NFL Wild Card Weekend -- Nazareth, live from Philadelphia

There is a downside in this case. There is talk he tore it doing something he shouldn't have been doing, which could allow the Browns to get out from under that insane contract they gave him. The Browns should suffer the consequences for bugging that lowlife to sign with them by giving him that ridiculous deal.

 

If Flowers is out for the duration, that’s going to hamper the Ravens, maybe fatally.

Every contender has flaws, so the team that deals with them the best has a good chance. Chiefs O-line problems might be their fatal flaw. But, Mahomes.

 

I can see virtually anything here. The Ravens might win it all. Or they could be dispatched by the visiting Steelers tomorrow.
Ravens are next-to-last all-time in home playoff W% (.444) but the only team above .500 in road playoff games (.579).

 

The Browns should indeed suffer long-term consequences. But if they can prove the injury occurred as the result of impermissible activity and they can win the inevitable union grievance, the serial sexual assailant loses out on a big chunk of cash.

 

The Watson trade and signing has to go down as one of the most disastrous moves in all of sports, yes? Knowing what they knew? The price they paid? The results? L. L. L.

 

I've reminisced about that AFC championship game here before. The Bills' TD was on a pick six screen pass from like the Denver 10 and the Broncos missed three field goals!

Another fun stat for all who care, the Broncos have never won a road wild card game. They are 0-6, the last chance coming in 2004 against the Colts.

Actually kind of crazy how good the Broncos overall have been before this decade of crap. Only eight wild card games in their history (won the two at home). Heck, they've been to eight Super Bowls -- only 1997 coming off playing in the first round. Obviously that was before the seven team era so if they make the playoffs a habit again there will be many more, but to this point that's it.

 

I tore an Achilles last year. I was in a boot for three-plus months, and then only out of the boot during physical therapy for another few weeks (and yes, I'm not an elite athlete, but I was told my recovery was on the quick side). Watson's surgery was Oct. 25, and he posted to Instagram Dec. 26 that he was out of the boot. The Plain Dealer says the injury happened sometime between Dec. 26 and Jan. 5, barely two months post-surgery. Your muscles atrophy so much inside the boot that there's really nothing to support the surgically-repaired tendon, until you build them back up. Watson doing something he shouldn't have been doing probably starts at walking on uneven ground and goes up from there.

 

https://apnews.com/article/nfl-all-pro-2024-cdf9837431c51929b072c357988bc024

I'm not sure this is relevant to the playoffs, but I hadn't seen the All-Pro team posted. It just reminds me to appreciate Cameron Heyward, who made the first team for the fourth time in his 14th season. Quite a few people, including a large number of Steelers fans, thought he was done after last season. He tore his groin at the start of training camp, then tore it worse in the opener. He returned Week 9, but was nowhere close to his normal self. He has been an absolute beast this season.

One thing Heyward hasn't always done well is show up in the playoffs. He is running out of opportunities and his season is likely to end tonight, so I'd love to see him have a good night regardless of how the game goes.

 

So a guy in his mid-30s tears his groin and makes All-Pro? That has to be a first. (Except for those who had already had stellar, nearly full seasons and sustained the injury at the very end.)

 

Plenty of available seats in Houston. But I’m told it’s LA that has crappy fans.