What a way to end the season. The first ever 18 week season in the NFL is now over. It’s win or go home time now. 14 teams have punched their ticket for a chance at all-time glory. This will be the last “five tings to take…” article of the season. I’m going to be doing prediction articles again every week. Expect my wild-card predictions to drop either this Thursday or Friday. Now for the five things, let’s get into it.
1. The Pittsburgh Steelers somehow made the playoffs
How did this happen? It’s pretty simple honestly, Mike Tomlin is just that guy. With a mediocre Ben Roethlisberger, horrible offensive line & constantly injured defense the Steelers have somehow found themselves in the playoffs. Big respect to Mike Tomlin who continues his 15 year streak of never having a losing season after finishing 9-7-1. Seriously though, this team tied the LIONS!!! They face a huge test at Arrowhead this weekend against the back-to-back AFC Champion Chiefs. If they manage to beat the Chiefs then honestly I might have to accept them as a team of destiny. We’ll see what happens.
2. Tom Brady has almost certainly locked up MVP
44 years old.
League high and career high in passing yards with 5,316, making him and Drew Brees the only two players in history to have multiple 5K passing yard seasons.
League high 43 passing touchdowns (2nd highest in career)
Lead the league in completions.
Finished 13-4 making the Bucs the 2nd seed in the NFC, despite several weapons missing major time (Gronk, Fournette, Miller, Godwin & Brown)
It’s pretty simple in my opinion. Tom Brady is the MVP.
3. How did the Colts fold this bad?
If I was a Colts fan I would simply not go on social media for at least two days. All they had to do was beat the 2-14 Jacksonville Jaguars. For context this Jaguars team just got 50 dropped on them last week by the New England Patriots. And what happened you may ask? The Colts extended their winless streak in Jacksonville to six. How in the world did they fold like this??? HOW?? THE STEELERS HAD AN 8% CHANCE TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS. There’s one tweet that I saw that perfectly sums up the Colts season for me. Take a few days off Colts fans. This one hurts.
4. The 49ers are back in the playoffs
After an injury-filled year last year, Kyle Shanahan and the boys are back in the playoffs. They capped off a successful 2021 campaign by sweeping the Rams in their season series, ending the game in overtime with a Matthew Stafford interception. Winning four out of your last five will definitely help a team’s playoff push. There’s one player in particular who can be credited with a lot of the 49ers success. And that man is pictured above, Deebo Samuel. 77 catches for 1,405 yards (5th in the league) and six touchdowns. And that’s not all, Samuel also rushed for 365 yards and eight touchdowns. He even threw a touchdown yesterday. The Niners will be heading to Dallas on Sunday to take on the 12-5 Dallas Cowboys. Will Shanahan choke once again? Time will only tell, word to Blxst & Bino Rideaux.
5. Derek Carr will play in his first playoff game
Some how some way, the Las Vegas Raiders have made the playoffs. In a win or go home situation, the Raiders bested the Chargers in a close overtime game which punched their ticket to the playoffs. A large part of this team making the playoffs are those two men pictured above. Derek Carr, who will be making his first playoff appearance in his eight year career, threw for 4,804 yards (fifth in the league) and 23 touchdowns. On the other side Hunter Renfrow had an incredible year, catching 103 passes for 1038 yards and nine touchdowns. They will be taking on the AFC North champions in the Cincinnati Bengals, which I think will be an absolute shoot out.
I truly can’t wait for this weekend. Obviously as a Patriots fan I’m always nervous about whenever we are in the playoffs. Especially on the road against the Bills. I won’t be too hurt if we lose in the playoffs, but not to the Bills. Like I said earlier my predictions will come out either on Thursday or Friday. Playoff football… inject it into my veins. This is YSN, until next time, signing out.
Steelers?! Playoffs?? Can’t wait for your predictions Yanni!