🏈🏈 The Essential NFL Thread 🏈🏈 - new poll every week

[wheelz1200]

Steelers got trounced    glad I missed a poor performance from RGIII... That guy was my MVP for two short years. Fun to watch.

Didn't watch that game as it ran from 5:25 - ~8 AM here, but I am watching the 49ers/Seahawks game. Shaping up to be a good one. 49ers TD seemingly; under review.

Steelers 3rd string qb was never going to beat baltimore.  Starters out or not, baltimore was not letting pittsburg come dance in the playoffs.  Didnt matter since the titans are in regardless.  Titans are not a team anyone wants to play right now, and oddsmaker keep sleeping on the chiefs, they silently secured a first week bye and avoid playing baltimore until the AFC championship.  That would be a great game to watch

[South Park]

Meh, Pats do that against the fins alot, I knew it was going to happen as soon as brady threw that pick 6 right off the bat. Looked scripted to tell you the truth. i'd like to see Fitz get another chance next year but the dolphins coaching was the issue in the past as you can see with Tannerhill right now (BTW he looked great) but Mariota was in so not sure whats going on there.

When I saw that interception I knew that will be the difference and NE will lose that game and as you said this is nothing new, just last year NE lost against the Dolphins in the Miracle in Miami and that was the reason NE was not the first seed and had to play at KC, and now the Dolphins did it again and instead of being the second seed and get the bye now NE has to play next week, so things are not looking good for the SB chances of NE.

Matchups for the wildcard weekend.

AFC

No. 3 New England Patriots vs. No. 6 Tennessee Titans

No. 4 Houston Texans vs. No. 5 Buffalo Bills

NFC

No. 3 New Orleans Saints vs. No. 6 Minnesota Vikings

No. 4 Philadelphia Eagles vs. No. 5 Seattle Seahawks

What are your predictions?

NFC
NO vs Minnesota
Philadelphia vs Seattle

Which means SF will face Seattle a third time.


AFC
NE vs Tennessee
Houston vs Buffalo

Houston does not seem very impressive to me and the Buffalo D will stop them and win the game.

[Hueristic]

NFC
NO vs Minnesota
Philadelphia vs Seattle

Which means SF will face Seattle a third time.


AFC
NE vs Tennessee
Houston vs Buffalo

Houston does not seem very impressive to me and the Buffalo D will stop them and win the game.

Agreed but what about the O/U and the spreads?

Its the playoff we gotta up our game here. ;P

[nutildah]

Happy New Year Essential NFL Thread Posters!

Here's the schedule / lines for the wildcard games:

01/04

4:35 PM
[141] BUFFALO
[142] HOUSTON -3

8:15 PM
[143] TENNESSEE
[144] NEW ENGLAND -5

01/05

1:05 PM
[145] MINNESOTA
[146] NEW ORLEANS -8

4:40 PM
[147] SEATTLE
[148] PHILADELPHIA +1

Make your picks for all 4 games. If you call 3 games correct, I'll give you 2 merits. If you call all 4, you get 4 merits. You have to match or cover the spread (match counts as a win for these purposes).

For the poll I chose Seahawks/Eagles because its the closest matchup, with some books listing Philadelphia at -1. I haven't voted yet, gonna do a bit of research first. I'm leaning toward voting for the Seahawks but my mind is open to being changed.

[DireWolfM14]

Happy New Year Essential NFL Thread Posters!

Happy new year to you and yours.

Here's the schedule / lines for the wildcard games:

Here are my predictions to cover, in bold:

BUFFALO
@HOUSTON -3
(Buffalo to cover, Houston to win.)

TENNESSEE
@NEW ENGLAND -5
(Tennessee to cover, Pats to win.)

MINNESOTA
@NEW ORLEANS -8

SEATTLE
@PHILADELPHIA +1
(Seattle to win)

For the poll I chose Seahawks/Eagles because its the closest matchup, with some books listing Philadelphia at -1. I haven't voted yet, gonna do a bit of research first. I'm leaning toward voting for the Seahawks but my mind is open to being changed.

I'm picking Seattle, but rooting for the Eagles.    

I would rather see the Eagles in Santa Clara than Seattle AGAIN.  Unless Minnesota can pull off a miracle, that's what I see happening.  

[Hueristic]

w0w, Seattle only giving 1 point seems like a serious no brainier to me.

[bbc.reporter]

@nutildah. My predictions are Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, New Orleans and the Seatte Seahawks.

Why did the sportsbooks set the spread for the Seahawks and the Eagles very close? I reckon the Seahawks have the big advantage if we base performance on the regular season.

[tyKiwanuka]

Happy New Year everyone Lets hope the start of the year will give us some great playoff battles and some additional cash in our pockets.

