Ty Ranks the 2024 NFL Teams: The Looking to Make Some Noise Bunch

Welcome to day five of my preseason 2024 NFL countdown.

At 16 I have the Indianapolis Colts. I don't really understand why I have this level of confidence in this team, but I think they are playoff bound this year. My main reason for optimism is Anthony Richardson. This dude is big, physical, fast and can make some spectacular throws. I do think he opts to run far too much, but with a year behind him, that will only help take his game up another level. I do worry about him getting injured, but he looks like he got even bigger this offseason. Johnathan Taylor is an elite running back. He is the type of player you can count on to get tough yards, get 100 yards and score a TD or two in each game he plays. Michael Pittman Jr let it be known last season that he is on the come up. I love the Adonai Mitchell pick for them. This adds speed and excellent hands to this receiving corps. The o line is very solid. Hell, they are an upper tier o line in the NFL. The defense may be the question mark here. Kwity Paye is okay, but hasn't really popped off just yet. DeForest Buckner is pretty old. The linebackers are decent. And the secondary is full of unknown players to me. This team will go as Richardson and Taylor go. If they are both playing and performing, the Colts could be an eleven or fifteen win team. If they are hurt, they will be lucky to win seven or eight games. I'm going to go right in the middle and say they win ten and sneak into the playoffs.

At 15 I have the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mike Tomlin is still here, still one of the most underrated coaches and will have this team above .500 because that is what he does. Tomlin is one of the better coaches to ever walk the NFL sidelines. They do have a choice at QB with Justin Fields or Russell Wilson. Fields adds running and big play ability, but he's inconsistent. Wilson is a veteran leader who's won the biggest prize, but his rah rah stuff won't gel in Pittsburgh, and he is on the back end of his career. I think they will use both guys, but Tomlin will probably stick with Wilson in the long run. He is more of a sure thing between the two of them. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren make a nice backfield duo, but it seems like Warren is the better option. Harris is taking carries away from him and they may need to choose between the two of these guys, just like at the QB position. They drafted Roman Wilson, who I adore, and maybe this will be the year that George Pickens finally pops. I don't know if that will happen, but if he does, these two could make for a nice, young wideout combination. They shored up the o line via the draft, so there may be bumps in the road, but it should work itself out. The defense has studs, TJ Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick are top tier talents. I also like the addition of Patrick Queen. Cameron Hayward is still pretty darn productive. And Joey Porter Jr is a really good cornerback. The more I look at this team the more I think I may have them too low. Mike Tomlin will get the best out of these guys, but with the uncertainty at QB, I think ten wins is the best case scenario for them. But it wouldn't surprise me to see them win twelve games.

At number 14 I have the Jacksonville Jaguars. This is another team that kind of reminds me of the Steelers. No frills, but competent play from all spots and solid coaching. Trevor Lawrence isn't the generational talent some thought he could be, but he is good. He is consistent. Travis Etienne Jr is a very good back when healthy. He had a heck of a year last year and I could see him being even better. The receiving corps is fine. They aren't great but they aren't bad. Evan Engram had a big season at tight end last year for them. The o line does a good job run and pass blocking. The defense has athletes. Travon Walker needs to produce more, but he has gotten better. Getting Darnell Savage in their secondary brings a heavy hitter. I'm going to miss him in Green Bay. Arik Armstead can still play well here and there. Josh Hines-Allen is one of the better pass rushers in the league. The Jags aren't going to look fancy when they play, but they will try and beat you into submission. They want to drain the clock and hit you hard on defense. All of that is good enough for eleven wins.

At number 13 I have the Buffalo Bills. Josh Allen is still here and still a pretty solid QB. I had my doubts about him, and I still do not enjoy him as a person, but the guy puts up numbers. He is a fantasy player's dream QB. James Cook should get the bulk of the carries and I think he is ready for an expanded role. Khalil Shakir really came on string at the end of last year. Curtis Samuel brings something interesting. And Keon Coleman has been the star of the offseason, both on and off the field. I don't think they'll miss Stefon Diggs too much. The o line is nasty and big and good. The defense is pretty solid too. The d line is nasty. Greg Rousseau is a o line wrecker. Ed Oliver is still out there putting up numbers. AJ Espensea looks to be a bit better than last year. The linebacker corps is okay, but I think they will miss Von Miller's veteran leadership. He's still there, but he is now a backup and he is often injured. He's still one of my all time favorite players. Damar Hamlin is still playing football, I don't know if that is best, but he is pretty good. Taylor Rapp is a force. And I'd love to see Kaiir Elam get some time in the secondary. The Bills will win regular season games. They could win twelve or thirteen. But they choke hard in the playoffs. They cannot beat the Chiefs. The rest of the AFC is very good. The Bills are a playoff team, but how far they go is up to them, and they have shown in the past that that may be too much to handle.

That is it for this week. Come back Monday for the next four teams. We are getting to the true threats to make real noise starting next week. See you then. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Ranks the 2023 NFL Teams: Let's Try the New Starry Soda Division

Welcome to day five of my NFL preseason rankings. These are the teams I expect to be in playoff contention all season long.

At number 16 I have the Pittsburgh Steelers. I have never been a fan, but Mike Tomlin is an all time great head coach and he always finds a way to be above .500 with whoever is on the Steelers roster. I expect nothing different this season. Also, we need to recognize how great of a coach Tomlin is. He is awesome. But Kenny Pickett is his QB. He definitely looks better right now, definitely better than his rookie year, but he is still very green and very unproven. I think he can be solid, but I would not want him to be my QB of the future. Najee Harris is incredible. He is one of the better running backs in the NFL. He is big, fast, can break tackles and catch the ball out of the backfield. He can do it all. George Pickens is a blooming star. Lots of players put together viral catch clips, but Pickens is one of two players, DK Metcalf being the other, where those clips look real. They look truthful. The o line, as has always been the case, is very good. They are solid. The defense is always good too. Minkah Fitzpatrick really turned the tide for this team last season. He is a ball hawk and a very solid cover guy. TJ Watt has lived up to the hype coming into last season. I'm not a fan, but the dude can rush the passer. Joey Porter Jr was very good in college and he looks like he can be the real deal in the NFL. His dad is a coach in Pittsburgh as well. Cameron Hayward is steady. Alex Highsmith can play. The defense has always been dependable. The Steelers will, annoyingly, be above .500 and will most likely make a playoff push. Mike Tomlin is that good.

At number 15 I have the Minnesota Vikings. I loathe this team. I cannot stand them. I am a lifelong Packers fan and I think I dislike the Vikings more than the Bears. The hatred starts for me at QB. I have never liked Kirk Cousins. I think he is wildly overrated. I find him cringey. He has bad politics, and he cannot win when it matters. That has all been proven. They should have stuck with Teddy Bridgewater. Dalvin Cook is gone. They refused to pay him and he took off. Good for him. He is being replaced with guys I have never heard of. The Vikings are going to miss Cook. They are really going to miss him. Justin Jefferson is one the best wideouts in the league and the only reason why this offense scares anyone. I have no qualms or problems with Jefferson. He's awesome. Jordan Addison can be a good pro, he just has to slow down when he is driving. TJ Hockenson is a solid tight end, but Cousins relies on him far too much. The o line is serviceable. The defense is nowhere near as good as it used to be. In fact, it may be a liability. They are giving Marcus Davenport a second chance, but I don't think he pan out. That's a bummer because I thought he had potential. Danielle Hunter is a head case. Harrison Smith is washed. And the rest of the guys are a bunch of no names. I think this defense will be their undoing. They may still get a wild card spot, but they will have to outscore teams to win, and with Kirk Cousins at the helm, that is not a very likely outcome.

At number 14 I have the New York Giants. I mean, why did they give so much money to Daniel Jones? He is a less athletic Kirk Cousins. He is not why this team wins games. He is just a game manager at his very best. The money they gave Jones should have gone to Saquon Barkley. He is why this offense works. He does EVERYTHING for this team and the front office could care less. The receiving corps is very mediocre. Again, they rely on Barkley for the run and pass game. They did sign Darren Waller, which I do like and he will help very much. The o line is awesome. They are one of the better overall units in the NFL. The defense is solid. The defense is in good hands. They play their roles very well. Kayvon Thibodeaux hasn't lived up to the massive hype yet, but he is incredibly talented. Leonard Williams is a very good d lineman. He can stop the run and contain the pass. The secondary is led by Adoree Jackson, and he has been fine so far. The linebackers play their parts to a T. The defense is good. Combine the d with Barkley and the Giants will be a playoff contender. Add on that the division stinks, they could very well find their way back to playoffs for a second straight year.

The final team for the day, at number 13 I have the Jacksonville Jaguars. They looked like they may be figuring things out during the second half of last season. Trevor Lawrence looked much better. He seems to be figuring it out and that is a big deal for this team. Travis Etienne is another year healthier and he and Lawrence form a solid backfield. Christian Kirk is a good wideout. Calvin Ridley can be even better than him. And Evan Engram looks to be putting it together at tight end. The o line does the job. The defense used to be what made them great a few years ago, and they are solid now, but with no big names. Travon Walker was the number one overall pick last year, but he is still very raw and finding his way. Josh Allen has been as good as everyone expected at linebacker. The d line is very good. The linebacking corps, led by Allen, plays physical football. The secondary is just fine. The Jags appear to be a much better team with what looks like some staying power. They are young, but they got playoff experience and they should build off that.

That is it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next four teams. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty's 2022 NFL Preview - When You're Out of Schlitz Division

Welcome to day two of my 2022 NFL countdown. We are still at the bottom of the barrel. But we will be getting to the good teams soon, I promise. On with the countdown.

At number 28 I have the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags did the best thing they could have during last season when they fired Urban Meyer. He was an absolute disaster. It went worse than I thought it would. Doug Pederson was a solid hire too. He has a ring as a coach and he is good with QB's. That should sit very nicely with Trevor Lawrence. He should get better, although I do not think his rookie year was as bad as some made it out to be. Travis Etienne is back after missing his whole rookie year, and the familiarity with him and Lawrence should be nice. I am curious to see how explosive he can be. Other than these two, the offense is pretty rough. Christian Kirk and Marvin Jones are done. Evan Engram has not been a good pro. The O line is a sieve. The defense is young and bad. Travon Walker is an incredible athlete, but he is raw. He needs time. Josh Allen is good, but he gets double teamed a ton. I like the Shaquill Griffin signing, but he can't cover everyone. The Jags are doing a slow rebuild, as they should. But this team is a far cry from where they were a few years back when they made the AFC title game, and then I picked them to win the Super Bowl next year. They are a 6 win team at best.

My number 27 team is the Washington Commanders. Look, I like Ron Rivera, but this team is not good. They are a worse version of Rivera's Panthers teams. They do not have a Cam Newton type QB. They don't have a defense even close. The Commanders are not good. Carson Wentz stinks. He is not good. Nick Foles was a much better QB in Philly. Johnathan Taylor carried the Colts last year, and when Wentz was needed to get into the playoffs, he crapped the bed. Wentz is a bust. Antonio Gibson is a mediocre back. The receivers, outside of Terry Mclaurin, who is very, very good, are bad or young. Jahan Dotson is a rookie. I didn't even know Curtis Samuel was still in the league. Logan Thomas is hurt and not great. I'm not into this O line. The defense has Chase Young, who is an incredible player, but he is hurt again and has no help. Montez Sweat still needs time. Kendall Fuller is decent, but the rest of the D is a bunch of dudes I have never heard of. And I know a good amount about football. The Commanders are stuck in the mud. They are in a bad division, and that helps, but when they only win 6 games, that means they are stuck missing the playoffs yet again.

