PHILADELPHIA, PA – Well, I can definitely say that I didn’t see all of that coming this past weekend.
A Championship Weekend featuring Blake Bortles, Nick Foles and Case Keenum. Oh and that guy Tom Brady.
I thought this was a “quarterback-driven” league.
And to all of you who criticized the Buffalo Bills during the wild-card round, at least they shut down the Jacksonville Jaguars offense.
The Pittsburgh Steelers couldn’t stop a bloody nose on Sunday.
Also, how about that Stefon Diggs catch? That was incredible.
Alright. Enough chit chat.
Time for some hawt taeks.
This is Ebs’ Hot Takes: NFL Playoffs Edition.
Enjoy.
The Douggernaut stops here. It was fun while it lasted Dougie.
Saint Doug and his Jaguars have been a nice story this season. Almost as nice as the Bills ending the drought.
Jacksonville has a ferocious defense and has been able to carry one of the league’s worst starting quarterbacks into the AFC Championship Game.
It’s pretty cool. But the buck stops here.
Tom Brady takes care of the ball much better than Ben Roethlisberger. And as much as it pains me to say it, New England Patriots’ defense is better than Pittsburgh’s.
I can guarantee you that the Jaguars won’t put up a 40-spot on Bill Belichick’s Patriots.
I’m calling a blowout. Patriots, 27-7.
Another blowout. I know. The best weekend of football all year is going to feature a pair of blowouts.
But nothing the Philadelphia Eagles did on Saturday provided me with any confidence they can make a Super Bowl run. Even with a NFC Championship home game.
It didn’t even matter who the Eagles were playing – the Minnesota Vikings or New Orleans Saints. With Nick Foles at quarterback, Philadelphia won’t be able to score enough points to keep up with a more talented Minnesota offense.
Three of the main components of an offense – quarterback, running backs and wide receivers – all are advantages for the Vikings.
The one thing going Philly’s way? Home-field advantage. The Eagles are getting a done team just like they did on Saturday and the Atlanta Falcons sputtered.
Will it happen again?
No. Vikings, 35-13.
Mike Mularkey needs to go. I do not see what the Tennessee Titans front office sees in Mike Mularkey.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the team offered Mularkey a contract extension.
Sources: The #Titans have offered coach Mike Mularkey an extension in the wake of their playoff run. He’s staying.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 15, 2018
BUT WHY?!?
The Titans were 8-4 at one point during the regular season and then limped into the playoffs. They might have been the worst 8-4 team in the history of the NFL. And it’s not for a lack of talent.
Tennessee has a good offensive line and some talented playmakers and the defense has a great pass rush.
But it comes down to coaching.
They’re holding Marcus Mariota back.
Honestly, they should have fired Mularkey and got to Mark Helfrich before he to the Chicago OC job.
Get Mariota and Helf together again and run an offense similar to what they did at Oregon.
“But that already failed with Chip Kelly,” you argue.
It failed because Kelly has an ego.
Helf doesn’t. He just couldn’t recruit like Kelly could at Oregon.
With a strong defensive coordinator, I’d love to see what Helfrich can do in the NFL.
But Tennessee needs to move on from Mularkey before it’s too late.
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