Tag: nfl previews

2015 NFL Divisional Weekend Good Gop, Bad Cop Precaps

It’s the NFL Divisional round weekend. The second of two weekends with four NFL playoff games spread across Saturday and Sunday like an octopus with each limb representing a team still alive to make the Super Bowl. Divisional weekend is, in my mind, the best weekend of the NFL season. This year, my friend Brendan and I recorded 10-15 minute preview podcasts of each of the games. I’ve linked to those in the game titles below. But, lucky for you, it’s not just Brendan and me blathering on about the NFL. Fresh of a season of previewing all the NFL games, our favorite police duo bring their good cop, bad cop act into the playoffs and preview all the matchups in the National Football League this weekend.

Divisional Weekend

Saturday, January 10, at 4:35 p.m. ET, on NBC

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots

Good cop: Forget about Peyton Manning, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s true nemesis is Baltimore’s Joe Flacco! Flacco has sauntered into New England three times in the last five years and won twice! If Brady is known as the golden boy, Flacco should be known as the alchemy boy! During the regular season, he looks like coal, but he transforms into gold during the playoffs! Flacco is 10-4 in the playoffs! Brady is 18-8 but only 9-8 since 2004! Plus, this game has the ultimate skill vs. will matchup between Patriots defensive back Darrelle Revis and Baltimore wide receiver Steve Smith Sr.!!

Bad cop: I’ve never even heard of the defensive backs on the Ravens. They’re not good. Bellichick and Brady have had two weeks to figure out how to exploit them. That’s more than enough.

Saturday, January 10, at 8:15 p.m. ET on Fox

Carolina Panthers at Seattle Seahawks

Good cop: Cam Newton likes to dress up and act like Super Man! He’ll need his cape if the Panthers are going to have any sort of shot at beating the Seahawks! Crazier things have happened though! The only thing Seattle has looked vulnerable to all year has been a powerful running game and that’s exactly how the Panthers are going to attack them!

Bad cop: No chance. The Panthers have no chance. If this were a regular season game, we wouldn’t even bother watching it.

Sunday, January 11, at 1:05 p.m. ET on Fox

Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers

Good cop: This is the big one! The Cowboys and Packers are enormously popular teams with huge fan bases! Quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Tony Romo are two of the biggest stars in the game! The setting is perfect! Lambeau Field in Green Bay is a classic stadium! Frozen tundra!

Bad cop: Tundra is “a vast, flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen.” A closely groomed football field with a built-in heating system is not frozen tundra. Just like the legend of the frozen tundra, reports of this game’s greatness will prove to have been exaggerated.

Sunday, January 11, at 4:40 p.m. ET on CBS

Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos

Good cop: It’s the Peyton Manning bowl! Peyton goes up against his old team led by his young, prodigal replacement, Andrew Luck! Plus, who can resist a nicely themed football game?! It’s a battle for horse supremacy in the NFL! 

Bad cop: Mmmmm hmmm. Since October, the Colts have only won two games against teams with winning records, and those were games against the Texans (barely winning at 9-7) and last week against the Bengals who predictably turn into pumpkins in the playoffs. They’re pretty fraudulent for an 11-5 playoff team. The only thing that could keep the Broncos from winning would be if the wind or cold picked up and made Manning lose his ability to play football. If you watch this game, you’re pretty much just rooting for or against weather.

NFL Week 16 Good Cop, Bad Cop Precaps

The NFL season has started but how do you know which games to watch and which to skip? Ask our favorite police duo with their good cop, bad cop precaps of all the matchups in the National Football League this weekend. To see which games will be televised in your area, check out 506sports.com’s essential NFL maps.

Week 16

Saturday, December 20, at 4:30 p.m. ET

Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins

Good cop: NFL football on Saturday! How could it get any better than that!??

Bad cop: How? If it was up to me, I’d start by banishing the terrible, no-fun to watch Redskins. 

Saturday, December 20, at 8:30 p.m. ET

San Diego Chargers at San Francisco 49ers

Good cop: The Chargers have to win this game to stay in the playoff hunt! Phillip Rivers is going to come out firing!

Bad cop: When is Phillip Rivers not firing? He’s a quarterback, he throws the ball a lot. These teams have combined to win one out of their last six games. Not exactly what I want to do with my Saturday night.

Sunday, December 21, at 1:00 p.m. ET

Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans

Good cop: I know I sound like a broken record, but this game is basically a playoff game! Both teams need to win to give themselves a chance at the playoffs!

