| |
|
| Friday, January 13, 2023 |
| Welcome to the Super Wild Card Weekend edition of the Pick Six newsletter! |
| After one year of waiting, it's finally here! Yup, it's my birthday. There's been so much hype about my birthday this week that I was starting to think that everyone had forgotten about the NFL playoffs, but let me assure you that I have not forgotten. As the resident Bengals homer here at CBS Sports, I usually didn't have to pay attention to football in January, because the Bengals were so bad, but now that Joe Burrow is in Cincinnati, I feel like this team will be an annual Super Bowl contender. |
| Speaking of Super Bowl contender, my birthday wish is for the Bengals to win the Super Bowl or for my 2-year-old to magically potty train herself overnight. Honestly, I will take either one. |
| With the playoffs starting, that means we'll be bringing you plenty of playoff picks today, plus we'll also be making some bold predictions for the wild card round and ranking the best possible Super Bowls. If you need a reminder of when each game will be kicking off this weekend, you can go here to check out the entire schedule. |
| Remember, if you're hanging out with family and/or friends this weekend, you should tell them all to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here and then share this link with them. All right, let's get to the rundown. |
| 1. Today's show: Best bets for Super Wild Card Weekend |
| |
| For today's podcast, Will Brinson rounded up R.J. White and Pete Prisco so they could argue about who's going to win every game being played this weekend, and of course, it's an especially big weekend since it's SUPER WILD CARD WEEKEND. |
| The three guys spent nearly 60 minutes going over the best bets for every single wild card game and we're going to cover three picks from each person below. All three guys ended up finishing the regular season with a winning record and R.J. went on a run over the final few weeks to finish 10 games over .500 against the spread, so you might want to pay attention to his picks (Prisco was also 10 games over .500 for nearly the ENTIRE season, but an 0-3 Week 18 crushed his dreams of finishing at least 10 games over). |
| Pete Prisco (0-3 last week in picks covered here, 30-23-1 on the season) |
| Jaguars (+2) to cover against the ChargersGiants at Vikings OVER 48 pointsCowboys (-2.5) to cover against the Buccaneers |
| R.J. White (2-1 last week in picks covered here, 31-21-2 on the season) |
| 49ers (-10) to cover against the SeahawksJaguars (+2) to cover against the ChargersGiants (+3) to cover against the Vikings |
| Will Brinson (2-1 last week in picks covered here, 27-25-1 on the season) |
| Bengals (-9.5) to cover against the RavensGiants (+3) to cover against the VikingsBuccaneers (+2.5) to cover against the Cowboys |
| To hear what the rest of the best bets are for the wild card round, you can check out the episode on YouTube by clicking here. |
| |
| 2. Ranking the best possible Super Bowl matchups |
| With 14 teams in the playoffs, that means there are a total of 49 different Super Bowls that could happen this year. Is that a sign that the 49ers are going to make the Super Bowl? I have no idea, but Cody Benjamin seems to think so. |
| With so many different Super Bowl options on the table, Cody decided to wade through every single possible matchup to rank the best ones and the 49ers were listed four times on his top-10 list. |
| Here are his top-10 Super Bowl matchups that he wants to see happen on Feb. 12: |
1. Bills vs. Eagles
2. Chiefs vs. Eagles
3. Bills vs. 49ers
4. Chiefs vs. 49ers
5. Bengals vs. 49ers
6. Bills vs. Vikings
7. Bills vs. Cowboys
8. Bengals vs. Cowboys
9. Chiefs vs. Buccaneers
10. Ravens vs. 49ers |
| I'm not sure if the Bills and Chiefs paid Cody to make this list, but it kind of feels that way since they're in seven of his top 10 games. As a Bengals homer, I will clearly be rooting for Cincinnati-San Francisco to happen so the Bengals can finally get revenge on the 49ers for beating them in two Super Bowls. |
| If you want to see all 14 games Cody ranked and find out why he ranked each game where he did, be sure to click here. |
| 3. Super Wild Card Weekend picks: Giants and Jaguars both pull off upsets |
| I hope you're not sick of picks yet, because we have even more picks right now as we head into Super Wild Card Weekend (And no, the NFL is not sending me money every time I write "Super Wild Card Weekend," even though they should be). |
| Anyway, we've got four wild card picks for you, and those will be coming from NFL senior writer Pete Prisco, along with Jordan Dajani, Tyler Sullivan and myself. |
| Here's how things are going to work: I'm going to give you one pick from each guy and then direct you to the rest of their picks. That way, if you like their pick, you'll be able to read the rest of them, but if they pick against your favorite team, you can ignore the rest of their picks and move on. |
