DIVISIONAL WEEK CARTOONS: BEST WEEK OF FOOTBALL OF ALL TIME?
That was the best weekend of football I’ve ever seen. Not just the Bills/Chiefs game, every game. The entire weekend. Every game was a masterpiece. Everything was absolute chaos. Every second of this weekend was delightful. I am flabbergasted at what I saw. Just…outstanding. This is the kind of weekend that makes you remember why the sport is worth watching. Why the sport is worth fixing. Why the sport is worth saving. Absolutely beautiful.
Let’s just…look back at everything that happened this weekend
-Both #1 seeds got eliminated in the divisional week. This has never happened before. It happened in one day.
-All 4 games featured walk-off scores for victory. 3 of them were last-second field goals, the last a touchdown.
-A 27-3 lead, squandered completely, as the greatest QB of all-time leads another comeback for the ages…only to lose at the last second thanks to an aging QB finally getting a chance to win games that matter
-Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers got knocked out within 24 hours of each other and this will be the first year without one of them in a championship game
-Joe Burrow gets sacked 9 times and still wins
-The 49ers won despite not scoring a single touchdown on offense or defense. They also blocked a field goal and a punt.
-The Packers got eliminated by the 49ers, Rodgers big nemesis team that he notoriously wanted to go to, for the 4th time, and quite possibly his last time as a Packer
-The goddamn amazing Titans INT and AJ Brown one-handed TD to tie the game
-Patrick Mahomes threw for 177 yards after the two-minute warning
-Bills/Chiefs scored 25 points with multiple lead changes in less than 2 minutes
-Cooper Kupp saves the day for the Rams
-The world collectively shits on Aaron Rodgers after the MVP puts up a pathetic performance in what is supposed to be perfect GB homefield advantage conditions
-Robbie Gould sending the Packers to hell
-The Chiefs formed a comeback in 13 seconds, one less second than it took for Dallas to lose a game on a dumb call
-Tom Brady got called for unsportsmanlike conduct
-Everything about Bills/Chiefs. Straight up everything. That might be the best game I’ve ever watched.
-This is somehow the same sport that the New York Giants play
I don’t know what else to say. The only negative I can even think of right now is that we might get a 3rd straight year with the Chiefs in the Super Bowl and that’s kinda boring. But the team is still so fun and Mahomes still young and cool so it’s not even that negative. I guess Tyreek Hill still being around sucks, and the Chiefs Tomahawk chant is still racist. But that’s basically it unless you personally hate one of the remaining teams!
Here are the cartoons. I have included the Bills cartoon because I finished it too, and that game is the first game I’ve ever seen that truly deserved both pictures get made.
There is no way either of these games matches this weekend, but maybe we’ll get lucky and still get two good games.
49ERS @ RAMS
This is pretty much the dream scenario for the 49ers. Only the Eagles would have been a better NFC matchup for this game. Kyle Shanahan owns the Rams. They beat them twice already this season, and I’m not sure how confident anyone can be in the Rams after they almost squandered a huge lead against the Bucs. The 49ers defense is unbelievable, and honestly, unless Deebo gets hurt, this feels set up for a return to the Super Bowl for the 9ers. The only hope the Rams have is to make Jimmy win the game with his arm, as Jimmy is easily the worst QB remaining, and he likes to fall apart when it matters. But still. I think the 49ers are going back. They remind me a lot of the 2007 Giants.
If the 49ers win, I will draw Kyle Shanahan spanking his son, Sean McVay
If the Rams win, I will draw Von Miller and Aaron Donald as the two T-rexes from The Lost World, ripping Jimmy in half
BENGALS @ CHIEFS
This one feels more one-sided. The Bengals feel like the worst team left. The Titans were a good matchup and honestly kind of a fraud #1 seed. The Chiefs are far too dangerous. Burrow to Chase is as good as any connection in the game but I’m not sure they have what is necessary to keep up with the Chiefs. The Bills had a better chance. This Bengals team has surprised everyone this year, and maybe they can do it again, but It’s hard to pick against the Chiefs. I’m predicting a Chiefs/49ers rematch, which is the most boring outcome IMO, but the most likely to me.