Bad cop: No… it may be as single elimination as a playoff game but part of what makes playoff games fun is that they involve playoff teams. You know, like good teams… unlike this game.

Cleveland Browns at Carolina Panthers

Good cop: Will Cam Newton return two weeks after a serious car accident to help his Panthers drive to the playoffs?

Bad cop: I’m assuming that pun was unintended. Yes, Newton will play, no, even winning won’t give his team more than a fig-ment of a chance. Hahahaha.

Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears

Good cop: This game always makes me want to say, “oh my!” Never more than this week with the Lions in a tight race for the division lead with the Green Bay Packers!

Bad cop: Have you heard that the Bears are benching their quarterback, Jay Cutler, for this game? That’s the worst last ditch attempt I’ve ever seen of a coach to keep his job. Not going to work.

Green Bay Packers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Good cop: I! Uh! This! Um! Well, the Packers need to win this game! It’s important to them!

Bad cop: Oh, they’ll win the game. We just shouldn’t be forced to watch it.

Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers

Good cop: This is another one of those games that’s basically a playoff game! And this one, even you can’t argue against this, has two really exciting, competitive football teams!

Bad cop: They can be exciting and competitive or they can just fold like a tent. These teams are in the position they’re in because they’ve lost to Buccaneers, Browns, Jets, Titans, and Raiders. They don’t deserve to make the playoffs.

Minnesota Vikings at Miami Dolphins

Good cop: This game is all about the future! Both teams are led by young quarterbacks and are using this season as a launch pad for serious playoff runs next year!

Bad cop: It’s about the future? In that case, where is my jet pack?

New England Patriots at New York Jets

Good cop: Smart move by the NFL schedulers to put a fierce divisional rivalry like this at the end of the season! Even though the game doesn’t mean anything for making the playoffs, the Jets vs. Patriots games are always good!

Bad cop: In this case though, the Jets have an incentive to lose to get back into the hunt for the first overall draft pick next year. They should lose anyway but this consideration makes it so they really should lose.

Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints

Good cop: Matt Ryan leads his high-flying Falcons into New Orleans still controlling their own playoff destiny with games against the two other teams contending for the NFC South title in the final two weeks of the season!

Bad cop: THEY ARE ALL BELOW .500. HOW CAN YOU GET EXCITED FOR THAT?

 

SUNDAY, December 14, AT 4:05 and 4:25 P.M. ET

New York Giants at St. Louis Rams

Good cop: With recent wins, these two teams have pulled themselves up out of the NFL cellar by their own bootstraps! They’re playing hard for their coaches and their jobs and that’s always worth watching!

Bad cop: Oh, I guess it’s worth watching. I prefer teams that are either great or pathetic. Mediocre doesn’t really do it for me.

Buffalo Bills at Oakland Raiders

Good cop: The Bills get rewarded for their season saving victory over the Packers last week with a sweet trip to Oakland! Take care of business there and they’ll put themselves in a better position to make the playoffs.

Bad cop: Not a good one though. They have the worst tie-breakers of the nine teams in their conference with eight or more wins. 

Indianapolis Colts at Dallas Cowboys

Good cop: Bright lights and big stars in this game with Andrew Luck sauntering into Dallas to play against Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, and DeMarco Murray!

Bad cop: For the last time, offenses don’t play against each other. Gah. These are the two most overblown and overrated teams in the league. Have fun with them before they go out in the first round of the playoffs.

SUNDAY, December 21, AT 8:30 P.M. ET

Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals

Good cop: The Cardinals clinched a playoff spot last weekend but they’re very much a team in the process of adjusting and evolving! For the third time this year, they have to integrate a new starting quarterback!

Bad cop: Ryan Lindley against the Seattle Defense? Ouch.

MONDAY, December 22, AT 8:30 P.M. ET

Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals

Good cop: A primetime meeting of two playoff teams! It’s got talent and intrigue! Is Peyton Manning injured?

Bad cop: Is Andy Dalton still a starting quarterback in the NFL? Why?

NFL Week 12 Good Cop, Bad Cop Precaps

The NFL season has started but how do you know which games to watch and which to skip? Ask our favorite police duo with their good cop, bad cop precaps of all the matchups in the National Football League this weekend. To see which games will be televised in your area, check out 506sports.com’s essential NFL maps.

