Ty Ranks the 2024 NFL Teams: The Outside Looking In Bunch

Welcome to day four of my 2024 preseason NFL countdown.

At number 20 I have the Chicago Bears. The Bears are a team on the rise. They are going to be a problem in a few years if these picks hit, and after seeing just a little bit this offseason, the picks look good. Caleb Williams is as advertised. He knows the game. He knows what he does best. He gets the ball out quick and is on target most of the time. He was born to play QB and he looks like a damn fine number 1 overall pick. But, he is a rookie and the wall is coming. D'Andre Swift is a capable back, but they need to upgrade at that position to be a real overall offensive threat as a team. The receiving corps is great. They drafted Rome Odunze, who was my favorite wideout not named Marvin Harrison Jr in this most recent draft. He is big and physical and fast and has great hands. They got Keenan Allen in a trade and he brings veteran leadership and veteran production to this team. And DJ Moore is the deep threat they need at the third wideout spot. Cole Kmet is a nice safety blanket for Williams in his rookie year. The o line is fine. It's not great and it's not a disaster. The defense can be better. There is room for growth. Getting Montez Sweat was a nice deal for the future last season. Kevin Byard is a fine safety. And Tremaine Edwards is an okay linebacker. Other than that, these are dudes that haven't really shown much yet. They will probably get exposed, but if they can shore it up by the middle of the season, the Bears could be a nice surprise. Getting Williams was a great thing and he could be a long term QB for this team. As for now, seven wins seems like the most likely outcome.

At number 19 I have the Atlanta Falcons. This may be too low for them, but I don't have the best feeling about this team. They gave Kirk Cousins way too much money and years. I cannot fathom a world in which Cousins keeps getting paid while other, younger QB's are consistently passed on. He is a fine regular season player, but when the lights are brightest, he falters. Bijan Robinson has some value, but he wasn't used correctly last season, he took a step back at the midpoint of last season and I worry about his health. Kyle Pitts should be the happiest person on the team now that they have a new head coach. Maybe, just maybe he will be used more in the pass game. But he is only getting older. Drake London had some moments last season, but now defenses will be locked in on him. I want to see him produce while being a focal point. The o line is fine. The defense got a big jolt yesterday when they acquired Matthew Judon. He makes their defense instantly better. He will be a great QB for the defense. Jessie Bates is a wonderful safety in the NFL. The fact that the Falcons got these two guys in the past two offseasons is a much better get than signing Kirk Cousins. The rest of the guys do their job, just not as well as I thought they might last year. The Falcons have some dudes, but they are in the Kirk Cousins business, and that have never really reaped any true rewards. eight or nine wins seems like the best the fans can hope for.

At number 18 I have the New York Jets. This is another team I see people ranking much higher than I do. I don't get it. Aaron Rodgers is 40, insane and coming off a brutal injury. He can't stop saying nonsense and he is old. I despise him. Breece Hall is a good back. He played well after Rodgers' injury last season. Hall is going to put up numbers. Garrett Wilson and Mike Williams are good wideouts, if they don't have to play with a backup QB. They are both capable of stretching the field and getting the first down on third down plays. The o line upgraded after last season, but they are blocking for a 40 year old maniac. I think they'd prefer to block for Breece Hall and anyone else at QB. The defense is legit. Sauce Gardner is an awesome cornerback. He is as shut down as they get in the NFL. He talks the talk and walks the walk. Quinnen Williams is a very good defensive tackle. CJ Mosley is a good linebacker. They have Hasson Reddick, but he already wants out, and I don't think that speaks well for the culture of this team. The defense will keep them in games, but the fact that they are banking on a healthy season from a 40 year old psychopath at QB doesn't bode well for them. I say nine wins at best for this team.

At number 17 I have the Seattle Seahawks. The Geno Smith glowup has been awesome to watch. He has really excelled since signing with this team. I love seeing him find a place to play and play well. He has earned this job. But he is old. Kenneth Walker III is a solid running back, but he is often injured. DK Metcalf, Jaxson Smith-Njigba and Tyler Lockett form a very good, very unique receiving corps. They can all do different things very well. The o line is suspect. I feel like Walker III's injuries are due to lack of holes and they don't give Smith nearly enough time in the pocket. This defense is not Legion of Boom, but they did hire a defensive minded coach in Mike MacDonald. He knows how to coordinate a defense, let's see if he can do that while coaching a whole team. And when I look at some of the names, there isn't anyone too familiar outside Devon Witherspoon, who is great. Johnathan Hankins feels like he may be washed. Leonard Williams has bounced around a ton. The rest are dudes I have never really heard of. But, MacDonald may get the best out of these guys. Time will tell. I think the Seahawks could win ten games and threaten for a playoff spot, but eight seems like the more likely outcome to me.

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.

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Ty Ranks the 2023 NFL Teams: A Cool Baja Blast to Go with a Crunchwrap Division

Welcome to day six of my preseason NFL rankings. These are the teams that should be in the playoffs, or at the very least, the playoff conversation all season long. We will get into the top ten today as well. This is where the teams get very good.

At number 12 I have the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks surprised pretty much everyone last year. They made the playoffs. They continued to win without Russell Wilson. Pete Carroll may actually be a very good head coach. But this team is full of guys who play their roles better than almost any other team in the NFL. Geno Smith had one hell of a comeback year. I forgot he was still in the NFL, but he made his presence well known. He started as a game manager, but when the coaches let him rip it, he sure did. He had a great year. I expect him to build off of that. Kenneth Walker turned himself into a pretty good back during his rookie year, but he did get hurt. That seems to be what has held him back. They got some insurance when they drafted Zach Charbonet. That kid is going to be good. DK Metcalf is one of the best wideouts in the league and the dude is in incredible shape. He is also very fast. Tyler Lockett continues to produce at a good level. Jaxon Smith-Njigba will miss a few weeks, but when he gets back he will produce. The o line is solid. They have been for years now. The defense doesn't have the stars it used to, but they are still a very good unit. Quandre Diggs is a very good secondary guy. Bobby Wagner is still out there tackling everything near him. Jarran Reed has potential as a disruptive nose tackle. Devon Witherspoon has some potential. The Seahawks have a good, solid and dependable roster. They also have a good coaching staff. This team is as reliable as it gets in the NFL.

At number 11 I have the Dallas Cowboys. I am not a Cowboys fan. I never have been. I loathe their owner. And I lived through the nightmare that is Mike McCarthy coaching your football team. But this team did some interesting things this offseason. They let Ezekial Elliot go. That was smart. Tony Pollard is better anyway. They didn't pay him, and that stinks, but he will produce for them this year. Dak Prescott has a new offensive coordinator, and I'm curious to see how that works out for him. He does need to cut down on the picks, but he is still throwing for a ton of yards. Ceedee Lamb is awesome. He is part of these young receivers in the NFL who are taking over and it rules. Lamb is dope. Michale Gallup has been good since they signed him. And they somehow were able to bring in Brandin Cooks. The Cowboys o line is one of the best in the NFL. The defense is interesting. Micah Parsons is elite. DeMarcus Lawrence is steady. Trevon Diggs may be the best cover guy in the league. They signed Stephon Gilmore. Leighton Vander Esch is a tackling machine. The Cowboys have a very good roster on paper. They should be good. But will turnovers and Mike McCarthy running this team be their downfall? Maybe.

At number 10 I have the Detroit Lions. What a turn around for this team. They have expectations now, and I am curious to see how they respond to them. But the Lions should be good. They should win their division and return to the playoffs this season. Jared Goff was never going to live up to the first overall pick hype, but he is a fine game manager who can sling from time to time. I was bummed they let Jamal Williams go, but they drafted Jahmyr Gibbs and, by all accounts, he has been awesome all offseason long. Amon-Ra St. Brown is proving to be a reliable number one wideout. Jameson Williams will come back from suspension and produce. Marvin Jones Jr is a fine third option. And Sam LaPorta feels like he was born to be a decent NFL tight end. The o line is big and angry and plays mean. I love it. The defense has gotten significantly better. Aidan Hutchinson was awesome last season and looks to be even better. Charles Harris helps form a dominant edge rushing duo. The linebacking corps is solid. The secondary has good starters and quality backups. The Lions should be good. They should win double digit games and they should be back in the playoffs. I'd love to see it for a bunch of my family members.

The final team for the day, at number 9 I have the Baltimore Ravens. They did the best thing this offseason when they paid Lamar Jackson. He is an MVP. He is the most athletic QB in the NFL. His passing game has gotten better every year. And he finally has some solid weapons around him. JK Dobbins, when healthy, is a very good running back. He is fast, can break tackles and catch passes. And Gus Edwards is a more than capable backup. They also have a speed threat in Justice Hill deep on their bench. Rashod Bateman, if he can stay on the field, will build on his rookie year. Zay Flowers has looked incredible so far. And they signed Odell Beckham Jr, who I personally think is wildly overrated, but he is another weapon for Lamar Jackson. Mark Andrews is the second best tight end in the NFL. The dude is a TD threat anytime the Ravens are in the red zone. The o line is stacked and blocks their run scheme offense to perfection. The defense has always been good, and they will be good again this season. They just signed Jadaveon Clowney. I know he cannot stay with one team for too long, but wherever he goes he gets sacks and tackles. Roqan Smith was a draft day steal and he is proving to be awesome. Patrick Queen is another tackling machine. Rock Ya-Sin is a very good corner. So is Marlon Humphrey. This team is loaded up and down the roster. They should be good. They just need to prove it. Maybe this is finally the season.

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

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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Let's Talk About Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson

Two big time QB's made big decisions on their future yesterday. It is time to discuss.

First I want to talk about that punk Aaron Rodgers. He completely fleeced the Packers. He acted like a malcontent, a whiner, he played awful in their playoff game and he moaned and groaned about "cancel culture" and "the woke media" all season long. He openly lied to the media, he used meaningless words prior to the year, and when he got caught, he went on defense. He never directly answered any questions about his blatant lying, he yelled at anyone that disagreed with him and he acted like a spoiled child. But the Packers gave into his childish behavior and awarded him a humongous extension.

Rodgers is going to sign a four year 200 million dollar deal. This is asinine to me. He is too old, on the wrong side of his prime, not the reason why the Packers are in contention anymore and has handcuffed the future of the team. This is akin to when the Lakers gave Kobe Bryant a big extension when he was old and coming off a torn ACL. While I do not think the Packers will fade as fast as that Lakers team, I do not have a good feeling about this deal for the future of the Packers. But the people who make the decisions in Green Bay gave that malcontent exactly what he wanted in the end.

This is a classic example of a spoiled rotten kid getting his way. I would never buy one of my kids a toy if they acted like Rodgers did at all last season. They would be grounded and told what they did was selfish and wrong. They would have to own up to their mistakes. But Green Bay just rewarded his bad behavior because they are afraid of being a basement dweller for a few seasons.

I really despise this deal. I wish the Packers would have just moved on. I would really like to say I am going to switch allegiances, but I am so far in the bag for this team, so I honestly do not know who I will root for this upcoming NFL season. At least I still have the Wolverines to root for in college football.

Not to be outdone, the Seahawks made a tremendously big trade later in the day after the Packers gave Rodgers his new deal. Seattle traded Russell Wilson to the Broncos for Drew Lock, Noah Fant, Shelby Harris and five draft picks. The Broncos get Wilson and a fourth round pick. Wow.

It was no secret that the Broncos were in the market for an upgrade at the QB position. They were hot on Aaron Rodgers. I heard they were going to trade up in the draft to take a QB. I heard they were going to get involved with some backups on other teams. In the end though, they ended up with Wilson, which is a homerun.

I have made no bones about my dislike for Wilson, but he is a damn good QB. The only reason the Seahawks were relevant after their couple of Super Bowl appearances was the play of Wilson. He was the engine that ran that offense. He had no o line help, and not a very good run game behind him, yet he put up incredible stats, and until last season, had the Seahawks in, or in the hunt for the playoffs every season. He is the type of QB that can truly make a team better by simply being on the roster. He has more than earned his spot among the top five QB's in the NFL. He is very, very good. And I do think he will help the Broncos mightily on the offensive side of the ball. He has some good young weapons on the outside, and a solid running back by committee group in the backfield. The Broncos o line is far superior to anything the Seahawks ever had while Wilson was there. The Broncos also hired Nathinel Hackett, who was the Packers offensive coordinator, and he has a good mind for running a modern NFL offense. Where the trade doesn't help is the Broncos defense. They need to get better on that side of the ball, but their offense is in very capable hands now.

The Seahawks were able to get a fortune for Wilson, and that should help their rebuild go much faster. I was never a believer in Drew Lock, so if I were the Seahawks, I'd use one of those picks on a QB to build around. I do really like the addition of Fant. He is a great pass catching tight end, and putting him next to DK Metcalf will cause matchup nightmares for opponents. I know nothing of the other guy in the trade. But that amount of picks, that is how to rebuild fast in the NFL. The Seahawks have an OKC Thunder amount of picks. They will be able to take a lot of swings, and a good amount of those will mostly hit.

I feel like both teams got a very solid deal in this trade. I think the Broncos immediately become a playoff contender and the Seahawks will be able to keep some continuity and rebuild much faster than other teams. So while I loathe the Rodgers extension, I like the trade between the Seahawks and Broncos.

