Clinching Scenarios NFL Week Sixteen

Week Sixteen is here in the NFL and here's how teams can clinch playoff spots this weekend.

AFC:
Clinched: Denver Broncos (Playoff Birth)

Denver Broncos (4:05PM vs Jacksonville Jaguars)
-Denver can clinch the AFC West with a win AND a Chargers Loss
-Denver can clinch the #1 Seed and home field throughout with a win AND losses by the Chargers, Patriots and Bills

Buffalo Bills (1PM vs Cleveland Browns)
-Buffalo can clinch a playoff spot with a win AND a loss by either Indianapolis or Houston

New England Patriots (8:20PM vs Baltimore Ravens)
-New England can clinch a playoff spot with a win OR loss by either Indianapolis or Houston

Jacksonville Jaguars (4:05PM @ Denver Broncos)
-Jacksonville can clinch a playoff spot with a win AND loss by either Indianapolis or Houston

Los Angeles Chargers (1PM @ Dallas Cowboys)
-Chargers can clinch a playoff spot with a win AND loss by either Indianapolis or Houston

NFC:
Clinched: Los Angeles Rams (Playoff Birth), Seattle Seahawks (Playoff Birth)

Philadelphia Eagles (5PM @ Washington Commanders)
-Philadelphia can clinch the NFC East with a win OR Dallas loss

Chicago Bears (8:20PM vs Green Bay)
-Chicago can clinch a playoff spot with a win AND a Detroit loss

Green Bay Packers (8:20PM @ Chicago)
-Green Bay can clinch a playoff spot with a win AND a Detroit loss

San Francisco 49ers (MNF @ Indianapolis)
-San Francisco can clinch a playoff spot with a win OR a Detroit loss

Clinching Scenarios Week Fifteen

Week fifteen has arrived in the NFL. Which means that, for some at least, teams are one step closer to making the playoffs. That being said, here's how teams can clinch a playoff spot this week.

AFC:
Clinched: None

Denver Broncos (4:25 vs Green Bay Packers)
-Denver can clinch a playoff spot with a win
-Denver can also clinch with a tie and Losses by either Jacksonville, Indy or Houston

New England Patriots (1PM vs Buffalo Bills)
-New England can clinch the AFC East with a win
-New England can also clinch a playoff spot with a win OR if they lose, Indy and Houston both lose, New England gets in

NFC:
Clinched: None

Los Angeles Rams (4:25PM vs Detroit Lions)
-Los Angeles can clinch a playoff spot with a win

Best & Worst NFL Week Fourteen

Week fourteen has come and gone in the NFL. We now hit the final full month of the season and we getting ready for the playoff push. Key injuries have started to come into play, like the Colts now down their quarterback. We saw some great games on the week, including a fun rivalry renewal between the Bears and Packers. We got teams stepping closer and closer to playoff spots, while others are losing their grip on said spots. With all that being said, here's some of the best, and worst, from week fourteen.

Best: Shedeur Sanders, Quarterback Cleveland Browns
A little weird to see this in the winners column with the way the game actually ended, but there is a reason that this is here on this side of this list. IT was the best performance of Sanders early career. Sure it came in a losing effort, but that was only because the Browns couldn't convert on a game tying two pointer late. Sanders was really good on the day. Three carries for 29 yards and a touchdown to complement his 24 of 42 performance for 364 yards and oh year three touchdowns through the air. Look sure the Browns are 3-10 on the year. But there are two things that are giving the Cleveland fans a little bit of hope. Myles Garrett going after the single season sack record, and performances like this from Sanders that give you hope you may (key word there) finally have something under center.

Worst: Chiefs Playoff Hopes
When this season started, there had been a large sense of hope in Kansas City. But that hope hasn't panned out this season as the Chiefs are now a game under .500 following a 20-10 loss at home to the Texans. And it's nothing really special that Houston's defense does. They just play a tight coverage defense, something that KC had no answer for. It also doesn't help that the Kansas City offensive line looks like a MASH unit, leaving Mahomes out to dry. With the way things have looked over the last month or so, the hopes of them making the post season are starting to slip and fast.

Best: Buffalo Bills Late Game Heroics
Buffalo was one of the heavy favorites to be a serious threat in the AFC this season. They've stumbled at times early this year and trail New England in the standings. but what happened on Sunday against Cincinnati reminded a lot of people that the Buffalo Bills are still, in fact, a threat. The Bills walked away with a 39-34 win over Cincy and that was mostly done thanks to that little 21 point 4th quarter. A lot of those 21 points coming in the final five minutes of the ballgame. A chunk of those points came thanks to the Bills picking off Joe Burrow not once but twice. Only time will tell if this is the real Bills or just a sort of flash in the pan. If this actually the Bills then watch out, they are going to be very dangerous.

