Grading Giants and Titans miracle MNF wins breaking down Priscos Power Rankings and NFL playoff picture
Citação de ymakerpi8d em 08/03/2024, 00:42Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!Hopefully, you didn't go to bed early last night, because if you did, then you mi sed two of the wildest finishes of the NFL season. Actually, calling Tenne see's win "wild" might be an understatement. The Titans were trailing by 14 points with THREE minutes left to play and they somehow still managed to win.As improbable as that was, the Giants won with someone named Tommy DeVito at QB, who I'm pretty sure won a fan raffle, because that's the only way to explain how a guy with the most Italian name ever is playing QB for the Giants.We'll be grading both of those games today, plus we'll be going over Pete Prisco's latest Power Rankings and we'll be breaking down the playoff race.As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is. All right, let's get to the rundown. With Week 14 officially in the books, we decided to get an early jump on Week 15 by revealing some of our best bets for the upcoming week of NFL action.During today's episode, Katie Mox and Will Brinson were joined by Emory Hunt, our gambling guru from SportsLine.com.The crew covered several of their favorite early bets for Week 15, and we're going to look at a couple of those below. Hunt: Steelers (+2.5) to cover against the Colts. Hunt likes the Steelers here and that has everything to do with the fact that he thinks their defense is going to cause headaches for Gardner Minshew. "This is a situation where you're betting on the Steelers defense against Minshew. That's a difficult task for him. I lean toward Pittsburgh here based on them being able to win with just their run game and defense."Brinson: Bills (-1.5) to beat the Cowboys. After watching the Bills beat the Chiefs, Brinson thinks they're going to pull off a huge win for the second straight week. "I'll be taking the Bills money line on this one. I think the Bills are galvanized. I think they're going to play aggre sive, downfield football," Brinson said. "I think the over and the Bills is where I'm looking in this one."If you want to hear the rest of the props and early best bets for Week 15, you . You can .Here's a look at the grades from the two games:Giants 24-22 over Packers ()Packers takeaway:After winning three straight games, the Packers finally came crashing back to earth on Monday night. The problems that plagued Green Bay early in the season once again showed up in this game. For John Wensink Jersey one, Jordan Love wasn't great: The Packers QB struggled with his accuracy while also turning the ball over twice in the first half. This lo s can't be pinned on Love, though. There were plenty of mistakes to go around. The defense got picked apart by Tommy DeVito during a fourth quarter where the Giants QB went 5 of 6 for 59 yards. The Packers' special teams were also a me s with a muffed punt from Keisean Nixon and a mi sed field goal from Anders Carlson. This was a high-stakes game for the Packers and they ended up choking in primetime.Grade: CGiants takeaway:Holy DeVito! Tommy DeVito is Alexander Kerfoot Jersey going to be the toast of the Big Apple after leading the Giants to this upset win. The undrafted QB didn't put up eye-popping numbers (17 of 21 for 158 yards), but he came up clutch whenever the Giants needed him and that included going 4 of 4 for 53 yards on the drive that led to Randy Bullock's game-winning field goal. DeVito got a lot of help from Wan'Dale Robinson, who caught six pa ses for 79 yards, including a 32-yarder that helped set up Bullock's kick. Saquon Barkley also bullied his way in the end zone for two short touchdowns. With the offense playing impre sive football, the defense took care of the rest. The Giants' pa s-rush seemed to rattle Jordan Love, who was sacked twice. This was an impre sive win for a Giants team that has suddenly won three games in a row.Grade: B+Titans 28-27 over Dolphins ()Titans takeaway:The Titans almost gave this game away multiple times, but they were able to pull out the miracle win thanks to the play of Will Levis. The Titans were trailing 27-13 with under five minutes left to play, but Levis erased that deficit by going 9 of 11 for 132 yards and a TD on Tenne see's final two po se sions. It was an improbable performance for a QB who had only completed 51.9% of his pa ses going into the final two drives. The Titans almost gave this game away with three back-breaking turnovers, including a pick-six from Levis, but the defense somehow managed to keep things close. Harold Landry led a Titans' pa s rush that flustered Tua Tagovailoa for nearly the full four quarters. Landry racked up three of Tenne see's five sacks. Mike Vrabel has been known to produce some masterful defensive game plans and this one was almost certainly his best one of the year.Grade: B+Dolphins takeaway:The Dolphins probably don't need to panic after this lo s, but they should be alarmed. For one, they learned that their offense isn't very good without Tyreek Hill. The receiver mi sed a chunk of the game due to an ankle injury and while he was out, the offense simply couldn't move the