At number 26 I have the Seattle Seahawks. How the mighty have fallen. Ever since they passed, instead of giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch on the goal line, the Seahawks have ceased to be a consistent team. And now they have traded away Russell Wilson. This team is going nowhere fast. Geno Smith has never put it together. He just doesn't seem to have it. And Drew Lock is flat out bad. Their running game is suspect, but I do like the Kenneth Walker III pick. He was a beast in college. Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf are legit wideouts, but they have no QB throwing them the ball. Metcalf got a big contract. but he is going to see his numbers drop significantly this season. And Noah Fant is very mediocre. The O line has always been a problem, and they still haven't done much to fix it. This defense, once feared, is not good anymore. Outside Jamal Adams they have absolutely no one that strikes fear in opponents. Quandre Diggs is good, but not great. This linebacking core is nowhere near the Legion of Boom days. The D line cannot get pressure on the QB. They just do not have it anymore. The hater in me loves to see this team taking a step back. But the Seattle fan in me, I loved the Sonics, is bummed for their fans. The Seahawks are a 6 win team. They are on the wrong side of a rebuild right now.

The final team for the day, at number 25, I have the Detroit Lions. Now, I want to say that I do think the Lions will be better this year. I also really like the direction they are going in right now. They had the best draft in my opinion. I also like some of their offseason moves. They just need another year before they are in playoff talks. Jared Goff is incredibly mediocre. He is an okay enough game manager, but he doesn't go out and win games for you. He can grit and grind 200 passing yards, on short pass plays, but he has never been able to completely take over. De'Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams are a good one two punch at running back. They can do some things. I also really like Amon-Ra St. Brown. He should build upon a decent rookie year. Jameson Williams should be good, but he is hurt. DJ Chark also needs to show he can stick in this league. TJ Hockenson is a very good tight end. The O line is solid too. They have drafted well there. The offense could be much better if they had a better QB. The defense is going to be solid. Obviously I am a big fan of the Adian Hutchinson pick. He is a very, very good defensive end. He is going to wreck havoc. I think he's going to be very good for a very long time in the NFL. Michael Brockers is a very good interior D lineman. The secondary has solid youth and big play ability. Again, I like this team, but they are young and they need a year to figure it all out. That being said, I could see the Lions winning 7 games this season and be the sexy pick to make the playoffs next season. They aren't ready yet, but they will be soon.

That's it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next four teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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The Jacksonville/Urban Meyer Experiment Did Not End Well

Well, I think I called it, but I also did not think it would happen this quickly. Urban Meyer has been let go as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. I have to admit, the cynical, hater side of me absolutely loves this. I knew he was going to be a disaster. I called it around this time last year when he was hired. I knew he was going to rub the franchise the wrong way and I knew his style was not going to work with professionals. But this was even worse than I ever imagined. Let’s discuss.

From the start this was a total nightmare. It seemed every move he made was the wrong move. I have even read some other, more notable journalists, saying this may be the worst hire in pro football history. I thought, when Meyer was hired last January, that it would be his style that would be the problem. Well, that was just one of the many problems. After he was hired, and fully took over, he started off by hiring Jack Doyle. Now those of you that do not know who that is, he was fired from the University of Iowa a few months prior to Meyer hiring him. He was let go at Iowa due to allegations of racist talk towards players. He was also, by all accounts, a total asshole. When this was brought up to Meyer he claimed that he knew Doyle, and that was an isolated incident.

Well, Doyle resigned a few days after all this news broke. Meyer made up some phony apology and went to his next debacle, signing Tim Tebow as a tight end. Tebow had never played the position, was out of football for nearly a decade and, of course, did not work out. This was clearly a publicity stunt, and it failed masterfully.

In his first NFL draft he wanted former players he coached. When that didn't work his way, he went out and got the front office to sign players he used to coach. Most, if not all of them are washed up. I didn't even know that Carlos Hyde was still in the league.

Next Meyer told national media that vaccination status was put in play as to who the team would cut. I am all for players getting vaxxed, I think it should be required, but a head coach cannot say something like that out loud. Even I know that, and I am as liberal and democratic as they come.

Once the season started, oh boy did the Jags look bad. I thought the Texans were going to be the worst team, but they destroyed the Jags in week one. Meyer looked lost. He did not know how to coach up Trevor Lawrence. The offense was simply abysmal and the defense was not much better. And the Jags did not get any better from there. Teams were basically licking their chops to play them. I do not know how they won two games.

I think the straw that finally broke the camel's back was after the Bengals game. We have the new Josh Lambo story, Meyer kicking and belittling him, and this whole thing with him lashing out at the assistants he hired, but the incident after the Bengals game was a hilarious mess. The Bengals smoked the Jags, and instead of going back on the team plane, Meyer decided to stick around Cincinnati for the night. He even decided to go out and maybe blow off some steam. But then the dancing happened. He was clearly wasted, didn't know what was going on and decided he needed to grind with a woman that was not his wife. The video that ensued was one of the most cringeworthy things I have ever watched. It was brutal. Imagine your dad doing that, that was how I felt watching him dance with this young lady. He lost all respect and trust, little of which he had, from his team right after that. Then he put out that bull shit apology, which was awful. And then the owner and team openly mocked him towards the media. At that moment I have to imagine everyone saw the writing on the wall. They had to know that this wasn't going to work out. I just cannot believe it took until week 15. And, even though they got beat again yesterday, I loved seeing James Robinson, who Meyer benched in favor of Carlos Hyde, have a solid game.

This hire was an unmitigated disaster. This was one of the worst hires in all of professional sports.This tarnishes whatever kind of "legacy" Meyer has as a coach. This proved he cannot cut it with the big boys. He doesn't have that pull with professionals. They do not take him seriously. I also really hope the Jags do not have to payout the rest of his contract. I see they are saying they fired him for cause, of which there are plenty that make sense, and if that works, they do not owe Meyer another cent. That would be the cherry on the top. Again, I am not right on many sports things, but even I saw this being a horrible hire from the start. Meyer just does not have what it takes to coach at the highest level, especially with an even playing field. The schadenfreude in me is ecstatic to see Meyer getting all the hate he so justly deserves. And the football fan in me is happy to see that the Jags didn't even let him finish the season, and they are going to try and pay him as little as possible because he was so awful at his job. I do not see Meyer coaching again, at any level. This was that bad of a job.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Ty Ranks the 2021 NFL Teams - "With the first pick in the 2022 Draft..." Division

With football season coming down the hatch I'm going to be doing my countdown of the NFL teams and a college preview. It should take about ten days to do it all, so strap in for football talk. Last year was different because of the pandemic, and while it is ongoing, both the NFL and college football look like they are plowing ahead. I did write about the NFL's new policies regarding vaccines, and how much I love what they are doing, so we know they are going to get a season in. I think college will be the same. With all that, for my NFL countdown I will do four teams a day, going from worst to best, in my opinion. Take this with a grain of salt because my watching of the NFL has gone way down since AT&T took away the Red Zone network from my TV. I still know what is going on, but college football is still my main squeeze. I will do predictions as I always do every preseason as well. Anyway, let's get to this countdown.

Coming in at number 32, my last ranked team is the Houston Texans. Man oh man do they have problems on and off the field. We all know what is going on with Deshaun Watson. And even though he is at camp and practicing, who knows how many games he will play, and if all of them are with Houston. If he leaves or misses time, this team is even more boned than previously thought. They have seemingly gotten rid of every good player they have had and are now in a rebuild, even if the front office guys won't admit it. They have the ghost of Mark Ingram and one season wonder Phillip Lindsay in the backfield. The O line is a mess. The receivers are very blah, except for Nico Collins. I watched him at Michigan, and I think he is going to be a good pro. Outside Whitney Mercilus, who may be past his prime, this defense is not good. It is filled with has been and never was players. They are going to get shredded. The Texans should be getting prepared to pick first overall in the next draft. They may only win two or three games all year.

At 31 I have the Washington Football Team. They need to get a name already. I'm glad they got rid of their racist name last season, but the time has come to pick a team name. I also really like Ron Rivera. I think he is a solid head coach. That is the only like I have. This team has the lowest vaccination rate, a terrible roster, an old roster and not a very good team. Ryan Fitzpatrick is their starting QB. When will his whole gimmick be thrown away? He is not that great a QB. His record as a starter is well below .500. I'm over him. Running backs are very boring. Receivers, outside Terry Mclaurin, are injury prone or not that good, and I don't think Fitzpatrick will hit them in stride regularly. Logan Thomas is so bland at tight end and the O line just let their best player walk for almost nothing. The defense is better, but not by much. Chase Young and Montez Sweat are a formidable d line duo. They are both young and good and this team should build around those two if they want future success. Then it gets a bit scary. Landon Collins was past his prime two years ago. The corners are not great. Linebacker is so suspect. They just do not have the guys. I would have loved it if they went hard after Cam Newton, but that did not happen, and here we are. Washington is better than Houston, but by a tiny, tiny sliver. They will have the same amount of wins, but Washington will look more competitive because of Young and Sweat.

At number 30 I have RD's Bengals. They would be higher if Joe Burrow wasn't coming off a shredded knee, and if all those stories of bad practices were coming out. If he can get out of his own head, and back to looking like he did before he got hurt last season, this team will be good in about two years. This season is a wash though. I do like some of the offensive talent. Burrow, if he can recover, is a good QB. Joe Mixon is an abuser, so forget him. But Samaje Perine was great at Oklahoma and Chris Evans has been turning heads in preseason. They have a good stable of young backs. I really like their wideouts too. Tyler Boyd is coming along slowly. I love Tee Higgins, and was stoked when they picked Ja'Marr Chase this year to reunite him with Burrow. The O line needs work, which always seems to happen with the Bengals, but man do they have some good, young talent at the skill positions. The defense is a mess, and why they are so low on my rankings. The starters are so mediocre for NFL players. They got Trae Waynes from Minnesota, but when was the last time he was a difference maker? I haven't heard of six or seven guys listed as starters. The D line is not great. They are going to get destroyed on that side of the ball. Opposing offenses are going to feast on them. They should have high scoring games, but they will not win many of them. This is a five win ceiling for this team, but they will probably win three or four games. I hope Burrow gets out of this funk too.

The final team for today, at 29, I have the Jacksonville Jaguars. Look, it is no secret how much I despise Urban Meyer, and their preseason game the other night looked like the Washington football team when Steve Spurrier was the head coach, but after everyone figured them out. But Meyer has made a TON of questionable decisions so far, and he looks a little over his head in the NFL. It was a no brainer for them to take Trevor Lawrence, and he has the tools to be great. I am flabbergasted that they haven't named him the starter yet though. Is Gardner Minshew really pushing him right now? I cannot imagine he is, and I would be stunned if Lawrence isn't starting week one. I also think they need to let Carlos Hyde and James Robinson know that they are moving ahead with Travis Etienne. He was Lawrence's teammate in college, he is younger than both players ahead of him on the depth chart and they need to stop with this nonsense of him at receiver. Let him be the guy and go through the growing pains with Lawrence. The whole Tim Tebow experiment needs to end. He is not good and should not make this team. I like Laviska Shenault Jr out of Colorado at wideout, but DJ Chark is oft injured and Marvin Jones is well past any prime he may have had. The O line is bad and they will have Lawrence running for his life a ton. The defense is not much better. They overpaid Shaquill Griffin. K'Lavon Chaisson had a very up and down rookie year. Myles Jack has been a bust. Josh Allen is misplaced at linebacker. They just do not have the guys to put together consistent stops. This team has too many holes and a head coach who seems to be out of his element. Lawrence and Etienne will push them to three or four wins, but that is it. I wonder how soon until Urban Meyer starts to have "medical issues" in his first season. That seems to be his MO.

That is it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next 4. It will get better everyday.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Urban Meyer is an Idiot

Urban Meyer is at it again, First he hired a coach that was fired for abusing players at Iowa. Second he goes out and complains that "free agency is too hard" in the NFL. And now he has made the dumbest move as far as player personnel goes that I can ever remember.

For those that have been living under a rock, or do not follow the NFL, the Jaguars and Urban Meyer just went out and signed Tim Tebow, as a tight end, to a one year deal. Now, he has to make the team, which I think is a very, very, very, very long shot. But still, to waste a contract on a guy that hasn't played football in a decade, while having him change positions is such an epic failure as a coach, a GM, a front office and a team can make. I understand that these two have a close relationship, and that Tebow won a Heisman when Meyer was his coach at Florida, but we are talking about things that happened over a decade ago, and the NFL has changed drastically since then.

