NFL this 'n' that

The 2018 regular season ended Sunday night with Indianapolis claiming the last AFC playoff spot after beating Tennessee. That's the good news. The bad news is that the Colts will play AFC South  rival Houston for a 3rd time this season in the Wild Card round. Speaking of which, the field is now set:

AFC:

Indianapolis @ Houston.
Los Angeles @ Baltimore.

NFC:

Philadelphia @ Chicago.
Seattle @ Dallas.

Right now, these four games are hard to figure. Predictions coming at the end of the week.
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We're in an era when most playoff teams rest some or all of their skill position starters. Dallas QB Dak Prescott opted to play Sunday against the Giants, and it turned out to be a good decision, as he hit Cole Beasley for a touchdown with under a minute to go. That play needed an officals' booth review, because it was originally ruled an incomplete pass. Prescott then hit Michael "Full" Gallup for a game-winning 2 point conversion.

Big Blue finishes its 1st season under Pat Shurmur at 5-11 with room for improvement. I've a feeling that if the Giants want to draft a quarterback again next year to caddy Eli Manning, Shurmur can always consider his son, Kyle, a senior at Vanderbilt.

With a playoff spot on the line, of course Ben Roethlisberger would be under center for Pittsburgh as they beat Cincinnati, but if they really thought the resurgent Cleveland Browns had it in them to beat Baltimore, they were fooling themselves. Despite rookie QB Baker Mayfield's heroics, the Browns came up short, as Pittsburgh misses the playoffs, and Baltimore wins its first division title in six years.

Some people, however, let their egos get in the way of common sense.

Chief among these is New England's resident prima donna, Tom Brady, who just had to pad his stats against the Jests, throwing four touchdown passes to as many receivers, none of whom were named Rob Gronkowski, in a 38-3 win. Common sense dictated that Brady sit this one out, as backup QB Brian Hoyer could've done the same thing. Instead, Brady pulled the diva card, and wasn't removed from the game until after he'd thrown his last TD pass to Julian Edelman.

All this proves is that Brady, and not coach Bill Belichick, controls the locker room. New England, as the #2 seed, is assured of just one home game in the playoffs instead of the usual two that go with being the top seed.

Jacksonville, last year's surprise, fell back to earth this season, and star running backs Leonard Fournette and T. J. Yeldon sat out the season finale Sunday. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if both are playing elsewhere next season. Former coach Tom Coughlin, now in the front office, was rightfully upset with the two having a pity party detached from the rest of the team on Sunday.
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The blood letting of coaches started before the end of business on Sunday.

The Jests cut bait on Todd "Salad" Bowles after four seasons. Management seemed to dictate starting rookie QB Sam Darnold over veteran Josh McCown, this after Bowles refused to play the likes of Christian Hackenburg and Bryce Petty in critical situations the last couple of seasons. A promising start, upsetting Detroit on opening night, went by the boards very quickly.

Tampa Bay sent Dirk Koetter over the side after three seasons, none of which produced a playoff appearance. Anyone wanna bet that Bowles will resurface in Tampa?
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Let's try to sort out the playoff picture.

AFC:

Kansas City, the #1 seed, would play the Baltimore-Los Angeles winner unless Indianapolis beats Houston. If that happens, the Ravens-Chargers winner goes to Foxborough to play the Patriots. Otherwise, if form holds, the division round would have Houston at New England, and Baltimore at Kansas City.

NFC:

New Orleans is the #1 seed, followed by Los Angeles, Chicago, & Dallas. The Saints would host either Philadelphia, should they beat Chicago, or the Dallas-Seattle winner. If Chicago beats Philadelphia, it would not only ensure a new Super Bowl champion, but the Bears would play the Rams in the division round.

This will be fun.