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“The Coach”
“Dr. Football”
Playoff Scenarios Make Week 15 Picks Interesting
By The Coach and Dr. Football
This week, the National Football League released the first listing of 2017 Playoff Scenarios. With three weeks to go in the regular season, there are some interesting opportunities if teams play well down the stretch.
From the NFL:
AFC
1. New England Patriots (11-2): AFC East leader. They’ll clinch the division and a first-round bye if they win Sunday or if the Miami Dolphins lose Saturday.
2. Kansas City Chiefs (10-3): AFC West leader. A win combined with a New England loss would move K.C. up to the top spot. But if the Chiefs lose, they could be overtaken by the Raiders for the division lead.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5): AFC North leader. The Baltimore Ravens are out of the picture after losing to the Patriots but would jump back into the field with a win and a Pittsburgh loss.
4. Houston Texans (7-6): AFC South leader. Despite their perfect division record, they’d relinquish first place if they lose and the Tennessee Titans win.
5. Oakland Raiders (10-3): Wild card No. 1. The Silver & Black can’t do any worse than remaining in this spot but could also get back into position for a bye or even home-field advantage if the Patriots and Chiefs stumble.
6. Denver Broncos (8-5): Wild card No. 2. The strength of victory tiebreaker currently keeps them ahead of Miami, but the Broncos could lose this spot to the Dolphins (8-5), Ravens (7-6) or Titans (7-6) this weekend.
NFC
x-1. Dallas Cowboys (11-2): NFC East leader. They failed to clinch the division and a first-round bye last Sunday night but remain the favorite to win home-field advantage. A victory over the Bucs this Sunday night combined with a Giants loss would give Dallas the NFC East crown and a bye. If all that happens and Detroit loses, the Cowboys would secure the top seed.
2. Detroit Lions (9-4): NFC North leader. A win Sunday combined with a Green Bay Packers loss clinches Detroit’s first division title since 1993.
3. Seattle Seahawks (8-4-1): NFC West leader. A win over the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday clinches the division for Seattle. If the Seahawks falter again, they’ll still clinch with an Arizona Cardinals loss Sunday.
4. Atlanta Falcons (8-5): NFC South leader. Atlanta could drop out of the picture with a loss. However as long as the Falcons have the same record as Tampa Bay, they’ll hold the tiebreaker edge and retain first place in the division.
5. New York Giants (9-4): Wild card No. 1. A loss would drop them to sixth if Tampa Bay beats the Cowboys.
6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-5): Wild card No. 2. They could wind up as high as the No. 2 seed or find themselves on the outside looking in if they lose to Dallas and the Washington Redskins (7-5-1) win. Neither the Minnesota Vikings (7-6) nor Green Bay Packers (7-6) can pass the Bucs or Falcons this week.
x — clinched playoff spot
Detroit, Dallas, Denver and Oakland have tough schedules all the way through to the end of the season. Pittsburgh, Green Bay, New England and Seattle, not so much. It’s not hard to see which teams have the advantage heading into January.
Here at NFL Prognostication Central, we have a very difficult schedule. After ripping it up in Week 13, we hit a wall last weekend. Dr. Football stuck with the tried and true and finished with a “meh” record. The Coach got cocky after going 14-1 in Week 13, attempted to cash in with a bunch of long-shot upsets and got burned.
Last week The Doc went 9-6 (128-80) straight up and 7-8 (104-104) against the spread while The Coach went 8-7 straight up (134-73) and 7-8 (108-100) against the spread.
With a case of Diet Coke and a couple of bags of OMG Peanut Clusters at the ready, let’s take a close look at Week 15 in the National Football League:
THURSDAY NIGHT
Los Angeles Rams (4-9) at Seattle Seahawks (8-4-1)
Line: Seahawks by 15
Like feeding the Christians to the Lions in ancient times.
Dr. Football: Take the Seahawks to win and cover.
The Coach: Take the Seahawks to win and cover.
SATURDAY NIGHT
Miami Dolphins (8-5) at New York Jets (4-9)
Line: Dolphins by 2.5
See above. Matt Moore will shine as Miami’s pivot.
Dr. Football: Take the Dolphins to win and cover.
The Coach: Take the Dolphins to win and cover.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Detroit Lions (9-4) at New York Giants (9-4)
Line: Giants by 5
The Giants knocked off the Cowboys last week, but can they do the same to the Lions? I think their defense can hold Matthew Stafford and his wonky finger in another low scoring affair. The Coach says: The Stafford injury has changed everything.
Dr. Football: Take the Giants to win but not cover.
The Coach: Take the Giants to win and cover.