ball. The Dolphins also learned that they need to find some better plays near the goal line. The Dolphins had THREE different po se sions in this game where they drove inside of Tenne see's 3-yard line, but didn't get a TD. The Dolphins also learned that nothing is over in the NFL until it's over. It's almost impo sible to blow a 14-point lead in the final three minutes of a game, but the Dolphins did it here. Yes, Miami scored 27 points, but the Titans' gift-wrapped three touchdowns for them with inexcusable errors (a pick-six by Will Levis, a muffed punt, a bad pitch from Levis to Derrick Henry that Miami recovered at Tenne see's 12). Despite getting those gifts, the Dolphins still couldn't win. The Dolphins are now 2-7 in December/January under Mike McDaniel and that might be the most concerning stat of all for a team that has high aspirations this year.Grade: DIf you want to check out the rest of the grades from Week 14,.I've never seen Prisco in a good mood, but apparently, he was in a good mood today, because he did NOT punish the Eagles and Dolphins for losing in Week 14. Both teams were in his top five last week and both teams are still in his top five this week despite suffering lo ses. With that in mind, let's check out the top five this week: 49ers (Same as last week)Cowboys (Up one spot from last week)Ravens (Up two spots from last week)Eagles (Down two spots from last week)Dolphins (Dropped one spot from last week)Dropped out:No oneI'm not going to spoil the rest of the Power Rankings here, but I am going to give you a few nuggets. Here's what has changed since Prisco's last Power Rankings:The biggest jump this week went to the Browns. Apparently Prisco is buying into Joe Flacco, because he moved the Browns up nine spots after watching Flacco lead them to a win over the Jaguars. J.T. Compher Men Jersey Cleveland made the jump from 17th to eighth.In the NFC, the biggest jump went to the Buccaneers, who are now in first place in the NFC South after beating the Falcons on Sunday. Since they're the best team in the NFC South, Prisco recognized their greatne s by moving them up three spots from 21st to 18th. The biggest drop this week went to the Chargers. Prisco has basically given up on the Chargers, who are now dangerously close to the bottom of the rankings. Following their lo s to the Broncos, Prisco dropped them seven spots from 22nd to 29th.Now, let's talk about the worst team in the NFL. The Panthers have been ranked 32nd for the past few weeks, and nothing will be changing this week. The 1-12 Panthers are two games worse than any other team in the NFL, so if feels like they're probably going to be in this spot for the rest of the season.If you want to know where your favorite team ended up in Prisco's Week 15 Power Rankings, . If you want to argue with Prisco over his rankings, you. I argue with him all the time about everything.If you love when we rank things, we actually have more rankings for you today. Cody Benjamin ranked the top Super Bowl contenders and . It's Tuesday, which can only mean one thing around these parts: It's time for my weekly picks.As most of you know at this point, this is the part of the newsletter where I give you three picks and then we cro s our fingers and hope all three picks are right. I've gone 20-6-2 against the spread over the past two weeks, so let's just go ahead and a sume that all of my picks are going to be right this week.Here are three of my picks for Week 15.Pittsburgh (7-6) at Indianapolis (7-6) -- Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET (NFL Network):The Steelers offense was already bad this season and it's gotten worse with Mitchell Trubisky. He tends to struggle when he's under pre sure and the problem with that is that he could be facing a lot of it on Saturday because the Colts have the third-most sacks in the NFL this year.PICK:Colts 24-17 over SteelersDallas (10-3) at Buffalo (7-6) -- Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (Fox):The Bills have their backs against the wall and they can't afford anymore lo ses if they want to stay in the AFC playoff race, which means I expect them to play desperate. On the other hand, I won't be surprised if the Cowboys have a small letdown after pulling off their biggest win of the season in Week 14 over the Eagles.PICK: Bills 27-24 over CowboysBaltimore (10-3) at Jacksonville (8-5) -- Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC):This game will mark the fourth time this season that Trevor Lawerence has faced a top-eight defense in the NFL and the Jags are 0-3 in the previous three games with lo ses to the Chiefs, Browns and 49ers. I don't think this one ends any better for them.PICK:Ravens 34-20 over JaguarsTo check out the rest of my picks for Week 15, .With only four weeks left to play in the NFL season, now seems like a good time to break down the playoff picture. Here's a look at the top-seven teams from each conference:AFC1.Ravens (AFC North leader, 10-3)2.Dolphins (AFC East leader, 9-4)3. Chiefs (AFC West leader, 8-5)4.Jaguars (AFC South leader, 8-5)5.Browns (8- Sven Andrighetto Jersey 5)6.Steelers (7-6)7.Colts (7-6)First teams out (in order):Texans (7-6), Broncos (7-6), Bengals (7-6), Bills (7-6)The