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.

Ty Ranks the 2021 NFL Teams - The Contenders Division

Welcome to day 7 of my 2021 NFL preview. This is the top of the top. These are the eight teams I consider the best in the NFL. I expect each to make the playoffs and all could make a run. If any of these teams win the Super Bowl this year I would not be surprised. They all have flaws but they all have ways to overcome said flaws. These are the teams to beat.

At number 8 I have the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks have the look of one last ride with this squad. This is the final chance they have to win it all. Russell Wilson is an elite QB. He is an MVP candidate. He is the top dude on this team. He runs this thing, and he is more than capable of doing magical things. I may not be a fan of his, but the dude can play. Chris Carson, while not Marshwan Lynch, is that bruising back that is hard to take down. Rashaad Penny is a solid backup. Tyler Lockett is a legit deep threat and great return man. DK Metcalf is already an upper tier receiver. He is big and strong, he has great hands, he's fast and he will only get better. The O line has always been the problem for this team, but they have down stuff to shore it up. Duane Brown is a solid tackle. And Damien Lewis can play. Wilson shouldn't be running for his life all season. The defense is not the "Legion of Boom" anymore. They cannot strike fear in their opponents like they used to. I think getting Jamal Adams under contract was a big deal. He is one of the best safeties in the league. Bobby Wagner is still an elite linebacker. Quandre Diggs is a great sidekick to Adams. The defense is still good, with big time playmakers, but not as great as they used to be. The Seahawks have one final shot and I think they will play like that all year. I feel like they are an eleven win team, but they will have to fight off the Cardinals all season long.

At number 7 I have the Green Bay Packers. Talk about a team with one final shot left in them. After all the useless drama, Aaron Rodgers is back. He will be the QB for one more season in Green Bay. He is coming off an MVP year and he has a prove it year coming up. He will play well and then be ready to leave. I love that they re-signed Aaron Jones. He is a real good running back and Green Bay has not had that in awhile. I also really like AJ Dillon as the backup. I'll miss Jamal Williams, but Dillon is younger and similar. Davante Adams is in a contract year and he is awesome. I am a big fan of his. Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Allen Lazard are good compliments to Adams. The O line has never really been a problem in Green Bay. This is the last time this group will be fully intact, and if healthy, they should be potent. Green Bay's defense is always a bit of a sieve, but they are working on shoring it up. Kenny Clark is a good D lineman. Rashan Gary, Preston Smith and Za'Darius Smith are a great linebacker trio. Those dudes are going to have big years. Jaire Alexander is an excellent corner. Darnell Savage is a beast of a safety. This team, on paper, is good. They could be great. They also should easily win their division. The Packers are a twelve win team. Time for the final ride.

At number 6 I have the Cleveland Browns. This time the hype feels validated. They made it to the playoffs last year, they got better this offseason and they have the dudes to win. Baker Mayfield, for all his nonsense, is proving to be a solid game manager. He looked like he figured out last year that he doesn't have to do everything for his team to win. He let the game come to him, and that is how he should play QB. He is so much better as a game manager. Nick Chubb is a really good back. He is a good runner, hard to take down and can catch. Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry and Donovan Peoples-Jones could be one of the top receiving trios in the league. All those guys are different, but they are all really good. Austin Hooper is a good tight end. The O line got better. The offense is good. They are legit. The defense got better this offseason. The fact that Myles Garrett is being paired with Jadaveon Clowney is frightening. They are going to terrorize running backs and QB's all year. The linebackers are fast and heavy hitters. The secondary is legit. The Browns are a good team. I may not like admitting it, but it is true. They played well enough to be in the playoffs last season, and I think this season they could make a real deep run. They are a twelve win team for sure.

The final team for today, at number 5, is the Tennessee Titans. Their coach is a moron. He is a cliched dumb jock. But his team is solid. Ryan Tannehill is playing like he should have his whole career. He is the prototype game manager. He doesn't make too many mistakes, doesn't take too many chances and runs the offense as he is told to. That is when he is at his personal best. Derrick Henry is the best back in the league. He is big, fast, impossible to take down with one guy, can catch and block. Henry can do it all and do it all well. He is awesome. He could be the MVP this year. The receiving core was majorly upgraded when they got Julio Jones. He is going to make this offense so much more lethal. Thinking about a play action deep ball to Jones is going to give defensive coordinators nightmares. They also have AJ Brown, who is getting better every season. The O line is nasty and big and good. The defense is devoid of prime time names, but the dudes can play. They got Bud Dupree for next to nothing, and he will help. Janpris Jenkins has stuck around so long for a reason. Kevin Byard is becoming a pro bowl player. Denico Autry is a solid D end. The defense has players that play their role and they play it well. The Titans are a good team, with aspirations of being great. They have made a few deep runs in the playoffs as of late, and it wouldn't surprise me if they did it again this season. They are a twelve to fourteen win team for sure.

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

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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What in the Hell are the Texans Thinking?

This past Labor Day weekend featured one of the more wild trades I have seen go down in the NFL in my lifetime. While it doesn't have the name recognition that the Khalil Mack trade had last year, it was still pretty nuts.

And no, I am not completely talking about the Jadeveon Clowney trade to Seattle. But, I do want to touch on that real quick. This was a very lopsided trade, in favor of the Seahawks. I cannot believe all they had to trade was a few guys that they were going to cut and a third round pick for Clowney. Clowney is a top notch defensive end, and that is such a light return. Clowney is going to make Seattle a solid defense again, and may even make them a possible contender. He doesn't do as much as Mack to the Bears did, but still, the Seahawks got a top tier defensive lineman for next to nothing.

I want to talk about what the Texans did the very next day. This will stick with me for a good while because of how insane a deal they pulled off, in not such a great way. The Texans, one day after trading Clowney for peanuts, gave Miami what seems like a million first round picks for Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills. The amount of picks the Dolphins got for these 2 guys is akin to what the Thunder got this offseason for all the trades they pulled off. I have zero doubt in my mind who won this trade, and it is the Dolphins by a good long mile. Look, Tunsil and Stills are solid players, but they are not worth that amount of picks.

The Texans essentially mortgaged their future because they think they have a window for a title now. They don't. I think the Texans are good, and I like that they got a solid tackle to help protect Deshaun Watson, and another receiving weapon in Stills. These 2 guys will help the Texans do exactly what they did last year. They will win 10 or 11 games, the AFC South, and most likely, have an early-ish exit from the playoffs. The Texans, even with these moves, are still not on the same level as the AFC's top teams. The Patriots are still better. The Chiefs are much, much, much better. I still think the Colts can contend with the Texans in their own division because they have a good, young defense. I think the Ravens are just as good, if not better, than the Texans. And, if they somehow beat the Patriots or Chiefs, and make the Super Bowl, the NFC has so many teams better than them right now. The Rams, Saints, Bears, Vikings, Seahawks and maybe even the Packers, in my opinion, are all better than the current roster the Texans have. I get that they most likely heard the talk last year about how they could not protect Watson, and that Clowney wanted out and wouldn't sign the franchise tender. But these were some poor decisions made by the front office, and Bill O'Brien. This should prove to anyone who may still think that he is a solid coach and evaluator of talent that maybe, they were wrong. Bill O'Brien has not done anything of note really in the NFL, and yet he is given carte blanche by this franchise to make these horrible decisions. Why? What has he shown to them that they trust him so much with the future of this team? I want them to be good because I really like Watson and Deandre Hopkins. But, a guy like O'Brien is just there to seemingly blow it up.

Like I said, I think the Texans will be fine, but not of note now, or in the near future of the NFL. These trades were odd and kind of dumb, but that is Bill O'Brien for you. Oh well.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty usually thinks that NFL trades are some of the most boring and pointless sports things ever. Except for that one time.

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Ty Ranks the 2019 NFL Teams: Anchovies on Pizza Division

Kicking off day 5 of my 2019 NFL countdown I have the first team that I think will make the playoffs. You may read that and think, this team is ranked too low for the playoffs. I don't do my countdown like that, I simply rank the teams how I see them, and even though the Baltimore Ravens, my number 16 team, may be on the outside according to placement, I think they are the best team in their division, thus earning them a playoff spot.

The Ravens are a solid football team with a Super Bowl winning coach. I think John Harbaugh has earned carte blanche there, and this team is a solid bet to win their division. I love that they let Joe Flacco go, and have turned over the offense to Lamar Jackson. I think he has the potential to be Mike Vick esque. He needs to become a better passer, but the guy is electric, young and fast. He is one of the younger QB's that I actually like to watch play. He is fun. They have a pretty solid o line too. They need some better receivers, and a good ground game outside of Jackson would be nice. But this team wins with defense. And while Terrell Suggs is gone, they got Earl Thomas this offseason. I know he is coming off a broken leg, but Thomas is a modern day Ed Reed. Well, he might not be as skilled as Reed, but he is a hard hitting, ball hawking safety. He is also out to prove something this season. The fact that Baltimore got him to sigh with them is the main reason I thin they are a playoff team. They have a solid defense around Thomas as well. With Thomas, and an emerging Jackson, I think Baltimore is set up nicely for the future. I see them, fairly easily, getting to 10 wins and being a tough out in the playoffs. This team got better by letting Flacco go, and they improved their defense even with Suggs heading out.

At number 15 I have the Seattle Seahawks. Look, I have made no bones about how much I dislike this team. I'm usually a fan of Seattle pro sports teams, but the Seahawks just rub me the wrong way. First off, I loathe Pete Carroll. He is the sleazy car salesman of the NFL. He lies, cheats and blames everyone else. Yeah he won a Super Bowl, but so did Brian Billick. Carroll is a scumbag. Just ask Earl Thomas. I am also not a fan of Russell Wilson. I think he is a prima donna, who without a great defense, would have zero Super Bowl rings. The interception in the Patriots Super Bowl is more what I tend to think of when thinking about Wilson's NFL career. He is a magician behind the line, and puts up numbers, but I think that is more luck than skill. And that o line, what a joke. They are awful. They cannot block a single person. They stink. The Seahawks also have no run game. I think they went through about 6 backs last year. Their best receiver is Tyler Lockett, and while he is a burner, I think he might be 5 feet tall. But this is what happens when you give your QB all the money he wants. They can't get any skill around him. They used to be elite on defense too. Now, they only have Bobby Wagner. And while he is wonderful, every other premiere defender they had is gone because they either hated Carroll or Wilson. This team has to have the worst locker room in the league. But, they do find ways to improbably win games, and they just may win 9 or 10 again. But, for the time being, I see them regressing because of the o line and no rum game, to being an 8 win team.

At number 14 I have the Atlanta Falcons. They are just 2 years removed from a Super Bowl, and they have fallen pretty hard. For one, their defense is atrocious. They cannot stop anyone. I think a year ago they gave up 50 to the Giants, a team that hasn't averaged 20 points in a couple of years. They seemingly give up 28-35 points a game, and they always have to play catch up. On offense, I feel like Matt Ryan is a rich man's Andy Dalton. He is a better QB, and has gone farther, but what has he really done in the league. Sure, he has an MVP, but I put that more on the offense and Julio Jones. I adore Julio Jones. He is one of the best in the game. He is big, strong, fast, runs great routes and catches pretty much everything thrown his way. He just cannot seem to find the end zone. He always goes over 100 receptions, and well over 1,000 yards, but only has like 5 or 6 TD's. That needs to change. I still think the offense is going to be explosive, at least this season, but they didn't do much to shore up the defense. And Matt Ryan is only getting older. I think Falcons games will be fun, high scoring affairs, but I don't know how many of those games they can win. Maybe 8 or 9, but I tend to lean more towards 7. I wish Julio Jones was on a better team with a better QB. He deserves that.

My final team for the day, at number 13, I have the Carolina Panthers. This team is due for a turnaround. After last season, I think they will shake off the cobwebs, and be the Saints biggest problem in that division. I love Cam Newton, and I feel like he will return to his MVP form. He is too good, and too competitive, to have another down year. I know he is coming off surgery, but that guy is a player, and he will work it out on the field. Christian McCaffery really blew up last season, and I see him growing and growing into an even better player and weapon for this team. The o line got better, and they will need to protect Newton this year. I would like them to have better wideouts, but Cam has won with worse. And Greg Olsen is still there, and he was a key cog in my fantasy title last year. The defense is still solid enough to keep them afloat, although I am terrified that Luke Kuechly is going to die on the field before he realizes he has had too many concussions. The Panthers, while they may not get back to being the 15-1 team they were a few years ago, will be back to being a real problem for opponents this year. I could see them winning 11 games and challenging New Orleans all season long.

That's it for today. Come back on Monday for the next 4 teams. We are oh so close to Super Bowl contenders now.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has not always hated the Seahaks. He was a big fan when they had, oh what’s that one guy’s name who used to be a quarterback? You who I’m talking about, he could throw the ball far? Anyone?

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Ty Ranks the 2018 NFL Teams: Folgers Coffee with Powdered Creamer Edition

Welcome back to Day 3 of my annual NFL preview. These are not the worst teams, but they are also not very good.

Let's get to it.

