Wild Card Week Discussion

[Bootz]

[Snake]

Kind of an aside, but the Texans are set to go to the moon the next couple seasons. They have $75 million of cap space with 41 players under contract for next season. Great young QB on a rookie contract…

10-7, won division, first year young HC. Great LT, star QB, great young corner under contract (Stingley), fantastic young edge rusher under contract (Anderson).

Fantastic after getting rid of that rapist piece of shit. Good for them.

[Rocker]

PRIME TIME!

I’ll take the bet.

Tampa 28, Philly 24.

[Bootz]

Kind of an aside, but the Texans are set to go to the moon the next couple seasons. They have $75 million of cap space with 41 players under contract for next season. Great young QB on a rookie contract…

10-7, won division, first year young HC. Great LT, star QB, great young corner under contract (Stingley), fantastic young edge rusher under contract (Anderson).

Fantastic after getting rid of that rapist piece of shit. Good for them.

Their matchup with Cleveland has a few more ramifications than just advancing. They also have Cleveland's 1st & 4th round picks this next draft. Beat Cleveland and you "improve" the draft positioning.

[bucarican]

Man it is going to be bad for my liver and gut. All of the match ups are great

[BucsNBills]

What an absolute banger of a lineup. Kind of glad we're playing Monday night. Can just enjoy all the weekend games without stressing over our game.

[Miller4Prez64]

Kind of an aside, but the Texans are set to go to the moon the next couple seasons. They have $75 million of cap space with 41 players under contract for next season. Great young QB on a rookie contract…

10-7, won division, first year young HC. Great LT, star QB, great young corner under contract (Stingley), fantastic young edge rusher under contract (Anderson).

Fantastic after getting rid of that rapist piece of shit. Good for them.

First rookie QB/HC duo to win a division in NFL history. They did impressive stuff there. Shows how quick you can turn a roster around.

[Phantom]

Wild card prediction:

Texans
Bills
Chiefs
Rams
Cowboys
Bucs

The Bucs will play the 49ers. Will the Bucs shock the world? Stay tuned.

[Phantom]

.....

[Grahamburn]

Figure that's going to flip once injury reports come out.

[acmillis]

.....

FREE MONEY. Eagles by two scores+.

[Navybuc]

Best thing that happened for Philly is the game is Monday. They have 8 days to heal. Playing on a Saturday would have benefited the Bucs greatly. Oh well. Prolly best to try to beat the Eagles full strength.

[Backside]

.....

FREE MONEY. Eagles by two scores+.

I know you'll show us your slip before kickoff.

[acmillis]

FREE MONEY. Eagles by two scores+.

I know you'll show us your slip before kickoff.

I'm not that kind of girl...

[Grahamburn]

.....

FREE MONEY. Eagles by two scores+.

Funny. Eagles' fans are doing this same schtick.

[Buc2]

.....

FREE MONEY. Eagles by two scores+.

So, I take it you're not even gonna bother watching?

[Bootz]

FREE MONEY. Eagles by two scores+.

Funny. Eagles' fans are doing this same schtick.

He's only saying what he hopes happen.

[acmillis]

FREE MONEY. Eagles by two scores+.

So, I take it you're not even gonna bother watching?

It's a school night, so I'll try and stay up as late as I can.

I'm happy a lot of you are optimistic. I feel our optimism is misplaced, but I'm glad you have a good feeling about this game.

I .....don't.

[Bootz]

Best thing that happened for Philly is the game is Monday. They have 8 days to heal. Playing on a Saturday would have benefited the Bucs greatly. Oh well. Prolly best to try to beat the Eagles full strength.

I'd say we benefit from the extra day as well. Baker is pretty beat up right now. Rachaad White got hurt a bit yesterday. This time of year, any little bit helps most.

[Buc2]

So, I take it you're not even gonna bother watching?

It's a school night, so I'll try and stay up as late as I can.

I'm happy a lot of you are optimistic. I feel our optimism is misplaced, but I'm glad you have a good feeling about this game.

I .....don't.

I'm not talking about my feelings. But I'm damned happy to get to watch my favorite team play another week. This time for much higher stakes.