As for the handicaps, these are my predictions (posted my ML predicitions above already):

01/04

4:35 PM
[141] BUFFALO
[142] HOUSTON -3

8:15 PM
[143] TENNESSEE
[144] NEW ENGLAND -5

01/05

1:05 PM
[145] MINNESOTA
[146] NEW ORLEANS -8

4:40 PM
[147] SEATTLE
[148] PHILADELPHIA +1


For the poll I chose the Seahawks too. Looks like everyone and their grandmothers are on the Seahawks and the ML line has already gone down a bit. I think this could be a trap game and the line set by bet Vegas looks a bit fishy somehow. If the Eagles are able to advance somehow, I think it will be their defense that gets the win for them (FF's, INT's).

Bills       ML         U?
Titans    Spread   O
Saints    ML         U?
SeaGulls Cover    U

Over/under is always hard to predict. You often get two underish teams scoring like crazy against each other and then otoh two overish teams having kind of a borefest. O/U lines are normally somewhere between 40-50pts and that already tells you, how close it is. This is just 1TD+1FG difference, no matter who plays. Each game has its own dynamics, there is interceptions, fumbles, missed FG's, battles for field position, brainfarts, drama, missed penalties etc. So I rarely bet on points these days - and if do, it's just overs. I can't stand betting on unders.

My guesses:

Bills@Texans - under: I think the Bills will want to keep this one low-scoring, as this gives them a better chance to advance. Both teams had quite a lot of games this season, where they weren't scoring a lot and with so much at stake, I think both teams will want to control what is happening on the field (i.e. take care of TOP). Not very meaningful stat, but the H2H matches I could find, finished all under being played at Houston.

Titans@Patriots - under: I think BB is aware of this stat:


https://twitter.com/RyanHannable/status/1211647299425898496

In a shootout I wouldn't be so sure about the Patriots winning. In a low-scoring game I would rate the Pats chances way higher and that is exactly what BB will be looking for imo. Not that he doesn't want to put up a lot of points, but the Pats offense just isn't clicking for the moment.

Vikings@Saints - over: I can see the Saints running away with the score here. They averaged 40ppg in their last four and I don't see the Vikings slowing them down a lot. The Vikings should be able to put up a few points themselves and with some vanilla defense from the Saints in Q4, this should go over in the end.

Seahawks@Eagles - under: Eagles are no scoring machine right now due to their injury troubles as we all know. The Seahawks haven't really blown out anyone this season. They won 27-10 at the Cardinals, but other than that they weren't able to win any game comfortably. The 17-9 win in regular season at the Eagles was actually the biggest win in terms of points they managed apart from the Cardinals game. They often won very close games with like 1-4 points. And I expect something similar here. Eagles can't score, Seahawks can't win comfortable, so under here.

[Gyfts]

Vikings@Saints - over: I can see the Saints running away with the score here. They averaged 40ppg in their last four and I don't see the Vikings slowing them down a lot. The Vikings should be able to put up a few points themselves and with some vanilla defense from the Saints in Q4, this should go over in the end.

This first round of playoff games I'm looking at this one right here. The Saints want revenge after being robbed last year on the no-call pass interference against the Rams for the NFC championship and, they definitely don't want a repeat of the Minneapolis Miracle. Brees is absolutely on fire right now and I don't think we'll get a competitive game. His pass completion is damn near perfect with him breaking records and I don't think the Viking's defense is going to keep up. Saints are going to win this easy.

[Hueristic]

Vikings@Saints - over: I can see the Saints running away with the score here. They averaged 40ppg in their last four and I don't see the Vikings slowing them down a lot. The Vikings should be able to put up a few points themselves and with some vanilla defense from the Saints in Q4, this should go over in the end.

This first round of playoff games I'm looking at this one right here. The Saints want revenge after being robbed last year on the no-call pass interference against the Rams for the NFC championship and, they definitely don't want a repeat of the Minneapolis Miracle. Brees is absolutely on fire right now and I don't think we'll get a competitive game. His pass completion is damn near perfect with him breaking records and I don't think the Viking's defense is going to keep up. Saints are going to win this easy.

I agree, I think the vikings are going to completely destroyed and thats why I picked the Under on this one. But that being said I don't bet O/U either for the reasons stated above, and to much ref fuckery going on.

[vella85]

I'm with everyone here on the Saints winning, I may be a little basis as I have them winning the SB at $8 odds from a few weeks ago. Not just that they look unstoppable right now as their offense is on fire but I do expect a close game against the Vikings. I did vote for the Eagles but I'm not betting on this match after the Seahawks burned me last week, they should of won that game late but that delay of game cost them I think.

[nutildah]

As for the handicaps, these are my predictions (posted my ML predicitions above already):

01/04

4:35 PM
[141] BUFFALO
[142] HOUSTON -3

8:15 PM
[143] TENNESSEE
[144] NEW ENGLAND -5

01/05

1:05 PM
[145] MINNESOTA
[146] NEW ORLEANS -8

4:40 PM
[147] SEATTLE
[148] PHILADELPHIA +1

I don't mean to be a bandwagoner but I'm making the same picks.