Today's preview begins with the team that I think will be one spot ahead of the Seahawks in the same division, coming in at number 24, the Arizona Cardinals. The reason I have the Cardinals one spot ahead, they have a better defense, but that is it. The Cardinals actually have a very solid defense. I know they lost Tyrann Mathieu, but they still have Patrick Peterson, and that is more than enough to make up a solid secondary. Their line backing corps is so so, but their D line is stout. They can stop teams. They also have a new, defensive minded head coach. I liked Bruce Arians, but his time was up. Their offense is why I have them this far down. Yes, Carson Palmer finally, mercifully retired. He is the quintessential "what could have been" QB. If his knee didn't get shredded in the playoff game years ago, he could have been one of the greats. Since that injury though, he was so up and down for the rest of his career. Last year was rough. They still have Larry Fitzgerald, and he is an all time great. He is the best receiver of my generation. He might be the second best receiver ever, behind only Jerry Rice. Unfortunately, he never got much help. The Cardinals have other receivers, but they are all short, burners. They are fast, but that is it. They do get David Johnson back, but how good will he be coming off that gruesome injury last year? Time will tell. If he is anything close to what he was 2 years ago, the Cardinals might be a surprise. But, it is too early to tell. To replace Palmer the Cardinals drafted Josh Rosen. Rosen was my favorite QB in the draft, and I think he will be a solid NFL player. But, he does have turnover problems, and he trusts his arm way too much. He is the type of player that needs one year in waiting before he takes over. Unfortunately, Sam Bradford is the other option at QB. He is going to get hurt, and that will force Rosen into action. That is what Bradford does. The Cardinals should be better, but they won't because their offense is so suspect. I like this team, but 7-9 feels like their ceiling. But, I do feel like Rosen is a QB they can build around.

At number 23 I have the Buffalo Bills. Can someone explain to me what in the hell this team tried to do this offseason? It makes absolutely no sense. They let Tyrod Tylor go, and he led them to the playoffs last year. They traded up to take Josh Allen, my least favorite QB in the draft, when they could have gotten him at their original spot. They have this whole LeSean McCoy fiasco going on right now. Kelvin Benjamin is out here taking shots at Cam Newton. It is baffling. This team was in the playoffs last year, and now, I think they might be one of the worst teams in the NFL. The QB battle is between Nathan Petermann, of the 4 interceptions in the first half of a game fame, AJ McCarron, who is better known for having a very attractive wife, and the aforementioned Josh Allen. Yeesh. I'd much rather have Tyrod Taylor. Who knows what is going on with that run game. Benjamin is their best wide out, and that is not saying much. The O line is okay, but that doesn't really matter. The offense is a mess. The defense is solid though. They will keep them in games. They have heavy hitters, good coverage guys and can rush the passer. The playoff game against he Jags last year was an affront to football, but the Bills did play great defense in that game. The Bills made too many dumb offseason moves to make a return to the playoffs. They will regret letting Tyrod Taylor go. This is a 6 win team at the very best. I'm still shocked at their offseason.

At number 22 I have the Baltimore Ravens. First things first, I love that they traded up to take Lamar Jackson. He should be their QB of the future. I love Lamar Jackson, and I think with a few years of learning the NFL game, he could be Mike Vick 2.0. But, until then, they still have Joe Flacco. Flacco reminds me a lot of a guy like Joe Theismann. Both weren't that great of pros, but because they won a Super Bowl, they get undue credit. Flacco has a monster arm, but he is inaccurate, slow, makes dumb decisions and he just doesn't seem to care. He is not a good QB, and I don't really think he ever was. They do have a solid run game, which they should rely on more than they do. I also like that they brought in Michael Crabtree. But, it is all a wash when you remember that Joe Flacco is the starting QB. Their defense is okay, but that is it. Everyone is just old. I love Terrell Suggs, but I feel like he has been in the league for a billion years. They have that solid corner that played at Colorado, but he is in his sixth or seventh year. I feel like this team is just begging to bring back Elvis Dumervil, or sign a guy like Dwight Freeney, because they need some older dudes on that side of the ball. I like John Harbaugh. He has won a Super Bowl, and he is Jim Harbaugh's older brother. But, it might be curtains for him if he continues to stick with Flacco. Flacco will only continue to hold this team back. They have 7-9 or 8-8 written all over them. 

My final team for the day, coming in at number 21, is the San Francisco 49ers. I know, I know, they have all the hype in the world, but I do not buy it. They will most likely get second in their division, but it is only because the Seahawks are going to take a major step back, and the Cardinals are a team filled with uncertainties. The Rams, I will get to them next week, are light years ahead of them. Also, everyone is saying this team is on the rise because they now have a franchise QB, Jimmy Garropolo. I think he is okay, but he is not a franchise QB. Just because they won their last three games with him at QB, against poor competition, doesn't make him suddenly great. Just because he played in New England and sat behind Tom Brady doesn't make him great. Just because he is handsome doesn't make him great. Just because Kyle Shanahan called plays in Matt Ryan's MVP year doesn't make Garropolo great.  In the three game she started he threw 7 TDs to 5 interceptions. Yes, they won all three, but who cares. Outside of Jimmy G, what do the 49ers truly have. They have the rotting corpse of Pierre Garcon. Great. They have no real run game. Their O line is suspect. I don't even know any other skill players on that side of the ball. And on defense, they aren't there yet. I like Soloman Thomas. Richard Sherman was an okay pickup, but he is coming off a torn ACL. Reuben Foster is a woman abuser. DeForest Buckner is a bit undersized. And Arik Armstead is just not cutting it yet. I have no real faith in their defense. So, don't listen to people like Bill Simmons, or any writer on The Ringer's NFL staff, because they all love Jimmy G. That is the only reason why those guys think they will "take the leap" this year. I am very curious to see how Garropolo performs with high expectations, and as the starter from day one. I see a very similar dynamic between him and Matt Cassel after he left the Patriots. Don't get your hopes that high 49er fans. You guys still have a ton of work to do.

That does 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. Unlike Joe Flacco, there is no debate on if Ty is an elite sports knower. Ty is elite. End of debate.

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Ty Ranks the 2018 NFL Teams: The Bottom of the Coffee Pot Edition

Day 2 of my NFL preview, and I will be counting down teams 28-25. I will say before I get started, one of the teams may be a surprise to some. But, with what they did this offseason, it really shouldn't be.

Okay, here it goes.

At number 28 I have the New York Jets. Now, I thought the Jets were going to be, hands down, the worst team last year, and they won 5 games, with Josh McCown as their starting QB. That doesn't seem like a lot, but when you look at this roster, that is an achievement. Dare I say, Todd Bowles is a solid head coach. Well, I should say, he can coach defense. That defense kept them in more games than they should have been in. Jamal Adams is a burgeoning star. He is a hard hitting safety, and when his coverage skills catch up, he will be an all time great. They have a solid D line, linebackers and an okay secondary. What holds this team back is their offense. They only won 5 games last year, and they were not shoot outs. This a team that wants to control the ball. They want to run and they are happy to win 17-13 or 10-7. Unfortunately, they don't really have much of a run game, especially since Matt Forte called it quits. They also don't really have good enough receivers. They also don't have much of a tight end. Their O line is suspect. They went out and drafted Sam Darnold and signed Teddy Bridgewater, but that feels like a reach and a last chance. Darnold could be good, but he was a turnover machine in college. Bridgewater looked like the Vikings QB of the future, and then he almost lost his leg. They do still have McCown, but I feel like 5 wins is his ceiling. So, while the Jets have a solid defense, and a solid head coach, their offense is horrendous, and that will keep them from getting anymore than 5 wins this year. They will not be in any Super Bowl any time soon. Also, Sam Darnold might be the next Mark Sanchez.

At number 27 I have the Denver Broncos. This needs to be said, I loathe the Broncos, and I despise John Elway. The fact that he got Peyton Manning near the end, and won a ring with him disgusts me. That Super Bowl was won by their phenomenal defense that year. Speaking of which, what happened there? They do still have Von Miller, and he rules, but where is everyone else? Did they all get snapped by Thanos and disappear into the ether? They have no one else on that side of the ball, and that makes me feel bad for Miller. He deserves so much better. He is a once in a generation talent. He is the Derrick Thomas, or even Bruce Smith, of this generation. The Broncos offense is just as bad as the Jets, but no one says so because they are the Broncos and John Elway is their GM. They started Trevor Siemian for most of last year. He is horrible. I watched him play college football live once and knew he wasn't that good. The fact that they thought they could win with him was hilarious. When they finally realized he was garbage, they turned to Paxton Lynch. Well, he was worse, and there is video evidence of him crying on the sideline of a meaningless late season game to prove how bad he is. People say that shows his competitive edge, I think it shows that he now hates the game of football. They also brought back Brock Osweiler for some unknown reason, and he was terrible of course. The Broncos also have no run game. They lost CJ Anderson, and now they have a platoon with some guy I don't know, and Devontae Booker. I took Booker with the second to last pick in my fantasy draft, and I was mad at myself for doing so. He is so poised to gain 200 yards and score zero touchdowns this year. But don't worry, you still have 5 foot tall Emmaunel Sanders, who is bound to get concussed, and Demayrius Thomas, who I think I am faster than. The Broncos stink. They are going nowhere fast, and it is because Elway has no idea what he is doing.

At number 26 I have the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins are riddled with injuries, bad players and a bad coach. This is the same team that did give Jay Cutler 10 million dollars last year to be a doofus for them. But now they have Ryan Tannehill back, for maybe a month. He is going to get injured, that is what he does. He will never live up to this potential. They have no run game. They let their best receiver go to the Browns for nothing. Their O line is trash. The defense isn't much better. They did get off of Suh's enormous contract, but hell, he was the only halfway decent guy they had on that side of the ball. I guess Cameron Wake is okay too. But other than that, they have nobody that can stop anybody. Sure, they will get their one glorious win in the regular season over the Patriots like they do every year, but other than that, who cares. This team is not very good, and they need an entire new staff. Adam Gase is not a head coach. I'm just waiting for a story about him where he overworks someone. He seems like that type of dude. The Dolphins are not going to any Super Bowl now, and possibly never in my lifetime.

My final team for the day, my surprise team I teased at the beginning, at number 25, I have the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks have thudded like no other the past 2 seasons. They crapped out early in the playoffs 2 years ago, and last year, they missed out entirely. Now, this team has put all their eggs into the Russell Wilson basket. While he is solid, I would not build my team around him. Also, he is going to get hurt at some point because the O line is so atrocious. They might be the worst one in the league. They also have no run game, partly because of the line, but also, they haven't had anybody that good since Marshawn Lynch was let go. They have trotted guys out there, but none have been worth their salt. The receivers, minus Doug Baldwin, who I'm not even that high on are no better than third or fourth, or slot options. They have no tight end either. They also couldn't figure out how to use Jimmy Graham, one of the better tight ends in the league, so they just must not care about that position. I think last year proved how far this team could go with Wilson as "the guy". The defense, what they used to be built around, is gone. Michael Bennett, Richard Sherman and basically Earl Thomas, he wants out of there so bad, are gone. Sure, they might be passed their prime, but now, they have to replace all of them. I'm also sure Kam Chancellor will get hurt, and Bruce Irvin already played his best football. This team's defense is a total shell of its former self, and they are not the unit they once were. They cannot really stop anyone. They don't strike fear in anyone anymore. The Seahawks had a solid run, hell, they even won a Super Bowl, but they are done as a dominant franchise. The offense may put up numbers, but the defense will not be able to stop anyone. They are on the downswing.

That does it for today, come back tomorrow for the next 4 teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is very happy to get the hate out of the way for the Broncos and Seahawks. The next few posts should be filled with hapiness, that is until Washington DC.

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The Stupid Seattle Seahawks are Doing Some Stupid Things

I’ve made it very clear how I feel about the Seattle Seahawks on this website and the podcast. I despise them. I think they are sore losers and sore winners. I think they feel like they are above the rules in the NFL. I think they’re extremely overrated. I hate when people give themselves nickname, and they called their secondary, “The Legion of Boom”. They gave themselves that stupid nickname. I think their fans, while loyal and lifelong, are super annoying when the team is successful. And when they aren’t good, there always seems to be an excuse. I’ve grown to despise Russell Wilson, the football player. I think he’s pretty annoying as a person, but I loathe Russell Wilson, the “franchise” QB. I don’t care, at all, for Pete Carroll. He was a cheater in college and he’s a cheater in the pros. I also think his accomplishments don’t really have much to do with his coaching, more so his circumstance. I think they talk too much shit, and they haven’t earned it. I think that is more than enough reasons why I dislike this team.

But some recent stories about players on the team that have been released lately have confused the hell out of me. First off, signing Eddie Lacy last year was an enormous mistake that blew up in their face. I knew it, and so did most of the sports media. Not surprisingly, the people in Seattle have never talked about what a mess that signing turned out to be. And I know I was fully on board with the Packers signing Martellus Bennett last year, and that blew up too, but I am fully aware that was horrible in retrospect. Seahawks fans won’t cop to the fact that Eddie Lacy just isn’t that good.

More recently though, I read a story that said they were shopping Matellus’ brother, Michael Bennett. That’s kind of nuts to me. He is the heart and soul of the best part of that defense. The D line, not the secondary, is why they are a frightening defense. That is mainly due to Bennett. He is an excellent, sometimes otherworldly, defensive lineman. He wreaks havoc pretty much every snap. He needs to be specifically game planned for. He gives opposing offensive coaches nightmares. He is very, very good at what he does. He also seems to be a leader in the locker room and off the field. He is a guy that other players go to for advice. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he mentors rookies. He has to be a captain on that team. He’s just a good all around player. He does act a little too often on emotion, but the dude is an awesome defensive football player.