biggest winner of the week was the Ravens. With the three teams immediately below them all losing, Baltimore took a huge step toward clinching the No. 1 overall seed and the first-round bye that comes with it. As for the rest of the standings, the AFC wild-card race is shaping up to be a dogfight. As you can see above, there are SIX teams all tied at 7-6 for the final two spots. The Colts and Steelers play each other in Week 15, so one of those teams will be dropping after Sunday.NFC1.49ers (NFC West leader, 10-3)2. Cowboys (NFC East leader, 10 Mikko Rantanen Kids Jersey -3)3. Lions (NFC North leader, 9-4)4.Buccaneers (NFC South leader, 6-7)5.Eagles (10-3)6.Vikings (7-6)7.Packers (6-7)First teams out (in order):Rams (6-7), Seahawks (6-7), Falcons (6-7), Saints (6-7) With the Packers lo s on Monday night, the 49ers officially became the first NFL team to clinch a playoff berth this year. The 49ers could also clinch the NFC West as soon as Sunday if they beat the Cardinals combined with a Rams lo s to the Commanders.If you want a full look at the playoff standings, .It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impo sible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.Raiders might make a QB change. Jimmy Garoppolo could get his job back this week. The Raiders have been starting Aidan O'Connell since Antonio Pierce became interim coach, but Pierce wouldn't commit to the rookie for this week's game. "We're going through that proce s now," Pierce . The Raiders won't have long to decide who's starting and that's because they play on Thursday against the Chargers.Justin Herbert done for season. The Chargers QB, who will be undergoing surgery on his fractured index finger today, will be . With Herbert done for the season, Easton Stick is set to start on Thursday against the Raiders.Drake Maye declares for draft. The North Carolina quarterback after two seasons as the starter with the Tar Heels. Maye is expected to be one of the first two quarterbacks off the board in April and if you want to see where he might end up, be .Browns lose another starter for the season.The Browns injury-ravaged offensive line took another hit this week. Coach Kevin Stefanski that rookie tackle Dawand Jones will mi s the rest of the season with a knee injury. Jones had started nine games for the Browns this year and he was only needed because the Browns lost right tackle Jack Conklin to a season-ending injury in Week 2. Left tackle Jedrick Wills has also mi sed substantial time due to injury, which means the Browns have now lost their three top tackles (and their starting QB and their starting running back... Let's just say they've suffered a lot of injuries).
Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!Hopefully, you didn't go to bed early last night, because if you did, then you mi sed two of the wildest finishes of the NFL season. Actually, calling Tenne see's win "wild" might be an understatement. The Titans were trailing by 14 points with THREE minutes left to play and they somehow still managed to win.As improbable as that was, the Giants won with someone named Tommy DeVito at QB, who I'm pretty sure won a fan raffle, because that's the only way to explain how a guy with the most Italian name ever is playing QB for the Giants.We'll be grading both of those games today, plus we'll be going over Pete Prisco's latest Power Rankings and we'll be breaking down the playoff race.As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is. All right, let's get to the rundown. With Week 14 officially in the books, we decided to get an early jump on Week 15 by revealing some of our best bets for the upcoming week of NFL action.During today's episode, Katie Mox and Will Brinson were joined by Emory Hunt, our gambling guru from SportsLine.com.The crew covered several of their favorite early bets for Week 15, and we're going to look at a couple of those below. Hunt: Steelers (+2.5) to cover against the Colts. Hunt likes the Steelers here and that has everything to do with the fact that he thinks their defense is going to cause headaches for Gardner Minshew. "This is a situation where you're betting on the Steelers defense against Minshew. That's a difficult task for him. I lean toward Pittsburgh here based on them being able to win with just their run game and defense."Brinson: Bills (-1.5) to beat the Cowboys. After watching the Bills beat the Chiefs, Brinson thinks they're going to pull off a huge win for the second straight week. "I'll be taking the Bills money line on this one. I think the Bills are galvanized. I think they're going to play aggre sive, downfield football," Brinson said. "I think the over and the Bills is where I'm looking in this one."If you want to hear the rest of the props and early best bets for Week 15, you . You can .Here's a look at the grades from the two games:Giants 24-22 over Packers ()Packers takeaway:After winning three straight games, the Packers finally came crashing back to earth on Monday night. The problems that plagued Green Bay early in the season once again showed up in this game. For John Wensink Jersey one, Jordan Love wasn't great: The Packers QB struggled with his accuracy while also turning the ball over twice