If the Bengals win, I will draw Joey The Tiger pulling down a statue of the Walrus as King of the AFC
If the Chiefs win, I will draw Kermit Mahomes pouring ketchup on Skyline Chili
Yes, you can expect an updated version of the Packers Playoff Pain comic this week, feels like a necessity. The other one will probably be about the overtime rule problem as the Bills/Chiefs game has reignited the discourse and I have thoughts.
Also rank your ideal SB matchups! Mine:
49ers/Bengals
Rams/Bengals
Rams/Chiefs
49ers/Chiefs
The two #1 seeds got bumped out in the divisional round in 2010. Special shoutout to the 14-2 Pats and MVP Brady getting kicked by Rex and the Sanchise.
Ironically, the other game was Aaron Rodgers beating the 13-3 Falcons en route to his first and, to date, only Super Bowl.
And 2008 when two 6 seeds made it to the championship games
This past week was amazing for football. I also wanna point out both #1 seeds loosing the divisional has happened before though. The 08 playoffs had the Giants and the Titans lose when they were the #1 seeds.
Both 1 seeds also lost in 2010. New England and Atlanta both got knocked off at home by 6 seeds, and neither game was particularly close either.
And while we’re pointing out statistical errors, this is also not the first year the Championship Games haven’t included Rodgers or Brady. In ’09, it was Vikings/Saints, Jets/Colts. Rodgers and Brady both went out in the Wild Card round that year.
>This is somehow the same sport that the New York Giants play
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Ohh, right:
Rams/Bengals
49ers/Bengals
(the plz god no line)
Rams/Chiefs
49ers/Chiefs
My pick is Rams/Bengals with the Bengals winning. I hate the Chiefs and the 49ers already have 5 titles… they don’t need anymore.
Yep, Rams/Bengals is my preferred Super Bowl, too.
This is straight up, no shadow of a doubt, THE best playoffs I’ve seen in absolutely ages. Those divisionals were totally batshit. No Brady or Rodgers from here on out just makes it immeasurably better – I get to relax into the final two rounds now, satisfied with any combination of results.
As much as I’m happy for Stafford and Garofalo making it this far, I am rage-rooting for the AFC now. It would figure that the year Cincinnati finally breaks through after more than three decades, they look over to the other side of the bracket and think ‘aw for fuck’s sake, not THEM again…’
SF/Cincy (REVENGE!)
LA/Cincy
Either/KC
SF/Cinninnati (old school match-up)
SF/Chefs (9ers should have won SB, but KS)
LA/Chefs (most likely match-up)
LA/Cinn (most unlikely)
Wouldn’t it be ironic if it’s Bengals/49ers, and the poor bengals lose to the 49ers again in the Super Bowl, a repeat of their last two appearances?
/Sees Josh Allen pic
Too early to start drinking?
Overtime should either be a short continuation of normal play or sudden death under normal play conditions. Full stop; end of story.
Look at every sport that tries to fiddle with the rules to make overtime “fair”, but also “wraps up quickly for the sake of our television sponsors”. College football overtime sucks. New baseball over time sucks. Shootouts suck. Penalty kicks suck. Just add some extra time or go untimed sudden death.
I don’t want to hear it about how one side gets the ball. That’s a consequence of rule changes chasing fantasy and gambling money. If you make the rules prohibitively restricting on the defenses they are going to give up scores easily late in games. The later in the game, the easier it will look.
Tweaking rulesets under special circumstances to make football teams play not-football is even more unfair. I don’t know about anybody else, but I tune in to football to watch football. Not to watch both teams get a sanctioned turn from the redzone. Decide a football game by playing football.
Very much agreed. I actually had a huge argument with a friend about this last night, he’s long been a big fan of college overtime rules (minus the laughable 2 point conversion tradeoff they do now if there are too many OTs). He also abhors baseball without the designated hitter, so at least he’s consistent in being wrong about sports rules…
Penalty kicks are great, and generally better than watching tired players dragging themselves on the field for the 30 minutes of extra time. But they should be reserved only for elimination games, where tension goes through the roof. On league/regular season games, doing it just for the sake of “we don’t like ties” would be a bore.
