I’m struggling to find my angle this week after a “Super” Wildcard Weekend that featured just one game being determined by one score.
So, I will start with that one game, and more specifically, the Detroit Lions.
Unless you live under a rock or just don’t care about football, which would make this column an odd thing for you to read if that was the case, you probably know by now that the Lions defeated the Rams on Sunday to win their first playoff game in 32 years. It was the first time in my lifetime that Detroit was able to accomplish that feat, which got me thinking.
In my family, myself, my brother Jeremy and my cousin Mac are all around the same age. I am a Bears fan, which makes sense because my dad is one and I grew up in Chicago. Basic math there. Jeremy is a Ravens fan, and has been so for many years now. I don’t remember what exactly sparked his change in fandom, but not long after he decided Baltimore was his team, they won the Super Bowl. That’s a pretty easy way to get a kid to fall in love for life.
Mac was a similar case to Jeremy in that somewhere along the line, he swore off the Bears and decided he was going to become a die-hard fan of the Detroit Lions. Unlike my brother, Mac did not have a Super Bowl early on in his fandom to fully coerce him over to the dark side. In fact, until this weekend, he never even won a playoff game. Before this season, not even a division title. Did that stop him? No. In fact, it felt like every time we would go over to my aunt and uncle’s house for a holiday, his fandom had only increased.
I respect this very much. He had many opportunities to realize the error of his ways and switch back to the Bears or an actual good football team somewhere along the way. It makes me think of the other Lions fans, young and old, who have stuck by their loveable losers for decades, with no thoughts at all at jumping off the ship. Years and years of misery seemingly wiped away after one night of pure bliss. Despite watching a division rival of my squad win their biggest game of my lifetime, I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of happiness on Sunday night.
As sports fans, we commit ourselves to lives of pain. Sure, we will go to bed happy some nights after our teams get a big win, but at the end of the day, fans of one team per sport will head into the offseason happy with a championship under their belts. For most of us, we dream that one day it will be our teams lifting up that trophy and having that parade. That’s why we keep coming back.
That’s why we’re fans.
In our hearts, we know that one day all of the pain will be worth it. One day, our team will finally put it all together and make us proud. For the Detroit Lions’ faithful, that day was Sunday. As I watched grown men shed tears in the stands after finally witnessing a moment they’ve waited their whole life for, I had to fight back tears of my own. Some day, that will be the Bears. I know it. If the Lions can do it, all of our teams can. That’s the power of hope.
Quite a few things to talk about in this week’s quick hitters:
I don’t know how I could have possibly been surprised by it happening once again, but the Dallas Cowboys are still the world’s biggest front runners. They were absolutely destroyed by the Packers on Sunday afternoon, leading to another offseason of questions in Big D. No matter what changes come to fruition, nothing will matter until 12 months from now when the Boys are in the same spot. Yikes.
Add the Eagles to the category of “embarrassing NFC East teams” as well. After a 10-1 start to the season, Philly finished 1-6 and got boat raced out of the playoffs by the Bucs. The collapse was painful to watch at times, as the Eagles looked like a bottom five team in the league over the past few months. Imagine if someone told you in Week 10 that Brian Daboll was the only coach in that division that kept his job. Crazy stuff.
I have a new public enemy No. 1, Nate Oates, head coach of Alabama basketball. During the Tide’s game with Missouri on Tuesday, a scuffle took place in front of the Alabama bench. It resulted in Oates putting his hands on Aiden Shaw, a Missouri player, and shoving him. No foul was called, and he stayed on the sidelines. Completely unacceptable. No matter the circumstances, you do not touch an opposing team’s player. It was shameful and he deserves to be suspended.
Last Monday, I received my prize for winning my fantasy football league: a WWE-style belt that makes me feel like the coolest cat alive. During my downtime, I’ve been walking around my apartment playing the walkout music of my favorite wrestlers while holding the belt over my head. If a larger rush of adrenaline exists, I’ve yet to find it.