Week 12

Sunday, November 23, at 1:00 p.m. ET

Cleveland Browns at Atlanta Falcons

Good cop: The Browns are only one half game out of first place in their division and the Falcons are tied for first place in theirs! As we get closer to the end of the season, the margin for error gets smaller and smaller!

Bad cop: All that is true but what you’re glossing over is that the 6-4 Browns are tied for last place in their division while the 4-6 Falcons are tied for first in theirs. Divisions are stupid.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Chicago Bears

Good cop: These teams both had big wins last week to keep their seasons alive!

Bad cop: Alive but in a persistent vegetative state.

Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans

Good cop: These teams have shown themselves to be adaptable survivors this year! The Texans are on their second quarterback of the year and may be missing their best running back too! The Bengals were without their best offensive player for more than a month! These teams show how football is a true team game!

Bad cop: It’s a team game but that doesn’t mean you can win the Super Bowl without stars. These teams don’t have stars.

Detroit Lions at New England Patriots

Good cop: I can’t wait to see this game! The Lions have a top three defense this year but no one is smarter at figuring out how to attack defenses than Patriots coach Bill Bellichick and quarterback Tom Brady!

Bad cop: I got nothing.

Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings

Good cop: The Vikings are building a new stadium, so this year they are playing outdoors on the University of Minnesota’s field! That means these two NFC North division rivals will get to play a cold-weather home game in Minnesota! Old-school!

Bad cop: If the Vikings defense manages to even dirty Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ jersey a little bit, I’ll be surprised.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts

Good cop: Young quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Blake Bortles might be rivals for the next decade or more!

Bad cop: True. And maybe one day it will be a good rivalry, but for now I’m guessing we’ll see another game like the one between them earlier in the year when the Colts beat the Jaguars 44 to 17.

Tennesse Titans at Philadelphia Eagles

Good cop: The Eagles try to get back on track after their blow-out loss to the Packers last weekend!

Bad cop: And if they can’t beat the Titans, watch out for the Philly fans to pelt the field with boos, bottles, and batteries. That’s how bad the Titans are. That’s how they do in Philly.

SUNDAY, November 23, AT 4:05 and 4:25 P.M. ET

St. Louis Rams at San Diego Chargers

Good cop: The Rams are giant killers! They specialize in bringing strong teams to their knees! Their last three wins have been against the excellent Broncos, 49ers, and Seahawks! Let’s see if they can keep it going against the Chargers! 

Bad cop: I’m not sure that I’d label the Chargers as an excellent team. In fact, I’m sure I wouldn’t. The Chargers’ last four games have been a close win over the Raiders, close losses to the Chiefs and Broncos, and a terrible loss to the Dolphins. The Chargers are just bad enough to easily beat the Rams.

Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks

Good cop: If the Seahawks lose this game, they’re morally eliminated (as opposed to mathematically) from catching the Cardinals for the division title! They’re gonna play hard!

Bad cop: Of course they will. Professional football players are paid to play hard. That said, you’re right, I think this will be a good game too. Which, means it will probably be terrible. Might as well just skip it.

Miami Dolphins at Denver Broncos

Good cop: The Dolphins are one of the hottest teams in the league over the last two months! Their only two losses in that time were three or four point losses to quality teams! Meanwhile, the Broncos just lost a stunner to the Rams! I think the Dolphins have a shot here!

Bad cop: Facing a pissed off Peyton Manning at home in Denver? I don’t think so.

Washington Redskins at San Francisco 49ers

Good cop: The two biggest soap-operas of the 2014 season face each other in a football game! How could you miss this?!

Bad cop: Daytime television at its worst.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, AT 8:30 P.M. ET

Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants

Good cop: The Giants are the most dangerous kind of rival — the rival with nothing to play for except your demise! Watch out Cowboys!

Bad cop: The Cowboys are the most dangerous kind of rival — the rival that’s better than you. Watch something else.

MONDAY, November 24, AT 7:00 and 8:30 P.M. ET

New York Jets vs. Buffalo Bills in Detroit

Good cop: Fresh off their good deeds, the Buffalo Bills travel to Detroit to cheer up their fans with a victory!

Bad cop: I have to say, after 9+ feet of snow in a week, I do hope the people of Buffalo get their power back in time to see their team beat the Jets.

Baltimore Ravens at New Orleans Saints

Good cop: Despite their up and down seasons, these two teams are still in the drivers seat to make the playoffs… if they can win this game!

Bad cop: I like the driving metaphor. The Ravens are stuck in a traffic jam in the AFC North division. The Saints are close to the head of the pack in the tricycle race that is the NFC South.

