Now that the regular season has determined who the 6 team are that will vie for  the coveted Lombardi trophy, let’s take a look at the Saturday’s Wild Card match ups of the first round of these 2013 playoffs.

Game 1 Bengals vs Texans. The Texans have gone into a slid losing the last 2 games of the year and losing the #1 seed and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Psychologically, it has to have an adverse affect on this football team. You want to be peaking at this time of the year, not looking for answers.

The Bengals defensively present some problems for the Texans as one of the leagues better units. They lead the league in sacks and can generate pressure with just their front 4 as well as Mike Zimmer’s sophisticated blitz package. The  main factor for the Texans will be if they can get Arian Foster going. If they can the pressure on Matt Schaub will be minimal and he will be able to manage the game, if not the Texans will lose this game. Matt Schaub in my opinion is the lynch pin, he can make all of the throws, but he becomes very average when he has to carry the team throwing it 40 plus times. 

The Bengals offense can present some issues with their run game with BenJarvis green-Ellis and Andy Dalton has enough good receivers (AJ Green & co) to utilize play-action passing. The Texans defense has struggled, teams have beat them with balance and Marvin Lewis knows they cannot allow JJ Watt and that Texans defense to tee off on Dalton. The Bengals will make the Texans one dimensional to take the win, 24-14.

Game 2,  Vikings vs Packers, it is hard enough to play a team twice in one season, let alone a third time. They know each other extremely well and know what the dynamics are of winning and losing this match up. The Packers need to limit Adrian Peterson and that’s a tall order; he’s rushed for 409 yds on 55 carries and 3 TD’s in the 2 previous games. If they can make the Vikings one dimensional Christian Ponder will struggle.

Aaron Rodgers has the full compliment of his receiving corp available, the Packers will post points. A running game will make the Packers indefensible, but they’ve struggled to find a rushing attack all season, the Vikings consistently pressured Rodgers last week. Some tweaks and adjustments are forthcoming for the Packer offense and the Vikings secondary is beat up, Rodgers will look to take advantage of the Vikings young replacements. They will be groomed and coached to expect to see the previous Packers tendencies, but McCarthy and Rodgers adjustments will make a huge difference. Packers win 32-14.

Seth Joyner

As the NFL coaching carousel turns, and with the college bowl season wrapping up, vacancies should start to fill up very quickly.

The Kansas City Chief’s and Andy Reid have agreed that he will be their next head coach. The interview early on seem to have gone well enough for Reid to cancel other interviews with the Arizona Cardinals and potentially the San Diego Chargers.

Andy Reid is the type of coach who like to do things his way. The fact that the Chiefs are willing to give Reid control and power over player personnel matters was the deciding factor. Ultimately a head coach knows the type of players that fit their offensive and defensive systems. I liken a head coach to a chef, a he never sends someone else to shop for the ingredients he will use to cook, he does all the shopping, because he knows what’s necessary to create his dishes. Likewise head coaches like to evaluate and bring in the type of players they feel will give them the best chance to succeed.

Andy’s success as a head coach is unquestionable, 9 playoff appearances in 14 seasons, 5 trips to the NFC Championship game and 1 trip to the Super Bowl validates his ability to be a good coach in the NFL.

What I question is why the Chiefs, beyond control. They are a team that has great talent, but most of it is on the defensive side of the ball, with 5 Pro Bowlers on that side of the ball. But on the offensive side they are abysmal at best, with major questions at the QB, OL and WR position. Although Reid has worked wonders with a variety of QB’s in the past, his options at the moment are limited at best with Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn, and this years draft is thin as far as QB’s go. So you have to ask, is this a total rebuild in KC, in a league that demands that head coaches to win now? The Chiefs are a prime candidate for a rebuild for their long term benefit, at least on the offensive side of the ball. Is this what KC and Reid has agreed to? He was successful in turning the Philadelphia Eagles around and providing organizational stability, will he be given the time, resources and players to do the same in Kansas City is the big the question moving forward.

With the proper staff defensively, this team can be good, they were built by Romeo Crennel and if he is good at any facet of coaching it is at defensive football. But the problems with this football team is clearly offensive production and this will be Reid’s challenge. What moves will he make and how much will he uses RB Jamaal Charles given his desire to pass, and lastly how will he improve the QB and WR positions. With the 1st pick in this years NFL draft, that’s a great place to start.