in the first half. This lo s can't be pinned on Love, though. There were plenty of mistakes to go around. The defense got picked apart by Tommy DeVito during a fourth quarter where the Giants QB went 5 of 6 for 59 yards. The Packers' special teams were also a me s with a muffed punt from Keisean Nixon and a mi sed field goal from Anders Carlson. This was a high-stakes game for the Packers and they ended up choking in primetime.Grade: CGiants takeaway:Holy DeVito! Tommy DeVito is Alexander Kerfoot Jersey going to be the toast of the Big Apple after leading the Giants to this upset win. The undrafted QB didn't put up eye-popping numbers (17 of 21 for 158 yards), but he came up clutch whenever the Giants needed him and that included going 4 of 4 for 53 yards on the drive that led to Randy Bullock's game-winning field goal. DeVito got a lot of help from Wan'Dale Robinson, who caught six pa ses for 79 yards, including a 32-yarder that helped set up Bullock's kick. Saquon Barkley also bullied his way in the end zone for two short touchdowns. With the offense playing impre sive football, the defense took care of the rest. The Giants' pa s-rush seemed to rattle Jordan Love, who was sacked twice. This was an impre sive win for a Giants team that has suddenly won three games in a row.Grade: B+Titans 28-27 over Dolphins ()Titans takeaway:The Titans almost gave this game away multiple times, but they were able to pull out the miracle win thanks to the play of Will Levis. The Titans were trailing 27-13 with under five minutes left to play, but Levis erased that deficit by going 9 of 11 for 132 yards and a TD on Tenne see's final two po se sions. It was an improbable performance for a QB who had only completed 51.9% of his pa ses going into the final two drives. The Titans almost gave this game away with three back-breaking turnovers, including a pick-six from Levis, but the defense somehow managed to keep things close. Harold Landry led a Titans' pa s rush that flustered Tua Tagovailoa for nearly the full four quarters. Landry racked up three of Tenne see's five sacks. Mike Vrabel has been known to produce some masterful defensive game plans and this one was almost certainly his best one of the year.Grade: B+Dolphins takeaway:The Dolphins probably don't need to panic after this lo s, but they should be alarmed. For one, they learned that their offense isn't very good without Tyreek Hill. The receiver mi sed a chunk of the game due to an ankle injury and while he was out, the offense simply couldn't move the ball. The Dolphins also learned that they need to find some better plays near the goal line. The Dolphins had THREE different po se sions in this game where they drove inside of Tenne see's 3-yard line, but didn't get a TD. The Dolphins also learned that nothing is over in the NFL until it's over. It's almost impo sible to blow a 14-point lead in the final three minutes of a game, but the Dolphins did it here. Yes, Miami scored 27 points, but the Titans' gift-wrapped three touchdowns for them with inexcusable errors (a pick-six by Will Levis, a muffed punt, a bad pitch from Levis to Derrick Henry that Miami recovered at Tenne see's 12). Despite getting those gifts, the Dolphins still couldn't win. The Dolphins are now 2-7 in December/January under Mike McDaniel and that might be the most concerning stat of all for a team that has high aspirations this year.Grade: DIf you want to check out the rest of the grades from Week 14,.I've never seen Prisco in a good mood, but apparently, he was in a good mood today, because he did NOT punish the Eagles and Dolphins for losing in Week 14. Both teams were in his top five last week and both teams are still in his top five this week despite suffering lo ses. With that in mind, let's check out the top five this week: 49ers (Same as last week)Cowboys (Up one spot from last week)Ravens (Up two spots from last week)Eagles (Down two spots from last week)Dolphins (Dropped one spot from last week)Dropped out:No oneI'm not going to spoil the rest of the Power Rankings here, but I am going to give you a few nuggets. Here's what has changed since Prisco's last Power Rankings:The biggest jump this week went to the Browns. Apparently Prisco is buying into Joe Flacco, because he moved the Browns up nine spots after watching Flacco lead them to a win over the Jaguars. J.T. Compher Men Jersey Cleveland made the jump from 17th to eighth.In the NFC, the biggest jump went to the Buccaneers, who are now in first place in the NFC South after beating the Falcons on Sunday. Since they're the best team in the NFC South, Prisco recognized their greatne s by moving them up three spots from 21st to 18th. The biggest drop this week went to the Chargers. Prisco has basically given up on the Chargers, who are now dangerously close to the bottom of the rankings. Following their lo s to the Broncos, Prisco dropped them seven spots from 22nd to 29th.Now, let's talk about the worst team in the NFL. The Panthers have been ranked 32nd for the past few weeks, and nothing will be changing this week. The 1-12 Panthers are two games worse than any other team in the NFL, so if feels like they're probably going to be in this spot for the rest of the