Worst: Ravens Playoff Hopes
There was some level of hope in Baltimore going into this year that they would not only be a playoff team, but go on another solid run. Those hopes are starting to slip a little. Baltimore has now lost two in a row to fall to 6-7 on the year, following a 27-22 loss to the Steelers at home. The defense made Aaron Rogers feel a little more like he found his game again, while the Ravens offense for whatever reason can't get in sync with itself and get back on its game again. If Baltimore wants to have any hope at either a division title or even a playoff spot, then the offense needs to find itself again. Heck if Lamar can even start to show flashes of his old self and come close to playing at something resembling an MVP level, that would be massive for the Ravens and trying to get back to the promise land.

Best: Titans Running Game
A big day for the Titans to pick up their second win of the season. It was a solid effort in a 31-29 win over the Browns. We touched on it earlier with what Cleveland did with Sanders under center. But the big key in this game is and was going to be the running game for the Titans, which really carried things on the day. 35 carries for 185 total yards on the ground and a good job of the Titans controlling the clock. A lot of that had to do with the outstanding play of Tony Pollard. HE alone had 25 carries for 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns. This was a great day in what has otherwise been a lowly season in the music city.

Worst: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
There was a lot of hope going into this season for the Bucs coming out of the NFC South. They started the season off right, going 5-1 early on. Since then, they've only won two games since then, and now sit at 7-6. This is coming off au upset 24-20 loss to the New Orleans Saints. That loss now put them in a tie with the Carolina Panthers on the top of the South. Play on Sunday can't just be placed on the weather conditions in Tampa. Baker Mayfield just wasn't very good and their defense couldn't really stop the Saints. Now the schedule over the final five games, which looked at one point thought to be a cake walk, is very different. Those two games over the final three weeks of the season with the Panthers now looms even larger.

Polar Bear Leaving Queens

The end of an era has come in Queens. One of the more beloved players in New York Mets franchise history, Pete Alonso, has moved on. Alonso opted out of his contract at the end of the season, hitting the free agent market. There was some hope around the team that Pete would come back to Queens on a long term deal, becoming a Met for life. That didn't happen, as Alonso has signed a five year deal worth $155 Million to go play for the Baltimore Orioles.

There's a lot to take in from all of this.

From a Baltimore point of view, adding a guy of Alonso's talent to that lineup makes the O's an even bigger threat in an already tough and very competitive AL East. Think about it, last year they finished 5th in the AL East. Now they add a guy who can drive in a ton of runs and is a master at the long ball. So keep an eye out for the O's this season as being a big threat in this division.

Pete is a .253 lifetime hitter. He drove in over 100 runs four times in his six full seasons in the majors, and smacked over 30 home runs in his six full seasons (not counting the 2020 covid year). For the Mets franchise in his seven years, he entered the top ten in several offensive categories. He's the all time leader in home runs (264), 3rd in RBI's (718), 14th in hits (951), 12th in Doubles (183), 14th in walks (419). We could keep going on and on over this.

And it stings what has happened to the Mets over the last couple days, or even weeks. First the trade of Nimmo to Texas for Marcus Semien. Then Edwin Diaz signs a big deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and now this with Alonso. So now the two big stars in the Mets lineup are Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor. Nothing wrong with either guy, if they can both keep producing. But that's not going to be anywhere near enough. The New York Mets have, to this point, taken a major step backwards. Instead of building off the NLCS appearance two seasons ago, they got one good year pout of Pete, chocked away the playoffs last summer (after signing Soto), and now this.

I, for one, am not totally surprised by any of it. Alonso could feel like he was slighted by the Mets not getting a big contract two years ago, so he signed the deal he did, had the big year, and left. Yes, there is a lot more work to be done in this offseason. But let's be totally honest here. Steve Cohen said World Series within five years after buying the team. He had his five years and the deep run two years ago was as close as the team got. Last year was a disaster, None of the issues from last season have been addressed and three of the Mets top players are gone to different teams.

Things had better start turning around and fast, because if they don't.......it's not going to end well for Mets management.

It's Bowl Season

It's that time of the year again. The College Football Bowl season has arrived. Including the CFP, there are a total of 47, yes 47, bowl games on the docket for this season. In total 18 states will host the 41 games. The action kicks off on December 13th and ends with the National Championship game on January 19th. Don't worry we will help you keep track of all of it.