Seth Joyner

Take nothing away from the AZ Cardinal, they basically dismantled the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles brain trust (Andy Reid and staff) did little to put their players, in particular his QB in position to succeed, and at the end of the day that’s their job. After all of the money that Eagles owner Jefferey Laurie has doled out to make this team a Super Bowl contender, even Laurie has got to be wondering what has gone amidst with his team.

Offensively, Reid is stubborn in his play-calling. No QB can survive against good defenses throwing the ball with the predictability and frequency that the Eagles do. Defenses are pinning their ears back and coming after the QB and playing the run on the way. LeSean McCoy is without question a top 5 running back in the NFL, it is unconscionable that he could go an entire half and only touch the football 5 time. Michael Vick needs to make better decisions with the football, but Reid’s play-calling is a direct reflection on how Vick is playing. The odds are that if you pass as much as they do, interceptions, sacks and fumbles are bound to happen, more balance lessens the odds. Lastly, when you lose two of your best offensive linemen, commons sense would tell you that position is now weaker. Why protection adjustments aren’t made is beyond my comprehension. The Cardinals ran the same blitz the entire 2nd half and the Eagles never adjusted, no max protection, no sight adjustments and no shortening of their routes to allow Vick to get the ball out of his hands quicker. If the Eagles ran the ball with consistency it would help a young inexperienced O-Line, keep defenses honest and protect a fragile QB that quite frankly this team can ill afford to be without.

It is always one thing or another with this team, when the offense is rolling the defense falls behind and vice verse when the defense is playing well, which is currently case. Defensively the front seven with the additions of Ryans and Kendricks at Linebacker, makes this a formidable defense. The secondary now needs to catch up. They never should’ve let Asante Samuels get away, Nnamdi Asomugha is a joke, how he’s gone from a elite player to an average player at best I don’t get. He looks lost, lacks confidence, looks timid and opponents see it, he’s gone from being a feared  shut-down corner, to the target each week. The rest of the secondary is young but making great strides each week.

The fact that the owner has allowed Reid to go into the final year of his contract without talks, speaks volumes about his future with the team. If the Eagles don’t advance to the Super Bowl I believe Reid is done in Philadelphia and rightfully so, it’s time for change. The way he’s coaching this team at this moment seems like he’s expediting his exit. I guess you really cannot teach an old dog new tricks, if he doesn’t run the ball, the fans, media and owner will run him out of the city of brotherly love. As with the players it is always about what have you done for me lately!

Seth Joyner

The NFL’s worst nightmare is now a reality. To sell the replacement officials to the players, coaches and fans is a joke and the NFL owners and Commissioner is to blame. A missed call here, a incorrect call there from time to time is human, but the debacle we watched last night is a travesty for the league and the Green Bay Packers. The NFL officials are in place to enforce the rules of the game, like any sport we want the game officiated fairly, but the officials should never have a hand in determining the outcome of a game. That all changed last night as the Seattle Seahawks stole or were given a game they didn’t rightfully win. The NFL just compounded the issue in a statement they released stating that they stand by the referees call, not surprising. I was asked last week what I thought about the possibility of a quick resolution after the gaffes of weeks 1 and 2. I stated that the referees are not the commodity for the NFL, the players are. When the players were locked out last year I knew no games would be lost. The NFL is a 9 billion a year industry and the players nor the owners were looking forward to losing a penny, but officials are expendable. A resolution will not be realized because the officials do no affect the NFL’s bottom line, so the owners will continue to hold their line because they can. The noise and disgust of the players, coaches and fans do not affect the owners, only the all mighty dollar. The only thing that will bring resolution will be the fans not going to games, not watching the games on TV and ratings falling. You and I both know that won’t happen. We’ve all waited since February for football to return. With 17 regular season games opposed to 162 or 82 football fans won’t miss a quarter and the NFL owners know this. What’s at stake here, the integrity of the brand, the demise of the legitimacy  of wins and how that will probably affect teams that make or don’t make the playoffs and where they are seeded. In the end that should be determined strictly by the play on the field and the work the players put forth to get there, not by the owners, replacement refs or the regular refs.