So the fact he’s being shopped is bizarre. And, I don’t think this is just a rumor. I think he will be on a different team next year. I’ve heard something about the Falcons, which would be a nice fit. I’d love for the Packers to go after him. They need all the help they can get on defense. I think the Raiders would be a nice fit. But, when I really sit down and think about it, I bet he ends up on the Patriots. This seems to be the move. And he would thrive there. He’d really shore up their D line and make them respectable. It would also keep them as contenders, and I think that’s what Bennett wants for the rest of his career.

While the Bennett stuff is crazy, earlier today I read a story that said Richard Sherman is going around the complex and saying goodbye to everyone. Now this could mean many things. Hell, maybe he’s just done with his workout for today and he said goodbye, followed by see you tomorrow, but they didn’t report that. Or maybe he is just not going to live in Seattle anymore and he’s letting people know he’s looking for a new home. But, I think there is much more to this story because Sherman was heavily involved in trade talks last year. I thought he was going to be moved before last season started. He wasn’t, but he also didn’t seem happy with the team, and then he tore his ACL near the end of last season. It is a well known fact that he and Russell Wilson don’t get along, and maybe Sherman has had enough and he’s asked to be moved. They seem to have been at each other’s throats since Wilson took over as the starting QB. Wilson gets all the media love, unfairly I might add, and Sherman knows this and he is probably cooked with it. He knows that it was their defense that won the Super Bowl 5 years ago, and led them back the next season. Sherman knows that this team cannot win big without this defense. But, to the majority of the main media, all the Seahawks success has to do with Russell Wilson. That’s bull shit.

If Russell Wilson is the reason Sherman wants out, I do not blame him at all. He, much like Bennett, is a guy, if they move him, that the Seahawks will greatly miss on and off the field. He’s another team leader. He is more important to their success than Wilson is, for sure. I just don’t get what is going on in Seattle right now. If they’re hitching their wagon to Wilson and the offense, they will be the same 8, 9 win team that they looked like last year. Offense wins games, defense wins championships.

Things are going to get super messy in Seattle, and while I may get some weird joy, I actually do feel for the true Seahawks fans. Your team is about to be a forgotten squad. You still have Russell Wilson, which will keep you relevant on ESPN, but not anywhere else really. Enjoy your multiple 8-8 seasons coming up because you picked Wilson over Bennett and Sherman. Man, this is some weird stuff.

Note: While I was editing this piece, Michael Bennett was traded to the Eagles. The tear down of an elite defense has begun.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is quite sore that the Seahawks get all this love, and the Supersonics were shuffled out of town unceremoniously by a bunch of rich pricks. Seattle needs it's Sonics back.

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The NFL is Pretty Terrible Right Now, and Other Thoughts

Can you smell what the NFL is giving you?

There will be no Emmy talk from me today. I saw that people like Donald Glover won some awards and "Black Mirror" got its due respect, but I did not watch one single second of the show last night. Also, "Legion" didn't get a single nomination, so who cares.

Second, I cannot sit here and type about the horrific judge's ruling here in Saint Louis this past weekend. I'm embarrassed, ashamed and saddened to be a Saint Louis resident after last Friday. That police officer killed a kid in cold blood and was ruled not guilty. It is the 21st century yet people are still racist and blind. The police all over this country are becoming, if they weren't already, horrible, power hungry monsters.

Instead I want to talk about something that I feel like I am pretty well versed in, and that is the NFL. Now, don't expect this to be some lovey dovey ode to the NFL. This is going to be quite the opposite in fact. I have 2 games in my mind that show how far the NFL has fallen off in the past couple years.

The first game was the Texans-Bengals atrocity  that the NFL fans had to bear witness to last Thursday night. That game was an abomination. The two teams playing in that game played some of the worst offense that I have ever witnessed by "pro" football players. The Texans kind of have an excuse. They started a rookie. Sure, they traded up very high to get Deshaun Watson, but he is still a rookie, and this was his first start, and the game was on the road. Yes, the Texans offensive line is horrendous and they have no real running game, but Watson was fine, for a rookie, and at least he got the ball to DeAndre Hopkins, something Brock Osweiler couldn't do last year. That being said though, the Texans offense was just horrendous. I didn't think the Bengals would be worse, but damned if Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton didn't prove me wrong. I'm sorry RD, but the Bengals may be worse on offense than any team in the NFL, including the Jets.(Ed Note: The Bengals stink) In 2 games the Bengals have 9 points. I say again, they've played 120 minutes of football and they have scored 9 total points. They haven't put the ball in the end zone yet. I found it funny during the offseason when some people called the Bengals a "sleeper" team and thought that Andy Dalton could "take the next step". If anything, they have taken a major step back and Andy Dalton is never going to be any better than his rookie year. That seems much more likely to me. There are stories coming out today and yesterday that a bunch of current Bengals want the team to sign Colin Kaepernick, and I think that may be the best thing to happen to this team. They won't do it, but they should. The final score of that game on Thursday night was 13-9 and the best player on the field was a rookie QB that ran the ball 49 yards for a score. That game was a disgusting display of coaching and playing. It was bad all around.

I thought we had seen the worst game of the week, possibly the year, but when I got home on Sunday, I turned on my favorite channel, the "Redzone Network", and watched games all day long. One game they kept going back to for some inexplicable reason was the Seahawks-49ers game. I know that the Seahawks have some "big name" players, and the 49ers have some young talent and a new head coach, but this game was just as bad, if not worse, than the Texans-Bengals game. Neither team could do anything on offense at all. Some blamed it on the weather, but that excuse needs to be tossed out the window. Teams play in bad weather games all the time and they never play as poorly as these 2 teams play. The Seahawks apologists will say, "the 49ers always play them tough", but the Seahawks have destroyed them, especially at home, since Russell Wilson has been their QB. I think these fans were thinking of the Rams, and that is not much better. But, like I said, "Redzone Network" kept going back to this game to show me a 2 yard gain here, a big hit there and nothing but field goals or punts. It was a big time test of my patience. There were some other good games going on at the same time. The Buccaneers were pounding the Bears during their first game of the year. I want to see if this Buccaneers team is for real. The Patriots were filling up the scoreboard against the Saints. The Steelers were pounding the Sam Bradford less Vikings. Hell, even the Browns and Ravens were playing a better game. The Raiders were putting it to the Jets. All these games would have been so much more entertaining to watch. But, they kept cutting to this terrible Seahawks-49ers game with the hopes of something big about to happen. Nothing big ever happened. It was 6-6 at halftime. The second half was not much better. They kept going to the host, I believe his name is Chris Hansen, and he kept yelling as if he was Gus Johnson anytime Russell Wilson scrambled for 10 yards, or whatever 49ers running back was running would go for an 8 yard gain. He was really trying to sell this game to the viewing audience. When the 49ers went up 9-6 you would have thought that this was the Super Bowl. Hansen was pulling out nonsense stats left and right. The Seahawks eventually scored a TD, only to miss the extra point, and win the game 12-9. It was a joke of a football game. I know it is only 2 weeks into the season, but for all the people that picked the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl, they may want to rethink that prediction. The Seahawks cannot protect Wilson and they have no one, and I mean NO ONE, that is a threat on offense. Their defense is great, but their offense could be their downfall. They have scored a combined 21 points in 2 games. That's more than the Bengals, but not that much more.

The NFL has been pretty rough for the first 2 weeks. The QB play last week really showed this, and these 2 particular games only magnifies it more for me. It has been rough to watch for 2 weeks. I'm almost to the point where fantasy football is the only reason that I will even pay attention to the NFL. As I said last week, football on Saturday's is so much better than football on Thursday, Sunday and Monday. The NFL is slowly but surely turning into a horrific product. And I do not know if they can fix it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The Head Editor wants to once again say that the Bengals stink, because they really do stink. Stink.

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Ty Ranks the 2017 NFL Teams: The "A New Hope" Edition

Day 6 of my 2017 NFL countdown today. We are getting to the thick of it now. These teams are good. These teams have what it takes to make it to the playoffs, and perhaps have a decent playoff push. We will hit the top ten today, and from here on out, these are good teams with a chance to be great. Here we go.

At number 12 I have the Carolina Panthers. I expect this team to bounce back in a big way. I know that Cam Newton is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, but by all accounts he was out there yesterday doing everything. He is going to be fine because he is a great QB. Cam Newton gives defenses nightmares. He is big, fast and has a laser for an arm. He throws one of the better deep balls that I have ever seen. He is an amazing talent to watch at the QB position. I know he had a rough year last year, but he was targeted, hit illegally, and he still did the best he could with what he had. Cam Newton is great. I still like Kelvin Benjamin too. I know he showed up to camp out of shape, but isn't that what camp is for, to get back into shape. Also, you can't coach size, and Benjamin has it. He also has good hands too. Once he gets back into playing shape, he will be just fine. Some people have given up on Devin Funchess, but I haven't. He was good as a rookie, regressed a bit last year, but I think he could have a big season and be a major threat for the Panthers offense. He was all Michigan had his three years there, and he wasn't playing with anyone that was nearly as good as Newton. He is going to figure it out. Greg Olsen is about as reliable as they come. The dude plays all the time, makes catches and is the perfect security receiver for Newton. He's great. Johnathan Stewart is still in the backfield, and while he is older, he is the veteran presence this team needs. I love the pick of Christian McCaffery here though. He is the future of the running back position for the Panthers. He is going to help open up a lot of things for the offense due to his versatility. And even though I hate the University of Ohio State, Curtis Samuel will do the same. Those were both quality picks by the Panthers. The Panthers D is good too, they just can't stay healthy. Luke Kuechly is one of the best linebackers in the game. The guy gets so many tackles and is all over the field. The problem with Kuechly is the amount of concussions is starting to become alarmingly high. That is scary. Thomas Davis is all around awesome. The dude is a perfect fit in their system and he plays some great football. Charles Johnson is a very good rush end. Captain Munnerlyn is a pretty decent corner. He replaced Josh Norman pretty well in fact. Kawann Short is a really good interior D-Lineman. This team has playmakers on both sides of the ball. The toughest thing for Carolina is their division. Atlanta was just in the Super Bowl and Tampa will be heard from in a day or 2 on my countdown. Hell, even the Saints pose a problem. I like Carolina to bounce back, but being in such a tough division, they may win 10 games and still miss the playoffs. But, this team will be much better this year.

At number 11 I have the Tennessee Titans. I, just like a ton of other people, think the Titans will be in the playoffs this year. I do think they are a better team than the Texans, and I think they will win their division. Part of that is their crappy division, but also, they have a good team. Marcus Mariota, if he can stay healthy, is going to make that leap. He is a very good, young QB. He has taken to the speed of the NFL pretty well, and if he can get some better protection, he will put up numbers. He has a great, unheralded tight end in Delani Walker. This dude was my guy for fantasy football last year. He is so productive, and with Mariota getting better, his number will rise even higher than before. Many people think they reached a bit too early for Corey Davis, I am one of those people, but they do need to upgrade the receiver position, so why not take a shot on a kid that broke multiple NCAA records. They also signed Eric Decker after he was released by the Jets. I don't know how much he will help Mariota, but he has put up numbers in his career. And Harry Douglass is okay for a big play here and there, but not much else. But, this team wants to control tempo and clock, which means they like to run, and they have some good running backs. After a misplaced year in Philly, DeMarco Murray played excellently for the Titans last year. I expect that again. They have Derrick Henry, who was a Heisman winner, and I can see him in a Mark Ingram role for the Titans now. Those 2 will make for a great duo in the backfield. Their defense got quietly good over the past couple years. Jurrell Casey is a decent run stopper. Brian Orakpo is a fantastic linebacker. They signed Logan Ryan away from the Patriots, and he was a key contributor for a Super Bowl wining defense. Wesley Woodyard is a competent linebacker. They drafted Adoree Jackson, and I think he will be a great fit for them. This team has some good, albeit young, players. They are becoming a quality NFL team, and from this season on out, they will be a playoff contender as long as Mariota is still the franchise QB.