Below are the list of every bowl game scheduled for this season from start to finish. First up is the non playoff bowl games:

December 13th:
Cricket Celebration Bowl South Carolina State vs. Prairie View A&M Mercedes-Benz Stadium Noon, ABC
Bucked Up LA Bowl Boise State vs. Washington SoFi Stadium 8 p.m., ABC

December 16th 
IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl Troy vs. Jacksonville State Cramton Bowl 9 p.m., ESPN

December 17th
StaffDNA Cure Bowl Old Dominion vs. South Florida Camping World Stadium 5 p.m., ESPN
68 Ventures Bowl Louisiana vs. Delaware Hancock Whitney Stadium 8:30 p.m., ESPN

December 18th
Xbox Bowl Missouri State vs. Arkansas State Ford Center at The Star (Frisco, Texas) 9 p.m., ESPN2

December 19th
Myrtle Beach Bowl Presented by Engine Kennesaw State vs. Western Michigan Brooks Stadium 11 a.m., ESPN
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl Memphis vs. NC State Raymond James Stadium 2:30 p.m., ESPN

December 22nd 
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Washington State vs. Utah State Albertsons Stadium 2 p.m., ESPN

December 23rd
Bush's Boca Raton Bowl Toledo vs. Louisville Flagler Credit Union Stadium 2 p.m., ESPN
New Orleans Bowl Western Kentucky vs. Southern Miss Caesars Superdome 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl UNLV vs. Ohio Ford Center at The Star 9 p.m., ESPN

December 24th
Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl California vs. Hawaii Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex 8 p.m., ESPN

December 26th
GameAbove Sports Bowl Central Michigan vs. Northwestern Ford Field 1 p.m., ESPN
Rate Bowl New Mexico vs. Minnesota Chase Field 4:30 p.m., ESPN
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl Florida International vs. UTSA Gerald J. Ford Stadium 8 p.m., ESPN

December 27th
Go Bowling Military Bowl Pittsburgh vs. East Carolina Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium 11 a.m., ESPN
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl Penn State vs. Clemson Yankee Stadium Noon, ABC
Wasabi Fenway Bowl UConn vs. Army Fenway Park 2:15 p.m., ESPN
Pop-Tarts Bowl Georgia Tech vs. BYU Camping World Stadium 3:30 p.m., ABC
Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl Miami (OH) vs. Fresno State Arizona Stadium 4:30 p.m., CW Network
Isleta New Mexico Bowl North Texas vs. San Diego State University Stadium 5:45 p.m., ESPN
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Virginia vs. Missouri EverBank Stadium 7:30 p.m. ABC
Kinder's Texas Bowl LSU vs. Houston NRG Stadium 9:15 p.m., ESPN

December 29th
JLAB Birmingham Bowl Georgia Southern vs. App State Protective Stadium 2 p.m., ESPN

December 30th
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl Coastal Carolina vs. Louisiana Tech Independence Stadium 2 p.m., ESPN
Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl Tennessee vs. Illinois Nissan Stadium 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Valero Alamo Bowl USC vs. TCU Alamodome 9 p.m., ESPN

December 31st
ReliaQuest Bowl Iowa vs. Vanderbilt Raymond James Stadium Noon, ESPN
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl Arizona State vs. Duke Sun Bowl Stadium 2 p.m., CBS
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl Michigan vs. Texas Camping World Stadium 3 p.m., ABC
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl Nebraska vs. Utah Allegiant Stadium 3:30 p.m., ESPN

January 2nd
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Rice vs. Texas State Amon G. Carter Stadium 1 p.m., ESPN 
AytoZone Liberty Bowl Navy vs. Cincinnati Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Duke's Mayo Bowl Wake Forest vs. Mississippi State Bank of America Stadium 8 p.m., ESPN
Trust & Will Holiday Bowl Arizona vs. SMU Snapdragon Stadium 8 p.m., Fox

Oh but wait there's more. Now for the College Football Playoff games:

First-round games (at campus sites):

December 19th
No. 8 Oklahoma vs. No. 9 Alabama Oklahoma Memorial Stadium 8 p.m., ABC, ESPN

December 20th
No. 10 Miami vs. No. 7 Texas A&M Kyle Field Noon, ABC, ESPN
No. 11 Tulane vs. No. 6 Ole Miss Vaught-Hemingway Stadium 3:30 p.m., TNT
No. 12 James Madison vs. No. 5 Oregon Autzen Stadium (Eugene, Oregon) 7:30 p.m., TNT