This is such a puzzling and, quite frankly, stupid move. Everyone who signed on for this, who gave it the go ahead, I have one question, what in the hell are you all thinking? Why would you allow Meyer to talk you into signing Tin Tebow? What can he possibly bring to this team? How does he help as a player or a locker room guy? How does this help Trevor Lawrence at all? What about the other, more qualified tight ends already on the roster? Why on Earth would you do this? Is it simply a PR move? Will he make the team just because he is a buddy of the new coach? This is just asinine. If I were Tyler Davis, Ben Ellefson, Luke Farrell, Chris Manhertz or James O'Shaughnessy I'd ask to be released or traded immediately. This is a spit in all of their faces. These guys are all actual tight ends that made the NFL as a tight end. And then Meyer brings in Tim Tebow to compete for playing time with them. Come on man. That is ridiculous. He doesn't have the talent to play in the NFL. That has been established. And for the very few people that want to bring up his one playoff win, which was a miracle, get the hell out of here with that nonsense. I like to look at his whole career prior to that one moment. He was an absolute mess as a starter. He was an embarrassment. Then he became a gimmick. Then he couldn't even make the Patriots as strictly a gimmick player. Then he was out of the league. And after that, he stole someone else's job in the MLB when he decided he was going to be a baseball player. That is what Tim Tebow is to me, a thief of more deserving players' jobs. He gets fans to come out and watch, but it is like going to a circus. People want to see the freak show that is Tim Tebow. They don't want to see him succeed because he hasn't succeeded in any level of professional sports.

This move is strictly because Meyer thinks he can build a good team by getting his former college players on his team. That is a method that is going to hilariously blow up in his face. First he signs Carlos Hyde, who was toast five years ago, and now he is bringing in Tim Tebow. Who is next, Chris Leak? Alex Smith? This madness he is working on this offseason is going to explode, and I will be laughing the whole way. And for websites like Bleacher Report to talk about what a great move this is, how it will help the locker room and to call Tebow a "weapon", just stop right now. You are embarrassing yourself with that nonsense.

What pisses me off most about all of this is the fact that a guy like Tim Tebow can get a job in the NFL, can take a spot away from someone much more deserving and be praised by major media outlets, it just goes to show that the NFL has clearly blackballed Colin Kaepernick. If it wasn't wildly apparent before, this should hammer it home for anyone who is smart and doesn't think Kaepernick is being blacklisted. This move by Jacksonville makes that fact abundantly clear.

The Jaguars signing Tim Tebow isn't just a joke, it is an embarrassment to the NFL, and it is really showing their true colors. I cannot wait to watch this fail spectacularly because that is what is going to happen. What a bunch of nonsense.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Urban Meyer is Not Ready for the NFL

I was recently checking some NFL news, it has been a free agent bonanza lately, and I came across quite the interesting story for me. I felt like the people writing this particular piece had me in mind when doing it.

What’s the story?

Free agency had just ended, and it appeared that the new Jacksonville Jaguars coach, a man who I despise, who I think is a liar and a cheater, who makes excuses constantly and continues, even now, to make poor choices, Urban Meyer, does not like how the NFL does their free agency. He complained that you do not get to talk face to face with the players, that everything is done through their agents. He claimed that "in the old days" it was more important to have a dinner with the player, to get to know them, before deciding if he wanted to sign them. But now he guessed that it has just changed. That the players kind of pass the buck to their agents, and let them do the work.

Well Urban, this has been going on forever. Even me, just a fan of football, knows that this is the case. This is not college football anymore. You do not have to convince a kid to come and play at your school. These guys are established pros, guys who have made copious amounts of money, guys that want to go to a place where they will either get more playing time or compete for a ring. They do not need to be sold by anyone, especially a coach who will be, most likely, making less money than them. Professional football players do not want some show. They do not need to see their number in the stands, or have some PA announcer say some nonsense about how they are going to be the greatest to ever play for a certain team.

When the Clippers did this for Blake Griffin I cringed. And now look at where Griffin is in his career. The Clippers traded him less than a year into that contract, he struggled mightily in Detroit, and while I like his fit with Brooklyn, he still looks out of shape. All of that happened because the NBA is a business. This might have worked at Oklahoma, when he played there, but in LA, when he was no longer an asset, they let him go. The same can be said for the NFL, except the NFL is so much more cut throat. I remember when running backs were the hot commodity. Now, they will be cut or released two to three years into their career. People are already crushing the Cowboys for paying Ezekial Elliot so much money. Leonard Fournette has become a spot back making far less than when he was a rookie. Doug Martin is out of the league. They didn't produce like some teams thought, and they cut them. That is how it goes.

For Meyer to say what he said, to whine like this, to be this, quite frankly, stupid about how free agency works, it makes me think he is not going to be the success himself and Jacksonville thought when they hired him. I did not like the move because I thought something like this was going to happen. It is just like Chip Kelly and Steve Spurrier's offense getting figured out so quickly. It reminds me of all the awful decisions the Washington Football Team has made trying to lure big time free agents. It is akin to what Dallas has done the past couple years. Teams, mainly the GM's, have to be shrewd. That is why New England and Green Bay, and even Kansas City, who just restructured Patrick Mahomes humongous deal are so good. They know how to do free agency because they do not have college guys running their system. Meyer was a great college coach. It hurts my soul to write that, but it is true. He also was an ace recruiter, and I am sure he did most of it underhanded. I'm sure he skirted some rules to constantly get the best kids. I think every major school does it. Even Michigan. But in the pros, and I know I have said it a ton, these guys do not need the money. They have plenty of it. Most players have people that work for them who help them invest and save because they have too much money. Meyer needs to realize that very, very soon. He is going to have to rely on young, inexperienced players to win. He will have a rookie QB starting for him. He is going to have to learn to build a team through the draft because free agents are not going to want to play for one of the worst franchises in the NFL. All of their good players have left for greener pastures and better teams. If Meyer is frustrated by free agency, just wait until he has to face a very good NFL defense that isn't going to be intimidated by a hurry up spread offense. Those guys won't be fooled. They will be ready to rip some heads off.

The Urban Meyer era has started off very rocky in Jacksonville, do not forget he hired that former Iowa coach with a racist past and a penchant to undermine players and then gave some BS apology after he was forced to resign. Add on this free agency thing now. And they haven't even had a practice or played a game yet. I still think he has a small chance to succeed in the NFL, but that window gets smaller and smaller for me everyday whenever another story like this comes out. Times could continue to be rough in Jacksonville unless they get their coach to realize this is a business, that this isn't college anymore. If they don't, they will be looking for another new coach much sooner than they hoped.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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The Jacksonville/Urban Meyer Experiment Will Not End Well

I feel like I give the University of Ohio State enough credit on this site, but today boy am I going to shit on Urban Meyer and his latest coaching decision.

As of yesterday, Urban Meyer was confirmed as the next head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. This is going to be an unmitigated disaster. I have really, honestly tried to find ways in my brain that this works out for him. I thought about the evolution of the NFL game, especially on offense. I thought he may be able to get some kids he recruited before he left the university of Ohio State. I thought about some coaches who left college and have succeeded in the NFL. I even tried to put stock in the amount of money and leeway he is going to get. Nothing comes out good, at least in my opinion. The NFL has evolved. The game is faster, and there are more run/pass options than ever before. Lamar Jackson is an MVP and a super star. Guys like Baker Mayfield and Russell Wilson are showing what you can do with a little mobility. The game has changed. But, Urban Meyer has only ever coached college teams, and his opponents, especially out of conference, have been pretty awful. That will not happen in the NFL. Meyer cannot tell the Jags front office to schedule a game against a CFL or XFL team. There is no Bowling Green or Miami of Ohio. There is no Stephen F Austin. There are some bad NFL teams, but they are filled with professional players, and the Jags are the worst of them all. They are the MAC or D-1AA school of the NFL.

Sure, Meyer may land Justin Fields or Trevor Lawrence, and the Jags have a solid running back, but they have no real receiving threats, a shoddy at best O line and a real bad defense. There's a reason they won only one game, and it wasn't because they decided to tank. They are a bad football team, that is, at the very least, four years away from being competitive. Meyer is going to have to adjust, and for the first time in his coaching career, he is going to be the underdog always. And sure, he can draft or trade for kids he recruited, kids he knows, kids he has even coached, but I don't think the really good ones will leave decent situations to join Urban Meyer in Jacksonville. This isn't college where a kid can just up and transfer. These guys are on contracts, most want to win, or at least be in the playoff conversation, and most of them don't really care about who they played for, only who they play for right now. Is Ezekial Elliot really going to leave Dallas, where he is paid a fortune, and can be in the playoff conversation because of how bad that division is, just to go play for Urban Meyer? No way. Is Michael Thomas going to bounce out of NOLA because he has some odd Buckeye connection? Even if Drew Brees leaves after this year, the Saints will still be a far, far, far better team than the Jaguars. Even take a guy like Terry McLaurin. Why would he leave Washington, a team that was in the playoffs, and he is their star wideout, to go play for Meyer in Jacksonville? It is not going to happen. Urban Meyer is going to find this aspect very frustrating. He doesn't have his pick anymore. The Jags have cap space, but real pros do not want to go play in Jacksonville. Real pros want to compete. Meyer is in for a rude awakening when he realizes that he cannot just recruit people anymore.

When I tried to find parallels for college coaches that had instant success, then sustained it, no one came to mind. Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer both dominated the college game, then came to the pros and won Super Bowls, but they went to established Cowboys teams that were built to win. The Jags are a total rebuild. Chip Kelly had one good season in Philadelphia, again with a proven roster, then he totally faded into obscurity. Steve Spurrier had one great preseason game, then NFL players adjusted to his coaching style, and Washington was awful. Pete Carrol's first time around was bad, then he went back to college, then took the Seahawks job, but they had Marshawn Lynch, and a dominant defense. It just doesn't work for these gimmick, system coaches. People may throw Kliff Kingsbury at me, but Arizona was 8-8, missed the playoffs, and are not as good as one media company, The Ringer, may tell you. The offense Meyer runs is so gimmicky, but it works in college because teams do not have time to adjust, or are not on the same level talent wise. Everyone in the NFL was a star at their college and are as good as anyone else. Coaches also make adjustments daily. Meyer is going to have to game plan for guys like Andy Reid, Matt LaFleur, John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin, Frank Reich and Sean McVay. These are all proven coaches, all have been to the playoffs, some to the Super Bowl, and some have won the Super Bowl. I would take any of those guys before Meyer.

The fact is that Meyer’s offense will also get easy to stop very fast, especially with such a young roster. And even throw in the money and the time, if Jacksonville wins three games this next season, and four the following, are the people in charge really going to still have a long leash? Are the fans going to be willing to wait even longer? Look at what just happened in Philadelphia. Doug Pederson won the Super Bowl three years ago, and he is gone. Ron Rivera was super successful, and won a ton of games while at Carolina, but no Super Bowl wins led to him being let go. Marvin Lewis always had the Bengals in the playoffs, but that wasn't enough even for that moribund franchise. Urban Meyer is like a shiny object, but shiny objects can get real messy real quick. If he only has seven to ten wins in two combined seasons, I wouldn't be shocked if he starts to get mentioned as a "hot seat" candidate in year three. And that is if he makes it that far.

We all know what happened at his last two jobs. Mysterious illnesses popped up, and they forced him out. I do not buy into any of that nonsense. The dude is a liar, he is pretty scummy and when trouble comes his way, he makes something up so no one can blame him. If Jacksonville is no good for two years, and they won't be, I'd bet more on him finding another "illness" than him getting fired. He will find some new excuse, make wild gestures and weird faces on the sidelines, and then he will suddenly disappear. Only this time the commentators and opposing teams and coaches will not call him a "fighter", or commend him for "toughing the season out". He will be considered a quitter if/when it comes to this inevitable conclusion.

