You may be feeling pretty down about it being Monday and all, but it's important to keep things in perspective. At least you didn't start off the NFL season 11-0 before losing four of your last five games and then getting spanked by THE CLEVELAND BROWNS in the first round of the playoffs. Unle s of course you're a Steelers fan ... in which case, I don't think I'm gonna be able to help you feel better this morning. Sorry .On the bright side, we don't have to say goodbye to football just yet because we
Chris Wormley Jersey 've got another big game to watch/bet on tonight. 's national champion will be crowned and it will be glorious.As you can probably gue s, this morning's newsletter features a whole lot of pigskin. Hopefully we can get your week started right. What you need to know 1. What's in store for the NFL's Divisional Round As you've likely figured out by now, the freakin' Cleveland Browns have won a playoff game! The last time that happened the year was 1994, Bill Belichick was Cleveland's coach and Nick Saban was his defensive coordinator. A LOT has changed since then. And while the Browns and their fans are likely still soaking up the glory of that long-awaited playoff victory, we're gonna go ahead and look ahead already. "Super Wild Card Weekend" is officially in the books, which means that the Divisional Round matchups are set, so Chiefs (1) vs. Browns (6): The Browns pulled off the upset and now they'll get to face a well-rested Chiefs team that's looking to repeat as champs. If Cleveland wins this one they may just be a team of destinyBills (2) vs. Ravens (5): The Bills survived a nail-biter against the this weekend, while picked up his first career playoff win in a tightly fought battle against the . This
Mitchell Trubisky Jersey one could be a to s-up, and it should be one heck of a gamePackers (1) vs. Rams (6): is still on the mend from thumb surgery but his Rams are moving on thanks to a stunning win over the this past weekend. and the Packers are waiting and they should be pretty big favoritesSaints (2) vs. Buccaneers (5): Ah, Brady vs. Brees for a third time -- that's going to be a storylines feast, and it should be a pretty good game too. has won five straight against Tampa Bay and has outscored Brady's squad 72-26 this year, so the Saints are probably going to be favored hereYou know what we can't look forward to next weekend? An game on Nickelodeon, and that's a huge bummer considering . "SpongeBob SportsPants" intro song Slime cannons Terrible Cardi B impre sions Incredibly weird graphics Honestly, the jokes and memes on Twitter during the Nickelodeon broadcast made the entire experience so much better, and I was left craving more Nickelodeon during the Browns-Steelers nightcap. Should we always just have an incredibly bizarre secondary feed just for the sake of the memes? I think so. It's not too late, NFL.In all seriousne s, it was pretty neat to see the Nickelodeon broadcast geared toward being more entertaining, engaging and informative for a younger audience. I would have eaten that up as a kid. Heck, I clearly ate it up even as an adult with no kids. I'm starting to think I still have the brain of an 8 year old.2. Alabama vs. Ohio State predictions from our experts Happy CFP National Championship day! While I'm a bit sad that the college football season will officially come to a close tonight, we do still have a very intriguing title game to look forward to later. It's vs. in the finale to close out one of the weirdest and most unprecedented college football seasons in history, so who's gonna win? Well, we've got
Devin Bush T Shirts a full panel of experts at our disposal so we'd be silly not to ask them, right? :Barrett Sallee:Ohio State +8 |Ohio State 35, Alabama 31Tom Fornelli:Ohio State +8 | Alabama 38-31Dennis Dodd:Ohio State +8 | Alabama 48, Ohio State 42Chip Patterson: Alabama -8 |Alabama 48, Ohio State 35Ben Kercheval:Ohio State +8 |Alabama 38, Ohio State 31Jerry Palm:Alabama -8 | Alabama 37, Ohio State 27Adam Silverstein:Alabama -8 | Alabama 41, Ohio State 31Jack Crosby:Ohio State +8 |Alabama 42, Ohio State 35If you're looking for some deeper analysis, our guys have you covered there, too. My guy Chip has laid out , while Mr. Dodd has put together .Honestly, at this rate I don't really care who wins, I'm just rooting for the best game po sible. This bowl season has been largely underwhelming due to opt-outs, blowouts
Rod Woodson Jersey and cancellations. If we can end things on a high note, it might be easier to look back on this season with positivity despite all the weirdne s. 3. The Ravens and Titans don't like each other Yesterday's Ravens-Titans game was one of the better games of the week, and it also happened to be the one that birthed the most hot takes. That's thanks to an ending that featured the Ravens dancing/stomping on the Titans' logo at midfield after an interception e sentially sealed the win for Baltimore late in the fourth quarter. Then, Lamar Jackson and a bunch of his teammates raced to the locker room ahead of the final whistle, refusing to shake hands with 's players after the game.Of course, this pettine s didn't come out of no where -- the Titans ticked off Baltimore in Week 11 when they congregated on the Ravens logo and got into a verbal spat with the opposing side. Still, the Ravens' revenge seemed to tick a lot of people off yesterday butHere's what some players had to say:QB Lamar Jackson:DE Derek Wolfe:DT Calais Campbell:I'm a sucker for drama and theater so, personally, I had absolutely no problem with seeing Baltimore stomp their way acro s midfield. If you don't want your logo stomped on, don't put it on the ground. If you don't want opponents taunting you, don't let them beat you. Keep the hate in sports. The next Ravens-Titans game just got a bit more interesting, didn't it?4. Heinicke Mania is upon us The may have come up short in their pursuit of a postseason victory on Saturday, but they did put up quite a fight against the Buccaneers and there was : .The Heinicke story is an underdog tale. He went undrafted out of and has bounced around a bit since entering the NFL in 2015. He
Miles Killebrew Jersey also had a stint with the XFL's St. Louis BattleHawks last year, but he got an opportunity to truly shine this weekend. couldn't suit up on Saturday due to a calf injury, so the 27-year-old Heinicke made his second career startHeinicke delivered a gutsy performance, completing 26 of 44 pa ses for 306 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also led in rushing with 46 yards and a touchdown on six carriesAfter the game, Heinicke received -- including some kind words from Heinicke was o