Seth Joyner

I viewed an interesting story on ESPN about QB mentoring. It was quite the opposite of what I believed the process to be. As a young linebacker, when I came into the league I was fortunate to have a veteran take me under his wing and show me how to be a professional, while other vet’s told me to go right when I should’ve been going left, ultimately I became a started and 2 years later he was released, but that is the nature of the beast. He taught me how to study, prepare, how to conduct myself as a professional on and off the field. He told me where to go and where not to go, what to do and what to do, and who to hang out with and who not to if I wanted to be successful in the NFL. As he did with me, I felt compelled to pass on the knowledge that was imparted upon me, for two reasons; first, the team is only as strong as its weakest link, so it’s important that the young players progress and get better because you never know when the team will need them to step up and replace an injured vet. Secondly, what happened to paying it forward? I was shocked to observe the attitudes of greats like Joe Montana and Brett Favre. Teams will always bring in younger players to replenish the roster and upgrade the talent level of the team; competition brings out the best in everyone and is the one thing that will make your team better. And if a younger player was brought in to challenge for my job, I competed; simple that’s what sports are all about.

Both Favre and Montana talked about their discomfort in dealing with their backup in waiting. Favre flat out said, “He didn’t feel any responsibility in helping Aaron Rodgers progress,” and Montana said, “He felt uneasy about the presence of Steve Young.” Montana came back from injury early to maintain his job as starter, talk about motivation. Drew Bledsoe still speaks about the Brady transition and how it was a bitter pill to swallow. The success of the team and a personal belief in self are two of the most important qualities needed to be a successful QB. Coaches talk all the time about the team being more important than any one player, the QB is an extension of the Head Coach, the second in charge in terms of leadership on and off the field. So the requirement of a leader is to lead by example and mentor young players in the game and in life. What if a starter gets hurt, next man up. Brady won Bledsoe a Super Bowl ring because he was ready to step in effectively and efficiently when Bledsoe got hurt. That is the role of a backup at any position. So I’m a bit perplexed with the true attitude of these great field generals and their lack of leadership in this area. I wonder out loud if this is the norm or the exception in the NFL, I get it; it is about survival and self-preservation. I understand that ego has its role in sports, for the player who doesn’t believe he’s the top dawg, success will never become a reality, so where is their self-confidence to lock down their position while helping young players get prepared to replace them if they are injured or when the time comes for them to retire? Competition will never go away, and inevitably the day will come when a player’s body just can no longer do what the mind commands it to do. Football is a young man’s game and while the coaches and organizations are invested in the progression and development of their young players, it is paramount to team success that veterans approach this issue from the same perspective, for the overall betterment and growth of the game.

Seth Joyner

I am a bit perplexed with all of the commotion over the NFL’s investigation into bounties on the part of the New Orleans Saints. If the league thought that this was something new, they’ve been asleep at the wheel. I watched a debate between former player on ESPN yesterday, the focus was on intent, from a defensive players perspective the intent has always been to take the opponents head off bounty or not and a few dead Presidents was never the motivating factor but the reward. 

It is particularly intriguing how opinions range between offensive and defensive player, players in the media who are trying to be politically correct and the ones who are just football purest. If I was an offensive player I would be outraged, being that I wasn’t though, allow me to interject my thoughts here. 

Football is and always has been a physical game, that being said, whether a bounty was offered or not players have always competed. Defenses have always been at a disadvantage, offenses know  where they’re going, yet defenses have to read and react. The big hit has always  been the field leveler, intimidation has been major factor in the game of football. How does a defense gain the upper hand by punishing offensive players whenever the opportunity presents itself. I do not agree with or condone dirty play, but the game that I knew and many of the ex-players that now have a platform to speak from knew was a vicious game. If I had an opportunity to hit someone so hard that I may hurt them “Hell Yes” I wanted that hit, because it sent a message, that if you came my way there was a price to pay, that is football, it also was a tone setter for the game.