Urban Meyer is a great college coach, with a very checkered past. I do not see him duplicating any of that success in the NFL. The coaches, players and staff are so much more prepared, and quite frankly, better than anything he will offer the Jaguars.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Ranks the 2019 NFL Teams: Green Olive Pizza Division

Day 3 of my 2019 NFL countdown begins with my number 24 team, the team from Washington.

Look, Dan Snyder is a moron, and he has been running this team into the dirt since he took over. This team, when I was a kid, was a powerhouse, now they are more well known for not paying Kirk Cousins, and playing an injured Robert Griffin in the playoffs his rookie year. As far back as I can remember, they have only been in the playoffs twice in the last decade and a half, and they left in round one with a whimper. They also didn't get much better in the offseason. Jay Gruden is somehow still the coach. Derius Guice is injured once again. Josh Norman jumped over a bull in Pamplona this summer, and that is the best thing he has done since signing there. They did draft Dwayne Haskins, and I think his "slide" might motivate him. But, he was a one year starter, and save for his performance in the Michigan game last year, he was just okay. I don't know if I would build around him. Washington is a team stuck in the past, and they sit there and think because they were once good that they should still be good. The problem, they are just an average, at best, NFL team. They don't really have much of anyone outside of Haskins now too. As I said, Guice is hurt, they don't have the best wide outs in the league, and Vernon Davis was their dude last year, and he is older than me I think. The defense is very blah in my opinion as well. And Jay Gruden, while not as insane as his brother, is just not a very good NFL coach. He has done nothing that positive since he took over awhile back. I could see them eeking out 7, maybe 8 wins, but that is their absolute ceiling. If I were a betting man, and if Vegas put the odds at 6.5 wins for them, I would take the under. Washington is just not a solid football team right now.

At number 23 I have the San Francisco 49ers. Everyone needs to pump the brakes on the 49ers. I'm sick and tired of hearing how they are finally going to turn a corner this year and be a contender. Who do they have that makes them a contender? Seriously, I want to know. Is it Jimmy Garroppollo? I don't think so. He had a few good games in New England, then Tom Brady demanded they trade him. The Patriots sufficed, and then he went to San Francisco, didn't start right away, but came in in mop up duty at the end of the year and won some games against teams that had nothing to play for. He got a ridiculous contract for that, and proceeded to shred his knee early last season. To me, he is a little bit better version of Matt Flynn. I want to see him put together an 8 or 9 game stretch, I'm not even asking for a full season, before I anoint him the next great NFL QB. They lost Jerick McKinnon. They have no receivers worth note. Their best pass catcher is a tight end who will now face double teams every week. And their defense stinks. I loathe Nick Bosa by the way. And it has nothing to do with the fact that he went to the University of Ohio State. He is a punk, a racist, a douchebag and will flop almost as hard as Daniel Jones. He is nowhere near as good as his brother, who I find a little overrated too, and not even close to top of the line d lineman in last year's draft. He is a dip shit. Richard Sherman is also a million years old, and I was wrong about the Soloman kid they took from Stanford a few years back. He has not panned out. Also, when will Kyle Shanahan start to take some kind of blame. This team has been awful since he was hired. Some of that is injury, but some of that is his piss poor coaching. I'm sure I will have to hear again how this is the year they turn it around. But, when Garroppollo shreds his other knee, and Bosa is too busy retweeting Bretbart articles and Richard Sherman is the only decent person on your team, you are a 6 win team at best. The 49ers stink.

At number 22 I have the Denver Broncos. This team is wasting one of the best defenses of the 21st century because John Elway does not know how to pick QB's. He got extremely lucky with Peyton Manning, although I think they won because of their defense. And since Manning, it has been a shit show. Guys like Trevor Siemian, Brock Osweiler, Paxton Lynch and Case Keenum have been the QB. Those teams have stunk. Now, they have Joe Flacco and they drafted Dew Lock. Oof. Flacco is another guy that got paid because of an excellent defense that made his old team a Super Bowl champ. He has never been that good, and lately, he looks totally disinterested in football, but also thinks he is a Hall of Famer. He is not. Then with Lock, my dad told me that their staff said "he is a fast ball pitcher that can't find the plate". That is not a compliment. That is an indictment of how far away that kid is from being even a competent backup in the NFL. I saw him play live, and while he has impressive arm strength, he is too prone to run and overthrow guys by ten yards. He has zero accuracy. They do have a solid back in Phillip Lindsay, and the o line is okay. But, their best receiver is Emmanuel Sanders, and while he is explosive, he is small and he gets blasted way too much. Where the Broncos thrive is on defense, and they are led by one of the best ever, Von Miller. Miller is awesome and a true Hall of Fame player and just goes after it. They have a solid line, the corners are serviceable and the secondary can hit. But, they are being wasted by this below average offense. The defense will keep them in games, it may even win a few for them, but they are no better than a 7 win team to me. That is a shame because that defense is so very good.

The final team for today, a team I was so very wrong on last year, coming in at number 21, I have the Jacksonville Jaguars. I picked them to win the Super Bowl last year. Now I have them this low on my list. They totally stumbled last year, and I don't think they can make a quick recovery. They did get rid of Blake Bortles finally, but replaced him with Nick Foles. Yes, he won a Super Bowl for Philly, and he held that team afloat last year after Carson Wentz went down with yet another injury. But, now Foles is being looked at as the franchise guy, and I think he will revert to his Saint Louis days, where he was the full time starter for the year, and wasn't that effective. They also have some solid wide outs, but Allen Hurns and the other guys just aren't being used right. They are actively rude to Leonard Fournette and TJ Yeldon at every turn. These guys should be the basis of what they do on offense, but when the coach and Tom Coughlin rip them at every turn, that has to be tough for them. Add on the fact that they hired John De Fillipo to be the new offensive coordinator, Yeldon and Fournette will be lucky to touch the ball a combined 20 times a game now. The defense completely fell apart last season as well. I love Jalen Ramsey, but man did he not back up his trash talk last year. The whole "Sacksonville" thing was clearly a one year deal as they got out sacked by everyone they played. They traded Dante Fowler midway through the year to the LA Rams for peanuts. Their linebackers weren't that good in run or pass defense. It was a total mess, much like this team is now. And I am not going to let the Foles signing fool me into thinking this team will be a contender all of the sudden. Jacksonville seems like they are back to being a mid tier, to bad, NFL team. They are going to probably win 6 or 7 games this year, but the days, or one year that is, of them being a contender are long gone. I cannot believe I thought this team was going to win the Super Bowl last year. I am a dummy.

That's it for today, come back tomorrow for my next 4 teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Do not be too hard on Ty about Jacksonville. How many of us are picking Cleveland to win it all this year. Now that is dumb.

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Ty Ranks the 2018 NFL Teams: The First Pumpkin Spice Latte of the Season

Day 7 of my NFL preseason preview is starting to feature the best of the best. These teams are all playoff teams. These teams all have All Pro players. These teams all have solid coaching staffs, save the Packers, that are capable of leading the team to the title. They all have legit shots at the Super Bowl.

Lets get to it.

At number 8 I have the Atlanta Falcons. Yes, they took a step back last year. Yes, they blew a 25 point lead in the Super Bowl 2 years ago. Yes, they have some issues that they need to settle with Julio Jones. But, this team is good. They have a very solid QB in Matt Ryan. He is accurate, good in the pocket and throws for tons of yards and TD's. Matt Ryan is a good NFL QB. Hell, he won the MVP 2 years ago. He can play. He is also good in clutch moments. I like their running game. Tevin Coleman is a solid back that can kind of do a bit of everything. Devonta Freeman is a very solid number one running back. They have a great 2 headed monster. As mentioned, they have to get Julio Jones signed, and when they do, they are set at receiver. Jones is right up there with guys like Antonio Brown and Deandre Hopkins for me, and a whole lot of other people. I also love that they were able to draft Calvin Ridley. I feel like Ridley is going to be a great compliment to Jones. They also have Mohammed Sanu, and that dude is good. They are stacked at receiver. The Falcons defense is a bit suspect, but they were better last year. They can stop the run, but they struggle with the pass. They need to get a little better in the secondary, and I'd like for them to shore up their linebacker corps. But, they play just good enough to keep this team in the top ten. I also like the staff, with one exception. Steve Sarkisian shouldn't be an NFL play caller. Hell, he shouldn't be a college play caller. He is not very good at his job. But, the talent supersedes how bad of a play caller he truly is. The Falcons are good. They are a 10 win team easily. They will be in the playoffs.

At number 7 I have the New Orleans Saints. I was very low on them last year and they totally surprised me. They played very good football last year. They found a run game. They found a defense. And Drew Brees went out there and found another guy to turn into a star receiver. Michael Thomas, as much as it pains me to say this, is a legit top wide receiver threat. He is so good down the field and over the middle. He is awesome. Drew Brees has found another guy. Also, Drew Brees is still awesome at his advanced age. He is still a 4,500 yard passer, with a 70 percent completion rate and throws for 25 plus TD's every year. He is one of the best. What will make his career even longer is their newfound run game. Mark Ingram, who will miss the first 4 games after being suspended, played much better last year. He played like the bruising back that we all thought he would be coming out of Alabama. And they found another diamond in the rough in Alvin Kamara. He is the new Marshall Faulk. He is explosive out of the back field. He finds yards were there are no yards. He is excellent at catching balls out of the back field. Kamara is awesome and he will only get better and better. What was even more shocking was the Saints defense last year. They actually stepped up and held teams down. The Saints no longer have to score 40 or 50 points to win a game. They can play fast and slow now because the defense is that good. They can actually stop people. I don't know how Sean Payton did it, probably ridding himself of Rob Ryan, but he now has a defense that will help the offense. The Saints are good and will be a playoff threat as long as Kamara stays healthy. They are easily a 11-12 win team.

At number 6 I have the Green Bay Packers. As you may have saw at the top, I listed the Packers main weakness is coaching. Mike McCarthy is awful. I'm not super stoked about the Mike Pettine and Joe Philbin hires. I hope it works, but I am not optimistic about it. But, the Packers do get Aaron Rodgers back, and he is healthy. Rodgers is one of, if not the, best QB's in football. He is great on the run and in the pocket, has a laser arm and leads this team like no other. He is who they turn to when they are in trouble and need a play. He is the man in Green Bay. They let Jordy Nelson go, and I do not understand the outcry over this. He was always injured and it was becoming a problem. I know he was reliable, but he always missed time. The same can be said for Randall Cobb, but he is so much more explosive than Nelson. I would much rather have Cobb than Nelson right now in their careers. Cobb can also run trick plays. I also love Davante Adams. This is his year to become the number one receiver. He has all the tools, and I think he can have a great season. I also like Geronimo Alison. He has a chance to really make a name for himself. Also, the Packers went out and got Jimmy Graham. I know it doesn't hold the weight in may have 4 years ago, but I like it. I think Graham likes it too. He will be used properly in Green Bay. He could become the end zone threat that he was in New Orleans once again. The Packers need a better run game. I love that Ty Montgomery was willing to shift positions, and while he is an okay back, he is a receiver. That is where he should be. They have a bunch of young dudes, so maybe one of them will step up. But, the run game needs to get better. The Packers defense needs to get better too. They can get much better much faster if they somehow pull off a trade for Khalil Mack. I would jump for joy if this happens. I'm hoping it happens. They need a guy like Mack because they don't have much else. They are a poor pass rushing and run stopping team. They cannot set an edge, and linebackers overrun plays far too much. I do like the secondary, especially Tramon Williams, but they give up too many big plays. This Packers team reminds me of the Saints team when they had no defense. They will win double digit games if Rodgers stays healthy, but they will give up lots of points in doing so. The Packers will return to the payoffs though. Mark it down.

