Playoff Picture is Anything But Clear

December football has arrived, soon to be followed by a January filled with postseason memories waiting to be made, then culminating in February with the spoils of victory for the last team standing. And for the moment, who that last team will be is anyone’s guess. Your guess is no better, no worse than mine.

And the suits at 345 Park Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10154 are popping corks every Sunday.

Currently, the Ravens are tied with the Dolphins for the best record in the AFC both sitting at (9-3), although sporting the better conference record, Miami assumes the No. 1 seed. With five games remaining, anything is possible. We only need to look at the results in Week 13 for proof.

In the NFC, the 49ers traveled across the continent this past weekend to skull-drag their hosts and still No. 1 seed in the conference, the Philadelphia Eagles. And in the process, San Francisco exposed all the warts that Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has carefully covered throughout the campaign, while his team earned the league’s top billing leading into Week 13. Today, even though they still own the NFL’s best mark at (10-2), the optics have changed – markedly. That’s what happens when a team comes into your house and pummels you 42-19.

For moment, the Dallas Cowboys join the 49ers as the hottest teams in the NFC. But it’s hard not to overlook the October 8th 42-10 beatdown Jerry Jones’ pride and joy suffered in Santa Clara at the hands of Brock Purdy & Co. The Cowboys are like that attractive girl dressed to the 9’s and made up perfectly for the catwalk. But take off the makeup, and you realize that the beauty is that of a pretender. Until they prove otherwise, that’s what the Cowboys are — pretenders. A good place to start to change the narrative will be in Dallas on Sunday night when the Cowboys host the wounded birds from the city of brotherly love.

If the Eagles hope to send a postseason invite to Kyle Shanahan and his merry band of gold panners for a redo at The Linc in January, they’ll have to do something in Dallas that hasn’t been done all season. Win as a visiting team.

And in The AFC

The AFC is a bit more interesting. The Dolphins are like the NFL’s answer to the Los Angeles Lakers of the 80’s – SHOWTIME. They are fast, explosive and can light up the scoreboard like a winning $5.00 bet on the slots in Vegas. But if forced on the road, do they have what it takes to play winning football in the wintry elements? Perhaps we’ll get to see that first-hand on New Year’s Eve when the porpoise migrate to the Chesapeake Bay area to take on the Ravens at The Bank.

The defending champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, no longer have the offensive firepower that they once had. Patrick Mahomes remains the game’s best, but his pass catchers have failed him regularly and even his favorite target is showing signs of a career tailspin. Of course, I’m referring to the tight end formerly known as Travis Kelce, now the boyfriend of Taylor Swift. And these days, Kelce is looking anything but swift.

Last night, the Jaguars could have wrestled the No. 1 seed in the AFC away from the fish but instead were upset by Jake Browning and the Cincinnati Bengals by the score of 34-31, and in the process, they lost franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence to an ankle injury. But even before the devastating loss of Lawrence, the Jaguars defense at home on Sunday night, looked like melted butter to the hot knife of Browning who went 32 for 37 for 354 yards and a score. The great Jake Browning, who bounced around the Vikings practice squad from 2019 to 2021 before landing in Cincinnati where the Bengals signed him, cut him, and then signed him again, foiled Jacksonville’s attempt to move to the conference’s catbird seat.

After that there’s Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Houston and Indianapolis, all sitting at (7-5). The Steelers must pin their postseason hopes on the great Mitch Trubisky (that’s an oxymoron); the Browns’ playoff aspirations ride on a practice squad quarterback (namely Joe Flacco) and an injured Myles Garrett who failed to register a single statistic despite taking 57 defensive snaps against the Rams. Wow! Superman, meet kryptonite.

Houston is a great story with rookie QB C.J. Stroud, but they just lost their star rookie WR Tank Dell for the season with a fractured fibula. And then there’s the Colts, a team that thought so highly of their postseason chances that they cut loose star linebacker Shaq Leonard who was scooped up by the Eagles. Gardner Minshew is quite resourceful, but not THAT resourceful. No one is really worried about the Indy Irsays.

And this brings us to the Ravens…

The Ravens have played a few stellar games, both against NFC opponents, drubbing the Lions 38-6 and the Seahawks 37-3. Those games showed the world what the Ravens are capable of. But John Harbaugh’s team lacks consistency, and the root of the inconsistency sits on the offensive side of the ball. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s unit has no identity. They’re ok at many things, but they just can’t seem to carry momentum from one game to the next and those problems all start with the offensive line.

Morgan Moses, a dependable right tackle throughout most of his career, has been saddled with nagging injuries over the past several weeks. Meanwhile, former All Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley is but a shell of the player he once was. If the Ravens are going to make a postseason push for the franchise’s third ever Super Bowl Championship, these two must play better – much better. Otherwise, the Ravens will continue to be regular season contenders, playoff pretenders during the Lamar Jackson era.

What team will bathe in the glow of sparkling confetti at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024, remains to be seen. It’s there for the taking for the right team that gets hot at the right time in a league that has no alpha team – only betas.

And that’s exactly what Roger Goodell and his cronies signed up for.

Keep your hands inside the cart and enjoy the ride.