At number 10 I have the Dallas Cowboys. Man do I hate the Cowboys. Man do I hate the fact that Ezekial Elliot will not missing many, if any, games for hitting a woman because Goodell doesn't know how to handle domestic violence. It is easy Roger, kick the criminals out of the league. Man do I think their receivers and tight end are overrated. And man do I think their defense is suspect. But with all that being said, they have the best O-Line in football, and Dak Prescott looks to be the real deal. We will see how good he really is if Elliot misses some games, but I have bought into his hype. Prescott looked like a veteran last year, and it seems the Cowboys have their next QB. As far as their run game, it's great. Elliot looked really good when he was on the field last year. Some people even said he should have been the MVP. But, let us not forget that he hit a woman. That is unacceptable. They do have Darren McFadden and Alfred Morris to step in to any games he may miss, and while those guys aren't great, they are still good. McFadden is big and fast, and Morris can churn out 3 or 4 yards a carry, especially behind this O-Line. Dez Bryant is good, but he is not on Julio Jones, Odell Beckham or Mike Evans level. He gets hyped like he is, but that is just because he has a Cowboys uniform on. Other than him, the other receivers are wannabe Patriots. They are all small, fast guys that go over the middle. They are not even worth mentioning. And, is there a more overrated tight end than Jason Witten? Everyone seems to love him, but I just don't get it. Just because he is buddies with Tony Romo, that doesn't make him one of the best to ever play. He is fine, but he is not elite. The defense played out of their heads last year, and they will come crashing back to Earth this year. They don't have anyone that jumps out as great. I love the pick of Taco Charlton, but only because he went to Michigan and I watched him get better for four straight years. He is still a rookie. Some other guys though, guys like Jaylon Smith, Sean Lee, Damien Wilson, Byron Jones, Justin Durant, Damontre Moore, are they really as good as they showed last year? No way. The defense will turn back into a problem. The reason the Cowboys are so high on my list is because of that O-Line and Prescott. They will be able to control tempo and keep that suspect defense off the field. But, expect this team to regress back to a 9 or 10 win squad. No way are they winning 13 games again, especially with Jason Garrett as the head coach.

The final team for today, at number 9, the Seattle Seahawks. Again, I loathe this team, but they have an incredible defense. Michael Bennett is as disruptive as ever. Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, that is an exceptional secondary. Cliff Avril and KJ Wright are great linebackers. Even guys like Frank Clark and Malik McDowell, who do stupid stuff all the time, when they are on the field, they are good. This defense is not the "Legion of Boom", again, a horrible nickname, but they still win games for this team. The offense I have always been suspect of. I do not think Russell Wilson is one of the top 5, or even top 10 QB's in the league, at least not yet. He may have put up big numbers last year, but he rubs people the wrong way, and the Seahawks need their defense and run game, not Russell Wilson, to be great to be contenders. Their run game is kind of a mystery. Thomas Rawls was supposed to step up and be the guy last year, then his leg exploded. Who knows how he comes back from that. CJ Procise has speed and can catch the ball out of the backfield, but the Seahawks like that bruising running game. They signed Eddie Lacy this offseason, but I watched, and stuck up for him for three years in Green Bay, and he regressed every year. I don't know what to make of the run game. The O-Line is dreadfully bad too. The receivers are average at best. Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett and Jermaine Kearse are all fine third or fourth options, but they will not make any team fear them. This team also does not know how to use Jimmy Graham. He is a shell of his New Orleans self. Seattle is still decent, and they will easily win a very porous division, but this team has taken big steps back from a team that won the Super Bowl 4 years ago, and made the Super Bowl 3 years ago. They are getting worse, but they still have a defense that will continue to put them in the playoff picture.

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 may hate the Cowboys and Seahawks, but he is professional first and a hater second. That is why he is the best damn writer on all the internets.

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Ty's 2016 NFL Playoff Predictions

Ready to tee up with the playoffs

The NFL playoffs are set, and I'm here to tell you who I think will walk away as Super Bowl 51 champs. I was obviously wrong in my preseason predictions. The Panthers, and Cam Newton, had an atrocious season. They looked pretty bad all year long. I was way, way off on that one. I was right about the Patriots though. I did not think Brady's suspension was going to affect them that much, and it didn't. They went 3-1 without him and 11-1 with him, giving the Patriots the best overall record in the league at, 14-2. I was off on the Cowboys though. I thought they would not be good, no matter who the starting QB was, but they have a tremendous offensive line, and Ezekial Elliot and Dak Prescott played like seasoned vets all year. Will it happen in the playoffs? We will have to wait and see. With all that being said, lets get to how I see this playoff playing out.

I'll start with the AFC. From 6 to 1, we have Miami, Oakland, Houston, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and New England. Only 2 of these teams, in my opinion, have a legit shot to go to the Super Bowl. The Wild Card matchups in the AFC will be Miami vs Pittsburgh and Oakland vs Houston.

Miami has had an okay season, but they have not beaten anybody all that decent this season. They might have the shadiest 10 wins in all the NFL. They have a good defense, but not great. Their offense, especially with Ryan Tannehill out, who I do not think is that much better than Blake Bortles anyway, is not very good. They have excellent receivers, but with Matt Moore leading the offense, it doesn't matter. Jay Ajayi exploded in the middle of the year, but since then, he has been average. The Steelers, on the other hand, have a lethal offense. Even though he is a horrible, god awful human being, Ben Roesthelisberger can still sling it, and he always gets help from the refs. He has his whole career. LeVeon Bell is one of the best running backs in the league. Antonio Brown is one of the best receivers in the league. The Steelers have a decent offensive line. Where they struggle is defense. They get gashed a lot. But, with Matt Moore being the QB, and Ajayi coming down to Earth, I do not see the Steelers short comings on defense giving the Dolphins a shot in this game. Steelers win this game fairly easily, 28-14.

The other game would have been a blowout, had Derek Carr not broken his leg 2 weeks ago. I still think the Raiders are better, but that was a crushing loss to this team. The Raiders now have to rely on either Connor Cook or Matt McGloin. Yeesh. They still have Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree and Latavius Murray, but no Derek Carr is brutal. Their defense, while Swiss cheese at times, has played better lately. They did not look great yesterday, but they have stepped up since earlier this season. Houston is a laughingstock. They do not belong in the playoffs at all. They are more bogus than the Dolphins, but since they are in such a crappy division, they get to go to the playoffs with only 9 wins. They have no offense, except DeAndre Hopkins. But, he barely sees the ball since both Osweiler and Tom Savage are mediocre. They also have no running game and their defense is a joke. As I said, the Raiders will win, but this game will be ugly. Final score of 13-3.

So that would pit the Steelers vs the Chiefs and the Raiders vs the Patriots. These should be good matchups. I think the Steelers-Chiefs game could be great. I think the Chiefs will pull out the win, but it will be tough. The Chiefs have a better overall team, and their defense is much better than Pittsburgh's. I also think that the Chiefs will be able to hold onto the ball and run at will against the Steelers, thus making the Steelers strength, their offense, moot. Andy Reid will not blow this chance, and he will pull out a hard fought victory, 21-17.

The other game is going to be a bloodbath. The Patriots, after Brady's suspension, are out for blood. They want to destroy anyone in their way so that Roger Goodell has to hand them the Lombardi trophy. Unfortunately for the Raiders, without Derek Carr, they will be the Patriots first victim. Sure, the Patriots do not have the best defense, but it is serviceable, especially against a team without their star QB. And this Patriots offense is surgical. Brady picks apart secondary's. He has made guys like Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola household names. He's doing the same with Chris Hogan and Malcom Mitchell this year. They also seem to have limitless options at running back. They can go with Legarette Blount for power, James White for speed and Dion Lewis for a bit of everything. And even though they lost Gronk to injury, they have Martellus Bennett, and he is awesome, and very tall. The Patriots are ready to beat the shit out of some people. I have the Patriots winning big, 34-10.

That would give us a Chiefs-Patriots AFC Championship. This will be a good game. The Chiefs are the one team in the AFC that can compete with this Patriots team. They have guys that can shut down the Patriots skill players, but they do not have any real game changers, except maybe Tyreek Hill, on offense to score with the Patriots. I think it will be a very good game, maybe even come down to the wire like last year, but Andy Reid will rear his ugly head at some point, and Belichek will capitalize, as he always does. This will be a low scoring, hard fought Patriots win, 20-13. The Patriots will represent the AFC in Super Bowl 51.

As far as the NFC goes, the seeding from 6 to 1 goes, Detroit, New York, Green Bay, Seattle, Atlanta and Dallas. I legitimately feel like almost any one of these teams can make a run to the Super Bowl, and yes, I am including the Lions in the discussion.

The Wild Card matchups will feature the Lions vs the Seahawks and the Giants vs the Packers. The Lions are an enigma. This team had no business even being competitive this season, especially after Calvin Johnson retired. They had no running game. Stafford had never put it all together. The defense is good, but spends too much time on the field. But, somehow they managed to get 9 wins and make the playoffs. The Seahawks have been incredibly inconsistent all year. At times they look like the clear cut favorites, at other times, they look mediocre at best. They have a good defense, but they are not what they were 2 years ago, and they are missing some key pieces. They also do not get pressure like they used to. The offense is very average. Russell Wilson has not taken that next step towards the upper echelon of starting QB's. He may be hurt, but he just does not look like the guy that many thought he would turn out to be after the Seahawks won 2 years ago. I think he is a better version of Colin Kaepernick, but not by much. Their offensive line stinks. They cannot protect the QB, and they do not open up running lanes. They have good receivers, like Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse, but they lost Tyler Lockett to a broken leg, and now they have no deep threat. They have also never really figured out how to use Jimmy Graham. He has become a mid tier tight end since the trade. With that being said, the game is in Seattle, so I do think the Seahawks will win, but it will be a very ugly game, much like the majority of the NFL this year. It will also be very low scoring, with a final of 10-6.

The other matchup, being a Packers fan, is my nightmare. I hate the Giants, and it is because they always seem to pull out some miraculous win, no matter how bad Eli Manning plays, or where the game is played. My only hope this season though, Tom Coughlin is gone, and Bob McAdoo is the coach, and he is as predictable as they come. Green Bay is also on a roll right now. Aaron Rodgers, after his selfish calling out of his teammates, has played lights out. So has Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams. Ty Montgomery has been a revelation. The offensive line is clicking. Hell, even the defense is playing better during their 6 game win streak. I'm always nervous when the Packers have to play the Giants though. I bad mouthed McAdoo, but Mike McCarthy is just as bad, possibly worse at times, but I do think the Packers will pull out the win. They have a better team, with much better skill players(yes, I think the duo of Nelson/Adams is better than Cruz/Beckham Jr), and I think Eli will make a big mistake. I have the Packers winning 28-23.

So that would give us second round matchups of Seattle-Atlanta and Green Bay-Dallas. Atlanta should easily beat the Seahawks. They have a better QB, better receivers, a better line and a better running game. They also do not have the injuries that Seattle has. I think Matt Ryan should be the regular season MVP. He's been great. So has Julio Jones. He has been un guardable at times. He is so tall and so fast and has great hands and runs great routes. The revolving door at running back works for them, and Devonta Freeman is coming on at the right time. Atlanta is a serious threat in the NFC. I have them beating Seattle fairly easily, 24-10. It will be close for a half, but Atlanta will pull away in the second half.

The other side has Green Bay-Dallas. This is supposed to be Dallas' year, right? They have everything going for them. They have home field throughout the playoffs. They have had a dominating year on the offensive side of the ball. They have the best offensive line in all of football. Ezekial Elliot and Dak Prescott are the future. Dez Bryant is playing better without Romo. This is supposed to be the year for them Cowboys, right? I do not know if it is my blind love for the Packers, or what, but I think the Packers will beat them, and I do not think it will even be close. The Cowboys will come out hot, but this is a team led by rookies, and I don't know about you, but I'd much rather have vets like Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, Julius Peppers, Davante Adams, Clay Matthews, some of which have won a Super Bowl, than rookies leading my team in the playoffs. This is not meant to take away from Dallas' great season, but I think the moment will be a bit too big for them. They have won a lot of games, 13, but some have been very ugly, and I just think their luck is going to run out. Maybe it is my blind love, it totally is, and my hatred for the Cowboys, it is that as well, but I think the Packers will go to Jerry World and win this game. I also think they will win by 2 scores, with a final of 28-17.

So that would give us Atlanta and Green Bay in the NFC Championship. this is where the Packers win streak ends. They have no one that can guard Julio Jones, and Matt Ryan is playing so god damn great right now. This will be a very high scoring game, close to the end, but Atlanta will win, 38-35. This game is going to be filled with offensive fireworks, and Atlanta has the better weapons on offense to do just that.

Super Bowl 51 will pit Atlanta and New England. This is a pretty good matchup, or at least I think so. Both teams have so so defenses, but they each have explosive offenses. The Super Bowl will be very high scoring, but in the end, I think New England puts it away, and Goodell has to hand that trophy over to Belichek and Brady. Atlanta will keep it close for three and a half quarters, but New England, behind Legarette Blount, not Tom Brady, will put this game away in the fourth quarter. I think the Falcons will be so keyed up to stop the Patriots pass game that it will open up the run game for New England. Blount is going to have a big game. He is the best of the three running backs the Patriots use, and they will ride him to a win in the Super Bowl. I expect him to go for over 100 yards and, at least, 2 touchdowns, and win the Super Bowl MVP. Like I said, it will be close for awhile, but New England will put it away early in the fourth, and win 38-28.

There you have it, my 2017 NFL playoff preview and picks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. With the Packers and Wolverines, 2016 saw a lot of sports heartbreak. 2017 will not be a repeat for Ty's teams. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Ty's 2016 Midseason NFL Redo

As we approach week 8 of the NFL season, I need to do my annual mid season revision. I did a 3 day preseason NFL preview, and like last year, I have some stuff that I got right and some stuff that I got wrong. Today, I want to pat myself on the back a little bit, but also eat some crow, especially with my Super Bowl and MVP pick.