My final team for the day, at number 5, is the Jacksonville Jaguars. I think people are sleeping on a team that was 10 minutes away from playing in the Super Bowl last year. The Jaguars defense is, maybe, the best in the league. They are so young too. They will continue to dominate on that side of the ball, if they can keep most of these guys, for half a decade easily. I mean, Jalen Ramsey, AJ Bouye, Calais Campbell, Myles Jack and Barry Church are all awesome. They are all pro bowlers. They are all top 3 in the league at their positions. They are so, so, so good on that side of the ball. They can stop pretty much any team. They got screwed by the refs in the AFC title game last year, and they still held a league due to this defense. They are elite. The offense, on the other hand, is very bland. Blake Bortles is awful. They need to let it go. I know he was the QB in their run last year, but he is one of the worst starters in the league. Hell, he would have been one of the worst backups. He stinks. They do have a good O line though. They also have a great, young running back in Leonard Fournette. He is big, strong and fast. He needs to be more durable, but damnit, the kid can run the hell out of the football. I also like TJ Yeldon. He is a great change of pace back. The receivers unfortunately have Bortles throwing them the ball. Keelan Cole, Dede Westbrook and Marqise Lee are all good, but they need a better QB throwing them the ball. The Jaguars are going to be a top team once again, and it is all due to the defense and run game. They need to lean on those 2 phases of the game. I do not think a return trip to the AFC title game is out of the question. I like the Jags so much, and it is solely due to their defense.

That is it for today. Come back tomorrow for the top 4 teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He does not know the value of Bloke Bortles in a late season fantasy football run. The head editor used Bortles, and his 9 points per game, to eek out a championship last year.

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It Was an Almost Perfect Weekend of NFL Playoff Football

This past weekend of the NFL playoffs was pretty wild. Well, 3 of the 4 games were wild. Lets get the boring one out of the way first.

The Patriots throttled the Titans. I had a slight glimmer of hope that the Titans would make it a game when they went up 7-0 late in the first quarter. But, the Patriots, and almost more importantly, the refs, made that null and void pretty quick. Mariota regressed pretty quick after the first quarter. The Titans defense could not stop the Patriots offense. Making the Titans play from behind is how you beat them handily. And, as I said, the refs were atrocious. It seemed like anytime that the Titans would get a stop, a first down or even grab some momentum, the refs stepped in and gave it all back to the Patriots. When the score was 7-7 and the Titans were driving again, Eric Decker got called for an absolutely terrible offensive interference to kill the drive. Then, after stopping the Patriots deep in their territory, and forcing them to punt, a phantom offside call was made when it was clear that the Patriots jumped first. This resulted in another Patriots TD. Finally, on a fourth and one play, the Patriots tackled Derrick Henry by his facemask, but nothing was called. No flags, nothing. It was horrendous.

The other three games on Saturday and Sunday would not let the horrific mismatch and terrible reffing spoil some great games. Truth be told, I did not watch a second of Eagles-Falcons, I was at the movies watching the new "Star Wars" with my son. But, I caught up on the highlights, and that was some tremendous defense played by the Eagles. With that being said, Steve Sarkisian proved to be a terrible play caller, especially when they had four chances from the 9 yard line to win the game. But, the Eagles suffocated and stifled the Falcons offense all game. They did not give Tevin Coleman or Devonta Freeman any space to run the ball. The Falcons defense played good too, but they let Nick Foles do just enough to get the win. Matt Ryan also reverted to his poor decision making late in crucial moments. I fully thought that the Falcons were going to win, especially after how they manhandled the Rams, but the Eagles would not let it happen. While they didn't do much on offense, they did enough. And their defense was awesome. They deserved to win, and they earned it too.

The most surprising game for me was Pittsburgh-Jacksonville. I did not see any of the first half of this game, I was at a birthday party. But I would periodically check my phone to see the score. Every time I checked it, it seemed that the Jags scored another TD. When I first checked it was 14-0 early in the second quarter. About 15 minutes passed, I checked again, and it was 21-7. Then we left the party and I saw it was 28-14 at the half. I assumed that when we returned home and I turned on the game that the Steelers would have tied it or taken the lead. Well, they cut it to 7 in the third, but they never grabbed the lead. When it was 28-21, I figured this was where the Steelers would wake up and grab a stranglehold on the game. Well, the Jags immediately took the ball all the way down the field and Leonard Fournette ran in his third TD of the game. This was when I started to think that maybe the Jags were going to win this game. But, not to be denied, the Steelers had another miracle TD on a fourth and three play. Roethsliberger heaved the ball in the air and a very injured Antonio Brown made a great, great catch for a TD. They cut it to 7 again. I started to go back around to thinking that the Steelers were going to win. But again, the Jags got the ball, god help me, Blake Bortles made some plays, and they scored on an easy pass to a wide open fullback to get a 14 point lead again. I was amazed at how well the Jags looked on offense, but also how poorly the Steelers were playing defense. The Steelers still wouldn't go away, getting back to within 7.  But, to attempt an onside kick with 2 timeouts and 2 minutes and 18 seconds left in the game at home, was simply stupid. That was a horrific choice by all the coaches involved on the Steelers. This gave the Jags great field position and set them up for the easy 2 score lead again. The Steelers blew this game, they were definitely looking ahead to the Patriots, but props to the Jags for going into Pittsburgh twice this season and winning both times.

The game of the weekend, the playoffs and maybe in the past 5 or 6 years, was the Saints-Vikings game. This was, to use a cliché, a tale of 2 halves. The Vikings owned the first 2 quarters. They stopped everything the Saints wanted to do, and they moved the ball at will. They looked like they were going to win with ease, especially when they had a 17-0 lead at halftime. But, credit to the Saints for making adjustments and turning this into a game. Drew Brees was making some great, great throws in the second half. His pass to Alvin Kamara was amazing. Kamara was also amazing in the second half. He is going to be a star. Michael Thomas started to get much more involved. He now is in that conversation of second best wide out in the league, behind only Antonio Brown. The Saints defense also started to make plays. When they took the lead at 21-20, I thought the Vikings were in for another heartbreak in the postseason. But, to their credit they kept plugging away. They got the ball back, marched into field goal range and kicked the go ahead field goal with just over 2 minutes left. That was more than enough time for Brees to lead the Saints down into field goal range to kick and take the lead very late in the game. The Vikings got the ball back with about 40 seconds left, and one timeout, but I figured they were toast. I mean, one timeout, Case Keenum, Vikings postseason history, no real deep threats, everything was stacked against them. And that was how this final drive started. They had one chunk play, but they had to burn their last timeout, and they were so far out of field goal range and hail mary range, I didn't think it mattered. And the next 2 plays made me feel this even stronger. Keenum was throwing ducks and getting pressured. Everything pointed to another blown playoff game. Then third down happened. With less than 10 seconds left the Vikings snapped the ball, and a sports miracle happened. Keenum bought just enough time in the pocket and just chucked the ball in the air. Out of nowhere Stefon Diggs, who it looked like jumped about 20 feet in the air, snagged the ball and turned up field. The Saints safety, poor, poor Marcus Williams, went in for the hit, but he completely missed Diggs. This was the worst attempted tackle I have seen at any level. Williams, who had a great rookie year, and had played very well in the game up until this point, just completely whiffed. His head was down and I think he just assumed that he was going to run into Diggs. That didn't happen, and now there are about a thousand GIF's and meme's "commemorating" this missed tackled. After Diggs realized he wasn't going to get hit, he turned up the field and ran. I kept yelling, the Vikings bench too, "GET OUT OF BOUNDS!", thinking that the Saints had another safety deep. But, much to mine, and everyone else's surprise, there was no one there. Diggs could have waltzed into the end zone if he wanted. It was a truly amazing sports moments. It is one of the best endings to a game that I have ever seen. I could not believe that the Vikings won a game in this fashion. It was such an amazing ending. I'm still kind of in shock how that game ended.

This was, at least 3/4 of it was, a very great football weekend. It was fun to see the NFL be fun at least one time this year. I don't think it matters in the long run though. I still think we will get Patriots-Vikings in the Super Bowl, and I still think the Patriots will win. But, this past weekend made it fun to be an NFL fan for a couple days. Hopefully the conference championships will be half as good as this past weekend was. We will have to wait and see.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is used to seeing Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers pull out last second miracle wins. This year's Rodgers is Case Keenum and the Packers have become the Vikings. 

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Ty Ranks the 2017 NFL Teams: The "Phantom Menance" Edition

Continuing my 2017 NFL countdown I have my next 4 teams. These teams still are pretty awful, but not as bad as the teams I did yesterday. Lets get to it.

Coming in at number 28 I have the Los Angeles Rams. I accidentally almost wrote Saint Louis. I am still a little annoyed that Kroenke moved the team. Regardless, this team is still pretty awful. What they do have is a great defense, especially if they can get Aaron Donald to end his holdout.(they need to pay the man) They have a very good pass rush and D-Line. Their secondary, while young, can make plays here and there. And their linebackers, they are just fine. The defense is good enough to keep this team in, if they are stout enough, 6 games. They will most definitely play Seattle tough, they always do. What holds this team back is their atrocious offense. They have a great, otherworldly running back in Todd Gurley. But, he has no O-Line to open holes for him. The receiving corps, even with the addition of Sammy Watkins, is truly bad. Maybe second only to the Jets as the worst in the league. And their QB, Jared Goff, is a bust. I am already saying it. I know they have said that he has been "lights out" in camp, but everyone has, with the exception of Christian Hackenberg. Goff is not a good QB. He isn't even a starting QB in my opinion. The Rams have a new head coach too. He is younger than me. He is supposed to be some QB guru, but I don't think anyone can work with Goff. Unfortunately, at least for the Rams defense, this team will continue to be a 4 or 5 win team. Todd Gurley deserves better than this.

At number 27 I have the Jacksonville Jaguars. Again, this team has a something that looks like a real NFL defense. They have made some big free agent signings, and I really like Jalen Ramsey as their top corner, but they need a better D-Line and some accountable linebackers. They can be great, but right now, they are average. This is another team where the problem lies with the offense. They have good receivers. Allen Robinson is good. Allen Hurns is good. Hell, Dede Westbrook may even be able to contribute right away. They took my favorite player in the draft, Leonard Fournette, but he is already injured. Hopefully they play it safe with him. But, they do have Chris Ivory, who stunk last year, but I think that has to do with a mediocre line. He could have a bounce back year. They also still have TJ Yeldon too. They have some backs. The problem here is with Blake Bortles. He is bad. I mean, real bad. He is the worst garbage time QB I have ever watched. He doesn't win games for this team, but he sure as hell loses them. Bortles is done, toast, finito. They need to get rid of him. I know their backup is Chad Henne, but at least he has been on decent teams before. Blake Bortles is the second worst starter in the entire NFL, behind only Hackenberg, and he will continue to hold this team back from winning anything of importance.

At number 26 I have the Miami Dolphins. Some may see that and think that is way too far down for this team. They were in the playoffs last year. They have a good run game, good D-Line and some good receivers. Why are they so low on your list? Well, one name, Jay Cutler. The Dolphins would have been in the early teens on my list if Ryan Tannehill didn't get hurt. He did, and instead of reaching out to Tony Romo or giving Colin Kaepernick his much due contract, they went out and signed Jay god damn Cutler. I hope Miami fans like to watch a guy that will throw crushing pick sixes, then walk to the sideline like he did nothing wrong. I hope they like watching a guy that will quit on them the moment he gets one knick or bruise or hit. I hope they enjoy watching a guy that doesn't even want to be there. He is going to be a nightmare. He is going to waste a year of Jarvis Landry, Kenny Stills and DeVante Parker. He is going to waste a year of Jay Ajayi and Kenyan Drake. He is going to yell at, and waste a year of a pretty decent O-Line. And Jay god damn Cutler is going to waste a defense with guys like Ndamukong Suh, Cameron Wake, Kiko Alonso and Michael Thomas because he just doesn't give a damn. The Dolphins should have stuck with Matt Moore, as I wrote awhile back, but no, they signed Jay Cutler. What a waste. That is the best word I can use to describe this upcoming year for the Dolphins, waste.