Philadelphia Eagles (5-8) at Baltimore Ravens (7-6)
Line: Ravens by 6
The weather calls for some slick conditions which will make it a running game battle. The Coach says: The rams fired Jeff Fisher, but the Eagles might be the most poorly-coached team in the NFL. The Rams have no talent, the Eagles have plenty and they’ve squandered it.
Dr. Football: Take the Ravens to win but not cover.
The Coach: Take the Ravens to win and cover.
Green Bay Packers (7-6) at Chicago Bears (3-10)
Line: Packers by 6.5
At least Green Bay fans making the trip to Chicago won’t have to watch Jay Cutler. The Pack smells playoffs. The Coach says: With the Stafford injury and the Lions schedule, the Packers will win the division.
Dr. Football: Take them Packers to win and cover.
The Coach: Take the Packers to win and cover.
Indianapolis Colts (6-7) at Minnesota Vikings (7-6)
Line: Vikings by 4.5
The Colts blew a home game last week, and now travel to a tough place to play. In a battle of below average QBs, go with the better defense.
Dr. Football: Take the Vikings to win and cover.
The Coach: Take the Vikings to win and cover.
Cleveland Browns (0-13) at Buffalo Bills (6-7)
Line: Bills by 10
Never has 0-16 looked so close. Buffalo stumbled last week against the Steelers, but won’t do it again this week.
Dr. Football: Take the Bills to win and cover.
The Coach: Take the Bills to win and cover.
Tennessee Titans (7-6) at Kansas City Chiefs (10-3)
Line: Chiefs by 5.5
The Titans are in the AFC South race, while the Chiefs have the lead in the AFC West. Another team that smells the playoffs at home will dash their opponents dreams.
Dr. Football: Take the Chiefs to win and cover.
The Coach: Take the Chiefs to win and cover.
Jacksonville Jaguars (2-11) at Houston Texans (7-6)
Line: Texans by 6
The Jaguars are just playing out the string on their way to another rebuilding offseason.
Dr. Football: Take the inconsistent Texans to win and cover.
The Coach: Take the Texans to win and cover (every team in the NFL with the exception of New England is inconsistent).
Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5) at Cincinnati Bengals (5-7-1)
Line: Steelers by 3
Despite Big Ben being terribly inconsistent on the road, and playing his second consecutive game away from home, I expect him to dominate against a team his team hates.
Dr. Football: Take the Steelers to win and cover.
The Coach: Take the Steelers to win and cover.
New Orleans Saints (5-8) at Arizona Cardinals (5-7-1)
Line: Cardinals by 2.5
The Saints are playing consecutive road games and didn’t play well last week at Tampa Bay. Arizona’s defense will be the difference.
Dr. Football: Take the Cardinals to win and cover.
The Coach: Take the Cardinals to win and cover.
San Francisco 49ers (1-12) at Atlanta Falcons (8-5)
Line: Falcons by 14
The 49ers blew a two touchdown lead against the terrible Jets and now face Matt Ryan and an expected back Julio Jones. Won’t be pretty.
Dr. Football: Take the Falcons to win and cover.
The Coach: Take the Falcons to win and cover.
New England Patriots (11-2) at Denver Broncos (8-5)
Line: Patriots by 3
It’s supposed to snow like crazy in Denver and that could slow down Tom Brady and the gang, but even against a tough Broncos defense, it won’t.
Dr. Football: Take the Patriots to win and cover.
The Coach: Take the Patriots to win and cover.
Oakland Raiders (10-3) at San Diego Chargers (5-8)
Line: Raiders by 3
Oakland has been off for 10 days and travel to face a beat up Chargers team who have dropped their last two.
Dr. Football: Take the Raiders to win and cover.
The Coach: Take the Raiders to win and cover.
SUNDAY NIGHT
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-5) at Dallas Cowboys (11-1)
Line: Cowboys by 7
For the Cowboys, it’s a chance for Dak Prescott to get back on track, and I expect him to back at home, but it won’t be that easy. The Buc’s have played some pretty good ball as of late, and they’ll put a bit of a fight here. The Coach says: At the start of the season, I’m sure no one thought this would be a good football game. It now has the potential to be a great football game.
Dr. Football: Take the Cowboys to win but not cover.
The Coach: Take the Cowboys to win and cover.
MONDAY NIGHT
Carolina Panthers (5-8) at Washington Redskins (7-5-1)
Line: Redskins by 4.5
Carolina and its fifth-ranked rushing defense should be able to pressure on Kirk Cousins, and pull of the upset on the road. The Coach says: At the start of the season, people probably thought this would be a great football game. Now, it could very well be a terrible football game.
Dr. Football: Take the Panthers in an upset.
The Coach: Take the Washingtons to win and cover.
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