LJ posted a very interesting article in the previous thread:
and it details the power struggle behind the scenes in the Patriot organization regarding Belichick, Brady, and owner Robert Kraft. It of course touches on the Jimmy Garoppolo trade and the reasons for it and why he came to us.
The gist being:
The Patriots repeatedly offered Garoppolo four-year contract extensions, in the $17 million to $18 million range annually that would go higher if and when he succeeded Brady. Garoppolo and Yee rejected the offers out of hand, for reasons that remain unclear, and the Patriots knew they couldn’t make any promises to Garoppolo about the timing of a transition at quarterback without it getting back to Brady.
There’s a whole lot more to the article around the power struggle of Brady’s personal trainer Alex Guerrero, who was famously banned from the Pats sideline recently, Belichick and Kraft, and the rest of the machinations around the hugely successful run of theirs. The comments are fun as well . . .
Meanwhile, my favorite AFL team (mainly because of Otis Taylor and Len Dawson) , the KC Chiefs, are also at a crossroads. They weathered a Jekyll / Hyde season from Alex Smith and the defense by going 5-1 against the NFL’s best, then 1-5 vs the dregs before finishing the season on a 4-0 run. They got a solid start from Pat Mahomes, Young Sir Alex’s future replacement, against a Denver defense that didn’t rest their starters. No mean feat, but Denver is falling on hard times. Mahomes easily outplayed Paxton Lynch (remember Denver jumped KC to GET Lynch instead of Mahomes).
Reid is firmly in place having signed a five year extension this year, but I have to wonder if the Chiefs will give up on Alex should the Chiefs lay another turd in the playoffs. They have the Titans at home, and as usual, are fairly banged up from playing in the AFC West. I don’t see KC having too many problems with Ten, but as we all know, the wheels can fall off at any time in Rib City.
The Playoff Sched:
Saturday:
Tennessee @ Kansas City – 1:20 PM – ESPN
Atlanta @ Los Angeles – 5:15 PM – NBC
Sunday:
Buffalo @ Jacksonville – 10:00 AM – CBS
Carolina @ New Orleans – 1:40 PM – FOX
Interesting to note that the Titans are in the playoffs having missed them for the past 10 seasons, Jax comes in on an 11 year playoff drought, the Rams have missed for 13 seasons, and the Bills come in on a 17 year drought.
Atlanta of course puckered up hard and blew a 28-3 halftime lead last year in the Superb Owl. I figure they fold again as Jared Goff lights up a pretty solid Falcons defense.
The Carolina/Nawlins game looks to be a barn-burner. The Saints look to beqat the Panthers for the third time this year. No mean feat, but I think Brees kills the Panthers soft secondary.
As for thr Whodathunkit Bowl (Buff vs Jax), I have Saxonville taking the game with their defense.
Forty Niners Forever 
The Lambs are OUT. LOL
Smith and Reid are now part of an 18 point half time fail and 21 point blown lead.
Yup. I picked the home teams and both puked on their shoes.
I would have done the same thing. I have a feeling that the Rams thought they had this one in the bag. Sometimes resting the players like they did for our last game hurts more than if they played. It takes em out of a rhythm. I know it’s like that in Baseball and I kind of figure when you’re on a roll you don’t want to stop iot. I think we pick up the right pieces this year we got a shot come next year. We just have to lock in JG.
I had KC and ATL.
Jeff Triplett did such a bad job of officiating this week-end he is retiring. His forward progress call on the fumble that essentially gave the Tits the momentum going into half-time goes in the Don Denkinger Hall of Fame for blown calls.
That puts Triplett in the Don Denkinger HOF twice. He is the one who threw the penalty flag that hit Orlando Brown in the eye.
Teams are desperate for QBs so KC could get something for Smith, say a 3rd round pick. He’s the fall guy for Reid’s stupidity. KC should have hung at least 31 on Tenn and couldn’t do anything. They gave up on the run game for no reason.
I would expect at least a 2nd for Smith. True he only threw 33 yds in the second half but he is an efficient QB.
That call on the sack was ridiculous. If being hit is forward progress, then there are no fumbles.
I got Jags and Saints this time.
New thread is up.