CFP quarterfinals:

December 31st:
CFP Quarterfinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic Miami-Texas A&M winner vs. No. 2 Ohio State AT&T Stadium 7:30 p.m., ESPN

January 1st:
CFP Quarterfinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl James Madison-Oregon winner vs. No. 4 Texas Tech Hard Rock Stadium Noon, ESPN
CFP Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential Alabama-Oklahoma winner vs. No. 1 Indiana Rose Bowl 4 p.m., ESPN
CFP Quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Tulane-Ole Miss winner vs. No. 3 Georgia Caesars Superdome 8 p.m., ESPN

CFP Semifinals, National Championship Game

January 8th:
CFP Semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl State Farm Stadium 7:30 p.m., ESPN

January 9th:
CFP Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Mercedes-Benz Stadium 7:30 p.m., ESPN

January 19th:
CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T Hard Rock Stadium 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Best & Worst NFL Week Thirteen

Week thirteen has come and gone around the National Football League, and what a week it was. The Thanksgiving slate lead to upsets galore. The windy city saw two of its back go off (even if it was in a losing effort). We had one team prove that being an underdog again doesn't really mean a thing. Big game comebacks from injury was on display as well. So lets dive right into it. Here's the best, and worst, from the NFL in week thirteen.

Best: Chicago Bears Running Game
This was a big day for the Bears running attack. I mean a BIG day. Chicago won in Philly 24-15 and a lot of it was thanks to the 255 yards gained on the ground. That was from two guys. D'Andre Swift had 125 yards and Kyle Monangai ran for 130 yards. Each guy scored a touchdown a piece. That's a major day if I ever saw one.

Best: Adonai Mitchell, Wide Receiver New York Jets

When the Jets picked him up, he was seen as mostly a throw in with the Jets sending Sauce Gardner to the Colts. There wasn't much in the way of expectations. The Jets are looking to find a secondary target behind Garrett Wilson when he does come back. Mitchell took a step in that direction with his performance on Sunday in the Jets surprising 27-24 win over the Falcons. Mitchell hauled in eight catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. Those 102 yards are a new career high for the second year receiver, and almost half of his total from his rookie year with the Colts.

Best; Joe Burrow, Quarterback Cincinnati Bengals
Welcome back Joe Burrow. In his first game back from injury, he'd been out with a bad case of Turf Toe. His first game back, Burrow lead the Bengals to a healthy 32-14 win over the Ravens. Him throwing 46 times was a bit much for his first game back, but he did complete 24 of his passes for 261 yards. Oh and he also throw for two touchdowns. The numbers weren't the most eye popping but it was more from an emotional standpoint having Burrow back under center that was the booster for the team. If BUrrow can keep putting up better numbers then this could be what is needed to get the Bengals back on track.

Worst: Max Brosmer, Quarterback Minnesota Vikings
It's tough enough coming into a start on the road. It's even worse when its against one of the hottest teams in football in the form of the Seattle Seahawks. It was Brosmer's first NFL start and it did not go well. Not only did Seattle come away with a 26-0 win, but Max had a day, to say the least. The thought process was that maybe sitting down JJ McCarty would help the Vikings try and get back on track. Yeah that notion went sideways when Brosmer threw four interceptions. It's not all on the kid for coming under pressure with JJ out, but this kind of start didn't instill much confidence.

Worst: Eagles One Two Punch
When you think of the Eagles offense, you think of Hurts and Barkley. The Eagles rolled into their Black Friday game with the Bears on an 8-3 run. Chicago came in and beat up the Champs, walking away with a 24-15 win. Barkley and Hurts were both quiet. Hurts threw for 230 yards sure, but he went 19 of 34, leading for a 19.4 QBR. And then Barkley, who's one of the leading backs in football, was held to just 56 yards on the ground. This also marks the 11th time in 12 games this season he's failed to reach a 100 yard game on the year. IF the Eagles want to go back on a deep playoff run, they need these two guys to start playing better.

Worst: Aaron Rogers, Quarterback Pittsburgh Steelers
There was some hope when the Steelers brought Aaron Rogers on board that they would be able to turn back the hands of time. They took the field at home against Buffalo and laid a total egg. The Bills won 26-7, but then again the Bills are a really good team. Rogers went 10 for 21 for just 117 yards. The Steelers as a team gained a total of 166 yards on the day. Pittsburgh had kept it close till Joey Bosa got to Rogers and caused a fumble that was returned to the score. It was a bad day for the former MVP