NFL playoff bracket finalized; CFP championship preview

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Good morning everyone but especially…

THE NFL PLAYOFF TEAMS

The NFL playoffs are set. Here is the AFC field and how they got there:

1. Crows (got #1 seed and bye last week)
2. Accounts (position won with Jaguars‘ 28-20 loss to Titans; took second place and won the AFC East with a 21-14 victory Dolphins)
3. Bosses (took third place last week)
4. Texans (guaranteed place with a 23-19 victory over Colts; won the AFC South with the Jaguars’ loss to the Titans)
5. Brown (took 5th place last week)
6. Dolphins (won 6th place with a loss to the Bills)
7. thieves (guaranteed place with a 17-10 victory Crows and the Jaguares’ defeat to the Titans)

AND here is the NFC field:

1. 49ers (got #1 seed and bye last week)
2. Cowboys (clinched second place and won the NFC East with a 38-10 victory Commanders)
3. Lions (took third place with the Cowboys victory)
4. Buccaneers (won NFC South with 9-0 victory about Panthers)
5. Eagles (took 5th place with the Cowboys victory)
6. Rams (conquered 6th place with a 21-20 victory over the 49ers)
7. Packers (guaranteed place with a 17-9 victory over Bears)

Then here is the schedule for the first roundwith an initial reflection on each game:

• No. 5 Browns vs. No. 4 Texans, Saturday, 4:30 p.m. | NBC
  CJ Stroud It’s absolutely fantastic. The same goes for the Browns defense.
• No. 6 Dolphins at No. 3 Chiefs, Saturday, 8 p.m. | Peacock
  Dolphins don’t like the cold and the temperature will be around zero degrees that night in Kansas City.
• No. 7 Steelers at No. 2 Bills, Sunday, 1 p.m. | CBS
  Buffalo (five straight wins) and Pittsburgh (three straight wins) are on the rise.
• No. 7 Packers at No. 2 Cowboys, Sunday, 4:30 p.m. | Fox
  The two best touchdown passers of the year – Dak Prescott (36) and Jordan Love (32) – meet.
• No. 6 Rams vs. No. 3 Lions, Sunday, 8 p.m. | NBC
  Matthew Stafford It is Jared Goff both face their old team, the first matchup of its kind in NFL playoff history.
• No. 5 Eagles vs. No. 4 Buccaneers, Monday, 8 p.m. | ABC
  Let’s talk about the Eagles…

Some teams are entering the postseason. Others are limping along – literally and figuratively – and the Eagles are one of those teams. Philadelphia benched many of its starters before halftime, with the offense doing nothing and the defense doing nothing in an eventual 27-10 loss to the Giants. To make things worse, AJ Brown suffered a knee injury in the first quarter.

The Eagles have lost five of their last six games. Using defensive success rate (a measure of end-to-end efficiency), only Commanders were worse during this period. The pass rush – dominant last year – is milquetoast. The linebackers and secondary are a complete mess. Not much better on offense: 25th in success rate over the last six weeks, just behind Jets and giants.

The slate was wiped clean in the postseason, but it’s really ugly now.

Here’s more about the playoff teams…

Honorable mentions

And it’s not such a good day for…

NFL TEAMS ELIMINATED FROM THE PLAYOFFS

Week 18 can be as brutal as it is beautiful. You work months and months – years and years, really – for games like this, all to lose in an agonizing, infuriating way. That explains the look of devastation on the Jaguars’ sideline after a 28-20 loss to the Titans eliminated Jacksonville from playoff contention.

When we talk about a game of inches, we talk about Trevor Lawrence coming inches away on the late fourth goal. We talk about Lawrence’s disappearance Calvin Ridley by inches on a potential long touchdown on Jacksonville’s final drive of the season.

But we should also talk about how it should never have gotten to this point. The Jaguars have lost five of their last six games. For all the talk about the “game of inches,” this was a game of many yards allowed and many errors.

• Derrick Henrique, probably playing his last game with the Titansran for 153 yards and a touchdown.
• Ryan Tannehillprobably also playing his last game with the Titans (and only playing because Will Levis was injured), threw two touchdown passes. He had two all season entering Sunday.
• Lawrence threw two interceptions, one on a terrible drop Evan Engramanother terrible bid for (or miscommunication with) Zay Jones. The Jaguars’ offense finished this season with the fifth-most points given up on turnovers.

I still believe in Lawrence, who need to stay healthyand the Jaguars need to invest in their line and wide receivers during what will be a long off-season.

Here are the five other Teams that were eliminated over the weekend:

• One of Arthur Smithfinal acts like Falcons trainer was shouting at Dennis Allen post-game after a delay Santos touchdown in a 48-17 loss that eliminated Atlanta from the playoffs. The clock struck midnight in Smith (literally, the firing was announced at 12:02 p.m.) after three 7-10 seasons and no playoff appearances. Our GM trainer and tracker is installed and working.
• O Seahawks and the Saints were eliminated with the Packers’ victory. The Seahawks need defensive help. The Saints are in salary cap hell (again) after putting together a win-now roster that didn’t even make the playoffs (again).
• O Vikings were eliminated after losing to the Lions. All eyes will be on the quarterback’s plan with Kirk Cousins ready to hit free agency.
• The Colts were eliminated after losing to the Texans, but things are looking up. I can’t wait for a healthy life Anthony Richardson in Shane Steichenoffense.

As for the teams eliminated a long time ago, the the first 18 picks of the NFL Draft are set. The top five will be…

1. Bears (via Panthers)
2. Commanders
3. Patriots
4. Cardinals
5. Chargers

Not so honorable mentions

National Championship Game Preview, Predictions

And then there were two. #1 and #2, to be exact.

Michigan faces washington tonight in the national championship gameand we have Tom Fornelli’s best final bets of the season. Your game of choice?

• Fornelli: “From an efficiency standpoint, Michigan matches up well with Washington’s offense. … The Wolverines have the best defense in the country, thanks largely to their excellent defensive line. It’s simply better than their offensive line and it’s deep. . ..Washington has excellent players on defense at all levels…but doesn’t have the depth of Michigan’s talent pool. Pick: Michigan -4.5“

Tom also notes, however, that when you have Michael Penix Jr., Roma Odunze, Jalen McMillan It is Ja’Lynn Polkindividual talent can simply make enough plays to win, and I loved it this story by Dennis Dodd on Penix.

Michigan’s biggest name, however, is its coach. This is it Jim Harbaughlast game at Michigan? Will he face discipline for two controversies? What kind of coach is he (other than a successful one)? Dennis took a deep dive into one of the game’s greatest enigmas.

We have too Keys to Michigan’s Victory It is to Washington It is what both teams need to fix.

Get ready. Determining which school will be the ultimate champion in a four-team field should be a difficult task in Houston tonight.

Rafael Nadal withdraws from the Australian Open

Rafael NadalThe last season of 2016 got off to an inauspicious start. The 22-time Grand Slam champion Withdrew from Australian Open due to hip injury.

• After missing practically all of 2023 due to a hip injury suffered at the last Australian Open, Nadal returned at the Brisbane Internationaladvancing to the quarterfinals.
• However, he suffered a “micro tear” in the hip. This injury does not occur in the same area operated on in June 2023.
• Nadal, 37, now likely has his sights set on the French Open in May. He has won 14 titles at Roland Garros.

What will we watch on Monday

CFP National Championship: No. 2 Washington vs. #1 Michigan7:30 pm on ESPN
Suns at Clippers10:30 pm on NBA TV