Let’s go Bengals-Rams, the two teams that required their own unique helmet templates in Tecmo Super Bowl. I’ll root for the Chiefs if Snickers agrees to run the old commercial where they guy paints “Chefs” in the end zone during the Super Bowl.
Great googly moogly!
Bengals-Chiefs: It’ll go down to which defense can slow down the other team’s offense. The Bengals defense is playing well above what anyone would’ve thought, but there is a difference between the Titans offense and the Chiefs offense. Still, the Bengals did beat them once before… If the Bengals can slow down the Chiefs offense, they’ll win in an upset. If not, the Chiefs get a lead and start teeing off on Burrow.
49ers-Rams: 49ers playing gritty for two straight upsets, but I’m not certain they’ll be up to beating the Rams. I doubt they can benefit from two goose-eggs. Unless the Rams are suffering from a hangover from last week’s game, they should win.
Potential Super Bowl Matchups:
Personal Favorite: 49ers-Bengals
Most Competitive: Rams-Bengals
Most Predictable: Rams-Chiefs
Most One-Sided: 49ers-Chiefs
just do college overtime rules just do college overtime rules just do college overtime rules just do college overtime rules just do college overtime rules just do college overtime rules just do
College overtime SUCKS. It adds like an extra hour to the game.
still better than current nfl overtime rules
Current NFL OT rules are fine if you just play defense….
Rooting hard for the 9ers. Garoppolo winning it all after they took his replacement when that was what Rodgers was supposed to do would just be *chefs kiss* and there isn’t much difference between the 29th and 32nd pick anyway. Tannekill showing up again to remind people that he’s never going to be a top tier quarterback, and Brady and Allen being gone from the tournament have made me so happy, now all I need is for the 9ers to own the Rams stadium for this postseason to be perfect (my Dolphins winning it all excluded, obviously).
I feel like I see the “Bengals can’t keep up with the Chiefs” an awful lot for a matchup that the Bengals won literally three weeks ago when the Chiefs were trying to clinch the bye.
Post season is different man. The Bengals smacked around the Raiders in the regular season but played a much closer game in the wild card, and that game was at home. Not saying they can’t win, but regular season results don’t dictate playoff results
Cept for Bills-Pats
The funny thing about the Rams-Bucs game is that Brady played like ass and they still nearly came back. The Bucs offense needed short fields to score because they kept turning it over on downs.
It was one of those games where Tampa’s offense could not at all sustain a drive. The Rams (more specifically Cam Akers) basically tried to hand them the game on a silver platter. How they even tied it is beyond me.
Agree with both of you guys. What blows my mind, having seen the game, is all these people running around mumbling, “BRADY ALMOST DID IT AGAIN!!!” I’m sorry, WHAT? Bruce Arians put it best in the postgame, when some slappable reporter asked something to the effect of, “You’ve seen Tom Brady do this before, did 28-3 flash through your mind?”
And Arians scoffs, “It was the defense, forcing turnovers. If we cashed in on a few more of them, we’d have been in the lead.”
Nothing against Tom Brady, but who the BEEP watched that game and puts him at the center of that near-comeback? (Besides Drip Brainless, that is) Not saying he didn’t contribute to get the score closer, but I would argue even Jimmy G would have been able to accomplish this. Let’s check how the Rams drives ended after the score to go up 27-3, not counting the last second FG… I’m referring to screenshots from my phone, so I can’t guarantee my order is correct, and I think I’m missing the Fumble right before halftime, but whatever, this still makes the point…
FUMBLE: 2 Plays Started LA 40 0 yds 0:17
PUNT: 5 plays LA 25 0 yds 0:31
FUMBLE: 1 Play TB 25 -25 yds 0:08
MISSED FG: 9 Plays LA 22 49 yds 5:51
PUNT: 4 Plays LA 31 3 yds 0:30
FUMBLE: 3 Plays LA 20 6 yds 0:55
What part, exactly, did Tom Brady play in this? Was he coaching or playing defense? Or is Tom Brady – holy leader of men – inspiring the defense to start playing well, and he waited until the 2nd half for… reasons? Did he spike the water on the Rams sidelines?
