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Monday, January 5, 2015

NFL 2015 Wild Card Weekend Snap Judgments

The big news over Wild Card weekend was the infamous reversal of a pass interference penalty on Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens with about 8:30 to play in the game.  Rarely have I ever felt the need to comment on officials screwing over a team because this will be one of the few exceptions.  The NFL has never adequately addressed poor officiating in its games, starting with the obvious fact that none of these officials are full-time employees.  They have little to lose when they screw the pooch, except maybe an extra bonus paycheck for being able to officiate a playoff game, up to and including the Super Bowl.

If any official or referee has ever been disciplined for fumbling a penalty during a game, the league has managed to keep it behind closed doors.  The same goes for anyone who has been terminated from his position in officiating a game.  These guys face no real consequences for any call they screw up during a game.  The solution to the issue would be fairly obvious: employ full-time officials who are league employees, thus forcing them to be disciplined and/or terminated for any repeated failures in calling a game.

The flaw with that option is the league officials are unionized, so the odds of the league going the route of hiring full-time employees is slim at best.

1. The Cardinals may have used up their best chance at a championship run for a while.  Carson Palmer's injury was devastating, and Bruce Arians may have been right when he said the team could still win a championship with Drew Stanton as their quarterback.  Unfortunately, Stanton also got hurt, leaving Ryan Lindley as their starter the rest of the way.  The Cardinals wound up losing 4 of their final 6 games of the regular season, and put on a historically bad offensive performance in Carolina on Saturday.  While they'll get Palmer back next season, they almost certainly won't have their star receiver Larry Fitzgerald back, considering he carries over a $20 million cap hit in 2015.  A competent quarterback can make a group of no-name receivers better, but with the likes of the Seahawks and Rams in their division as well, Arizona may be in line for a step backwards next season.

2. Time to cash in any chips you may have on the Panthers.  Carolina played with house money the moment they won the putrid NFC South.  They kept on taking from the house in limiting the Cardinals to 78 yards of total offense.  Any betting fans out there probably don't need to be told this, but it's time to cash in whatever money is tied to the Panthers now that their next opponent is the Seahawks.  The funny thing is that prior to the season, I had expected the Panthers to take a fairly big step backwards from their 2013 season, finishing around 8-8.  They essentially did (7-8-1, but close enough), and still won back to back divisional titles.  Barring the Falcons bringing in an all-star cast of new coaches and having a huge turnaround, I don't see anyone really challenging the Panthers in 2015 in their division.  We may have yet another division winner finishing with 8 or 9 wins next season.

3. Joe Flacco once again reaffirmed who he is as a quarterback.  We can finally put to rest the debate over what kind of player Joe Flacco is.  He is a guy who is average to slightly above average during the regular season, but he takes his game up another level or two for the postseason.  He won't win any awards like league MVP or Offensive Player of the Year, but who really cares?  If the Ravens make another deep playoff run this year, Flacco is a guy who can put the team on his back.

4. Deep down in a private moment, Tom Brady has to be thinking the Patriots got a tough draw in the Divisional Round.  The Ravens have time and again been one of the few teams in the league who have consistently given the Patriots fits over the last few years.  Last year's blowout Patriots win in Baltimore is one of the only exceptions to this trend, with many more close contests and a few bonafide classic games (the 2012 AFC Championship Game immediately comes to mind, even though it was a heartbreaking loss for the Ravens).  Given the rivalry's history, Brady has to realize to some degree that the Ravens present one of the toughest possible challenges to the Patriots chasing a championship this season.  He won't admit it to the public or perhaps even to his own teammates, but he's seen enough of Terrell Suggs over the years to know what kinds of hits will be coming Saturday night.

5. The Bengals are the Buffalo Bills of Wild Card Weekend.  That's now 4 straight playoff appearances with 4 straight losses in the first round for the Bengals.  Andy Dalton wasn't quite the train wreck this year that he was in years past, but the Bengals still could only manage to score 10 points in the game.  They've averaged 10.75 points in their 4 playoff losses, losing 3 of those 4 games by double digits.  The big question at this point is whether Marvin Lewis is the right head coach for the team.  He's had a total of 6 chances in the playoffs, but he's lost every single Wild Card game he's reached as Bengals head coach.  If that isn't enough evidence to suggest the Bengals need to make a change, then I don't know what will.

6. The Lions, like the Cardinals, might have used up their best chance at a playoff run this year.  Ndamakong Suh is an impending free agent, and his post game conference certainly gave the impression that he's played his last game in Detroit.  The Lions still have Nick Fairley, though he has yet to play a full season in his career (he did play in 15 games in 2013 though).  Their defense will take a hit next season, especially if defensive coordinator Teryl Austin gets a head coaching job.  They could be another team that takes a step backward in 2015, along with the Cardinals.

7. I'm still not fully buying into the Cowboys.  Tony Romo has shown all the signs of getting the proverbial monkey off his back, throwing 14 touchdown passes since the first week of December with only 1 interception along the way.  He was clutch yesterday against the Lions, throwing a gutsy pass down the middle for the go-ahead and eventual winning score of the game.  Despite all these positives, I still can't picture the Cowboys getting past the Packers in Green Bay next weekend.  As well as the Cowboys have played on the road (especially Romo), Aaron Rodgers has just been better.  Sunday's weather is projected to be a high of 20 and a low in the single digits, which would favor the Packers.  I will gladly eat my words come next Monday if the Cowboys do pull out another win, but I don't see it happening.

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