| Pete Prisco -- Bills (-13.5) 34-21 over Dolphins. From Prisco: "The quarterback situation is in flux for Miami, but I don't think it matters who plays. The Dolphins played well in losing to the Bills late in the season, but that won't be the case here. Josh Allen and the offense will light up the Dolphins defense, while the Bills will limit the Miami big plays. The Bills will be moving on." For the rest of Prisco's wild card picks, be sure to click here. Tyler Sullivan -- Jaguars (+2) 27-23 over Chargers. From Sullivan: "You have two of the brightest young quarterbacks duking it out in their first-ever playoff games with Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence, which feels pretty even. Over the last five weeks, Jacksonville's defense has held opponents to just 15.6 points per game. To its credit, L.A. has been just as good over that same stretch allowing 15 points per game. So with their quarterbacks and defenses playing roughly the same, what's the tiebreaker? Coaching. And I'll gladly side with Doug Pederson over Brandon Staley here." For the rest of Sullivan's wild card picks, be sure to click here. Jordan Dajani -- Giants (+3) 24-21 over Vikings. From Dajani: "I'm going to take the upset here. Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley have craved this stage, and it has to be somewhat comforting to play a team you just faced off against a few weeks ago. The Minnesota defense will make the New York offense look better than it is, as the Vikings defense ranks bottom five in points per game (25.1), yards per game (388.7) and yards per play (5.9) allowed this season. " Dajani actually made an attempt to predict ALL 13 playoff games -- from the wild-card round to the Super Bowl -- and you can check out each one of his picks here.John Breech -- Bengals (-9.5) 27-17 over Ravens. I only have one rule when it comes to picking playoff games and that rule is that if it's the Friday before your playoff game and I still don't know who's going to be your starting quarterback, I can't pick your team to win. Lamar Jackson definitely won't be playing, but the Ravens still haven't decided whether Tyler Huntley or Anthony Brown will be under center on Sunday night (Huntley is dealing with a shoulder injury that could keep him out). For the rest of my wild card picks, be sure to click here. |
| |
| 4. Bold predictions for Super Wild Card Weekend: Mike McCarthy gets fired after Cowboys lose |
| There's nothing we love here more than making bold predictions, so we asked Jared Dubin to come up with some for Super Wild Card Weekend. |
| With that in mind, let's take a look at his bold predictions and let me just say, he's starting off strong out of the gate, |
| Mike McCarthy gets fired. "Earlier this week, Jerry Jones did his weekly radio appearance and stated that if the Cowboys lose to the Buccaneers, Mike McCarthy will not lose his job. I don't believe him. If Dallas loses to Tampa on Monday night (which I, a Cowboys fan, have been predicting will happen since it became clear all the way back in October that we would likely see this matchup on Super Wild Card Weekend), then the Cowboys will have a new coach next season. Whether that's Dan Quinn, Sean Payton, or somebody else, is not yet clear. But it won't be Mike McCarthy." Ravens keep things close without Lamar Jackson, thanks to their defense. "Since their bye, the Ravens are second in DVOA, checking in third against the run and seventh against the pass. That includes the Week 18 game against these Bengals where the Ravens rested a number of players (especially on offense), yet still held Cincinnati to 257 total yards and Joe Burrow to just 5.1 yards per attempt. Baltimore will not have Lamar Jackson under center for this matchup, but we're betting that the defense keeps the Ravens in the game for longer than expected, even if they don't come away with a win. In two games this year, Burrow has struggled against the Ravens, being held under 225 yards each time, just one year after he averaged 470 yards per game against them." Justin Herbert outduels Trevor Lawrence. "After putting together an outrageously good stretch of football from Week 9 through Week 15 (70.4% completions, 14 touchdowns, one interception), Lawrence slowed down a bit over the final three game of the year (67.9% completions, one touchdown, one pick). At the same time, the Chargers defense picked it up a bit over the second half of the year, going from 11th in pass defense DVOA in Weeks 1 through 9 to fourth in Weeks 10 through 17. Meanwhile, Justin Herbert averaged just 6.4 yards per attempt through Week 10. Since Keenan Allen returned to the lineup in Week 11, he's back up to 7.3 yards per attempt. He's completed 71.3% of his passes through that stretch, while throwing just four picks in eight games. Jacksonville's pass defense has been sievelike for most of the season, and that's not good for this matchup." |
| Dubin actually made one bold prediction for each playoff game and you can check those out by clicking here. |
| 5. NFL All-Pro Team revealed: Chiefs, 49ers lead the way |
| |
| Two days after the NFLPA revealed its All-Pro Team, the Associated Press released the "real" All-Pro teams, and we say real, because these are the All-Pro teams that the NFL recognizes. |
| With that in mind, here's the All-Pro Team for 2022: |
OFFENSE
QB: Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs)
RB: Josh Jacobs (Raiders)
WR: Justin Jefferson (Vikings)
WR: Davante Adams (Raiders)
WR: Tyreek Hill (Dolphins)
TE: Travis Kelce (Chiefs)
LT: Trent Williams (49ers)
LG: Joel Bitonio (Browns)
C: Jason Kelce (Eagles)
RG: Zack Martin (Cowboys)
