Time to Bill Buffalo for the Super Bowl
It’s time to start considering the Buffalo Bills as serious Super Bowl contenders. They didn’t get off to a flying start this season as injuries affected their defense, which somewhat derailed expectations, but now they’re really in their groove.
They’ve got two key components, Josh Allen at quarterback, and Sean McDermott calling the defense. We’ve seen how they’ve adjusted and improved as the season has progressed, and now they’ve beaten the Kansas City Chiefs.
They’ve beaten them before ahead of the playoffs and haven’t been able to follow that up, but that’s not to say the same thing will happen this year.
The AFC is up for grabs right now because no team has really run away with it, and the Bills are a serious threat.
There are three teams who could be the best in the division in the Bills, Chiefs, and Pittsburgh Steelers, and they’re all capable of beating each other.
Saints finding their feet under Rizzi
Taysom Hill always seems to have one big game every year and this time it came last week against the Cleveland Browns.
Every year he has one game which makes everyone stop and take a second look at him, so it’s a bit early to say that he’s well and truly back.
The Saints have now won two in a row after their seven-game losing streak, and obviously the change in head coach seems to have sparked the locker room back to life.
That can happen for a few reasons, whether it be new ideas or a new energy brought in by Darren Rizzi. A lot of the time, however, it can be players responding to the fact that change is on the horizon and they want to be a part of it.
They’re riding a wave at the moment and we’ll have to wait and see how long it continues for, but I don’t think the playoffs are going to be possible this season.
Rizzi isn’t doing himself any harm at the moment looking ahead to next year. He’s making his case for the full-time role and there’s no better interview process than actual games.
He can put evidence on the table for what he can do with the team, and right now that includes two wins.
Chiefs must make statement against Panthers
The first matchup I want to look at in Week 12 is by no means a classic, but it’s a game that could tell us a lot about the Kansas City Chiefs.
They’ve been winning games by very narrow margins all season and their first loss finally came at the hands of the Bills last week.
By no means am I saying that the Carolina Panthers could spring an upset here, but the Chiefs have to put in a strong performance. They need to make a statement.
They have to look back at everything they’ve been doing wrong so far and fix them.
MatchCombo - Chiefs to win, Chiefs points over 36.5 & Chiefs TDs over 3.5
We all know they’re a good team, but dominant teams don’t play down to weaker opposition and they need to prove that they’re a dominant team. They have to maul the Panthers!
They need to be more efficient on offense, which is a part of their game where they can’t afford to make too many mistakes.
The left tackle position has been a problem as has the pressure being put on Patrick Mahomes. They need to take some of that pressure off Mahomes and find some more explosive runs.
I’m obviously still going to side with the Chiefs here, but it needs to be a convincing victory. They need to go out there and ruin their opposition.
Prediction: Kansas City Chiefs to win
Lamar to take Charge of Family Feud
My second game to watch should be a much more enticing game between two evenly matched teams, made all the more exciting by two brothers going toe-to-toe as head coaches.
The Baltimore Ravens head all the way across the country to face the Los Angeles Chargers, pitting John and Jim Harbaugh against each other.
That’s not the only interesting matchup here though, as we get to see Lamar Jackson up against Justin Herbert. Lamar has been in the MVP conversation all year and we know what he’s about, but Herbert has been playing some serious football. It’s going to be interesting to watch those two.
This game also puts a strong Ravens offense against a Chargers defense which has really caught the eye this season.
Everybody has been praising the defense but now they’re up against the best offense in the league, let’s see how they handle that!
Baltimore are trying to bounce back from a loss while the Chargers want to take their winning streak to five – those are two very different feelings heading into a game.
I can see Baltimore taking the game to this Chargers defense and ending their winning streak. Either way, we’re going to learn a lot about both of these teams in what I think is the must-watch game this week.
Prediction: Baltimore Ravens to win
