Week 17 is here – and some decisions have yet to be made: In the AFC, four teams are competing for the two outstanding wildcard tickets, in the NFC Seattle Seahawks and the Atlanta Falcons a remote duel. Also, the NFC south crown is still available – and do the browns actually win a game? Christian Schimmel (derdraft. de), mySPOX-User JaydoggBO, Nicolas Martin (Sportradio360) and SPOX-editor Adrian Franke discuss the still unanswered questions.
Christian Schimmel (derdraft. de):… the Baltimore Ravens and the Tennessee Titans. First of all, I assume that the pursuers in the AFC are doing their homework. The injury situation at the Chargers seems to be improving significantly and although it will be a massive away game against the Raiders in Los Angeles, the Bolts should win the game confidently. I also see the Bills clearly leading the way against the Dolphins, with Miami presenting themselves as quite a bag of wonders this year and I wouldn’t even rule out the possibility of them performing well in the last game. However, everyone in the franchise is aware of the long run without playoffs and players will do their utmost to finish it on Sunday.
Adrian Franke (SPOX): But now I am a bit disappointed. After Week 15 and the bankruptcy in Kansas City, you convinced me that the Chargers would make it in – and I still haven’t moved away from that. Oakland’s offense is perhaps the biggest disappointment of the season, with setbacks almost everywhere. In addition, the matchups in the pass rush and in the secondary, which are relatively clear for L. A.. The Chargers win the game, I have no doubt about it. But I can’t predict a Titans victory with a clear conscience: Tennessee’s offense is without any plans for a long time, even though I have to admit that the matchup between Derrick Henry and Jacksonvilles doesn’t like the often wobbly run defense from Jaguar’s point of view. The Jags have to be more disciplined in their gaps, also with regard to the playoffs.
Christian Schimmel (derdraft. de): This brings us to the point – I’m just afraid that the teams that have their destiny in hand will also make use of their chance: Baltimore will beat a Bengals-team, which at least showed a sign of life against the Lions last week, but will hardly be successful against the Ravens-Defense. The game in Nashville will be more exciting, but I think Tennessee will find a way to win. The Titans played well again in the second half of the 49ers and last week against the Rams. For Jacksonville, it doesn’t go away from the number 3 seed any more and you will notice that.
mySPOX-User JaydoggBO: I am on Adrian’s side. The wildcards go to the Ravens and the Chargers. The Chargers will have little trouble against the Raiders, the Ravens, on the other hand, are on the scales for a Bills Playoff participation and will have a very hard fight with the Cincinnati Bengals. It would give the Bengals a lot of pleasure to bowl the big competitor from Baltimore out of the playoffs. In the end, the Ravens will narrowly assert themselves and push the Bills out of the playoffs, which will get very upset about the experiment with Peterman.
Nicolas Martin (Sportradio360): My speech: One would allow the Bills fans the first playoff move of the millennium, but the Brainfart of Sean McDermott in Los Angeles will have sealed it. Of course, we don’t know if the Bills would have won with Taylor against the Chargers back then, but it would have significantly increased their chances. The candidates are the ones who have to hope for slip-ups, but the ones who convince me more about the entertainment value than Ravens and Titans who have it in their own hands. I can’t imagine Baltimore taking the butter from the bread at home, Marwin Lewis’ last game back and forth. So they’re in there. The Titans are unlucky that Jacksonville wants to go full this week, which lowers their chances. If the Titans defeat the Chargers and the Bills win, the Chargers are in. And then we talk about the Los Angeles game again and a Nathan Peterman, who is the least capable for the whole thing.
Adrian Franke (SPOX): I can only agree with Nicolas when it comes to the Ravens – Cincinnati’s victory against Detroit was rather the exception for me in a season’s final spurt, from which the Bengals had apparently already left mentally for a long time. Baltimore’s Defense will dominate Cincinnati and the Ravens-Offense has looked pretty much average over the last few weeks. That’s enough for Sunday. Regarding the Bills: As much as I would give Buffalo heart and soul, I guess that the Bills will lose the game in Miami. The pass rush of the Dolphins paired with the upcoming Xavien Howard in the Secondary is not a good matchup for Buffalo’s shaky pass game anyway, and Kenyan Drake will cause a lot of problems for the Bills-Defense in the Run Game. Plus: Without any pressure and in his presumably last NFL-game, I really believe Jay Cutler to be able to finish a good match.
Page 1: The two AFC wildcards go to…
Page 2: The two NFC wildcards and the NFC-south title go to…
Page 3: The Cleveland Browns go 0-16 and the SPOX Prediction Game for Week 17