NFL Week 10 Good Cop, Bad Cop Precaps

The NFL season has started but how do you know which games to watch and which to skip? Ask our favorite police duo with their good cop, bad cop precaps of all the Week 10 matchups in the National Football League this weekend. To see which games will be televised in your area, check out 506sports.com’s essential NFL maps. If you’re worried about watching too much football or if you’re negotiating for a little break during the weekend, read our weekly feature, Do Not Watch This Game.

Week 10

Sunday, November 9, at 1:00 p.m. ET

Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills

Good cop: This game is for the real football fans out there! The teams may not be glamorous but they’re both 5-3 and playing great football! I can’t wait to see it!

Bad cop: Not glamorous is an understatement for teams featuring Alex Smith and Kyle Orton as starting quarterbacks. Even the biggest football fans in the world wouldn’t know those guys if they bumped into them in the super market. Unless Orton had his famous neck beard. Neck beard.

Tennessee Titans at Baltimore Ravens

Good cop: The Baltimore Ravens are the best last place team in football! A win this weekend is going to start their run to the playoffs!

Bad cop: The Tennessee Titans are the WORST third place team in the NFL by far. Can you say blowout? 

Dallas Cowboys vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (In London)

Good cop: Will Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo play with two broken bones in his back?!? What a tough guy! That’s a game I want to watch!

Bad cop: The Jaguars always play with at least two broken elements of their team. The Cowboys could beat them without ever even attempting a pass.

Miami Dolphins at Detroit Lions

Good cop: Without ever making headlines, these two teams are quietly among the best in the league! They have great defenses! Neither team gave up a point last weekend!

Bad cop: Sure… the Dolphins shut out the Chargers and the Lions… had a bye week. Cheap stat.

San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints

Good cop: Whoooo! This is an exciting game! Both teams have underachieved this year and both teams need to win this game! At 4-4, a loss here could end the playoff chances of either team!

Bad cop: You’re overselling that a little. A loss would be disastrous for the 49ers but the Saints are actually in first place of their division at 4-4, that’s how bad their division is. The Saints can afford a loss here.

Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets

Good cop: Ben Roethlisberger has thrown twelve touchdowns in the last two weeks!

Bad cop: The New York Jets have eight passing touchdowns this whole year. I keep mistakenly typing their name as the Jest and I think I should stick with it.

Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Good cop: If 8-8 might win this division, the 1-7 Buccaneers still have life!

Bad cop: Amazingly, that’s what they’re thinking too. As evidenced by them switching back to unsuccessful veteran quarterback Josh McCown.

SUNDAY, November 9, AT 4:05 and 4:25 P.M. ET

Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders

Good cop: These teams hate each other! The Raiders would love to continue the Broncos losing streak!

Bad cop: One loss creates a losing streak? The Broncos lost last weekend and now they’re mad. You think the Raiders are going to even score in this game? Bah.

New York Giants at Seattle Seahawks

Good cop: This is an unexpectedly important game for the standings! With the Cardinals running out to a two game lead over the Seahawks and the Eagles and Cowboys ahead of the Giants and looking strong, these two teams need to win to stay in the divisional race!

Bad cop: I have no idea what will happen in this game. But I can’t see it being exciting. These teams induce my afternoon football nap more than any other teams in the league.

St. Louis Rams at Arizona Cardinals

Good cop: The Rams may be a losing football team but they love playing within their division! They are 2-1 against divisional opponents and they just beat the 49ers in a close game! Will they make it two in a row?!!?

Bad cop: Rams are sheep. Sheep need water. Arizona is a desert. No, the Rams won’t win.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, AT 8:30 P.M. ET

Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers

Good cop: Old time football! Outside! Freezing cold! The forecast says it will be 34 degrees at kickoff!

Bad cop: So it will probably be 65° and sunny. Did you see Patriots quarterback and star curmudgeon, Bill Belichick go off on the weather forecasters this week?

MONDAY, November 10, AT 8:30 P.M. ET

Carolina Panthers at Philadelphia Eagles

Good cop: It’s a classic matchup of star quarterback versus offensive system! The Panthers have the quarterback, Cam Newton, but the Eagles have the system! Even with a new quarterback, Mark Sanchez, coming in, my bet is on the system!

Bad cop: You do know that the offenses don’t actually play against each other, right? There are so many other factors that go into winning a football game, something that, dare I mention it, the Panthers haven’t done since October 5.