Playoffs, or you’re scouring the internet for information on your team’s draft order in a much sadder, but still kind of entertaining, postseason.
For most teams at this point, there’s some real hope. Not for St. Louis Rams and San Diego Chargers fans, but for the rest of you, it’s a good time.
Playoff Match-Ups
In the AFC we open with some tremendous games. The Pittsburgh Steelers won the lottery thanks the Buffalo Bills beating the New York Jets in the season finale and win a game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the AFC North champs, for their troubles.
On the other side of the AFC bracket the Kansas City Chiefs, winners of 11 consecutive games, travel to Houston to take on the AFC South champion Houston Texans.
By virtue of their win over the San Diego Chargers and a heroic effort by the Miami Dolphins, the Denver Broncos are the No. 1 seed in the AFC. The Dolphins not only knocked the New England Patriots to the No. 2 seed, they also put a beat down on quarterback Tom Brady. Brady is nursing an injured ankle in the week off before hosting a playoff game against the highest remaining seed after the wild card round.
Or course the performance of Peyton Manning off the bench is well-known at this point. The old sheriff staved off retirement and whatever 573 injuries he’s currently dealing with to set the Broncos up for a Super Bowl run that would pretty much be the perfect way to end his career. God, I hope he doesn’t screw it up.
The NFC race flipped on the last week of the season, not because of the final seeding, but because of the curb stomp the Seattle Seahawks put on the Arizona Cardinals in Arizona. There was a little consensus building among the punditry that the Cards were the best team in football and the Seahawks shut that down in an afternoon with a 36-6 people’s elbow.
In the wild card round the Green Bay Packers lost not only their game against the Minnesota Vikings Sunday, but also the NFC North. For some reason the loser of that game gets to take on the Washington Redskins, which turns the whole idea of “losing” on its head. You’ll read a lot this week about how the Redskins have to be licking their chops at facing the Packers’ offensive line. You’ll read about how the Pack is done and that Rodgers can’t make the offense work anymore. It’ll all make a lot of sense. Don’t you buy any of it.
The Vikings, by virtue of their win and NFC North title, get the worst possible match-up they could hope for with the Seattle Seahawks. The same Seahawks team that spanked them 38-7 just a month ago.
The Carolina Panthers earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC and the Cardinals limp into the No. 2 spot and will host the best remaining team in round two. Trust that they will be rooting for the home teams this weekend.
Draft Order
For 20 NFL teams the playoffs won’t be something they need to concern themselves with. Instead, they’ll be focused on scouting, pro days, and the upcoming NFL combine.
I’ve already done a mock draft before the holidays. I’ll be doing another at the end of the month before the Super Bowl.
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1. Tennessee Titans
2. Cleveland Browns
3. San Diego Chargers
4. Dallas Cowboys
5. Jacksonville Jaguars
6. Baltimore Ravens
7. San Francisco 49ers
8. Miami Dolphins
9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
10. New York Giants
11. Chicago Bears
12. New Orleans Saints
13. Philadelphia Eagles
14. Oakland Raiders
15. St. Louis Rams
16. Detroit Lions
17. Atlanta Falcons
18. Indianapolis Colts
19. Buffalo Bills
20. New York Jets
The rest of the seeds will be determined by how teams fare in the playoffs. The NFL combine will be held in Indianapolis on Feb. 23-29, followed by the official beginning of the “new” league year on March 15, when teams can officially pursue and sign free agents. The 81st NFL Draft will be held in Chicago again and begin on Thursday, April 28 and last through Saturday April 30.