Outside of the missed FG, the Rams had FIVE drives lasting a grand total of LESS THAN 2.5 MINUTES, and they ended with 3 fumbles and 2 punts. I’m gonna go one better than you, and say the Rams tried to hand them the game on a golden platter, encrusted with diamonds. And then Stafford slapped it out of their hands at the last second before Brady could take it.
If there is one argument to be made that Brady had an impact, it’s that the Rams started playing tight and you could say he was part of the reason why. I don’t think the Rams needed another reason to choke though.
I’ll give Brady credit for cashing in on 2/3 of the turnovers that came with scoring opportunities (though, if they get at least a FG on one of them, maybe they take it to OT with a chance to win), but the 13.1 QBR speaks for itself here. If they won, even though he’d be getting all the credit, Brady wouldn’t have been the reason they pulled it out.
I don’t think Brady is entirely to blame for them getting into that hole (the lack of adjustments for Donovan Smith getting drstroyed are what killed them. Brady got a taste of what Mahomes went through in SB55), but he wasn’t the reason they climbed out of it either.
And yeah, you put it way better than I did at the end haha. I was trying to be nice about it
These playoffs have been absolutely elite in terms of chaos.
-Brady/Rodgers getting bounced in the Divisional.
-Both 1 Seeds losing off walk-off FGs.
-NE/PIT/PHI getting eliminated in the same weekend.
-Incredible displays of defensive ineptitude in crucial moments (Bowles and Frazier are not seeing heaven).
-Green Bay’s special teams.
-The Cincinnati Bengals.
I’m honestly happy with any result at this point (I’m rooting for Cincinnati but honestly it really doesn’t matter). These playoffs have been an excellent payoff to one of the most chaotic seasons in NFL History and I only hope that this ride continues into the Super Bowl.
Without getting too acksually, both the 1st seeds in the 2010 playoffs also got eliminated in the divisional
Both the 1st seed in the 2010 playoffs got eliminated in the divisional, acksually
Brady and Rodgers are still two of the best QBs out there (not named Allen or Mahomes at the very least). I understand to a degree being tired of them, and to a larger degree if you don’t like them as humans. But from a football perspective, being glad to see them out of the playoffs (unless your team is one of the ones left) feels like rooting for a lesser Championship Game and Super Bowl
I like Brady. A lot. Probably more than any healthy person should. I’m perfectly fine with him getting knocked out of the playoffs. I don’t have any issues with Rodgers either but from an entertainment standpoint, it gets old watching the same few guys pass the title around. Brady’s won it 7 times, and won his conference a combined 10 while playing in 14 overall. Rodgers has been there 5 times and made it the last 2 years prior. It’s old. We know they’re two of the best to ever do it but I think most people would rather see someone else try to win it for a change. I don’t blame anyone for being happy about it.
Plus it’s not like the guys left aren’t also awesome players. We still have Mahomes who needs no introduction (and has been here before. A lot). Stafford who is looking to finally get his. And an up and coming great in Joe Burrow. Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t anything special but the 49ers as a whole are incredibly fun to watch. One year of Rodgers/Brady not being there is by no means a bad thing. It should be celebrated.
Going with your logic shouldn’t we want to see Rodgers reach the SB, at least? Yeah we’ve seen the same guys a lot, but we haven’t seen A. A. Ron in the big game in over a decade. I’m cool with that, mind you. I think watching him consistently and predictably choke is hilarious as hell. I did think that was happening next week, though, so I guess not super predictable, but still.
That’s a fair point haha. I don’t mind seeing Rodgers make the Super Bowl or Championship Game, but I get why people are kind of sick of him and the Packers in general. They’re always good. We know they’re good because that’s all the media talks about when they aren’t discussing Brady’s legacy for the trillionth time. It gets old and it’s a lot more fun to see other guys get a spotlight.
Every recent Super Bowl with Brady in it has been boring as hell. The dude is entitled to rings, there’s no scrappiness when he’s out there. He’s most fun when he’s getting put in the grass.