Last week wasn’t great in terms of picks, I went 3-3 for a .500 showing. Not terrible, but with only six games being played, the margin for error is slim. The divisional round is my favorite weekend of football all season long, so I hope it can deliver.
Let’s do this.
SATURDAY SHOWDOWNS
Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens (-9.5)
What a coming out party CJ Stroud and the Texans have enjoyed over the past couple of weeks. Playing the two biggest games of his life in the last two, Stroud has been surgical, rewriting the book on rookie quarterbacks in the process. The Ravens will come into this game extremely well rested, having sat out most starters in Week 18 while also enjoying a bye last weekend. Baltimore has gotten up for big games all season long, having destroyed pretty much every good team that has stood in their way thus far. These two teams met already this year, way back in Week 1. Obviously, both of these teams are much different at this point in the season, specifically Houston, who has flipped a switch over the last month. The biggest trap of the playoffs is that you forget about the teams that were off last week while also putting in a lot of stock to the teams you saw one. I’m not going to fall victim here. The Texans have been one of the best stories in the league this year, but it comes to an end in Baltimore. The Ravens are operating on another planet.
The Pick: Ravens -9.5
Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers (-9.5)
We mentioned the Packers briefly earlier when talking about another failure by the Cowboys, but Green Bay deserves a lot of credit for what they’ve done this season, as upsetting as it is for me to say. The Packers were 3-6 at one point this year and looked dead in the water, but the switch has been flipped and Jordan Love has been incredible. Looks like another Hall of Famer up north. Luckily for myself and other people hoping to see Green Bay’s demise, they have to go against the Niners this week, who have absolutely owned them in the playoffs for as long as I can remember. Like Baltimore, San Fran will have its players rested after having basically the last two weeks off. I’ll say this right now. After decades of dominance over the Packers with teams not as good as this juggernaut, if this is the year that Green Bay finally turns the tables, I will be tuning out the rest of the playoffs. I just don’t see it happening though. This season has been a resounding success for the Packers, but this task is too tall.
The Pick: 49ers -9.5
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions (-6.5)
The Lions will get the joy of playing a second playoff game at home after the loss by the Cowboys made them the second highest seed in the NFC. If anyone deserves it, it's them. Detroit played some great football in their win over the Rams, running the ball down their throat and bucking up defensively in the red zone, which proved to be the difference in the contest. The Bucs felt little resistance by the Eagles in their win on Monday night, absolutely cruising to their win in primetime. Baker looked good despite the injuries, and he’ll have another week to heal up some more. I worry about the Lions a bit in this one, as last week was such an emotional victory, to ask them to do it two weeks in a row could be a tall order. But this isn’t your dad’s Lions, and the fact of the matter is that they are a much better team than the Bucs overall. I think they get it done here and go on to play in the NFC Championship game. What a sentence that is.
The Pick: Lions -6.5
Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills (-2.5)
This has to be the most anticipated game of the week. Pat Mahomes versus Josh Allen for the third time in the playoffs, and for the first time, Allen will have the home field advantage. Both teams made quick work of their opponents last week, with the Chiefs dealing with a Dolphins team that fell apart late, while the Bills took care of a Steelers team that probably had no business making the playoffs in the first place. While the game is in Buffalo, Kansas City might have the biggest advantage of this game, having nearly 48 hours more rest, having played on Saturday while Buffalo played Monday. I would love to see the Bills win this game. Allen has had a great season and is eager to get over the hump of beating Mahomes. This will be the first time in Pat’s career that he will be playing a road playoff game, which is crazy to think about. I think Buffalo has been better over the last month, but Mahomes in the playoffs is a different beast. I can’t pick against him until I see him lose.
The Pick: Chiefs +2.5
Well, there you have it. Hopefully this weekend’s slate will deliver. We’re running out of football games, it’s only fair that the ones we have left are great ones.
Cheers.
Last Week’s Record: 3-3
Season Record: 144-126-8