The league has done all it could to lessen the ferocity of the  game by protecting offensive player, particularly the QB’s and WR’s, the game is set up for offenses to blow up scoreboards. But the NFL is two-faced in their approach. They create big hit DVD’s every year and sell them for profit, but they fine some of the same players on those reels for some of those same hits. Teams around the league offer incentive money, for tackles, sacks, interceptions and TD’s, in reality what is a bounty, nothing more than incentive money for big hits! Again, I firmly state I am  against intentional illegal hits to take a player out of a game, but a big hit is as much a part of the game of football as tackling and blocking. 

What is really at the core of all of this? As this unfolds in New Orleans the NFL will find itself dealing with it on just about each and every team. Sometimes it is managed solely by the players, other times the coaches will determine whether a hit is a big hit or not. It will never go away because the money doesn’t come from the organizations, the money comes from the pockets of the players. They understand that money is a motivating factor for some players, especially the young ones not making much of it, and that motivation can sometimes mean the difference between  wins and a losses. Let’s be honest here, everyone is looking for that something extra to give them an edge and if bounties help motivate some to play harder so be it.

From  what I have witnessed, money  relates to the game from the business aspect of it. Football is a much too demanding game to play purely for the money. Success never comes as a result of a player wanting to make more money, success comes as a result of a player loving the game and possessing the willingness to lay it all on the line to win and to become a champion.

Seth Joyner

The exploits of Tim Tebow is the rage right now, and personally I am happy to see Tebow succeed when the naysayers pontificated with certainty he would fail. He is being scrutinized at every turn, yet in the infamous words of Al Davis, the kid just wins baby! He possesses those intangibles that cannot be taught, he competes and everything about him from his faith, passion and work ethic line up with why he’s a winner.

That being said, let’s look at why he’s been enigmatic for the first 58 minutes of games and flawless over the last 2 minutes. Teams realize that the Broncos are a run first team and really only want to pass when they have to. In order for them to be successful down the stretch and into the playoffs, they will have to develop a better passing attack in a hurry. Teams have blitzed the Broncos and Tebow early in games to create 2nd & long and 3rd & long situations. They’ve also blitzed early to force Tebow to make quick decisions and hopefully mistakes (Int’s), to his credit he has protected the football very well. In crunch time defensive coordinators have lost their nerve, afraid of him getting out of the pocket in single high safety and 0 coverage situations that may allow him to make big plays scrambling.

Tebow’s passing inefficiencies stem from his days at Florida University. He has always played in run first offenses, and play-action passing has afforded him time in the pocket to be very selective in his throws down field, he can throw the football, even if his throwing motion is unconventional by NFL standards. The NFL is a timing passing league because of the speed of defenses, and this is the area in which he is flawed, getting the ball out on time, yet he is quietly getting better at it. With a full off-season of OTA’s, film and coverage study and time to work on timing with his receivers, he will only get better. NFL defenses will only find him even more difficult to stop when this occurs.

The way to beat Tim Tebow in the closing minutes of games is to continue to bring pressure at him, his quick decision making process  is his Achilles heal right now. You have be contain him, because he does understand that man to man coverage offers opportunities to make big plays with his legs, as do most scrambling QB’s. Yet this is the thing that makes coordinators so cautious, an emphasis on containment and pressure up the middle be it with a 4 man pressure or 5 or 6 man pressure will invariably cause his eyes to focus on the rush rather than the receivers down field.

He makes good decisions with the football and the window will close on the opportunity to take advantage of his weakness as he improves. Coordinators had better take advantage of his flaws while they can, because he will only get better. He may never be your prototypical QB, but there have been other unconventional QB’s to succeed in the NFL and in the end W’s are all that matter in the NFL.

Seth Joyner

First off, we know the Eagles are gearing up and are all in for a Super Bowl run. They will be so cap strapped after the next 3 years, they will either have hoisted the Lombardi Trophy or Andy Reid will be fired and the Eagles will be in rebuilding mode.

The Packers seem to still be the team to beat. If they could win it all with all of the injuries they endured last year, what might they do at full force and Aaron Rodgers confidence at an all time high?

The Patriots have loaded up in a sense as well, with Brady getting older; their window seems to be closing, although they’ve gotten younger on defense. The jury is still out on whether Belichick can work his magic and squeeze the last bit of talent out of Chad Johnson and the much maligned Albert Haynesworth.