season.If you want to know where your favorite team ended up in Prisco's Week 15 Power Rankings, . If you want to argue with Prisco over his rankings, you. I argue with him all the time about everything.If you love when we rank things, we actually have more rankings for you today. Cody Benjamin ranked the top Super Bowl contenders and . It's Tuesday, which can only mean one thing around these parts: It's time for my weekly picks.As most of you know at this point, this is the part of the newsletter where I give you three picks and then we cro s our fingers and hope all three picks are right. I've gone 20-6-2 against the spread over the past two weeks, so let's just go ahead and a sume that all of my picks are going to be right this week.Here are three of my picks for Week 15.Pittsburgh (7-6) at Indianapolis (7-6) -- Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET (NFL Network):The Steelers offense was already bad this season and it's gotten worse with Mitchell Trubisky. He tends to struggle when he's under pre sure and the problem with that is that he could be facing a lot of it on Saturday because the Colts have the third-most sacks in the NFL this year.PICK:Colts 24-17 over SteelersDallas (10-3) at Buffalo (7-6) -- Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (Fox):The Bills have their backs against the wall and they can't afford anymore lo ses if they want to stay in the AFC playoff race, which means I expect them to play desperate. On the other hand, I won't be surprised if the Cowboys have a small letdown after pulling off their biggest win of the season in Week 14 over the Eagles.PICK: Bills 27-24 over CowboysBaltimore (10-3) at Jacksonville (8-5) -- Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC):This game will mark the fourth time this season that Trevor Lawerence has faced a top-eight defense in the NFL and the Jags are 0-3 in the previous three games with lo ses to the Chiefs, Browns and 49ers. I don't think this one ends any better for them.PICK:Ravens 34-20 over JaguarsTo check out the rest of my picks for Week 15, .With only four weeks left to play in the NFL season, now seems like a good time to break down the playoff picture. Here's a look at the top-seven teams from each conference:AFC1.Ravens (AFC North leader, 10-3)2.Dolphins (AFC East leader, 9-4)3. Chiefs (AFC West leader, 8-5)4.Jaguars (AFC South leader, 8-5)5.Browns (8- Sven Andrighetto Jersey 5)6.Steelers (7-6)7.Colts (7-6)First teams out (in order):Texans (7-6), Broncos (7-6), Bengals (7-6), Bills (7-6)The biggest winner of the week was the Ravens. With the three teams immediately below them all losing, Baltimore took a huge step toward clinching the No. 1 overall seed and the first-round bye that comes with it. As for the rest of the standings, the AFC wild-card race is shaping up to be a dogfight. As you can see above, there are SIX teams all tied at 7-6 for the final two spots. The Colts and Steelers play each other in Week 15, so one of those teams will be dropping after Sunday.NFC1.49ers (NFC West leader, 10-3)2. Cowboys (NFC East leader, 10 Mikko Rantanen Kids Jersey -3)3. Lions (NFC North leader, 9-4)4.Buccaneers (NFC South leader, 6-7)5.Eagles (10-3)6.Vikings (7-6)7.Packers (6-7)First teams out (in order):Rams (6-7), Seahawks (6-7), Falcons (6-7), Saints (6-7) With the Packers lo s on Monday night, the 49ers officially became the first NFL team to clinch a playoff berth this year. The 49ers could also clinch the NFC West as soon as Sunday if they beat the Cardinals combined with a Rams lo s to the Commanders.If you want a full look at the playoff standings, .It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impo sible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.Raiders might make a QB change. Jimmy Garoppolo could get his job back this week. The Raiders have been starting Aidan O'Connell since Antonio Pierce became interim coach, but Pierce wouldn't commit to the rookie for this week's game. "We're going through that proce s now," Pierce . The Raiders won't have long to decide who's starting and that's because they play on Thursday against the Chargers.Justin Herbert done for season. The Chargers QB, who will be undergoing surgery on his fractured index finger today, will be . With Herbert done for the season, Easton Stick is set to start on Thursday against the Raiders.Drake Maye declares for draft. The North Carolina quarterback after two seasons as the starter with the Tar Heels. Maye is expected to be one of the first two quarterbacks off the board in April and if you want to see where he might end up, be .Browns lose another starter for the season.The Browns injury-ravaged offensive line took another hit this week. Coach Kevin Stefanski that rookie tackle Dawand Jones will mi s the rest of the season with a knee injury. Jones had started nine games for the Browns this year and he was only needed because the Browns lost right tackle Jack Conklin to a season-ending injury in Week 2. Left tackle Jedrick Wills has also mi sed substantial time due to injury, which means the Browns have now lost their three top tackles (and their starting QB and their starting running back... Let's just say they've suffered a lot of injuries).