RT: Lane Johnson (Eagles) |
DEFENSE
EDGE: Nick Bosa (49ers), Michah Parsons (Cowboys)
IDL: Chris Jones (Chiefs), Quinnen Williams (Jets)
NT: Dexter Lawrence (Giants)
LB: Fred Warner (49ers), Roquan Smith (Ravens), Matt Milano (Bills)
CB: Patrick Surtain II (Broncos), Sauce Gardner (Jets)
FS: Minkah Fitzpatrick (Steelers)
SS: Talanoa Hufanga (49ers) |
SPECIAL TEAMS
KR: Keisean Nixon (Packers)
PR: Marcus Jones (Patriots)
Core Teamer: Jeremy Reaves (Commanders)
K: Daniel Carlson (Raiders)
P: Tommy Townsend (Chiefs)
LS: Andrew DePaola (Vikings) |
| Overall, the Chiefs and 49ers had four players voted as a First Team All-Pro, which led the NFL. One team that didn't have any All-Pros was the Bengals, who got shut out even though they had the fourth-best record in the league. |
| For a full look at the All-Pro teams, be sure to click here. |
| |
| 6. Rapid-fire roundup: Lamar Jackson breaks silence on injury |
| |
| It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.. |
Lamar Jackson out on Sunday, explains why he can't play. With speculation swirling that Jackson isn't playing because of his contract status, Jackson shot that down on Thursday by explaining why he can't take the field against the Bengals. "There is still inflammation surrounding my knee and my knee remains unstable," Jackson wrote on Twitter . "I wish I could be out there with my guys more than anything, but I can't give a 100% of myself to my guys and fans. I'm still hopeful we have a chance." Jackson suffered a grade 2 sprain of his PCL on Dec. 4 and hasn't played since. With Jackson officially out, that means Tyler Huntley or Anthony Brown will be starting for the Ravens. Huntley sat out last week with a shoulder injury and he hasn't had a full practice this week, so there's definitely a chance that he won't play. Mike Williams out Jaguars-Chargers game, Trevor Lawrence listed as questionable. Lawrence (toe) has been listed on the injury report for the past few weeks, but hasn't missed a game, so it's a virtual lock that he'll play Saturday. However, the same can't be said for Williams. The receiver reportedly suffered a back fracture in Week 18 and is out two to three weeks. That could bring some heat on Brandon Staley, who decided to play Williams last week even though the Chargers had nothing to play for.
Patriots to hire an offensive coordinator. The one-year experiment of letting Matt Patricia call plays was definitely a disaster and the Patriots seemed to acknowledge that on Thursday. The team has announced that it will begin the process of interviewing for a new OC next week. The Patriots never announce anything like this, so this was a surprise to see. The team also announced that it is working on an extension with linebackers coach Jerod Mayo. Jets open to spending big on a QB. The Jets had one of the worst QB situations in the NFL this year and apparently, owner Woody Johnson's plan to fix that problem is to throw money at it. Johnson told ESPN.com on Thursday that the team is "absolutely" willing to spend big on a QB. "We've got a cap so there's an amount you can spend. But, yeah, yeah. That's kind of the missing piece," Johnson said. From Derek Carr to Jimmy Garoppolo to Baker Mayfield to maybe even Tom Brady or Lamar Jackson or Geno Smith, there could be a lot of quarterbacks available this offseason and it sounds like Johnson is ready to open his pocketbook to land one.
Peyton Hillis on road to recovery. The former NFL running back, who has been hospitalized since last week, is no longer on a ventilator. Hillis was admitted to the hospital in critical condition and placed in intensive care last week after he almost drowned while saving his kids from drowning. Hillis' girlfriend, Angela Cole, announced that former Browns running back is off a ventilator and "on the road to recovery."Colts hold interview with Eric Bieniemy. Maybe the Colts aren't going to hire Jeff Saturday? Although Saturday still seems like the favorite in the clubhouse, Colts owner Jim Irsay announced on Thursday night that the team conducted an interview with the Chiefs offensive coordinator. Bieniemy has been a hot name for the last two hiring cycles, but still hasn't been able to land a head coaching job, so this is definitely an interesting name to watch in Indy. |
| In other coaching news, the Cardinals have requested to interview former Dolphins coach Brian Flores. Although he currently has an active lawsuit against the NFL, teams don't seem to be shying away from him. Flores interviewed for the Browns defensive coordinator job on Thursday. We're not going to list every coaching interview here, because it would triple the length of the newsletter, but if you want the latest updates on every coaching and GM interview being held this offseason, then be sure to click here so you can follow along in our tracker. |
| |
| | | | | NCAA Basketball on CBS | | NFL on CBS | Saturday on CBS, it's a Big 10 college hoops matchup featuring the #18 Wisconsin Badgers facing off against the Indiana Hoosiers. The action starts at 1 PM ET on CBS.
Watch Live
| | The NFL playoffs are here, and this Sunday, CBS gets into the action of Super Wild Card Weekend at 1 PM ET when Jaylen Waddle and the Miami Dolphins head to Buffalo for a date with Josh Allen and the Bills.
Watch Live
|
|
| |
| |