The Colts seem to have just treaded water. We all know that as Peyton goes, so goes the Colts. Although he has all of his weapons back, now he’s on the shelf. This certainly cannot be good for his timing with his receivers. Curious to see if they’ve manned up any on defense or are they the same old softies vs. the run with two of the best book end pass rushers in the league?

The Steelers didn’t look to good in the preseason opener, but you know that they will be there in the end. Big Ben will need to step up his game and create more production on the offensive side of the ball. Strange to even have to say that about a two time Super Bowl Champ, but it is what it is. Defensively they are still the cream of the crop, although the Packers may have developed the blueprint for beating them; spread em’ out, and if you can protect on the edges you have a shot at beating them.

Even with the addition of Julio Jones on the offense, the Falcons didn’t address their greatest need, defensive stability. Offensively they can score with anyone in the league, but come playoff time, the defense is this teams Achilles heel. They may have to blow up the scoreboard in order to win in the playoffs, yet with the Packers and Eagles offenses, which can score on just about every possession, they’ll have their work cut out for themselves. And both the Packers and Eagles have far superior defenses.

The jury is still out on the Jets as well. Rex is and always will be his old brash and braggadocios self, but can the players ever cash the check he writes year after year. A lot will ride on the development of QB Mark Sanchez and how much he has progressed. If that offense cannot open wide the playbook and take off his reigns, we may very well watch the Jets not even make the playoffs this year. The defense should be ranked among the best again, but the rest of the league is figuring out ways to beat and counter this aggressive attacking style of defense.

The Saints look good in their preseason debut. Anytime you have Drew Brees and a surrounding cast, you have a shot at the title. Now that they have moved on past the Reggie Bush mistake (10th pick overall), they have a truly diverse backfield with Pierre and Ingram. The question mark for this team will be its defense, Gregg Williams certainly will have them ready to play their best, but have they addressed enough issues to make them a contender again?

The rest of the league hasn’t done very much to get better. The Cards finally have a QB (Kolb), but the Rams may very well contend for the NFC West crown. The Bears and Vikings will play second fiddle to the Pack, aaaagain. The Cowboys still lack athleticism, speed and talent defensively to compete with the Eagles, and the Giants stood pat, not really improving in many areas from last season. And the Colts will dominate even with a D-Coordinator change with the Texans, too much to learn too soon, and standing up Mario Williams will diminish his sack numbers and do little to improve the team overall.

With no OTA’s and mini camps to implement new systems, and shortened training camps putting rookies at a distinct disadvantage, football will look sloppy for the first half of the season. Particularly on the defensive side of the ball, where communication is key. New players will be adjusting to new teams and systems, second year players having not really improved much because of the lack of off-season training and rookies will be trying to learn on the go, the quality of play will be ugly for a while. This will give the teams, good teams that have retained the majority of their veteran players an edge on the rest of the league. One thing’s for sure, it will be interesting to watch how teams develop and come around as the season progresses.

- Seth Joyner

Adrian Peterson had to know his comment about NFL players being treated like modern day slaves would draw the ire of many, particularly the media, the general public and his peers. Many found his comment appalling and downright absurd.

How could a professional athlete view the entity which pays him handsomely; $10 million in the coming season, as an establishment that treats him like a slave? The average 9-5 American citizen would love to be in his shoes. Perhaps his choice of words was ill advised, but let’s not look at the obvious, but the much deeper meaning of his comment.

To understand what he really meant we need to understand the establishment of the NFL and how it works. The NFL was the last major sporting industry to embrace free agency or a player’s right to fair and equitable value and compensation.

If someone works for McDonald’s and Burger King offers them $10 more per hour, that person has the right to elevate himself monetarily. No one makes a big deal when a Hollywood actor or actress hauls in a lucrative $25 million salary for a single movie, the truth of the matter is that the actors and actresses like athletes lives in the world of entertainment, but are viewed quite differently.

NFL owners own the entity, but the players make the game what it is. Although the players make tremendous amounts of money, it is their fair share for what they create for the owners and fans. Is it right and fair that the owners can demand that the players give back billions without a reasonable explanation or a financial audit to justify their requests?

Has anyone asked why the owners refuse to make those financials available to the players or public knowledge? Player salaries are public knowledge, because the NFL wants the public to know what they players earn, yet they want no one to know their annual revenues. This is how they justify ticket price increases and make it look as though the players operate from a position of greed, and the public buys it.