Two of the recent ones having been boring (and blowouts are only boring if you’re neutral or a fan of the other team, so I’d give that a half credit). But you’re seriously saying a 28-3 comeback was boring as hell? Or a game with so much offense there were no punts, each QB threw for like 500+ yards, and there were TWO trick plays involving a pass to the QB, one of them for a consequential TD? And Malcolm Butler’s last second goal line interception game was boring? *Every* recent Brady Super Bowl seems like a big stretch.
Second on that Eagles/Patriots game, that was a goddamn beautiful entertaining game, I legitimately smiled for weeks afterwards thinking about it. And even I, a born-and-raised Fins Up Florida Man who had to endure living near Foxboro during Patriots rings 4-6, have to admit that the damn Malcolm Butler and 28-3 games were terribly compelling. Emphasis on “terribly” but compelling nonetheless.
Two things about the Bills’ endgame tactics that pissed me off:
1. I don’t know if this was coaching, play calling, or failure to execute, but on the three most important plays for the Chiefs in the last two minutes and overtime, the Bills’ defense made the same mistake against the same play all three times. Three times at midfield they let a slot receiver get a free release into a bias crossing route. All three times, the receiver found a soft spot in the second level of the defense and got massive YAC. Once on Hardman’s touchdown, once on Hill’s catch to set up the tying field goal, and once on Hardman’s catch to set up Kelce’s touchdown in overtime.
2. It ended up not costing them, but against a similar defense, Josh Allen insisted on attacking the outside of the field when he should have been going inside. At least once it should have resulted in a game ending interception but for a good defensive play by the receiver. If you have a minute and three time outs to get a touchdown, and they’re leveraging your outside receivers, that means the deep middle is open. He finally realized it on the touchdown play.
For the record, I’m in favor of a full ten minute period for overtime. Whoever is leading wins. If it’s a tie, it’s a tie. In the playoffs, they can go to sudden death after one overtime period, but they have to play out at least to minute 70.
1. Rams/Chiefs
2. Rams/Bengals
3. 49ers/Bengals
4. 49ers/Chiefs
This week is going to be rough as a Chiefs fans and also a fan of chaos. If the Bengals win I have no problem rooting for them to finally bring a Lombardi home. On the NFC side I would also love to see Stafford get an opportunity to play for a Super Bowl. Niners/Chiefs feels like the most boring matchup to me.
It sucks that Josh Allen didn’t get a chance at overtime, so the one bad thing about this weekend was it ended on the bad NFL OT rules. Though if that fixes the OT rules this offseason then it’ll be worth it
special teams, which has been abhorrent for the packers for a decade or more, was the biggest reason the packers lost.
BUT.
aaron rodgers has been making me eat shit all year as a packers fan because of his god complex
a complex which he acquired because when the chips are down he’ll uncork some ridiculous 60 yard dime sprinting backwards off his left foot into a tight window just over a defender that will put the packers right where they need to be
and after all that, he gets locked on to a double covered adams and doesn’t wait a half a second for lazard to come open on the most important 3rd down of the game
Rodgers seems to have an issue with being too dependent on Adams.
Rodgers issue is that he only trusts his butt-buddies. Look at the late game where he forces passes to Adams and Cobb instead of spreading the ball around to an open Jones or Lazard. Look how much he complained just to get Cobb back. How much he sulked when the Packers got rid of Jordy Nelson. Aaron wants his cult of personality, but the truth of the matter is he’s not good enough to make that work.
Don’t forget Roger’s best move, eye fuck the refs into throwing a defensive penalty and throwing a 50/50 ball into the end zone on a free play.