Before I get started, I know that RD is putting up a big piece about this soon, but the NFL has been absolutely atrocious this season. I'll let RD do the majority of expounding on that, but I have eyeballs, and what they have seen has been terrible. The game is watered down and the teams are not that good. This first half of the season has been abysmal. Thank goodness for college football, which I will touch on tomorrow, at least that has been fun this year. Anyway, let's get to my mid season NFL review.

So, as you all know by now, I had the Panthers as the Super Bowl winners. I thought that they would come out and slay pretty much everyone in front of them. I thought that they would be pissed at how they performed in last year's Super Bowl, and want to make up for that. I thought Cam Newton would trash any defense that came his way. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. The Panthers have been terrible this season. They are 1-5 as we speak. Their defense is dreadful. They cannot get off the field, and teams are putting up 30 plus points on them with ease. I did not think that they'd miss Josh Norman as much as they do. Luke Kuechly has been very, very average this year. Their D line is getting little to no pressure. They stink. The offense isn't much better. Cam Newton looks miserable out there. He is not playing with the joy that turned me into a fan. He is getting head hunted, and the NFL is doing nothing about it. But, he also seems more concerned with what kind of celebration he is going to do when he scores instead of just getting in the end zone. They have no running game. Their passing game, which added Kelvin Benjamin, has been pretty porous. The Panthers have been the biggest, by far, disappointment in the NFL this year.

Outside of the Panthers, the NFC is not really great. The Vikings are probably the best team in the NFC, but they just got absolutely shut down by the Eagles last week. They have an other worldly defense, but their offense is very bad. The Cowboys, very surprisingly, have been right near the top of the NFC this year. Ezekial Elliot is currently leading the NFL in rushing. The receivers, minus Dez Bryant, have been very good. Dak Prescott has been exceptional. He is doing the best job of managing the game. He makes no mistakes, hardly ever, and dinks and dunks all the way down the field. I'm not a Cowboys fan, but I hope that when Tony Romo and Dez Bryant come back totally healthy, they stay on the bench because you should not rock the boat. This team is 5-1 for a reason. Who knows what Jerry Jones will do, but he needs to keep Prescott in there, as long as this team keeps winning.

As far as some other NFC teams, the Cardinals have been very disappointing. Carson Palmer looks like a shell of himself. Larry Fitzgerald is still good, but getting older. Michael Floyd drops more than he catches. David Johnson and their defense has been their saving grace, but they are 3-3-1. The Seahawks are probably the most underwhelming 4-1-1 team in the NFL. Their offense is mediocre, but their defense, who gets away with penalty after penalty, week after week, is still good. They are dirty, but still elite. The Packers are mediocre. Their defense is average and their offense has been mind numbingly frustrating to watch. The Lions, Saints, Eagles, Buccaneers and Falcons are at, or near .500, but they will make no difference in the long run.

As much as I hate to write this, I think the Cowboys, if they stick with Prescott and the running game, will become the team to beat in the NFC. They could very well make the Super Bowl this year, that is how bad this season has been.

The AFC, while not much better, does have the very best team in the NFL. The Patriots are leaps and bounds above all 31 other teams, and they are filled with holes. Their defense is very mediocre. they do give up some big plays a bit too often. After his ridiculous 4 game suspension, Tom Brady has looked like a man possessed. He is the front runner for the MVP right now, after only 3 games. He has lit up the 3 teams he's faced. He is on pace, in 12 games, to surpass 4,000 passing yards. That's crazy. Gronk is fully healthy, and he is just as unstoppable as ever. Martellus Bennett is a great addition, and takes pressure off Gronk. The slot receivers that fill the rest of this offense are perfect for the Patriots system. LeGarette Blount has been a great runner for them this year too. He's on pace for 1,300 plus rushing yards and 15 plus touchdowns. They also have James White, great out of the back field and Dion Lewis will be back soon. The Patriots, even with their holes, are the cream of the crop in the NFL. Eat it Roger Goodell.

 As for the teams not playing at Gillette, the Broncos have a great defense, but their offense is very much below average. They can't sustain drives, and unless their defense gives the offense primo field position, they usually punt. That should rule out a return trip to the Super Bowl. The Steelers, who I was very high on before the season, are minus their QB for another 3-5 weeks. Try as he might, LeVeon Bell can only do so much. Without Roesthilberger, this team will not go very far. But, 9-7 could win that division, so who knows. The Raiders, another team I was very high on, have been great offensively so far, but terrible defensively. The still hold a 5-2 record, and I'd love to see them in the playoffs, but I worry that their defense will make it unlikely. The Chiefs, who I was not so high on, have been pretty good so far. Sure, they got thumped by the Steelers a few weeks ago, but other than that, they have played pretty well. The Bills are well on their way to another 8-8 or 9-7 season. The entire AFC South stinks. The Texans are the worst division leader in all of football. The Colts and Jaguars are bottom feeders and the Titans are so bad on offense, that will hold them back. The Harambes, AKA Bengals, have been very mediocre, and I'm sure RD will agree. The Chargers are bad, but actually kind of fun to watch either blow games late or win games late. The Dolphins and Ravens are destined to be .500, and the Browns may not win a game all year long. The Patriots are, not only the best team in the AFC, but the best team in football. They are 100 percent going to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl this season, barring any major injury.

That means I have the Cowboys playing the Patriots in Super Bowl 51. Yikes. The Patriots should win it going away, if this turns out to be the matchup. I have the Patriots as my new Super Bowl champs. I also have Tom Brady as the MVP. David Johnson might be more deserving, or Julio Jones may put up unprecedented numbers, or Ezekial Elliot may rush for 1,800 yards, but what Brady has done over 3 games, and will continue to do, just to twist the knife in Goodell, will win him the MVP. He is the greatest QB ever, and this season will prove that even further. As far as rookie of the year, I was way, way off on LaQuon Treadwell. This is clearly Elliot's to lose. He has been as good as advertised, and as much as I may dislike his demeanor and the way he carries himself, he has been great this year. I still have Jack Del Rio as my coach of the year. He has the Raiders at 5-2, as I already stated, and they are relevant again. But, I would not count out Bill Belichek. He won 3 of 4 without Brady, and now, they want to crush everyone in their path, as they should. And defensive player of the year should, and probably will be Von Miller. He is incredible and playing incredible. He should own this award for many years to come.

So, that does it for my mid season review. I got some stuff right, but way more wrong. I'm pissed about my love for the Panthers, but happy about my feelings for the Raiders. The NFL is in a rough place, but I still watch and will continue to watch. Come back tomorrow and I will have my mid season college football review. That will be much more fun to write.  

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He may think the Cowboys ccan make the Super Bowl, but in his heart he knows Jerry Jones will ruin the teams chances. Romo is Jones's guy after all. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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The SeedSing 2016 NFL Predictions and Picks

Time to hand out a few game balls

To round out my NFL preview, today I will pick each division winner and who I think will be the two wild cards from each conference. I will also pick the Super Bowl teams and winner. As well as team picks, I will also pick the offensive and defensive players of the year, the offensive and defensive rookies of the year, the coach of the year and the overall MVP. This blog is going to be short and to the point. One sentence as to why I pick each team is all I'm giving myself. If you want to know other reasons I like these teams, you can read my 8 part preview that I finished yesterday.

Let's start with the AFC. The AFC East will be tricky because of Brady's suspension, but I still think the Patriots will win. Brady will come back on fire, and he will, on his own, will this team to the division title. The rest of the teams are either not ready, or not good enough to dethrone the juggernaut that is the Patriots. The AFC West will, most likely, be the toughest division in all of football, with three of the four teams finishing over .500, but I think the Broncos will win it. Their defense is just too good, and they won't give up a lot of points. If the offense averages 20, that would be absolutely huge for them. But, watch out for the Chiefs and the Raiders, they are both coming to dethrone the Broncos. The AFC North will also be a three team race, maybe 2, the Ravens aren't that good, but the Bengals and Steelers will fight it out all season. I see the Steelers winning because they have one of the best offenses in all of football, and their defense is pretty decent. The AFC South is still a joke, but it is getting better. Tennessee still stinks, but the Jaguars are putting together a competitive team. This all comes down to health and performance, and I think the Colts will rebound and win the division, but the Texans will be tough. As far as the wild cards go, I'm going to have to go with the Bengals and the Raiders. The Raiders are going to be good, and the Bengals have become mainstays, even if they cant get out of the first round.

For the NFC, let's start with the lowly NFC East. As I stated many times in my preview, a team with a losing record, like the Cowboys or Giants, could win this division, but I think Washington has the best players and the talent to easily repeat. They will get bounced after one round, but they will make a second straight playoff appearance. The NFC West is a two team race, between the Cardinals and the Seahawks, but the Cardinals are a much, much better team than the Seahawks. If the Cardinals don't win this division with ease, it should be deemed a disappointment. They have the best offense, and their defense is right there with Seattle. Arizona should cruise. With the NFC North, again, we have a two team race between the Packers and the Vikings. I just don't see, especially if they are at full health, how the Packers do not win this division. They have one of the best QB's in all of football, and they have a pretty good defense. Green Bay should win by 2 games. The NFC South is all about the Panthers. They are my best team in the NFL this year, and a lot of other writers agree with me. The Panthers could win their first 10 games and sew up the division with 6 weeks left. They are the cream of the crop. As far as the wild cards from the NFC, I have Minnesota and Seattle, but this may be a last shot for both teams.

I like the Patriots and the Broncos to meet again in the AFC Championship, this time the Patriots will come out on top. And for the NFC Championship, I like the Cardinals and the Panthers, another rematch, with Carolina winning.

That means Super Bowl 51 will be Carolina-New England. As much as I want to pick the Patriots, just so they can shove it in Goodell's stupid smug, arrogant face, I think the Panthers are too good, and they will learn from last season's disappointing loss in the Super Bowl. Carolina is my pick to win Super Bowl 51.

As far as awards go, I like Cam Newton as both, the offensive player of the year and MVP. His time is now, and he will not back down. He has gotten better every year, and I don't see any regression from him. He is awesome. As far as defensive player of the year, I like Luke Kuechly. He is the star defender of one of the better defenses in the NFL. That makes a clean sweep by Panthers in awards and titles. The offensive rookie of the year will probably be some 6th or 7th round pick that a lot of people are overlooking, or if they had the nerve to give it to a lineman, I'd pick Laremy Tunsil, but I think someone like Derrick Henry, who was a second round pick, and will get every opportunity to play for Tennessee or, more likely, Corey Coleman at Cleveland or Laquon Treadwell in Minnesota. Let's go with Treadwell since Minnesota is so much better than Cleveland. For defensive rookie of the year, it will be tough because there are a lot of good, young defenders, but I think I will go with Jalen Ramsey. He may get beat deep sometimes, but he will be a good corner from day one in the NFL. My coach of the year has got to be Jack Del Rio. I love what he has turned the Raiders into, and he will deservedly win this award this year if the Raiders live up to the hype I have put on them.

So that does it for my 2016 NFL preview. Let me know why I'm right or wrong, and football will be here before we know it, thank goodness. Come back tomorrow when I finish off my football previews with my college football preview.

Ty

Editor's Thoughts - I have no major differences with Ty on the playoff teams. I think Kansas City could be better than the Raiders and I do not believe in Seattle. It pains me to say that Tampa Bay could sneak into the playoff picture. Also, the Cincinnati should be called Harambes will win the AFC North. The Cincinnati squad will (FINALLY) win not one, but two playoff games to face Arizona in the Super Bowl. The Queen city will be overjoyed.

The Cardinals will destroy the Bengals by 30-40 points.

RD

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. RD Kulik is the Head Editor and frequent contributor to the X Millennial Man Podcast. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik and make RD happy by supporting SeedSing with straight cash.

Ty Ranks the 2016 NFL Teams: Shirt Fresh Out of the Dryer Edition

It's a new week, so that means we are back to my NFL countdown. I started last week with the worst and worked my way all the way to 4 teams that have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs this year by the end of the week. Starting today, I have 12 total teams left, so we are near the cream of the crop of the NFL. Today, I even have some division winners. I also have a few surprise teams, based on where I have them ranked. This is the good part of the NFL. These last 12 teams are all hyper competitive, and they have full fledged stars, and up and coming super talents. Okay, on with the countdown.

Coming in at number 12, I have the Indianapolis Colts. This team was ravaged by injuries last year, namely to Andrew Luck. I really think Luck is a great NFL QB. He is going to take that next step to the upper level, and I think it will happen this season, if he stays healthy. He had a ruptured spleen last year, and you could tell just by watching that he was in some serious pain. The fact that he even played as many games as he did was remarkable. The problem with Luck though, he does take way too many chances and that causes costly errors. The Colts also don't really have a running game. Yeah, they signed Frank Gore last year, but he was past his prime a few years back. He is still serviceable, but not the threat he once was. He still grinds out tough yards, but he has no break away speed anymore, not that he ever really had any at all. Gore also doesn't have that great of a line to run behind either. They also don't protect Luck all that well, he was sacked a lot last season, when he played. What the Colts do have, besides Luck, is a decent group of wideouts. T.Y. Hilton has become a household name for NFL fans. He is a deep threat, but he is also a very good possession receiver. They also have Donte Moncrief, who is a taller version of Hilton, just not as polished yet. They also have the ageless wonder, Deion Branch at receiver. He is old, but he is still good. The Colts have names on defense, but the results are not there yet. The defense has guys like Robert Mathis, Vontae Davis and D'Qwell Jackson, who are all good, but they still give up a lot of points. If the defense can shore it up, they have the talent to be in the top 10 of the league. They do also have the best kicker, maybe in the history of the NFL, in Adam Vinateiri. He is as automatic as they come. The Colts should win their division. As I said last week, the Texans and Jaguars are coming, but the Colts still have Andrew Luck. I say they rebound from last year, go 11-5 and win the division.