For ML purposes: Buffalo, NE, NO, Seattle.

Titans have been on fire, Pats are pretty beat up, but still, its Belichick and Brady Magic Time. Those guys just know how to pull things together in any situation to come out with the W during the post season. Line has since shifted to -4 Pats so I put a bet in for that. If the Pats lose the game, hey I won't be sad because at least it will be a more interesting Super Bowl this year.

[morvillz7z]

[141] BUFFALO
[142] HOUSTON -3

Probably the toughest game to predict out all 4 games at least for me. I'm really torn between the two.
HOU have the advantage of playing at home, deep threat/explosive plays with Watson and Hopkins and a defensive boost for getting back J.J Watt who is expected to not have limitations on the snaps he plays. Bills on the other hand, have allowed only 16.2 pts (2nd) and are 4th in defending the pass game (195 per game) with a 6-2 away record. Josh Allen has been solid all year long. I'm probably dead wrong here but i'm rolling with Texans to win and cover. Kenny Stills +100 yards 1TD!

[143] TENNESSEE
[144] NEW ENGLAND -5

I'm straight up picking Titans to win and cover. Good luck @Patriots in stopping Derrick Henry. Everyone expects Belichick and Brady to pull this off, but i don't see it, Patriots haven't been this limited offensively in a long time and haven't played in wild card game since 2009. Cold weather and occasional rain (expected) won't help much here with Edelman being their only weapon.

[willy2streams]

Here's my parlay for the weekend:

Buffalo
NE (-2.5)
NO (-9.5)

I think Buffalo is going to be this weekend's underdog.  Seattle/Eagles to close for me to guess.

[ralle14]

My bet and prediction to win the wildcard are the Texans and Titans. The Texans and Bills match seems like a coinflip Texans with a better offense than the Bills and like what morv mentioned on the defense side Bills have one of the best defense and Texans aren't even close. Bills' defense could win them this match but i'm still taking the chance on Houston I feel like they could edge them out by a field goal.

I took Titans over Pats only because the Pats looked lost on their recent games and if the Dolphins could do it the Titans have a good chance as well.

[Hueristic]

Well that was just awesome, 42 yard run and then a Caught TD from Josh Allen bufflo's QB.

Like I said they worry me if they are facing may Pats post season.

Will be interesting to see Houston's response, i think it will be lack luster.

[vella85]

I just placed a live bet on the Texans to cover +5.5, no doubt that the first half is the Bills but I think the Texans will come out in the second half and play a lot better then they are now. They just need to stop Allen rushing as he is currently killing the Texans.

[tyKiwanuka]

I just placed a live bet on the Texans to cover +5.5, no doubt that the first half is the Bills but I think the Texans will come out in the second half and play a lot better then they are now. They just need to stop Allen rushing as he is currently killing the Texans.

Did the same, but Houston +9,5.

There was a lot going the Bills way in first half – two near pick6’s, the very close non-fumble by Allen. You can rely on lucky breaks only so much, so I expect things to turn around luck wise a bit for the Bills. Houston should be able to make some half-time adjustments and it’s not often that a team dominates for 60 minutes, especially not on the road. Wouldn't be the first time we see two completely different halfs.

[vella85]

I just placed a live bet on the Texans to cover +5.5, no doubt that the first half is the Bills but I think the Texans will come out in the second half and play a lot better then they are now. They just need to stop Allen rushing as he is currently killing the Texans.

Did the same, but Houston +9,5.

There was a lot going the Bills way in first half – two near pick6’s, the very close non-fumble by Allen. You can rely on lucky breaks only so much, so I expect things to turn around luck wise a bit for the Bills. Houston should be able to make some half-time adjustments and it’s not often that a team dominates for 60 minutes, especially not on the road. Wouldn't be the first time we see two completely different halfs.

Well done, I should of waited for the first half to end before placing my bet but I'm still happy with the +5.5 as like I said I think the Texans come out in the second half playing much better football. Yeah the Bills had a lot of luck go their way and that can turnaround very quickly for the other team. The only thing that worries me is that the Texans were in the same situation in the last wild card game against the Colts and lost.

[Hueristic]

I just placed a live bet on the Texans to cover +5.5, no doubt that the first half is the Bills but I think the Texans will come out in the second half and play a lot better then they are now. They just need to stop Allen rushing as he is currently killing the Texans.

Did the same, but Houston +9,5.

There was a lot going the Bills way in first half – two near pick6’s, the very close non-fumble by Allen. You can rely on lucky breaks only so much, so I expect things to turn around luck wise a bit for the Bills. Houston should be able to make some half-time adjustments and it’s not often that a team dominates for 60 minutes, especially not on the road. Wouldn't be the first time we see two completely different halfs.

W0w, where did you score that one?

Quite the ending going on right now. Posting this right at 21 seconds left.