STAMFORD, CT – We’ve hit rock bottom for the Giants and Jets, folks. The Giants looked like a division 3 team against the lowly Bears, and the Jets managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in a game that had been breaking their way all day. Two fork-in-the-eyes losses. Around the NFL, the AFC has a lot of contenders, with the Titans somehow reclaiming the cat bird seat and the Bengals making noise. The Packers grabbed the bye in the NFC on a cold night in Lambeau. Let’s get after it.
INDEFENSIBLE GIANTS LOSS – JUDGE TRIES TO PUT LIPSTICK ON A PIG CORPSE
In early 2017, the Giants had just beaten Washington to clinch a playoff spot and a matchup with the Green Bay Packers the following week. Sooo, a bunch of them flew to Miami that night to party. In retrospect, probably not the best decision. To make matters worse, they gathered for a picture on boat that went viral. The players were criticized for a lack of focus. Unsurprisingly, they got waxed 38-13 in Green Bay. And since then, they have gone 18-48, the league’s worst mark over those five seasons. Kill me.
On Sunday, the Giants had negative 10 yards passing. Mike Glennon was 4-11 for 24 yards with 2 INTs. Hell, I could do that. Throw in four sacks for 34 lost yards and you have negative ten passing yards. That is the fewest since 1998 when Ryan Leaf completed one of fifteen passes. Anytime you’re in the same sentence as Ryan Leaf, something went horribly wrong. This period includes a game last season when Denver did not have an available player who played QB. Kill me.
Joe Judge had this to say after the putrid performance:
In terms of the big scope of where we are going, internally we are seeing a lot of pieces being put together. A lot of things are moving in the right direction and are being solidified.”
Yeah, give the guy a break. I bet people don’t even know they got a new vending machine in the meeting room and added some exciting new options to the 401(k) plan. Internally, things look great. Kill me.
Clean. House. Now.
BRUTAL JETS LOSS – KUDOS TO TB12
Just a brutal series of a bad decisions by the Jets on Sunday to lose a game where the Bucs lost their top RB to injury and their second best receiver to meltdown. The formula for blowing a late lead was: going for it instead of kicking a FG up by four, running a QB sneak with a smallish rookie QB when you need two yards, and then blitzing Brady when they should have been in prevent.
The Jets have had some positive developments with Wilson beginning to develop, Elijah Moore looking like a potential top receiver, and promising play from Michael Carter and Alijah Vera-Tucker. They have a few key building blocks at least. But inexplicable coaching decisions blowing a game like that really submarines that progress.
Regarding the Antonio Brown situation, Tom Brady said this:
“That’s obviously a difficult situation. We all love him and care about him deeply,” Brady told reporters. “I think everyone should be compassionate and empathetic toward some very difficult things.”
This is hard for me, but good for Tom Brady. He obviously knows its all a struggle for Brown and I give Brady a lot of credit for preaching compassion. Some things are more important than football and the world could all use a little more compassion. Well done, Tom.
AFC – SIX GOOD TEAMS
The AFC is where the action is, in the league’s first regular season week 18, with four teams still able to get the top spot and sole, coveted bye. But the Titans have it now and only need to beat the Texans to keep it. But caution, the Titans already lost to the Texans once, upending knock out pools across the land in November. The Titans have been a really tough team to figure, but if they get this win and then get Derrick Henry back for the playoffs, they are a threat.
There are also still four AFC teams on the outside who technically can still get in. But if you assume the Colts will beat the Jags, things get a lot simpler. The only other thing left to be decided would be the last seed, which would be decided by the winner of the Chargers vs Raiders game.
Man oh man did the Bengals look dangerous yesterday. I’d say six of the seven AFC playoff teams will have a legitimate chance of getting to the Super Bowl.
NFC – ALL ROADS GO THROUGH THE TUNDRA
Aaron Rodgers is dangerous right now. You can see him processing information pre-snap like a damn super computer. I know the Bucs won in Green Bay last year, but I don’t see that happening again. This is a team headed to the Super Bowl.
The only other action is with the 49ers, who are in now, but would be out with a loss to the Rams and a Saints win over Atlanta. The Rams are a tough matchup, but they don’t have much to play for. They would secure the #2 seed over the Bucs and they surely want to get Stafford back on track, so I reckon they be playing to win that game.
Anyway, there you have it. I think it will be the Packers vs the Titans, Bengals, Chiefs, Bills, Colts, or Patriots.
Come back tomorrow for Angry Ward. Follow us on Twitter at @benwhit, @MeetTheMatts, @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
