On Sunday, his team did nothing on offense in the second half, and his defense basically quit playing in the fourth quarter. Also, there was a play in the fourth quarter which had McDermott throwing the red challenge flag. Smart coaches would have snapped the ball quickly to negate a challenge, but the Eagles just took their time, and the play (a great catch by Davonte Smith) got overturned. That\u2019s on Sirianni.<\/p>\n
3) Next weekend, here\u2019s what really matters to all AFC playoff wannabes:<\/p>\n
Denver has the easiest chore. Beat the Chargers at home, and they clinch the one seed. That chore was made easier with the announcement that Jim Harbaugh will not play Justin Herbert on Sunday. Trey Lance, the former number three pick by San Francisco, will start at quarterback for the Chargers. The way some of these games have been going, you still have to believe that the Chargers have a chance. But Denver at home, as we have said many times, is the team with the best home-field advantage in the playoffs. The altitude and the home crowd make for a sometimes unbeatable combination.<\/p>\n
New England needs a Denver loss and a win over Miami at home to clinch the one seed. Both Denver and New England are prohibitive favorites at home. Miami figures to play the Patriots tough, but the Patriots will have home field and the weather in their favor. A Patriots loss opens the door for Jacksonville to leapfrog over them.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville finishes at home with an easier layup game than either Denver or New England. The Jaguars are 12-4, one game behind the Patriots and the Broncos. The Jags need to win to clinch the AFC South, as they have not yet eliminated Houston from the division title. If the Jags win and the Patriots and Broncos both lose, Jacksonville gets the one seed.<\/p>\n
Houston wins the AFC South if they win and Jacksonville loses. The Texans finish at home versus the Colts.<\/p>\n
And if you care, the winner of the Baltimore-Pittsburgh game wins the AFC North, the loser is eliminated.<\/p>\n
Prediction? Denver, New England and Jacksonville all win. Don\u2019t care about the AFC North, but I would probably go with Pittsburgh being at home.<\/p>\n
4) Back to school:<\/strong> I like the field of eight going into New Year\u2019s Day. I look for Ohio State to beat Miami, Oregon to beat Texas Tech, and Georgia to beat Mississippi. As for Indiana and Alabama, this game (the Rose Bowl) will be the most intriguing. The Hoosiers are favored by 7 and haven\u2019t played in Pasadena on January 1st since 1968.<\/p>\n Alabama fell behind Oklahoma in Norman before coming back in the second half. Alabama was here two years ago and lost a tough overtime game to Michigan in the CFP semifinals. This game could go either way. Indiana does not have this kind of tradition in football like they do in basketball even though they do have the Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Indiana was one-and-done last year, being whipped by Notre Dame in the first round.<\/p>\n 5) The Patriots have a bit more to deal with than the Broncos or Jaguars. Stefon Diggs is facing charges of strangulation and assault. Diggs denies these charges, and the Patriots issued a statement in support of Diggs. Despite a scheduled arraignment, Diggs, according to a news report, is trying to negotiate a monetary settlement. Guess that things were going way too smoothly for the Patriots, injuries notwithstanding. That\u2019s the last thing you want to see on the verge of your first postseason in four years. When you sign players with a history of high maintenance, it\u2019s a case of caveat emptor, loosely translated as \u201clet the buyer beware\u201d.<\/p>\n 6) Oh, and then there\u2019s this from Ben Volin of the Globe<\/em> on Tuesday morning: \u201cThe Chargers look like the team everyone should want to play in the first round of the playoffs.\u201d He should amend that with this sentence: \u201cThey also look like the team that everyone should want to play on the final week whereby a victory gets you the playoff seeding you desire.\u201d<\/p>\n So, more than ever, the Patriots should just focus on beating Miami and nothing else.<\/p>\n 7) This has been quite the year for prime-time games. On Monday night, Atlanta held off the Rams in a very exciting game where they trailed at one time 21-0. Then you had a crazy Sunday night game where San Francisco held off Chicago 42-38 in a game that went down to the last seconds. And a week ago Thursday, both Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit called that 38-37 win by Seattle over the Rams as \u201cthe best Thursday night game we\u2019ve ever had.\u201d It\u2019s been like this all season long, it seems. Sometimes, NFL parity is the butt of many football jokes, but overall, it\u2019s not a bad thing.<\/p>\n Which leads us to this prediction: Hang on to your hats, football fans. You\u2019re going to enjoy this year\u2019s postseason. If you can see your way clear of two four seeds, this is a loaded bracket on both sides with lots of very talented teams vying to get into the 60th Super Bowl.<\/p>\n 8) Remember him:<\/strong> The Miami Dolphins played their first ever game on September 2, 1966 in the old AFL. Their first game was at home in the old Orange Bowl against the Oakland Raiders (now Las Vegas). Mike Mercer kicked off to begin the game and the Dolphins franchise in pro football. Joe Auer fielded the ball at the five-yard line, ran straight and then cut to the left. He found lots of open real estate in front of him.<\/p>\n![\"Oct](\"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/USATSI_27425647_168390408_lowres.jpg\")
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