My final team for today, coming in at number 25, I have the Buffalo Bills. This is the same team that just traded their best receiver, and I know that Watkins gets hurt a lot, but he was their best outside threat. This team is also over using LeSean McCoy. They make him carry and catch the ball way too much, and it is catching up with him. As much as I might like Tyrod Taylor, he just isn't a viable starter in the NFL. He tucks and runs too much. He is a tremendous athlete, but he needs to throw more. Their O-Line is good, but I actively root against them because they signed Richie Incognito, and that guy is the worst. I despise him and everything he stands for. And now that they traded Watkins, they do not have any wide receiver threats. Do guys like Charles Clay, Andre Holmes, Zay Jones(he's a rookie) and Rashard Ross really strike fear into any opposing secondary? No way. Besides McCoy, none of the backup running backs are any good. But, the Bills do have a pretty stout defense. Marcell Dareus as been as good as advertised. Shaq Lawson is coming along fine. Reggie Ragland is a good linebacker. They did lose Stephon Gilmore, and while Micah Hyde may not be as good as Gilmore is, it helps cushion the blow a bit. The Bills do have a defense that will not only keep them in games, but could even win them a game or 2. Still, the Bills will lucky to win 6 games this year. Their offense is so far behind. As I said with Gurley, I will say with McCoy, he deserves better.

That is it for today. Come back tomorrow for my next 4 teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He will be happy once we get past the teams that are only watchable on the Red Zone channel. Just  few more days.

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Ty Ranks the 2016 NFL Teams: Cold Beer on a Warm Christmas Morning Edition

Day four of my NFL preview. We finally have, at least one team, that I think will be right at .500, or slightly above. These next four teams are either regressing or taking a big step forward. I have a feeling that one of the teams I mentioned today, a lot of the readers will think I'm nuts, but I have a lot of hope. We are finally getting to some decent teams. Okay, enough preamble, let's get to it.

At number 20, I have my biggest shocker, possibly in my whole countdown, the Jacksonville Jaguars. I don't know what it is about this team, but I think they are on their way to becoming hyper competitive. I have liked what they have done the past couple of years, and I know they had a chance to win their division last year, but that division was a joke. But, I have a feeling they could really become a threat in that division sooner rather than later. First off, I think Blake Bortles is on the verge of becoming an upper level QB. He is never going to be elite (ed note: like Joe Flacco), but he is becoming more than just a game manager. He is starting to throw the long ball, and instead of just managing the game, he is starting to look like he can win some games for this team. He was a huge fantasy pick up for me last year too. I wasted a fourth round pick on Peyton Manning, but I feel like I struck gold with my 12th round pick of Bortles. He is going to become very good this season. Bortles also has 2 up and coming receivers that really blew up last year, and I see more good things from them in the future. Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson are going to become pro bowlers and upper echelon NFL receivers. They are fast, have great hands, run excellent routes and get to the right spot almost every time. Then, if he can stay healthy, Julius Thomas is one of the better tight ends in the league. He's big, has good hands, and since he is a former college basketball player, he is good at "boxing" out defenders and getting to balls other tight ends usually have no chance at. At running back, they have one of the better Alabama products in TJ Yeldon. He has great patience, looks for open holes and runs fast, but more importantly, hard. He could be the one Alabama back that can turn into a formidable pro. Their offensive line in commendable as well. On defense, if they can get some of the young guys they have on the field, they could be halfway decent. The defense will still be the problem for a year or two, but when guys like Dante Fowler, Myles Jack and Jalen Ramsey get their feet wet, they could be very good. I really like what the Jaguars are doing, but they may still be a year or two away, but they are coming. I say they go 7-9 this year, and that would be huge for them. They are going to be highly competitive this season.

At number 19, I have the Baltimore Ravens. Talk about a team that could not catch a break last year. Injuries and poor QB play really did them in. They do have good players at the skill positions, but Joe Flacco is not that good (ed note: not elite?). He's too error prone and makes the worst mistakes at the worst time. But, they do have Steve Smith and Breshad Perriman at receiver. Those guys are both good, and Steve Smith, who is old, has seemed to only have gotten better with age. At running back, after the entire Ray Rice situation, he's a monster, they have Justin Forsett, who I think is very good. He can get to the holes and rack up yardage pretty quick. Dennis Pitta is still there at tight end, so they still have a reliable safety blanket. Their defense is still good, but they have suffered attrition. Terrell Suggs is still there, but he may be the lone holdover from their Super Bowl win on defense. CJ Moseley, Jimmy Smith and Elvis Dumervil are all very good, and they signed Eric Weddle for next to nothing after the Chargers let him walk. Baltimore is bound for a turnaround, they are too good of a team with a very good head coach, but they unfortunately are in a division with the Steelers and Bengals, who I will get to next week, and that will keep them in third place. But, they are my first .500 team, because I think they will finish 8-8.

At number 18, I have the New York Giants. The Giants are one of the most annoying teams in all of football, but they seem to be bad one year, then good the next. This season comes after a very mediocre season from them. Odell Beckham, right behind Julio Jones, may be the next best receiver in all of football. He makes some of the greatest catches in the game, and he is a very hard guy to cover. They also have Victor Cruz, who is still good, despite being hurt almost all of last season. Rashard Jennings is a decent running back, and so is Shane Vereen. The problem with the offense is Eli Manning. He is an interception machine, and he makes so many ill conceived throws. Yeah, he has 2 Super Bowl rings, but it wasn't because of him. Their defense has the ability to be good, but they do make a lot of mistakes. Jason Pierre-Paul is an excellent pass rusher, but he also blew half his hand off playing with fireworks, so who knows if he will ever be the same again. Olivier Vernon is pretty good, so maybe he will become the new and improved version of Pierre-Paul. The linebackers are okay, and the secondary is ho hum. Their d line is where it's at for them. They also mercifully let Tom Coughlin go, but their hire of Ben McaDoo is very uninspired. The Giants play in a terrible division, and they could conceivably win with a 8-8 record, but I think they will finish at 7-9. 

My final team today, coming in at number 17, is the team I dislike the most, the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are so incredibly overrated, it's disgusting. They have a very good team on paper, but they have proven that stuff doesn't matter. Tony Romo is the most overrated QB of all time, hands down. No one has ever been given so much credit for doing nothing other than being the QB of the cowboys. He always chokes in the playoffs, he always makes crucial mistakes, he cannot stay healthy, why do people think he is elite? He is so far from elite, it's preposterous. I'd rather have Eli Manning, Joe Flaco, almost any QB on any team I've already mentioned on this countdown before I'd take Romo. Romo stinks. They do have a good receiver in Dez Bryant, but he is always fighting with coaches and teammates and he can't seem to stay away from trouble off the field. Jason Witten is good, but old, and kind of overrated himself. Their running game in virtually nonexistent since DeMarco Murray left. I also don't buy the Ezekial Elliot hype. He played in a spread offense in college, and those guys don't translate well to the NFL. He may also be a girlfriend abuser with the stories that came out a few weeks ago. The defense played out of their minds two years ago, but they returned to their mediocre form last year. Guys can't stay healthy or out of trouble. Sure, they released that monster Greg Hardy, but they still have head cases like Rolando McClain on their roster. They also have oft injured guys like Sean Lee in their linebacking corp. The Cowboys aren't very good, but they are in the same division as the Giants, Eagles and Washington, so a bad record could very easily win the division. I think the Cowboys will find their way, somehow, to 8-8.

Come back tomorrow for my next four teams and a review of the Louis CK show I'm going to tonight.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He just does not see the little things Romo does to make the Cowboys great. At least that is what the Head Editor thinks. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

SeedSing's Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 23 - Christmas in Hollis

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a new awesome holiday song for every day of Advent. This is the greatest music of the season. Enjoy.

Day 23: Christmas in Hollis by Run DMC

Opened doors: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten,

 Eleven Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen,Sixteen,Seventeen,Eighteen,

Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty One, Twenty Two

For SeedSing's Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday music, I'm going to talk about the phenomenal "Christmas Time in Hollis" by the great RUN DMC. This song is one of the greatest holiday songs of all time. I've mentioned many times before that I don't care for holiday music, but this tune and "Christmas Time at My House" are the two exceptions.

"Christmas Time In Hollis" is a rap song about the holiday. This could only be done by RUN DMC. They're the only straight forward rap group that could pull off a holiday song. Do you think Eminem or Wu Tang Clan or Tribe Called Quest could really pull off a holiday song? I love all those people, but no way. This was one of the first holiday songs I heard that I wanted to hear over and over again. The beat is classic RUN DMC. It's repetitive and thumping and just downright awesome.

I love the way it starts out. The opening lyrics give you the date and the place, then they say, "When I see a man chillin with his dog in the dark". So, they think they just see an old haggard man walking a dog, but then, "I approached them very slowly with my heart full of fear. Looked at his dog, oh my god, a illin reindeer". It may sound corny, but when they rap these words, I'm in. They've grabbed my attention and I'm fully on board for what RUN DMC is going to tell me throughout the entirety of the song. They go on to say, "But then I was chillin because the man had a beard and a bag full of cookies, 12 o'clock had neared". They realize that it's Santa. This is not only a perfect song for rap enthusiasts, but for kids too because they keep the myth alive that Santa is a real person. I love it. Then they turn their heads and Santa is gone, off to do his work since it was midnight, making it Christmas day technically. I also love that they check out his wallet, because he dropped it, and they find a million dollars in it. I didn't know Santa rolled like that. He's a baller. Being the good people that they are, RUN DMC doesn't steal the money from Santa, they mail it back to him that night. What a bunch of saints. But when they get home, they realize the wallet and the money was a present for them from Santa, he left it there purposefully. The boys were bummed, but they'd soldier on.

Then the greatest chorus in holiday music history is spoken, "It's Christmas time in Hollis Queens, mama's cooking chicken and collard greens. Rice and stuffing, macaroni and cheese and Santa putting gifts under Christmas trees". Poetic. This is the coolest chorus in, not only holiday, but all of music history. I love the rhyming structure and the ferocity that they deliver it with. This chorus has been in my life so long, when playing one of the first iterations of Madden on PlayStation One, the Jaguars had a kicker named Mike Hollis and my brother and I would sing the chorus after every extra point and kick off. I still hum this chorus in my head all year long. I absolutely love it.

In the second verse, they talk about decorating the tree and the house with the excellent line, "snow's on the ground, snow white snow bright". RUN DMC are lyrical geniuses. It seems simple, but it's complex and fantastic. Then they say, "The rhymes you hear are the rhymes of Darryl's, but each and every year, we bust Christmas carols". I love that they don't have to be hard core, or gangster. They are rappers that like holiday music, how cool is that. They almost make me like holiday music. If only every holiday song could be like "Christmas Time in Hollis". I like how upbeat they are throughout the song. Lines like, "Jack Frost chillin, the hawk is out and that's what Christmas is all about", or, "The time is now, the place is here and the whole wide world is filled with cheer". It's so great. They're the happiest rappers in the world. They work clean too, so, like I said before, I can listen to this song with my three year old and not worry about any swear words.

They close out the song with some of the best lyrics in rap history. The final verse goes as follows, "My name's DMC with the mic in my hand and I'm chillin and coolin just like a snowman. So open your eyes, lend us an ear, we want to Merry Christmas and a happy new year!". It's so upbeat! I can't get enough of it. I love this song, but the chorus is the greatest part by far. As I said before, I still hum it year round and my son even gets involved now. RUN DMC can do no wrong, so no wonder I enjoy their one and only holiday song. This song is great and everyone should go listen to it now and enjoy all the merriment. It's not only a great holiday song, it's just a great song.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. It is not Christmas in his house until he gets a nice helping of chicken and collard greens. Wish Ty a merry Christmas by following him on twitter @tykulik

Ty is not impressed with the undefeated Carolina Panthers

This is how scary the Panters are right now

Yesterday I gave a lot of love to the undefeated Golden State Warriors. Today, I'm going to talk about another undefeated team, this time in the NFL, that hasn't impressed me.