Can you please add another year to your “Packers Decade of Failure” comic? It’s salt in the wound as a Packers fan, but might as well keep it up to date.
your ranking is the correct one. GO BENGALS
Regarding ties and overtime:
Regular season — No overtime. Ties are funny. (Even better, give BOTH teams a loss if they’re tied at the end of regulation. THAT would lead to some amusing last-minute desperation playcalling…)
Postseason: THE COIN FLIP MUST DIE. Either (1) play 10-minute period(s) until someone leads at the end; or (2) use the current rules, but give the ball first to the higher-seeded team to make the regular season count even more
how could you remove a tie
Full disclosure I am a Packers fan, but I wonder how much of the Packers hatred is directed more at Rodgers than the franchise. I get hating Rodgers but don’t entirely get hating the Packers franchise, our collapses are well-documented and it’s not like we’ve won a ton of recent SBs like Brady/the Patriots. My point is, once he’s gone – which I think is this offseason – I wonder if other non-NFC Central fans will relish watching the Packers struggle like most of us probably do with the Patriots, or kinda quickly stop caring like most of us did with the Seahawks once it was clear they weren’t a real threat to win it all.
As a 49ers fan, I am just starting to feel a little bit of sympathy for the Packers. The Pack bounced very good 49er teams 3 times in the 90’s when they had a good shot at a title all of those years. I feel it has come full circle.
Now the needed revenge against KC. Easier said than done. Rams won’t be an easy out necessarily too but LA may have more 49er fans than Ram fans there.
Yep, I remember those games all too well … if memory serves, we were immediately beaten by the Cowboys.
Good luck this week. In spite of everything recent I just can’t bring myself to really truly hate the 49ers, it’s been a long ass time since you won a SB and I know better than most how ending a season with a crushing loss detracts from whatever positivity you may have had before the loss.
Speaking only for myself… as a longtime hater of #12, I can affirm in the positive: 99.9999999% of the reason I want your team to die in a fire and for the ashes to be fired into the silent void of space is solely because of Kaaron Fraudgers, the Discount Double Choking Covidiot, Esq. I shall call him nothing other than that going forward.
Kaaron Fraudgers, the Discount Double Choking Covidiot, Esq. is smug, condescending, patronizing, arrogant. He’s basically the mirror image of myself… but shorter and slightly more fraudulent. X’D
He is one of the major reasons you guys can’t get over the hurdle, and he deserves everything coming at him right now. Once he leaves, no worries, you guys are gonna bob right back up to the surface of Lake Likeability.
But before you get your hopes up, that doesn’t necessarily mean on-field success. Your franchise is sadly run by a bunch of morons. As a Giants fan, I feel especially qualified at identifying poor management. So you guys are probably gonna suck for awhile. Here’s hoping you exorcise the demon this offseason, and cheers to the future!
I dunno… before A. A. Ron they had that Bert Farve guy. GB seems pretty good at starting QBs I can’t help but wish failure upon. Who’s the next big QB to hate? I have no idea, but Wisconsin does.
Based on what I can remember from the 80’s (which frankly might not be too strong since I was little), I suspect if the Packers fade into a long wilderness I can’t imagine anyone outside their in division rival fan bases having much ill will towards them. If anything if they struggle post-Rodgers I’d imagine the whole improbable nature of a place like Green Bay having a major league franchise would make neutral fan bases at least sympathetic towards them.
FWIW I honestly think even universal Patriots schadenfreude will fade a lot faster than people think even if they stay as a consistent at least in the hunt team under a Belichick/Jones tandem.
Thank you for posting the Bills drawing too, Dave.
-Robbie Gould sending the Packers to hell
And all was right with the world.
Either everyone was so hyped to comment on their team/the game action/the desired SB matchups, or the commenters here are somehow a magical slice of humanity that is unfamiliar with the Toasty Man. Can’t believe that’s just slipping by entirely.
I didn’t even notice that part. Rest assured though, I’m aware of Ed Boon and he is awesome.
Bless the Maker and His water.
Bless the coming and going of Him.
May His passage cleanse the world.
May He keep the world for His people.
I wouldn’t say that Brady led his team on that comeback. His defense got him a buttload of turnovers and gave him a really short field almost every time. It’s really frustrating to see a defense play so great in a quarter only to have it overshadowed by the standard “BRADY’S THE GOAT!” tripe.
Had he been playing at the same level as he was in the 28-3 legend the Bucs would have won it in regulation, possibly by two scores. The defense stepped it up to that level. I’m not about to say Brady sucked in the second half because he didn’t, but he left a lot of points on the field.