The NFL is an organization that understands the importance of control and power, most large corporations operate from this position. At no other point in the world of sports have athletes possessed or exercised so much control over their careers within the business of sports, and do not get it twisted, sports is big business.

The actions of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade pissed people off because they were in total control of their choices and actions. Normally the owners and GM’s call the shots, not so in this case and everyone from media to fans found it appalling that they made the choice they made.

Adrian Peterson’s referral to slavery has more to do with control and power, players versus owners, than it does his or anyone else’s belief that the players are really working in an environment of slavery. Salaries are becoming exorbitant, but they are relevant to the revenues that the owners earn, if the owners couldn’t afford to pay the players what they do, trust me they wouldn’t.

Through this process of collective bargaining, the owners are trying to gain some semblance of control back over their entity; with a rookie wage scale, which I agree with, pulling $750 million per year off the table from the players and implementing an 18 game regular season.

Whenever power and a valuable asset clash in our society, there conflict will reside also. The struggle for what’s right and fair never rests and many will voice their opinions as to what’s right or wrong. It is easy to observe from the outside looking in and voice an opinion, which is everyone’s personal right, but until you know how things operate from the inside out, you’re only voicing an opinion, uneducated as it may be.

Yes Adrian chose the wrong word to express what he really meant to say, but from an inside perspective there exist some validity to his comment. I’m not one to agree with someone because I may be able to sympathize with their position, I write from a position of knowledge, and more importantly, that of my own personal opinion. Let’s look at this from the point of view of  which it was meant, rather from the standpoint of perception. No one making $10 million a year really believes they are being treated like a slave, but there may be some elements behind the scenes that express this kind of treatment that the general public may not be pr.

- Seth Joyner

The NFL combine just wrapped up, a showcase of the top 300 plus NFL prospects going into the 2011 NFL Draft. The question still remains what did we learn about these young men? We know that most of them have spent the last 4 weeks or so working with combine specialists to perform their best over the last 5 days or so.

I’m often opinionated with regards to the combine because while you can measure a 40 time, a vertical leap, bench press, question players and subject them to the wonderlic test, how much can you really gauge, how good of a NFL player will they be?

For the guys that performed well, they have no doubt improved their draft status, while those who had less than stellar workouts have hurt their draft position.

I am constantly amazed and often irritated with the prognosticators who claim that they know where a guy is slotted and how good a player or particular players will be at the next level, and they guesstimate with such conviction.

Many players will fool various organizations by putting up great numbers, and wind up being a bust, while yet others will put up disappointing numbers and yet overachieve.

For all of the things they measure and evaluate, the one thing they can’t determine is what’s in these young men’s chest, heart and desire. I have witnessed many surefire draft picks become busts, and some whom not much is really expected become a diamond in the rough.

When I look at a Tim Tebow and Cam Newton, both are great athletes, but do not fit the mold of a prototypical NFL QB, the one criteria they both fit is that of bonafide winners and young men who have a burning desire to get better, that is a necessary element to all picks. Yet that’s something you cannot measure or teach, they either have it or they don’t.

I wished someone would run the percentages of anointed, surefire first rounders versus the players who flat out overachieve. Most of the players who overachieve are guys who are overlooked, 3rd-7th rounders with a chip on their shoulders because some guru told them that they wouldn’t succeed, not that someone out of the 2011 draft class with wind up in Canton.

At the end of the day, the NFL combine is a joke from the standpoint of all the gurus and experts who claim they know whose real and who’s not. I get it, the evaluation process must to be done, but in the end the only way a team will know for sure whether they hit the jackpot or not will be to put the player on the field and see how he develops.

I’m more concerned with what motivates these young guys, what their career goals are and whether they have leadership qualities about them than the numbers. Some players play faster than their 40 times reflect, some are more aggressive and fiery on the field than anything you can decipher from questions and performance metrics.

It’s always fun to watch and see where everyone winds up, but the real, test and evaluation comes once they suit up and compete against the best in training camp and during games. No one knows for sure what they’ll have for another 2-3 years no matter what the experts have to say or believe.

- Seth Joyner