then they should win as they are relentless in offence.
7  touchdowns in 7 consecutive plays was just amazing considering they looked very dodgy in the first quarter.

Norpig wrote:Totally agree about Henry, he is a monster and hard to stop when he gets going! The key for the Chiefs is to find a way to stop him which is easier said than done, If they can do that then they should win as they are relentless in offence.
7  touchdowns in 7 consecutive plays was just amazing considering they looked very dodgy in the first quarter.

The Ravens threw everything at Henry and they succeeded in stopping him getting going most of the time, but even when he didn't escape he was still making 4 yards every play just by stumbling forward and falling over and he did that on more than 20 occasions. You can't stop that can you?
Add to that a couple of break out runs, a couple of catches and an amazing TD pass which absolutely nobody expected.
If his body holds up there's no doubt the Titans will be able to do some damage so for me it is whether or not the Titans defence can do to the Chiefs what they did to the Pats and the Ravens - neither of whom were slouches in attack.

Forgot to mention the Titans secret weapon......Arthur Smith:

Titans OC Arthur Smith Deserves a Game Ball
The MVP of the game was Derrick Henry, who continued his phenomenal postseason after amassing 204 scrimmage yards and a touchdown against the New England Patriots the week before.
The 2015 Heisman Trophy winner is the driving force behind a tough, hard-nosed Titans team with a powerful offense and a ferocious defense that is firing on all cylinders.
Henry, Jonnu Smith, Kalif Raymond and others fired off highlight-reel plays all night, but the architect of the day deserves credit.
Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith turned in a masterful performance. He made all the right moves to school a Ravens defense that ranked fourth in Football Outsiders' DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) in the regular season.
The tone-setting decision occurred in the first quarter after a turnover on downs gave Tennessee the ball at the Ravens' 45-yard line. The Titans led 7-0 at the time, and no one would have been too surprised to see Tennessee run and play conservatively against a ball-hawking Ravens defense.
But Smith made a season-altering call to go for the jugular.
The Titans faked a handoff to Henry on play action before Tannehill fired a beautiful pass to Raymond for a 45-yard touchdown, beating Marlon Humphrey.
Raymond caught just nine passes for the Titans this season, but Smith had the confidence to make him the target on the play of the game, which stunned M&T Bank Stadium crowd.
Next Gen Stats pointed out the degree of difficulty while also noting Tannehill's success throwing the deep ball:

Next Gen Stats @NextGenStats
Ryan Tannehill's 45-yard TD to Kalif Raymond traveled 57.8 yards in the air ("air distance"), Tannehill's 2nd-deepest completion this season. Tannehill has completed 3 passes of 55+ air distance this season, tied for most in the NFL (Matthew Stafford). #TENvsBAL | #Titans https://t.co/pz9dgkeMHE

The Titans defense kept the Ravens offense at bay in response, but Baltimore did kick two field goals to cut the lead to 14-6.
Tennessee opened the second half with another forced turnover on downs, leading to another Smith stroke of genius.
A 66-yard run from Henry put the Titans on the doorstep of another touchdown, but Baltimore held firm and forced a 3rd-and-goal from the 3-yard line.
That doesn't seem like the best time to take your quarterback off the field, but Smith put Henry in shotgun formation with Tannehill on the sideline.
A run out of the Wildcat formation seemed like the obvious move, but the shock of the night occurred instead as Henry issued a jump-pass touchdown to Corey Davis for a 20-6 lead.
Cory Curtis of WKRN-TV Nashville's News 2 noted how the setup sold the fake perfectly:

Cory Curtis @CoryCurtis2
Heck of a play design for the Titans who put Mariota in motion and direct snap to Henry to sell the run. Arthur Smith showing... "guts"

The momentum was squarely in Tennessee's favor at that point, and the defense slammed the door shut from that point.
Turron Davenport of ESPN offered a few apt adjectives to describe Smith's performance.

TURRON DAVENPORT @TDavenport_NFL
Arthur Smith man. Wow. A few words to explain his playcalling: Audacity, gall, bold, https://t.co/YOjVjhbt8O

And ex-NFL lineman Ross Tucker gave credit where it was due:

Ross Tucker @RossTuckerNFL
It's Arthur Smith's world and we're just living in it.

Evan Silva of Establish the Run was ahead of the curve after the Titans' win over the Pats, noting Tennessee's offensive successes:

Evan Silva @evansilva
#Titans first-year OC Arthur Smith deserves more attention: * Highest-scoring Titans team in 16 years * Smashing button on play action * First NFL coach to fully commit to Derrick Henry as feature back * Pass game runs through rookie WR * Ryan Tannehill, Jonnu Smith career yrs

It helps to have Henry and a fantastic offensive line when directing an offense, but the Titans underwent a midseason coaching change and didn't even feature their top wideout (rookie A.J. Brown) until the middle of the year. Tennessee is also without injured tight end Delanie Walker (ankle).
The bottom line is the Titans are in the midst of a remarkable upset run thanks in large part to Smith, who should be hearing from NFL teams about head-coaching possibilities this time next year.