I heaped a ton of praise on the Warriors, rightfully so, but the Carolina Panthers may be the most suspect 10-0 NFL team that I've seen in quite some time. Sure, Cam Newton is playing like an MVP this year. And their defense is about as shut down as they come. But, their run game has been spotty, at best, and they have no real receivers since Kelvin Benjamin went down in the preseason. Devin Funchess has turned it on as of late and Greg Olsen is, right now, the second best tight end in the league behind Rob Gronkowski. But, the main reason they are undefeated is, their schedule has been one of the easiest in the NFL. The ten teams that they've beaten are as follows; the Jaguars(4-6), the Texans(5-5), the Saints(4-6), the Buccaneers(5-5), the Seahawks(5-5), the Eagles(4-6), the Colts(5-5), the Packers(7-3), the Titans(2-8) and the team from Washington(4-6). The rest of their schedule has the Cowboys(3-7), Saints again, the Falcons(6-4), the Giants(5-5), Falcons again and their season ends with the Buccaneers. For those of you keeping track at home, that's 2 teams with a winning record, the Packers are good, but the Falcons are not. That's 4 teams that are at .500. The best of the .500 teams may be the Seahawks, and they've given up big leads at home, Marshawn Lynch is hurt, Russell Wilson is STRUGGLING and they don't know how to effectively use Jimmy Graham. The Buccaneers are shockingly a .500 team, but they're led by a rookie QB. Sure, Jameis Winston has looked good lately, but he's still a rookie. The Texans stink. I don't care that they recently beat the Bengals, they have no offense and, other than JJ Watt and Vince Wilfork, their defense stinks. And the Colts have been the biggest disappointment in the NFL. The rest of the teams they've beaten are all below .500. The Jaguars have won two straight, but it's still the Jaguars. They are about four or five years away from competing for anything important. The Saints play absolutely no defense. None whatsoever. They are awful. The Eagles are just as bad as the Saints, if not worse. They have no clue what to do on offense because Chip Kelly is an idiot and their defense just gave up 45 points, at home, to the Buccaneers. The Titans have nothing. They have a rookie QB, no running game, no receivers and no defense. They will probably end up with the worst record in the NFL this year. And the team from Washington is a joke in every sense of the word. They are an irrelevant franchise at the moment.

So, when you look at who the 10-0 Panthers have beaten, it's by no means a murderers row. We are talking a combined record of 45-55. That's pretty bad. That's really bad actually. They've also had to squeak out victories over the Titans two weeks ago, the Saints in week three without Drew Brees, they needed overtime to beat the Colts in week 8 and they needed a game saving interception to beat the Packers after they squandered a huge fourth quarter lead. The only real blow out came last week when they trashed Washington. A lot of teams have crushed Washington this year.

Now, it's hard to win 10 straight games, and just as I stated yesterday, you need luck and teams to blow games to have streaks that last this long. What the Panthers have done is very good and a bit intriguing, but if I was a team coming to play them in Carolina for a playoff game, I wouldn't be that worried about them. They don't have a very good home field advantage. They don't strike fear in their opponents. Put Cam Newton on any other team, the Panthers would be lucky to be 5-5 right now. For an example, put him on the Titans, and they'd be a 5-5 or 6-4 team right now. That's how good he's been this year. I didn't think he'd make much of a pro, but he's gotten better every year, and he's become an MVP candidate. But, he doesn't scare me when it comes to the playoffs.

This has happened with the Panthers before. Two or three years ago, they were the surprise of the NFL, winning their division with a 12-4 record. They seemed like a lock to get to the conference championship, but they got crushed in their playoff game and became an after thought. They have a real chance to go undefeated this year though. Their schedule the rest of the way is very easy, with their toughest game coming next week at Dallas. They should win that easily. So, let's say they finish the regular season 16-0. They'd be the number one seed and have a first round bye. They'd also have home field advantage. And let's just say they win that second round playoff game to advance to the NFC title. They'd either get the Green Bay Packers or the Arizona Cardinals. Those are the three best teams in the NFC in my opinion. I'd take the Packers, I picked them to win the Super Bowl, or the Cardinals in a second over the Panthers if I were a betting man. I know, the Panthers already beat Green Bay, but the end of that game showed me that the Packers know how to score on the Panthers. And the Cardinals, I think they'd absolutely crush the Panthers in a playoff game. They have an excellent secondary that would shut down their mediocre receivers, and someone will cover Greg Olsen. And the Cardinals offense, if healthy, I could see them scoring 40 by the end of the third quarter. They will beat them with the run, and their receivers are bigger and more physical than the Panthers secondary. It would be a totally lost season for the Panthers.

I will say again, good for you Carolina for being undefeated this late in the year, but until you win some games against quality opponents, I'm not impressed. The Warriors you are not Carolina, sorry. Good luck, and I hope Cam Newton continues to get better because he's fun to watch, but I just don't see them as a viable, fear inducing opponent to whoever they will face in the playoffs. The Panthers will have a very good regular season, possibly an undefeated one, but they will crap out in the playoffs, that's what they do.

They aren't champions yet.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He just recently learned there is a North and South Carolina. What's next, a New Mexico? Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik. 

Ty Needs to Change his Super Bowl Picks: NFL Midseason Redo

Ty made some cookies to apologize about the Colts pick

Much like my blog yesterday, I'm going to tackle the NFL at the midway point.

Week 8 just ended and most teams have played 7 or 8 games. You can definitely get a sense of who is a legit contender, and who are the bottom of the barrel teams. I'll go over my previous division winners and I'll pick who I think will win their division now, and the wild cards from each conference. I'll also pick the MVP, coach of the year, offensive and defensive player of the year and offensive and defensive rookie of the year compared to my season preview.

Let's start with the AFC. The AFC East is being led by the New England Patriots at 7-0. The Jets are 4-3 and the Bills and Dolphins are 3-4. I was wrong about this division, picking the Dolphins. They've kind of gotten back on track, but they were just destroyed by the Patriots and they were a mess before firing Joe Philbin. The Jets and Bills are both middle of the road, but the Jets are playing much better than I thought with Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB. The Bills are a typical Rex Ryan team. They play good defense, have a subpar offense and blow games. The Patriots are clearly the class of this division. They're on a war path since the stupid "deflate gate" bull shit and Tom Brady and Bill Belichek are playing and coaching with anger, and they thrive that way. I don't think they'll go undefeated, but Tom Brady is playing like the MVP and they'll win this division easily. I shouldn't have doubted them. In the AFC North, the Bengals are leading the division with a 7-0 record. They're playing lights out defense right now, but they have to prove it in the playoffs before I trust them. The Steelers are 4-4 and just lost LeVeon Bell for the rest of the season, they're toast. The Browns are exactly what everyone, save for ESPN, thought they'd be. They're mediocre on offense and defense and people still talk about Johnny Manziel like he's an important player. The Browns stink. The Ravens are a shockingly bad 2-6. They've blown games that they should've won, and they look pretty bad on defense without Terrell Suggs. They're the most disappointing team in the NFL in my opinion and they just lost their best receiver for the year with Steve Smith SR tearing his ACL. The Bengals will run away with this division, no problem. The AFC South is a joke and this division made me look like a moron with my preseason preview. The Colts are in first place, but they're tied with the Texans at a dreadful 3-5. Andrew Luck is clearly hurt and their defense stinks. Screw you Indy for making me look like an idiot. The Texans are terrible. Their "vaunted" defense can't stop anyone, and their offense is bad and just got worse with Arian Foster going down with a season ending injury yet again. The Texans stink. Jacksonville and Tennessee have three wins combined. They're playing as everyone thought they would. Blake Bortles may not be that good of an NFL QB and the Jags defense is not good. The Titans are being led by a rookie QB, I know he's missed the last two games, and they may not win another game all season. Mariota is going through growing pains and he has no weapons on offense and their coach is pretty bad, and just got fired. I'm still picking the Colts to win this division, but they may only win 6 or 7 games and they will get crushed in the playoffs. The AFC West has been surprisingly competitive. The Broncos are still the best team and they're undefeated. Something is going on with Peyton Manning, but the Broncos are winning with their league best defense. They're lock down on that side of the ball. The Raiders are 4-3 and in second place. Derek Carr is a star in the making and now he has Amari Cooper to throw to. Their defense is playing halfway decent led by ageless wonder Charles Woodson. The Raiders may actually be good. The Chiefs had a brutal schedule to start the season and started 1-5, but they've won their past two and look better, even with Jamaal Charles out for the year. They have a good tight end in Kelce and a deep threat in Jeremy Maclin. Their defense is good as always. Unfortunately for them, they dug themselves to deep a hole and they won't be able to get out of it. The Chargers are a team in flux. They don't know if they're moving to LA, and they have no fan base. Phillip Rivers is on the back half of his good playing days, and Melvin Gordon hasn't lived up to the hype. The Chargers aren't a threat anymore. So, the playoff teams from the AFC will be division winners, Denver, Indy(UGH!), New England and Cincinnati. The Wild Cards will be the Jets, I can't believe I just wrote that and the Raiders, I really can't believe I just wrote that. I was wrong on Miami and Pittsburgh has suffered some brutal injuries, but other than that, I think I did okay. The Patriots are coming out of the AFC with little push. Denver is the only team that can compete, but they won't be able to beat New England in Foxborough. The Patriots will represent the AFC again in the Super Bowl. 

To the NFC. We will start with the NFC East. This division is a joke. The Giants are leading it with a 4-4 record, and they just gave up 52 points to the Saints. One week they look good, the other they look bad. The Eagles and the Washington professional football team have matching 3-4 records. How they got there is different. The Eagles play awesome defense, but their offense is bad. Chip Kelly is supposed to be an offensive genius, but he doesn't use DeMarco Murray properly, he relies on Sam Bradford too much and he has no real receivers. The Eagles are bad. Washington is lucky to be where they are. Kirk Cousins got way too riled up after a comeback victory over Tampa Bay. He's a terrible NFL QB, but who else do they have? Their defense is not very good either. Basically, they got very lucky three times and that luck is going to run out. The Cowboys have been plagued by injury and stupidity. Tony Romo and Dez Bryant missed multiple games. Joseph Randle is facing punishment for drugs and they're now starting Darren McFadden. Greg Hardy is a lunatic and doesn't belong in the league. And Jerry Jones, boy is he going nuts. The Cowboys may be the best team in this division, but that's not saying much and they are too far behind at 2-5 to win this division. The Giants will win the division and they will probably do it with only 8 wins. The NFC North is led by my beloved Packers at 6-1. They've looked pretty bad on offense the past couple of weeks though and the Broncos just throttled them on Sunday night. They'll fix what ails them, but they need a quick fix. They also need to use Eddie Lacy more, if he's healthy. The Vikings are playing pretty well, with a 5-2 record. But, let us not forget why their star player, Adrian Peterson, was out all of last season for beating a child. Announcers seem to have forgotten this, but I haven't. He's a monster. The Vikings are winning with good defense and the emergence of rookie receiver Stefon Diggs and smart QB play from Teddy Bridgewater, not child abuser Adrian Peterson. The Bears and Lions are equally bad. The Bears are 2-5 and as long as they have Jay Cutler at QB, they'll continue to be mediocre. The Lions are a dreadful 1-7 and they can't catch a break. They're also poorly coached and Matt Stafford is not a franchise QB, he's barely a starting QB. Calvin Johnson deserves better than this. The Packers will win this division. The NFC South has been surprisingly decent. The Panthers are 7-0 and playing awesome defense and Cam Newton is playing fantastic football. They also have a really good run game. The Falcons are 6-2, but they're not that impressive, save for Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman. Those are the catalysts of this team, not Matt Ryan. He's been erratic all season. The defense is serviceable. The Saints are 4-4 and Drew Brees is beginning to look like his old self, but he doesn't have any real weapons. Mark Ingram has been solid, but he's not a star and Ben Watson has been playing good at tight end, but that's it. And their defense, woof, they're bad. The Buccaneers round out this division at 3-4. They've played better than I thought they would and while Jameis Winston has looked bad at times, he's had his moments and Doug Martin may be turning his career around. But, they are still a bad team led by a rookie QB. Carolina will win this division. The NFC West has been as competitive as I thought it would be. The Cardinals lead it with a 6-2 record. Carson Palmer has been lights out and so has Larry Fitzgerald and Chris Johnson. They have a potent offense. Their defense is still really good too. Barring injury, this team should be considered a legit contender. The Rams are 4-3 and they look good one week, but bad the next. The emergence of Todd Gurley should definitely help this team out. He's been awesome. And their defense is still one of the league's best. The Seahawks are 4-4 and they've looked very unimpressive. Russell Wilson is not living up to the contract he got. Marshawn Lynch can't stay healthy and they don't know how to use Jimmy Graham. He's the best tight end in football, save for Rob Gronkowski, and he's only getting 4 or 5 targets a game. Their defense is giving up fourth quarter leads as well. They do not look like the "dynasty" that a lot of people predicted them to be. The 49ers are a total mess. They're benching Kaepernick in favor of Blaine Gabbert. WTF! He's a terrible pro. They have no running game, they traded away Vernon Davis and they can't get the ball to Torrey Smith or Anquan Boldin. Their defense is okay, but when you're on the field for 45 minutes of a 60 minute game, you get tired and when you get tired, you give up points. The 49ers stink. Cardinals win this division. So the NFC playoff teams will be division winners, New York Giants, Green Bay, Carolina and Arizona. The two wild Cards will be Minnesota and Saint Louis. This means I was wrong about the Eagles and the Seahawks. Neither will make the playoffs. I'm torn between Arizona and Green Bay, but Arizona will suffer some kind of injury and the Packers will figure out their offensive problem and they will win the NFC.

