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I have to agree with you and especially on KC's play calling. They also underused Kelce at crucial times his season. That said, Alex Smith looked amazing for a lot of the season and he's a pretty average QB.

I can only hope Fangio is being kept to run the defence.

I wouldn't be too worried about Nagy's playcalling in KC - he was only calling the plays for the final 4 regular season games in which they went 4-0 (Andy Reid called the plays the rest of the year). Despite being somewhat erratic on offense KC did look like the best offense in football for stretches this year which bodes well.

Fangio is a great DC - the best San Fran has had in the last 20 years imo. I was disappointed to see him leave. Chicago would do well to keep him.

Crazy finish.
I thought Cam was just outside the tackle box on the intentional grounding call.
The lack of a redzone target really hurt the Panthers in the end.

Be under no illusions.the jags will cause the pats serious trouble if they win through today.that defence is mean

Bortles will have to play a lot better than today if they even want to get as far as the Pats.

[Chiefs]

Wildcard weekend, who are people picking? I find it hard to make a case for any of the road teams winning.

Titans @ Chiefs
Falcons @ Rams
Bills @ Jags
Panthers @ Saints

There is normally one upset though.

Very interesting article here https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n16/john-lanchester/you-are-the-product

We don't know Cousin's reasons - you are imputing.

But let's suppose for a minute that the reason Cousin refuses to sign is because Washington's evaluation of him does not meet his evaluation of himself, rather than say a desire to play somewhere other than Washington - it's quite a leap to conclude that this means that Washington's evaluation is an accurate evaluation of his true market value. In fact there is a whiff of reductio absurdum about the argument that NFL teams accurately and without fail gauge player value - if all NFL teams accurately gauge the true market value of players there would never be any need for negotiation as it would be futile. Nobody would ever offer an above 'market value' contract and if any team ever offered a below market value contract another team (acting rationally) would step in with a market value contract and sign the player away. There is the further irony in your example of Cousins in that Washington is the team that is synonymous with the bad free agent contract (it's like they invented it!) - Albert Haynesworth for example.

That assumes we know we know why Cousins refused to sign - I don't think we do.

Regardless of the reasons why Cousins refused to sign if your wider point is that NFL contracts are are rational given the market constraints then i don't agree. There are lots of examples of bad contracts were teams have grossly over estimated the value of a player. Furthermore, i would argue the ability to accurately gauge the value of a player is one the key factors that distinguishes good teams with savvy personnel departments from bad teams.

You are making the mistake of assuming that teams are rational, value optimizing decision makers. The NFL is littered with bad contracts - there are hundreds and every team has them. There are so many examples of players getting signed after 'four average years and then a few hot games', including QB's (e.g. Flacco). Cousins has been offered a contract and refused to sign.

We'll see.
If he wins a playoff game, or God forbid, brings the Jags to the Superbowl he could end up with a contract that would greatly outweigh his value going forward - hence the Flacco comparison.

The interesting thing about Bortles is where he ends up next season. Bar this recent run of competence (behind a good running game and stellar defense) he has been a disappointment. If he keeps this up through the playoffs then he going to get paid in the off season. This reminds me a little of the Flacco contract year when they won the Superbowl. With hindsight that contract looks like a big mistake.

The Chiefs look like a busted flush to me. There defense has been brutal all year, even when they were winning early, and after their hot start their offense has been found out a bit. I wouldn't fancy their chances against any of the AFC playoff contenders at this stage.

I think the Jags have a chance, even with Bortles under centre, if only because the AFC is so mediocre outside of the Pats.

Homefield advantage is going to be quite important in the NFC.

Foles is a pretty good back-up. Plenty of experience and had a very good season with the Eagles a few years ago. I think the problem for the Eagles is that the NFC is so competitive compared with the AFC. Apart from the Pats it feels like there is no one in the AFC as good as the top 4-5 teams in the NFC.

NFC playoffs are going to be fun.

In general, left-wing politics is in favour of self government as far as possible I believe. So ideologically I guess they'd be against it, but practically its clearly been a boon to Ireland, north and south, so again I guess, they're being practical.

Sinn Fein are not a left wing party .

Reminds me of the quote (not sure who from) about the British Labour Party - "The Labour Party is not a socialist party its just got lots of socialists in it."

The Ethiopian famine in 1984. I was in P4 at the time and we did a fundraiser of some sort.

A second round pick is not that steep of a price to pay for a shot at a competent QB - they spent a 3rd rounder on Beathard. If Garoppolo flames out they can easily wash their hands of this and move on (they'll most likely have the 1st or 2nd overall pick). If he plays well then they can franchise tag him, which would give them quite a few options - sign him to a long-term deal, sign another free agent QB (Hello Kirk Cousins!) and deal him for more then they paid for him, or draft a QB. I think this move makes sense for Niners, as it gives them options without having to go all in on a unknown quantity. The next 8 weeks for Garoppolo will be the audition for the rest of his career.

True about the Franchise tag. Maybe I'm just thick the Cardinals didn't do this.

I know people are saying that they could have got him for nothing at the end of a season so it seems like a steep price but you have to factor in that free agency is likely to see a serious run on QB. A lot of teams in much better shape than the Niners could be shopping for QB - the Steelers, Giants, Jags and even the Cards are probably more attractive land spots for free agents. I think this move gives them a jump start on what could be a crazy off season market.