At number 11, I have the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs may be the most milquetoast team in all of football, but they win games. Andy Reid is a very good regular season head coach, so this team can always put together a very competitive team, they just don't win playoff games. Alex Smith may be the best game manager QB in the NFL. He makes the check down play a bit too much, but he usually makes the right throw. He very rarely gets picked off, which is huge for this team. Jamaal Charles, when he is healthy, is one of the best backs in the league. He's fast, he's shifty and when he is the open field, forget about trying to catch him, he's gone. But, he does get injured a ton. He has torn ACL's, suffered multiple concussions and gets nicks and bruises all the time. They have a good tight end in Travis Kelce, but he is a very poor man's version of Gronk. He doesn't have the size and speed or the hands of Gronk, but he is a reliable tight end. The Chiefs finally have a good receiver in Jeremy Maclin. He is very fast and has good hands. But, much like Charles, Maclin gets hurt a lot. He also alligator arms passes sometimes, leading me to believe that he doesn't like contact. But, he is still a very good receiver. Other than Maclin though, the Chiefs are thin at receiver. On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs are very stout. They have great players on defense with guys like Derrick Williams, Donatari Poe, Eric Berry, Justin Houston, Marcus Peters and Tamba Hali, amongst others. The Chiefs defense can get pressure, stop the run and cover the pass. The Chiefs are good, but they are the third best defense in their own conference, that's the problem. The Chiefs division is very, very good. I say they finish 10-6, but that will only good enough for third and they will miss out on the playoffs.

Coming in at number 10, I have my biggest mover from last season, the Oakland Raiders. Now, before you laugh this team off, they have gotten really good the past couple of seasons, and they have done most of it through the draft. First off, I think Derek Carr is a very serviceable QB right now, but I believe that he will become one of the better QB's in the league very soon. He has a great arm, makes good choices most of the time, and finally has some threats at the skill positions. Derek Carr is one of the better draft choices that the Raiders have made in a long, long time. Another great draft pick they made happened last year when they took Amari Cooper. Cooper proved in his rookie year that he was as advertised. He does the dirty work, i.e., going over the middle and jumping up for poorly thrown balls. Cooper also has speed, runs great routes and finds open spaces all over the field. Amari Cooper is awesome. They also have Michael Crabtree, who is still a very viable receiver, when he has a good QB. At running back, they looked thin, but Latavius Murray really showed up last year when they needed a good running back. He runs hard and grinds out yards. Their offensive line is also very, quietly, good. But, this Raiders defense is on the verge of being one of the top defenses in the NFL. They are so good, so fast, attack the other team, and they aren't dirty about it anymore. The defense is led by another great draft pick, Khalil Mack. Mack is so, so good. He is a dominant linebacker. He can tackle, he can cover and he is the leader of this unit when they are on the field, and he excels at all these things. They also signed Bruce Irvin this offseason away from Seattle, and now he is teaming up with Mack. Oof, that is a devastating duo at linebacker. They also have a good defensive line and secondary, but this defense is led by the linebackers, as defenses should be. I really like what the Raiders have done, I hope they don't move to Las Vegas, and they've done most of it through the draft. This team is good, and they should win 11 games this year, and compete for a playoff spot, but it will be from the wild card. I really enjoy this Raiders team.

At number 9, which is a fall for them, I have the Seattle Seahawks. I kind of feel that the shine is off this Seahawks team. They don't seem to be as dominant as they were 2 years ago. I feel that some people on their team, Russell Wilson, have let their ego get in the way of their game. Wilson was a fine game manager, but when he was the QB of a Super Bowl championship, I feel like he got way too much credit, and he let that get to his head. you could see it in his play last year. He tried to make throws that he can't possibly make. He also started to blame everyone else on the team for his short comings. Wilson is a slightly better version of Colin Kaepernick, he just happened to be on a team with one of the greatest defenses of all time. Then, they let Marshawn Lynch essentially walk away for nothing because he and Wilson couldn't coexist. They chose the QB over, at the time, the best running back in the league. I know Lynch was hurt a lot last year, but when he was in, he was great. Then, they struck gold with Thomas Rawls, who was a revelation, but he broke his ankle. The running back position is a big, big problem for this team, and they rely on the run more than any other NFL team. At receiver, they have just okay players. Tyler Lockett and Doug Baldwin are fine, but they are just kind of blah to me. They have Jimmy Graham, but they use him more for blocking than receiving, and that is not his strength. He is not a good blocker at all, but he is an all world receiver. They need to figure out how to use him properly. Their o line stinks as well. They simply cannot protect anyone. The defense is still good, but people have figured out how to neutralize their weapons. They lost Bruce Irvin, but they still have Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright. They are fine, but they are not Bruce Irvin. They do have a good d line, with guys like Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril. They can stop the run, but their days of pressuring the QB seem to be gone. The secondary is the best part of their defense, but it is not the "Legion of Boom"(what a stupid, self proclaimed nickname) anymore. Richard Sherman is great, but not like he was a few years ago. He gets beat deep more now, and he doesn't put fear in opposing QB's like he used to. Earl Thomas is a very good safety, but he also has lost a step or two over the past couple of years. Brandon Browner, in my opinion, has become a better over all cornerback than Richard Sherman, but no one talks about him. But, the cream of the crop in the secondary is Kam Chancellor. He is a great hitter and ball hawk. Chancellor may be one of the best secondary players in all the NFL. The Seahawks can still win this porous division, but they will probably only win 10 games. They still have a very stout defense, which will keep them in games, but the offense is not as good as some will lead you to believe, and they will continue to regress. Also, Pete Carroll is not as good a coach as some writers think he is.

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. His dislike for the Seahawks is legendary, but he will still give credit where it is due. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Green Bay Repeats as Heart Breakers in the Playoffs

How can a little lake town in Wisconsin make me so sad?

So, we had divisional playoff NFL football this past weekend. All the games went chalk, as expected. Carolina used 31 first half points and thwarted Seattle's comeback in the second half, much to my delight. Denver eeked out a win over the extremely short handed Steelers and New England pretty much dominated Kansas City from start to finish in their game. Then, we had Arizona and Green Bay Saturday night.

Now, I picked Arizona to win the Super Bowl on a recent podcast and blog post. I expected them to throttle the Packers. I'm a Packer fan, as everyone know by now, but I didn't think they stood much of a chance in this game. I didn't think their "offensive outburst" against Washington was a sign that they were turning things around. They beat up on an inferior opponent, that's all that game showed me. And now, they had to face, what I consider to be the best team in the NFL, in Arizona. It was a done deal. Nice season Green Bay, let's get ready for next year.

Then the game happened.

Arizona came out flat. They couldn't do much on offense. Much of that was due to mental mistakes by Carson Palmer, but Green Bay's defense played an almost perfect game. They forced Palmer into bad throws, they shut down Arizona's run game and the secondary had their receivers blanketed, helped tremendously by Sam Shields coming back from a concussion. Now, Green Bay's offense wasn't doing much of anything either, scoring only 6 first half points. But, in the second half, Green Bay finally scored a touchdown and gave themselves a 6 point lead. Arizona would cut it to 3 points later in the third quarter, but Green Bay looked poised to pull off the upset. As I said, Palmer was shaky all game and when Green Bay intercepted him in the end zone for the third time early in the fourth quarter, I started to think they'd get the win. They were doing almost everything right.

Then, Arizona got the ball back with about 7 minutes left and drove down the field and scored an extremely lucky tipped pass touchdown with about 3 minutes to go in the game. I was crushed. What made it worse, Green Bay went for a fourth and five the very next drive, missed it and Arizona converted a field goal to push their lead to 7. There was about 2 minutes left in the game when Green Bay got the ball back, but any hope I had was gone. They'd blown it again I figured.

But, on a fourth and twenty, Jeff Janis, a wide out that had 2 catches all season, hauled in a 60 yard pass play to give the Packers new hope. Then they wasted a whole bunch of time trying to get a play off and they were left with 12 seconds at the 40 yard line. They wasted two plays and now there was 5 seconds left. Hope was gone again. They already converted one hail mary this year, no way were they going to get a second conversion, but then it happened again. Jeff Janis out jumped two Arizona defenders and hauled in a 40 yard touch down to tie the game.

A wave of emotions over took me.

I went from upset to elated in less than 10 seconds. They still had a chance to pull off the upset. They were still alive. Then we had the coin flip that wasn't really a flip and after all that ridiculousness, Arizona won the toss and got the ball. On their first play from scrimmage, the very immobile Carson Palmer eluded three sack attempts and found a wide open Larry Fitzgerald for a 75 yard gain, all the way down to the five yard line. Two plays later, Arizona punched it in and the game was over. Green Bay, once again, lost on the first possession of overtime without even getting a chance on offense.

Two years in a row, Aaron Rodgers, arguably one of the best quarterbacks all time in football, doesn't get a chance to tie or win the game. It happened in Seattle last year and now Arizona this year. The NFL's overtime rules are an absolute joke. It's appalling that, if the first teams scores a touchdown, the other team gets no chance. It's downright idiotic, but that's Roger Goodell for you. They need to completely overhaul their overtime to either mimic the NCAA's overtime, or make it so each team gets a chance on offense with the ball. This sudden death, first touchdown wins thing is total nonsense.

Green Bay also should have never put themselves in these situations either year. They dominated and controlled the entire game in Seattle last year, except for the last 10 minutes and overtime. Green Bay had that game won and they blew it, they flat out lost that game. Seattle didn't win, Green Bay lost. But, they never got a shot in overtime and that sucks too. Same thing Saturday night. Arizona should have never been in that position to push the game to overtime. Green Bay dominated the entire game, for the most part. They shut Arizona down all night. But, when they had a chance to really end it in regulation, Sam Shields dropped a for sure pick 6. The ball went right through his hands. A couple of plays later was the tipped pass touchdown that gave Arizona the lead. Green Bay had the miracle hail mary, but their offense was forced to watch as the Cardinals scored in three short plays in overtime. Their season was over with Rodgers, Janis, Starks, Lacy and Jones sitting on the bench. They never got their shot.

The past two years as a Packers fan have been brutal. They've lost their playoff games in spectacular fashion. It sucks that their offense didn't get a chance, like I said before, the NFL's overtime rules are moronic, but they have also completely blown these games. In a word, being a Packers fan these past couple of years has been heartbreaking. They blow these games that they have in their control and then they don't get a chance in overtime because they give up a quick score and the rules are stupid. It's a shame. I hope they get right this off season because they are still a very talented team and they get Jordy Nelson back next year. I think they need to look at a coaching change, be it their head coach or their coordinators. Sure, Mike McCarthy has won a Super Bowl, but so did Mike Holmgren and when his Packer coached teams started to blow leads and games, they were quick to let him go. I still have high hopes because they still have Aaron Rodgers, Eddie Lacy, James Jones and Jordy Nelson and a decent, young defense, but these blown playoff games are starting to wear on me and give me gray hair.

I love you Green Bay, but I wish you'd stop breaking my heart. Come back strong next year, get big enough leads so you don't have to worry about overtime and win that Super Bowl I predicted you to win this year. Make it fun to be a Packers fan again.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is looking forward to replacing his Packer and Wolverine heartbreak with a double championship party in 2017. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty's (first) Annual NFL Playoff Predicitions

Playoff football and chili. Must be January

The NFL playoffs start this weekend and I have given a preseason (NFC, AFC, and postseason) and a mid season report, now I want to give a playoff preview and prediction. Both my preseason and mid season picks were way off the mark, I'm looking at you Indianapolis and Green Bay. But, with the playoffs now set, I'd like to give it one more crack, maybe this time I'll do better.

