MichiganCardinal

Despite being active, only one touch for one yard for Swift so far today. Probably for the best.

The defense is uncharacteristically playing to their actual talent level.

Cowboys or Rams will pick him up next season on a one-year deal.

When you're the head coach of a single organization for 15 years and don't win a single playoff game, I wouldn't accept any excuse. If Dalton was what the reason that did not happen, he should have ensured Dalton was replaced. Similar to the Lions under Caldwell, it's too easy when you're a historically awful organization to become content with 10-7 or 9-8 and a first round exit, getting bounced by a big boy, being your best possible season. This isn't the MAC and you're not Central Michigan. Expect more. This Bengals team is better than anything Lewis produced because they aren't rolling over late in the season. They're benefitting from the Steelers being down, absolutely, but at the end of the day the head coach is the reason they may advance beyond the first round.

Today was a prime showing why the Bengals should have fired Marvin Lewis ten years before they did. Three years out from his firing, this Bengals team just beat the best team in the conference and is primed to host a playoff game with a good chance of winning one. That's a spot Lewis, despite some regular season success, could never attain in his entire tenure with the Bengals.

Masterful choke job executed by Saleh and the Jets. Ran a QB sneak on a 4th&2 up 4 on the Bucs 7 with 2 minutes left... Then managed to let Brady just walk down the field for a TD.

"Lower" might have made more sense. Numerically, #4 is the highest the Lions could pick. On the board, the Lions could not pick lower than #4. IOW, the Lions could not pick #5 lol

Jets are inexplicably up on the Buccaneers 24-17 heading to the 4th quarter. With a win, the highest the Lions would pick is #4. No word yet on how many tablets have been victimized.

I got all ready to be hurt again just to realize the game doesn’t start until 4:30.

If Michigan can make what they did to Ohio State happen more often, they will be back.

I thought Thibodeaux would eventually retake the #1 Edge spot from Hutchinson, though I had hoped it would happen after the combine, not in the playoff.

LOL

Need to find an answer quickly.

They still should have scored at least two touchdowns so far if they weren't continuing to shoot themselves in the foot. Alabama has not looked like a National Champion tonight.

Neither team has looked great.

I’m going to go with Alabama 31 Cincinnati 14 in a game that’s closer than expected until the 4th quarter and Michigan 23 Georgia 21 in a nail-biter until the very end, decided by an Ojabo strip sack on a UGA two minute drive in the 4th quarter.

I have seen better tackling in elementary school touch football.

Reports now seem to trend strong in the direction of Dax being in Miami and slated to start.

I think an expanded postseason would greatly increase revenue, not decrease. The 12-team format I'm a fan of would create eight additional games (four when you subtract the four that the additional eight would have gone to). Just their existence alone would generate tens of millions of dollars. Instead of this nearly month-long lull after the conference championships, you could have the first round games slated on 12/10 and 12/11, quarterfinals on 12/17 and 12/18, a bye weekend for Christmas, and semifinal and championship per this schedule they already have. Both of those additional weekends would be massive cash cows for the networks that picked them up. The other bowl games wouldn't cease to exist either. They can fill in on Monday-Thursday, New Years Day, Christmas, etc., and still generate millions of views. People won't stop watching the Lights Out by 11 Bowl and the Smoke'a Bowl just there are now extra games that matter.

Lol

Realistically I think for what his expectations are he proved himself this year. Goff wasn't shipped over from LA along with a multitude of high end draft picks because he's one of the best in the NFL. He isn't expected to carry a lesser team on his back, or have some magical run to the postseason while throwing to guys like Kalif Raymond and Tom Kennedy. He was and is expected to hold his own, not turn the ball over excessively, and do enough to allow for observation of player development at skill positions. Largely, I think he's checked those boxes if you evaluate him on the whole instead of cherry-picking his worst games. Despite being frustratingly dink-and-dunk at times, he is clearly a leader, has more than 2x the number TDs to interceptions, and we have seen guys like St. Brown emerge as a real potential #2 Wide Receiver for this team. In the sense that this trend needs to continue as we likely add a future #1 receiving threat this offseason, I agree that he needs to continue to prove himself. But I would not discount what he has shown us this year. I agree with pretty much everything else you have said though. To be clear, Goff is not the QB of the future (at Hart 😉), and the answer to that problem is not panic buying a bad QB while there are holes across the roster. I would really go even further and say if we don't see the solution with the Rams pick, don't bother. If they are a solution, a team that finishes better than the Rams (Indy and Green Bay come to mind) would likely select him anyway, and two upper-echelon 2nd Round QBs in the last 30 years (neither upper-echelon with the team that selected them) is enough data for me to say that it probably wouldn't work for Detroit either.

Yes, but I think even if the attributes were switched, Ohio State would get more of a "shot" from the oddsmakers and pundits, just based on having been there in past years. If the unstoppable force of M's run game and offensive line (okay maybe a bit hyperbolic but roll with it) meets the immoveable object of UGA's run defense, I don't think either should get more than a touchdown.

I think the Cowboys, Buccaneers, and Rams are already taking donations, with plans to present it to him at his ceremonial choke job in the NFC Championship.