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| Wednesday, January 6, 2021 |
| Folks, this is a big day: The final Wednesday before playoff football. It's also the day when John Breech steps aside so that I, Cody Benjamin, the man with two first names, can shepherd you through the latest news from around the NFL. A two-for-one special! And boy do we have some things to get to. It's postseason time, after all, and not only that, but the start of an important offseason for a number of clubs searching for new coaches, quarterbacks and more. |
| This is the Pick Six Newsletter. Now let's get to it. (And please, do yourself a favor and make sure you're signed up to receive this newsletter every day! You don't want to miss our daily offerings of everything you need to know around the NFL.) |
| We've got playoff predictions, Super Wild-Card Weekend rankings, buzz on QB situations and much more: |
| Today's show: Why Wentz is right to be frustrated with Eagles |
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| The Philadelphia Eagles have been in the headlines quite a bit despite missing the playoffs, in part because of Doug Pederson's infamous Week 17 quarterback swap and in part because of his former starting quarterback's reported discontent with the team. Some reports have indicated Carson Wentz definitely wants out of Philly. Others have indicated he needs time to assess his future with the organization. Either way, it's clear the relationship is on shaky ground. And Brady Quinn doesn't think Wentz is wrong to be frustrated with his situation, even if his own 2020 performance wasn't up to par. |
| "When they drafted Jalen Hurts, it was in his head," Quinn told Will Brinson on today's Pick Six NFL Podcast (listen and subscribe right here ). "There's a lot of resentment there. You can be happy for someone else, but let's be real, man: That's going to eat at you every single day. You can be a good person and a good teammate, (but) it doesn't mean you don't think that you could've been the guy ... It's human nature to go through that. I think the quarterback position is the one that battles that the most ... There is probably some of that going through his head, like, 'I'm not good enough for you?'" |
| Check out the full episode for a breakdown on where the Eagles go from here, plus plenty of other around-the-NFL talk about the Browns' messy COVID situation and the ongoing coaching and general manager carousel. |
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| 2. Prisco's Picks: Ravens roll over Titans, Steelers cruise past Browns |
| This week's NFL schedule is quite a bit lighter, but so much more important. It's playoff football, baby! That means it's time for playoff predictions, and Pete Prisco's provided us with picks for each and every Super Wild-Card Weekend matchup. Among his projections for the opening round: Baltimore exacting revenge on Tennessee, and the Steelers easily topping the Browns. |
Ravens (-3) at Titans
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| These two make no secret about what they want to do on offense, which is to pound the football. Baltimore was the top rushing team in the league, while the Titans counter with Derrick Henry, the NFL 's leading rusher. Tennessee beat Baltimore earlier this year and also beat them last year in the playoffs in a big upset. This time around I think the Ravens get revenge of sorts. Their defense is much better than the bad unit the Titans put on the field. Lamar Jackson will have a big day to advance the Ravens. |
| Pick: Ravens 33, Titans 23 |
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| Browns at Steelers (-6) |
| The Browns beat the Steelers last week to get into the playoffs, but it was a Steelers team that rested a lot of players, including Ben Roethlisberger. This will be much more of a challenge, especially without Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, who is out with COVID-19. The Browns' plan will still be to pound the football at the Steelers to control the clock and let Baker Mayfield make plays on the move. But the Steelers defense will respond to that and play well here. Roethlisberger came alive in the second half of his last game against the Colts and I think that will carry over against the Browns. The Steelers own the Browns in Pittsburgh and that will continue. |
| Pick: Steelers 27, Browns 17 |
| 3. Insider notes: Dolphins are right to stand by Tua |
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| The Miami Dolphins didn't waste any time declaring Tua Tagovailoa their 2021 starter this offseason, expressing support for the rookie QB days after his mixed bag of a debut came to a close. According to CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora, they should be commended for doing so, mostly because teams have become a touch too impatient with young signal-callers in recent years. |
| (Frankly), it's kinda ludicrous that this was a thing at all. The kid had no real offseason, rode the bench the first month of the season, was thrust into an unforeseen playoff race, lost most of the key pieces around him on that limited offense along the way, and dealt with the quick-hook and in-game yo-yoing of head coach Brian Flores. How about we give him a full season with something akin to a true offseason before casting him aside? |
Have some conviction. Allow the young man some time to develop. He did some awesome stuff against the Chiefs a few weeks back, when Steve Spagnuolo threw every blitz possible his way. He was the rarest rookie QB to beat Bill Belichick just a few weeks back, with the weight of a long-suffering franchise on his back in a must-win spot. All of that happened.
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| 4. Playoff QB Power Rankings: Brees, Brady among top 10 |
| Now that the postseason is about to begin, not only are we down to 14 teams, but also 14 starting QBs. And we all know the QB can play a huge part in how far you make it in the hunt for a Lombardi. How do this year's playoff QBs stack up? Who's the best of the signal-callers still on the field? Our latest QB Power Rankings have all the answers for you, and the top 10 entering Super Wild-Card Weekend is chock-full of both young weapons (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson) and seasoned winners (Drew Brees, Tom Brady): |
| Aaron Rodgers Patrick Mahomes Josh Allen Russell Wilson Tom Brady Lamar Jackson Ryan Tannehill Drew Brees Ben Roethlisberger Baker Mayfield |
| 5. Ranking wild-card matchups: Ravens vs. Titans best of the bunch |
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| There's a lot of juice to be found in both conferences as we enter the playoffs, but which matchup carries the most drama and deserves the most anticipation? Our own Tyler Sullivan combed through each game to rank the best wild-card showdowns on tap for this weekend, and his No. 1 was an easy choice: Ravens vs. Titans, a rematch of their 2019 playoff meeting. |
I mean, how do you not put this as No. 1? These two teams have some recent history together and don't seem to like one another very much. Prior to their matchup in Week 11, Titans corner Malcolm Butler and Ravens head coach John Harbaugh got into a verbal altercation that had nearly both sidelines go to blows at midfield ... This game also has plenty of star power with Lamar Jackson, Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry all slated to go. Jackson has been ripping through the league as of late and has recently looked like the MVP version of himself from 2019 ... Meanwhile, Henry is hot off a 250 rushing yard performance against the Texans where he amassed 2,000 rushing yards for the season.
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| 6. Mock draft: Falcons, Panthers add big-name QBs of the future |
| Plenty of teams won't be playing games this weekend, so what better time to get another early look at the 2021 draft? Chris Trapasso is churning out mock drafts like the Eagles are churning out drama, and his latest lookahead is a spicy one. Not only does he have three QBs coming off the board in the first four picks of the 2021 draft, but he's got two NFC South clubs nabbing signal-callers of the future with their first-round selections: |
| No. 4 (Falcons): QB Zach Wilson, BYU |
Even with Matt Ryan's large contract still on the books, the Falcons can't pass on the opportunity to pick Wilson here with the long-term future of the franchise in mind.
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| No. 8 (Panthers): QB Trey Lance, NDSU |
Keep going back to this pairing. Get Lance on a team with a quarterback like Teddy Bridgewater who can teach him the nuances of playing the position.
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