[BucsNBills]

I'm not only optimistic about this game, I'm actually expecting us to win. The Eagles are dumpster fire and we just watched them quit with the division on the line as they got smoked by the pitiful Giants. Hurts has been bad this year AND he has a broken/fractured finger on his throwing hand. AJ Brown will almost certainly miss the game and they could also be without Smith.

We're at home, and even with our 9 point outing vs the Panthers, we're STILL playing better than the Eagles right now.

We absolutely should win this game and advance to the divisional round.

[Navybuc]

I'm not only optimistic about this game, I'm actually expecting us to win. The Eagles are dumpster fire and we just watched them quit with the division on the line as they got smoked by the pitiful Giants.

This has been my point on Brian Daboll and the Giants. Yeah, they are pitiful, and somehow that team has done nothing but fight and beat some good teams down the stretch, including the Eagles and Packers. I know Daboll won't get Coach of the Year, but damn, if I had to pick the NFC's 3 best coaching jobs this year, I'd put him there right behind Campbell and McVay.

As for the WC round, it's a good thing they're playing the Chiefs game Saturday night. It actually may be a degree or two above 0 degrees at kickoff. If they kicked this off Sunday or Monday night, they'd be in Ice Bowl territory. Meanwhile, Buffalo weather Sunday looks like, well, Buffalo.

[Miller4Prez64]

Best thing that happened for Philly is the game is Monday. They have 8 days to heal. Playing on a Saturday would have benefited the Bucs greatly. Oh well. Prolly best to try to beat the Eagles full strength.

I'd say we benefit from the extra day as well. Baker is pretty beat up right now. Rachaad White got hurt a bit yesterday. This time of year, any little bit helps most.

This. Our shot at winning relies on Baker being healthy enough to make plays. His performance against Carolina loses against anyone else. I think playing on a short week would have been brutal for us. The extra day helps, and I think it’s a win for us. It would screw us for the divisional round IF we do end up winning, but just winning a playoff game would make this season such a massive success that I doubt anyone would care.

[Snake]

It really has been a long stream of incompetence until FLACCO

[Doctor]

Kind of an aside, but the Texans are set to go to the moon the next couple seasons. They have $75 million of cap space with 41 players under contract for next season. Great young QB on a rookie contract…

10-7, won division, first year young HC. Great LT, star QB, great young corner under contract (Stingley), fantastic young edge rusher under contract (Anderson).

Fantastic after getting rid of that rapist piece of shit. Good for them.

First rookie QB/HC duo to win a division in NFL history. They did impressive stuff there. Shows how quick you can turn a roster around.

They did it. They did the thing. The dogma finally produced something.

Let's hope it's for real and repeats next year. AFC South has fooled us before.

[mdb1958]

I'd say we benefit from the extra day as well. Baker is pretty beat up right now. Rachaad White got hurt a bit yesterday. This time of year, any little bit helps most.

This. Our shot at winning relies on Baker being healthy enough to make plays. His performance against Carolina loses against anyone else. I think playing on a short week would have been brutal for us. The extra day helps, and I think it’s a win for us. It would screw us for the divisional round IF we do end up winning, but just winning a playoff game would make this season such a massive success that I doubt anyone would care.

Did you notice 4 of our biggest plays against the Panthers were runs.

[Ken]

I'm boring and taking the chalk to advance in every game.

[Bootz]

Is that @Ken from the old boards?

[Buc2]

Fun read from TBT...

Who says the season has to end this week?

TAMPA — Six weeks ago, absolutely no one was buying the idea that the Bucs might beat the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs.

Or, for the sake of accuracy, no rational or sober person was buying that idea.

On the morning of Dec. 1, the Eagles had the best record in the NFL at 10-1 and the Bucs were in third place in the league’s weakest division at 4-7. Two months earlier, Philadelphia had throttled Tampa Bay 25-11 at Raymond James Stadium in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as that score suggests.

Even if the Bucs pulled off a mini-miracle and won the NFC South, it still seemed clear they would be playing the role of hors d’oeuvres on the opening weekend of the playoffs.

And yet, since then, the Eagles have gone 1-5, the Bucs have gone 5-1 and the idea of a first-round upset doesn’t seem so outrageous.