This upcoming Saturday we get the AFC first round playoff matchups between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals. Both these games should be decent, but I think it's pretty obvious who the winners will be. In the Chiefs-Texans game you have one team, the Chiefs, riding a 10 game winning streak. The Texans were in the AFC South, so 9 wins easily made them the division winners. The AFC South is a joke of a division and while the Texans have a pretty good defense, they have zero offense. They've used way too many quarterbacks this year that are all below average NFL starters. They have had no running game since Arian Foster went down for the season and save for Deandre Hopkins, they have no threats in the passing game. Hopkins is great, but if you can hold him to a 6 or 7 catch game, you can pretty easily beat Houston. The Chiefs aren't much better on offense, but they have way better playmakers. Alex Smith is a much better QB than anyone Houston will throw out there. They have struck gold with their backup running backs, Charcandarick West and Spencer Ware, after losing Jamaal Charles to a torn ACL. They also have a receiver that's almost as big a threat as Hopkins in Jeremy Maclin and they have a much better tight end in Travis Kelce. Oh, and there defense is just as good, if not better than the Texans. Sure, JJ Watt may get a couple of sacks, but what will Houston do with the ball on offense and will they be able to totally shut down the Chiefs? I don't think so. The only thing they have as an advantage is, they're playing at home, but that won't matter. Chiefs win by 10, with the final being 20-10. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati could have been a game, if not for the Andy Dalton injury. Cincinnati gets short changed every season. Sometimes it's their fault, other times, injuries derail this team. They have an okey running game with Giovanni Bernard and Jeremy Hill and they have one of the best receivers in the game in AJ Green, but that won't matter with AJ McCarron throwing and handing the ball off. The Bengals defense is top notch, but they have no one that will be able to slow Antonio Brown even a little bit. The Bengals line may stuff the run and even pressure Roethlisberger a bit, but he will still find Brown. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has an elite offense clicking at the perfect time. They don't have their typical stout defense, but they can and will outscore opponents. I may not like the person, but Ben Roethlisberger is playing elite football right now. And, as I've mentioned before, he has Antonio Brown to throw the ball to. He also has Markus Wheaton, Heath Miller and Martavis Bryant to throw too as well. They lost LeVeon Bell earlier this year and DeAngelo Williams appears to have gotten injured in their finale, so that leaves the running game to Fitz Toussaint, former Michigan running back, but the Steelers don't need to run to win, In fact, I bet they run only 10 to 15 times the whole game. Steelers win in Cincy, crushing the Bengals playoff dreams in the first round once again, final score of 28-14. 

This Sunday we get the NFC first round matchups of Green Bay and Washington and Seattle and Minnesota. Both should be good, hard fought, close games. Green Bay travels to Washington to face the DC team on a roll right now. Whoever thought Kirk Cousins would be this good is a god damn liar. They have an okay run game, but they like to throw and they play some solid defense. Green Bay is a total enigma. They can never seem to get it going until it's too late, or they play to their ability and they blow out inferior opponents. Green Bay cannot protect Rodgers, their run game is non existent at times, but can also be great and their receivers can't get open, or if they do it's too late because Rodgers got sacked. Rodgers deserves a lot of the blame too for those sacks. Sometimes, when he does get good protection, he just holds on to the ball for way too long. Green Bay's defense is sub par at best. One week they totally shut a team down, the next, they give up big plays This is a total toss up, but I'll take Green Bay because of experience in big games. Washington's players haven't really been in big time playoff games and Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers have. Maybe I'm blinded by my fandom, but so be it. Green Bay wins 17-14. In the other game we get Minnesota and Seattle. Everyone and their mother is back on Seattle's bandwagon, but not me. I have to give credit to Bill Simmons for this, I was listening to his podcast this morning, and reminded me that the Seahawks just lost, only scoring 10 points at home to the Rams 2 weeks ago. Everyone wants to forget that because Russell Wilson has been putting up big numbers and their defense is playing better, but the Rams went to Seattle and owned them. The Vikings are a better version of the Rams. They have a better QB, receivers and a better, albeit a child abuser, running back. Their defense isn't as good as the Rams, but it's still good. The game is in Minnesota at noon as well. That means in Seattle, it's 10am. I know that doesn't sound like an advantage, but it is. I truly believe that Minnesota can replicate what the Rams did even better and I think they win this game. That would be great so everyone, including Chris Collinsworth, can shut the hell up about how great the Seahawks are. I'll take the Vikings in a very low scoring game, 14-10.

The following week we'd get the second round games in each conference. The four teams that had byes will all be in play and the big time games start happening. In the AFC the matchups will be Chiefs-Broncos and Steelers-Patriots. The Broncos will lose this game if they start Peyton Manning. Sure, he came in relief last week and they won, but it was their run game and their number one ranked defense that won, not Peyton Manning. Brock Osweiler deserves his shot. The Chiefs are good, as I mentioned above, but I cannot trust Andy Reid to win a big time playoff game on the road, I just can't. The Broncos have a stable of running backs, they have DeMaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders to throw to and they have the best defense in all of football. I don't see how they lose this game, unless they rely on Peyton Manning to make plays. He's a Hall of Famer, but he's done. Let your young QB start, rely on the run game and let your top of the line defense send you to the AFC title game. Broncos win 20-13. The Patriots-Steelers game will be interesting. Pittsburgh is elite offensively, but so is New England, if healthy. They have Gronk, Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and a rejuvenated Steven Jackson on offense. But, their O line is very bad and are Gronk, Edelman and Amendola really healthy. Also, Brady took a hit in the Miami game, so who knows if he'll be one hundred percent. Neither of these teams are great on defense, but the Patriots are better. That won't matter because no one can guard Antonio Brown. Sorry New England, but the Steelers will steal this game in Foxborough and head to the AFC title game. Final score, 35-30.

The NFC will feature Green Bay-Carolina and Minnesota-Arizona. Carolina is on fire right now. They're 15-1, they have the MVP in Cam Newton, they have decent and very tall receivers and they have a pretty great defense. They also control the clock with their elite run game. Green Bay is a sitting duck. They've already been beaten once by Carolina this year, one of two teams with a winning record that Carolina has beaten, and they have not learned a thing from that game. Green Bay's season will end and it won't be pretty. Cam Newton is playing fantastic football and they will grind this game out and walk away with an easy victory. Carolina wins 20-7. Arizona and Minnesota will also be a blow out. Arizona has a better defense, a better QB, an equally as good run game and much, much better receivers. Carson Palmer in the runner up MVP and playing some of the best football of his career. Larry Fitzgerald has morphed into the best blocking receiver and best slot guy in all of football. David Johnson has filled in quite nicely for Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington and their offensive line is the best in the NFL. Minnesota had a good run, but it ends in resounding fashion in Arizona. Cardinals win 35-10.

Now we are down to four teams. In the AFC championship we have Denver-Pittsburgh. One relies on offese, the other on defense. Denver has some great corners capable of shutting down Antonio Brown, but I feel like typical Broncos will show up and blow this game. They should win easily. They can rely on their run game to chew clock and keep Pittsburgh offense off the field, but John Elway, Gary Kubiak and Peyton Manning will try to win with Manning being the hero and it will back fire. This game will be close, but Pittsburgh will pull it out and win 27-20. Arizona and Carolina could be a close game, but it won't. Carolina will finally see up close and personal what a real NFL team looks like, with a real offense and a legit defense. They will shut Newton down, they will force them to pass and that will cause turnovers. On offense, Arizona will do whatever it wants. This will be a runaway for the Cardinals. Arizona wins 38-14.

So that leaves us with a Pittsburgh-Arizona rematch in Super Bowl 50. Arizona has the one corner, Patrick Peterson, that can actually give Brown some trouble. They also have an offense that will light up a weak Pittsburgh defense. This game also has the makings of a blowout. I think it will be close until midway through the third quarter and Arizona will run away with the game. Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald will finally get their rings and Bruce Arians will be recognized as one of the best coaches in the NFL. Cardinals roll to a Super Bowl win, final score 35-20.

I feel good about this one.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is working on a fifth alarm for his big game four alarm chili. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The SeedSing (half) Year in Pop Culture: The Top Five Sports Moments of 2015

Reenactment of the year in sports

Closing out my best of 2015 countdown I'll pick my top five sports moments of the year. Being a Cardinals, Thunder, Packer and Wolverines fan, it's been a struggle for the most part. Sure, they've all had good seasons, but they've suffered some tough loses and missed opportunities. My countdown is actually filed with sour grapes. Teams that I loathe lost games and series in spectacular fashion and it made me happy, the irrational side of me at least. On with the countdown.

At number five I have the most brutal Michigan football loss that I've ever seen. The list is sports moments that I will remember for the rest of my life, so some will be bad and this one takes the cake. I mean, Michigan had this win. It would've, at the time, put them in the conversation for the college football playoff. Harbaugh would've beaten MSU, who's bullied Michigan for the past five years. It was all coming up Michigan, then they muffed the punt. It was shocking. All they had to do was catch and kick the ball. Blake O'Neil, after muffing the snap, could've just fallen on the ball where he was and forced MSU to try a very long field goal on a windy afternoon. Harbaugh could've sent his offense out there and held the ball as long as possible and then chuck it in the air to run the clock out. There's a million other options, but the most unfortunate thing happened. This win got MSU in the playoff, where they promptly got their asses beat by Alabama last night. Without this game, MSU would be playing in the Citrus Bowl today and Michigan would've had a shot at the playoff or a New Year's six bowl. But that's not what happened. Also, the people that attacked Blake O'Neil on social media need to get a life. He's a kid that made a mistake in a game. Get over it. This was a very brutal, brutal game, but I will always be reminded of it, so it goes on the list.

At number four the sour grapes come into play. The Clippers collapse in the second round of the Western Conference playoff last year was a thing of beauty to watch since I'm such a big Clipper hater. They had this series wrapped up. They were up 3 games to 1 and held a 20 point lead in the second half of game five. Surely, they'd close it out and go on t the conference finals to get crushed by Golden State. But something magical happened. The Rockets made a furious comeback in the fourth quarter of game five, all while James Harden was on the bench, and won that game. Then, they crushed the Clippers in game 6 and then closed it out in game 7. I loved it. The Clippers were the Clippers once again. Chris Paul moped and griped at players and refs alike. DeAndre Jordan sat on the bench in crunch time because he can't shoot a free throw. Blake Griffin became the disappearing "superstar" that he is. He's a choker. JJ Redick was too busy fixing his hair and playing lackluster defense. And Doc Rivers was making terrible coaching decision after terrible coaching decision. What made me most happy was that stupid moron Steve Ballmer getting his comuppence. He had that stupid grin and wild activity on the sidelines all season and it annoyed the hell out of me. Almost nothing made me happier than seeing that stupid asshole have a frown affixed to his face in game 7. And now, the Clippers look worse than they did last season and I love it even more. Screw that team forever.

At number three I have the blazing hot start that the Golden State Warriors got off to at the start of this season. They won their first 24 games. That's unheard of. I'm not a Warriors fan, but to watch them play, when they're on fire, is almost as beautiful as watching the Spurs ball movement. Steph Curry raining threes at an extremely high rate, Klay Thompson playing lockdown defense, Draymond Green, inexplicably, being the best overall player on the best team and Andre Iguodala playing like an all star. Let us not forget about Harrison Barnes taking the next step towards super stardom. He's been excellent all year. They also did all this with Steve Kerr sidelined due to a back issue. Luke Walton has been the coach for them all season. This team is scary good and they look like they could win back to back titles. The Warriors became must watch TV for me this season and I already stated I'm not a fan. When they get on a tear, you cannot look away. What they did to start this season was magical and it will be talked about forever.

Number two is Malcolm Butler picking off Russell Wilson to end Super Bowl 50. This was a HUGE moment for football and sports fans everywhere. After Jeramine Kearse made that catch, the ball bouncing all over his body, never touching the ground, I thought that I'd have to suffer through another love fest for Jesus and the Seahawks. They were easily going to run the ball into the end zone with little to no time left and walk off the field with their second straight Super Bowl win and I'd have to hear all those players talk shit and their dumbass fans talk on social media. Then, after play faking to Marshawn Lynch, which already made my mind explode, then Wilson telegraphing his slant pass and Butler coming up with the pick, I mean, it was the most exciting three seconds I've witnessed during a football game. Now, I'm not a Patriots fan, but my hatred for the Seahawks completely outweighed my neutrality for the Patriots. Looking at the Seahawk sideline prior to the pick, seeing Richard Sherman smiling and joking with his teammates, hearing Russell Wilson talking about how it's god's will that they win, seeing Pete Carroll's shit eating grin, I was angry. But, right after the pick, I was elated. Sherman's smiles and laughter immediately turned to a frown and questions. Wilson walking to the sideline asking why his receiver didn't make a quick enough cut, because it's never his fault and Carroll not admitting he made a massive mistake was delightful. This team, for all the shit talking they do, one hundred percent deserved to lose this game the way they did and I'm glad it was a team like New England, whom every outside of Boston hates, beat them. It was glorious.

My number one moment occurred almost exactly one year ago, the start of 2015, when Michigan hired Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach. I didn't like the idea at first, he never stays at one job for more than four years and he works his players tirelessly, but what he did in year one made me a believer. I picked the Wolverines to go 7-5 and play in a lowly bowl game. The team came out rough against Utah, but a season opener on the road is always tough, and it was a close game all the way to the end. Michigan even had a chance to win. Then, they crushed Oregon State at home. After that, they went on a three game winning streak, not allowing a single point. That's what made me happy. Their offense was blah, but their defense was playing lights out. That's the Michigan I know and love. Sure, there was the MSU game I mentioned earlier and they got crushed by Ohio State and Indiana and Minnesota should have beaten them, but they found ways to win close, tough games. That wouldn't have happened under Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke. The team would've given up because that's what I saw for seven years. Harbaugh has brought back a sense of urgency and toughness to this team that has been lacking. I'm glad Michigan did everything they could to get him there and he's turned me into a supporter. I hope he sticks around for awhile because I believe he can do great things in the college game. College fits his coaching style perfectly. As I like to say, I'm proceeding with caution as to how good this team can be, but with Harbaugh aboard, I know they won't quit, they'll always fight to the last whistle.

There you have all of my best of 2015 countdowns. See you all next year when I get back to my regular writing schedule. Happy New Year everyone.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is looking forward to the good karma coming Michigan's way after their one disasterous play of 2015. Follow Ty 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.