So, that gives us a Green Bay and New England Super Bowl. I'm going to stick with the Packers. They're the one team that can beat the Patriots. As far as the awards go, I was wrong on almost all of these. First of all, the MVP is Tom Brady. He's torching this league and he's on a mission. I picked Aaron Rodgers, but he's struggled lately and Tom Brady has not. Brady will also win offensive player of the year. Defensive player of the year will be Charles Woodson, not Ndomakong Suh. Woodson is still playing at an elite level and he makes the Raiders a real threat. Winning this will put him in the conversation as greatest defensive back of all time. Coach of the year is still Jeff Fisher in my opinion. He'll lead this team to a Wild Card spot and that alone gives him the award. I picked Melvin Gordon as offensive rookie of the year. He's been not so good mid way through the season. However, Todd Gurley looks to be a beast. He's setting records and rushing for a lot of yards on a good Rams team. Gurley is, hands down, the offensive rookie of the year. I picked Bud Dupree as defensive rookie of the year, but he has just blended in with the Steeler defense, he hasn't really stood out. Marcus Peters, however, has been a pretty good cornerback for the Chiefs from day one. He's my pick for defensive rookie of the year.

So, there you have it, my mid way NFL picks, Some are the same, some are different. Tell me why I'm wrong and give me your picks in the comment section.

Thanks

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He thinks Tom Brady is over inflating footballs just to screw with the NFL. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik

Ty's NFL Preview 2015: AFC

Ty is set to watch some NFL foot... wait, why the hell is his drink green?

Ed Note: We will break Ty's NFL preview up into three parts. Today we give you the AFC, tomorrow the NFC, and then the Super Bowl and awards.

On the heels of my 2015 college football preview, I'll be doing my first annual, "Ty's NFL Preview".

Much in the same vain as the college preview, I'll pick division winners, two wild cards from each conference, the teams that will play in the conference championship games, the Super Bowl winner and the offensive and defensive players of the year. Hell, I'll even throw in my pick for coach of the year and offensive and defensive rookies of the year. No preseason bull shit, because, just like the preseason poll in college football, preseason in the NFL doesn't mean anything to anyone that's watching. Preseason is more for players trying to make teams. And, no matter how terrible of a commissioner Roger Goodell is, I've mentioned how bad he is many times on the site, NFL football is the most popular sport in America and I love it just as much as any other fan out there.

So, let's get started. First, I'll break down the AFC. I'll start with the AFC East. The AFC East consists of the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and defending super bowl champs, the New England Patriots. The Bills had a pretty wild offseason. First, their former coach, Doug Marrone, quit out of nowhere, He led this team to 9 wins last season, with no decent QB, and just up and quit. It made no sense to me. So, the Bills hired Rex Ryan after he was fired by the Jets. I don't like this hire because I don't think Rex Ryan is a good head coach. He knows a lot about defense, but basically doesn't care or seem to know anything about offense. They also traded a linebacker, Kiko Alonso, to the Eagles for one of the top running backs in the league in LeSean McCoy. He didn't want to sign long term, but eventually did. They also signed supreme douchebag, Richie Incognito one year after his suspension for bullying. Like I said, a bizarre offseason. The Bills, I think, will look like the same team they did last season. They'll have a good running game, a good defense and no passing game whatsoever. They have no capable QB's on their roster and, with the exception of Sammy Watkins, no threats at receiver. I say 8 or 9 wins for the Bills. The Miami Dolphins made the biggest splash in free agency by bringing in Ndomakong Suh. They gave him a HUGE contract, but the guy is the best interior defensive lineman in the league. On offense they will look much the same, led by Ryan Tannehill at quarterback. They seem like a team on the rise and I think they're New England's biggest threat in the East. They could easily win 10,11 or even 12 games this year and possibly win the division. The New York Jets are a complete mess. First of all, their best defensive player, Sheldon Richardson, decided to drive his car 143 mph on the highway, and to top it off, he had guns in that car. He may never play football again. Next, a back up linebacker sucker punched starting QB Geno Smith in the jaw over what appears to be a $600 debt and he's out, at least 6-10 weeks. They have no real running game, the QB situation will be taken over by Ryan Fitzpatrick, and their defense, while solid, is only getting older, and they don't have Richardson clogging up the middle. I'd be surprised if they won 6 games this year. This brings me to the defending champions, New England Patriots. They've had an odd offseason as well. The main thing being the stupid non story of "deflategate". Another huge error in judgement from the moronic Roger Goodell. Tom Brady is supposed to miss the first four games of the season, we'll see if that holds up, and I think this will hurt the Patriots more than most. Jimmy Garroppolo may be good in a few years, but he's not ready. The Patriots do have a good running game and you can line up Rob Gronkowski against almost anyone and I'd take him, but their defense is suspect and can lose games for them. Darelle Revis also left to sign with the Jets this offseason, and that will sting. I still see the Patriots winning 10 or 11 games if Brady only misses 1 or 2 games. If he misses all four, they're more like an 8 or 9 win team to me. For that reason alone, I'm picking the Miami Dolphins to win the AFC East.

Next, The AFC North. In the North we have, the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns. The Ravens are a decent football team. They have a great defense, they always do, and are led on offense by Joe Flacco. That's a good and a bad thing. When he's good, he can be great, but when he's bad, he's really bad. One week he will throw for 350 yards and five touchdowns, but the next week, he'll go for less than 100 yards and 3 or 4 interceptions. But, the Ravens find ways to win 10 games every year and I don't see that changing this season. The Pittsburgh Steelers have to deal with a suspension to running back LeVeon Bell, only two games, but it will still hurt. They still have Ben Roesthliberger at QB, but he's old and, while never the fastest guy out there, seems to get slower every season. Antonio Brown is a great receiver, one of the best in the league, and will stretch the field on defenses all season. The Steelers should be good for 9 to 11 wins this season. The Cincinnati Bengals are a very predictable team. They will look very good at times. Andy Dalton will be a decent QB, but make his typical mistakes. AJ Green is an electric receiver and catches some of the worst throws in the NFL and Giovanni Bernard is going to be a star. Their defense is worrisome. They got older and their big off season acquisition of AJ Hawk doesn't make them any better. He's old and the rest of that defense is getting older. They will be good for 10 or 11 wins and probably crap out in the first round of the playoffs again. Last, and certainly least, is the Cleveland Browns. They're a joke of a franchise and be it Johnny Manziel(please God no!) or Josh McCown at QB, it doesn't matter, the Browns stink. They have no receivers, no real running game, and stink on defense. If they win 5 games I will be shocked. This division will be tough, minus the Browns, but this seems to be Pittsburgh's last shot and I think they win 11 games and the division.

Next we have the AFC South. This is a division with one, maybe two real teams, but really, the South is owned by the Indianapolis Colts. Their only real threat in the Houston Texans, and that's a reach. There's also the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans. The Jaguars upgraded their offense by signing Julius Thomas, but Blake Bortles needs at least one more season to get his feet wet and the defense isn't ready yet. It will be another 4 or 5 win season for the Jaguars. The Titans are being led by a rookie QB in Marcus Mariota, and while he may be good, when your team is being led by a rookie, with no weapons on offense around him, it's going to be a long, tough season. Their defense is pretty awful as well. They'd be lucky to win 3 or 4 games this year. The Texans have one of the best defenses in the league, led by all world defensive end JJ Watt. They are pretty stout on the line, have good linebackers and a pretty decent secondary. Offense is where the problem lies. They do have a good running back in Arian Foster, when he's not hurt, and a great up and coming receiver in DeAndre Hopkins, but who's going to be the QB? Ryan Mallet or Brian Hoyer are the two choices, and I don't think either of them have played, or are good enough to win in this league. The Texans will be better, but anything more than 9 wins would be surprising. The Colts are the class of the division. They have an explosive offense led by Andrew Luck. They have receivers like TY Hilton and signed Andre Johnson this offseason. They do a running back by committee, but this is a passing offense. Their defense is bend, but don't break and they play it very well. The Colts will win 12 games easily this season and win the AFC South running away.

The final division  is the AFC West. This is another two team division, but can anybody really beat the Denver Broncos. Their only competition will be the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers drafted Melvin Gordon this draft and he will be a big upgrade for them at the running back position. They just locked down Phillip Rivers to a long term deal and he is a great QB in this league. Their defense in just okay. They will win at least 10 games this season, but the 4 game suspension to Antonio Gates will hurt their passing game. The Broncos are led by Peyton Manning. He's one of the best QB's of all time and he continues to churn out 4,000 yard and 35 touchdown seasons. Montee Ball should bounce back after an injury plagued, subpar season. While they lost Julius Thomas, they still have Demayrius Thomas and a bunch of other great receivers. The defense is led by Von Miller, and they are stout in all three phases of defense. Hiring Gary Kubiak won't change this team much at all. They should be a 12 or 13 win team again. The other two teams in the division are the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders. The Chiefs are competitive, but they are pretty stale. Alex Smith is not a great QB, they don't score with their passing game, and there's only so much Jamal Charles can do. Their defense is okay, but not great. 8 or 9 wins is their best possible outcome. The Raiders are still a joke, but they seem like they're trying to get better. Derek Carr could still be a good QB and drafting Amari Cooper and signing Michael Crabtree will help. The running game is still a work in progress. The defense is not that good and that will keep them back. But, linebacker Khalil Mack is going to be a star in this league. 5 or 6 wins would be a good season for the Raiders. The Broncos will continue to win this conference as long as Peyton Manning is the QB.

So, the four division winners, the Dolphins, the Steelers, the Colts and the Broncos will all be in the playoffs and the two wild cards will be, the Chargers and the Patriots. The Bengals and Ravens will get shut out. The Colts and Broncos will have the first round byes. The Chargers will beat the Dolphins and the Steelers will beat the Patriots. In the next round, The Colts will beat the Chargers and the Broncos will beat the Steelers. In the AFC Championship, the Colts will beat the Broncos and find themselves in the Super Bowl.

Come back tomorrow for some NFC action.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. Is he going to pick Green bay for the NFC, I think he is going to pick Green Bay. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.