Oddsmakers have Philadelphia as a 2.5 or 3-point favorite, but momentum is clearly on Tampa Bay’s side. All anyone can talk about is the dysfunction in the Eagles locker room, the regression of quarterback Jalen Hurts and the career revival of Bucs coach Todd Bowles.

With that in mind, we’ve come up with a true/false quiz to help you decide for yourself whether the Bucs have a chance when these two teams meet on Monday night. If you promise not to cheat, I’ll agree to embellish your Harvard application.

1. More than one-quarter of Tampa Bay’s postseason games have been against the Eagles.

True. Monday night will be the 23rd postseason game in Bucs history, and the sixth time they’ve faced Philadelphia. The Bucs are 3-2 against the Eagles.

2. Baker Mayfield threw for more yards and touchdowns than Hurts.

True. Mayfield had a career-high 4,044 yards and 28 TD passes while Hurts had 3,858 yards and 23 touchdowns. And here’s a fun fact. One month after Mayfield signed a one-year, $4 million contract with incentives in Tampa Bay, Hurts signed a five-year, $255 million extension in Philadelphia.

3. It’s been 10 years since a team with nine wins beat an 11-win team in the postseason.

True. History is not on Tampa Bay’s side. In the Super Bowl era, playoff teams with nine wins have gone 5-14 against teams with 11 wins.

4. Todd Bowles has more patience than Eagles coach Nick Sirianni.

True. When Tampa Bay’s offense was struggling at midseason, Bowles stood behind rookie offensive coordinator Dave Canales. When the Eagles lost three in a row in December, Sirianni fired new defensive coordinator Sean Desai.

5. The Eagles are far more likely to turn the ball over than the Bucs are.

True. Philly has 28 turnovers, which is the most for any NFC playoff team. The Bucs had 18 turnovers.

6. Even when they’re struggling, the Eagles offense is better than Tampa Bay’s.

True. Philadelphia is scoring about 10% less than last season when the Eagles were NFC champions, but it’s still 5 points a game (25.5 to 20.5) better than the Bucs.

7. Tampa Bay has not lost to an opponent twice in the same season during Bowles’ two years as head coach.

True. Although that probably says more about the NFC South than anything else.

8. Bucs special teams coach Keith Armstrong is sweating bullets.

True. Philadelphia’s Britain Covey led the NFL in punt return yardage with 417. Because Tampa Bay’s Jake Camarda gets off such booming kicks, the Bucs are susceptible to longer returns. Tampa Bay’s punt unit gave up the third-most yards in the league.

9. As inconsistent as Jamel Dean and Carlton Davis have been at cornerback, Philly’s James Bradberry has been far worse.

True. Bradberry has been beaten for nine touchdowns this season, tied for most among NFL cornerbacks. Dean and Davis have given up five apiece.

10. Philadelphia’s “tush push” is the best goal line play in NFL history.

True. Hurts tied an NFL record for quarterbacks with 15 rushing touchdowns this season. At 25 years old, Hurts’ 41 rushing TDs are already fourth all-time for quarterbacks, behind Cam Newton (75), Josh Allen (53) and Steve Young (43).

Bonus question: The Bucs will beat the Eagles on Monday night.

True?

[Phantom]

0 degrees

The expected temperature at Arrowhead stadium

[Bootz]

Weather in KC actually favors Miami. They are one of the best teams running the football and their defense stops the run well.

[CannonFire]

FREE MONEY. Eagles by two scores+.

Funny. Eagles' fans are doing this same schtick.

LOL, no they are NOT! Eagles fans are picking Tampa.

[Bootz]

Funny. Eagles' fans are doing this same schtick.

LOL, no they are NOT! Eagles fans are picking Tampa.

That's what he's saying. Eagles fans are mirroring what some Bucs fans are doing, which is picking their team to lose big.

[CannonFire]

LOL, no they are NOT! Eagles fans are picking Tampa.

That's what he's saying. Eagles fans are mirroring what some Bucs fans are doing, which is picking their team to lose big.

My bad. I thought he meant that the Eagles fans were saying they were going to win by 2 scores also.

[Grahamburn]

That's what he's saying. Eagles fans are mirroring what some Bucs fans are doing, which is picking their team to lose big.

My bad. I thought he meant that the Eagles fans were saying they were going to win by 2 scores also.

Nah. We're two fan-bases simultaneously circling the drain.