Sligo Rovers and Everton announced a “Strategic Partnership” between the two sides yesterday. The new agreement will see the two clubs partner on several initiatives. There will be information sharing between academy coaches and pre-season training link-ups. According to the formal statement“The clubs will exchange knowledge across both coaching and business operations.”
The best known link between the Merseyside club and the Bit O’Red was the 2009 signing of the then 20-year-old Seamus Coleman. The Killybegs native has went on to make over 300 first team appearances for the Premier League side. He has also captained both club and country during this time.
However, it is far from the first link between the two side. In 1939 Everton’s record goalscorer William Ralph “Dixie” Dean signed for Sligo Rovers. In his brief cameo at the club he scored ten goals in seven games. His five goals in a 7-1 win over Waterford is a club record that still remains to this day. He also picked up an FAI cup runners-up medal. Rovers losing out to Shelbourne 1-0 after a replay in that years cup final.
This formal partnership between Everton and a League of Ireland club is not a first by any means. In 1995 Home Farm agreed a deal wereby they were sponsored by the Merseyside giants. In return Home Farm Everton, as they were know for four seasons, gave Everton first refusal on their academy players. Future Irish international Richard Dunne was signed by the club as a result of this deal.
This partnership may pave the way for similar tie-ups between League of Ireland clubs and top flight English teams. New employment regulations resulting from Brexit preclude English sides from signing u-18 players. Ireland may act as a base for Premier league sides to train young talent. One would hope this would have a beneficial effect on opportunities for young Irish players and in the long run the national side.
The Football Association of Ireland has confirmed that Alan Kelly is leaving his goalkeeping coach role with the Republic of Ireland team.
Manager Stephen Kenny has accepted Kelly’ to step away from his role due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“Alan called to inform me of his decision and I have accepted it,” Stephen said. “I want to thank him for his time as goalkeeper coach with me and for his overall contribution to Irish football.”
Reflecting on his decision, Alan said: “With COVID-19 still viciously circulating in our communities, it is with a heavy heart that I have decided the time is right to step down from my role with the Republic of Ireland senior international team and pass on a fantastic group of goalkeepers to a new goalkeeping coach for the upcoming World Cup qualifying campaign.
“It has been an absolute honour and a privilege to represent the Republic of Ireland as a player and coach for the last 28 years. A special thank you goes out to all the Irish International goalkeepers I have played alongside and had the good fortune to coach.
“I would like to thank the FAI and wish Stephen, the staff and all the players the very best of luck in the World Cup qualifiers beginning in March and for the future.”
Twenty five horses have been entered for the €75,000 Dan & Joan Moore Memorial Handicap Chase at Fairyhouse on Saturday.
The Michael Winters-trained Chatham Street Lad, winner of the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Cheltenham a month ago, heads the entries. The Emmet Mullins’ Unibet Greatwood Handicap Hurdle winner The Shunter is also aiming for the race.
Joseph O’Brien has Front View, successful in a beginners’ chase at Fairyhouse last month, among the current field. The Jessica Harrington-trained Impact Factor is also among the entries and will be bidding for a third Fairyhouse win.
Gordon Elliott has six horses still in the race, including Chosen Mate, winner of the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. Willie Mullins has both Fan Des Blues and Pont Aven.
Quilixios among 17 entries in Hurdle
Saturday’s card will also feature the ITM Virtual Stallion Trail Hurdle for which Gordon Elliott has entered Quilixios. He was an impressive winner at both Punchestown and Down Royal and heads a list of 17 entries.
Peter Roe, General Manager of Fairyhouse Racecourse, said:
“We are delighted to have another very exciting Dan & Joan Moore Memorial Handicap Chase on a great day’s racing at Fairyhouse on Saturday. Impact Factor was an impressive course and distance winner in the Easyfix Handicap Chase in November. Chatham Street Lad will be bidding to follow up on his Cheltenham win for the popular Cork trainer Mick Winters.”
Their win against Burnley tonight leaves them three points ahead of Liverpool.
Manchester United were one of the most feared teams in Europe for decades – predominately during the 1990’s and 2000’s. Over the past 10 years or so, though, they’ve been on a steady decline.
That said, this season they’ve managed to prove many doubters wrong – despite a shaky start to the campaign.
Statistically, they’re in the best spell of form out of all the teams in the Premier League. They’d won 4 of their previous 5 league games which left them level on points with title rivals Liverpool going into tonight’s fixture.
Manchester United travelled to Turf Moor with their sights firmly set on the top of the league.
As mentioned previously, the top two were on equal points prior to the game. Now, United have climbed their title rivals to claim 1st position after a 1-0 win against Burnley.
Paul Pogba scored the matchwinner in the 71st minute with a well struck volley which was deflected into the net.
The goal came after a variety of controversial incidents in the first half. Harry Maguire had a goal disallowed in the 35th minute for a push on an opposition defender.
Minutes before that there were a series of controversial incidents during a sequence of play. Robbie Brady had initially been yellow carded for a potentially goal-stopping challenge on Edinson Cavani but that was overturned after VAR reviewed a late Luke Shaw challenge in the build-up which led to a yellow card for the United man.
CLASH OF THE GIANTS
United and Liverpool are due to face each other on Sunday in what could be a potential title deciding clash.
Nothing but a win will do for Liverpool if they wish to reclaim their position as league leaders. They currently have a higher goal difference than United meaning any margin of victory would be good enough to go top.
Manchester United have not won against Liverpool in the last four matches between the two clubs. Liverpool have a long list of injury problems, though, particularly at the back. United will be looking to capitalize on their defensive woes en route to a match winning performance.
The FA Cup, since it’s inception really, has been subject to the odd cup upset. There have been plenty of famous FA Cup incidents over the years, including; Wrexham’s victory over Arsenal in 1992, Histon’s win against Leeds in 2008 and Tottenham Hotspur – who were non-league at the time – lifting the cup in 1901.
Last Friday marked the beginning of the FA Cup 3rd round, otherwise known as the stage where clubs from the top 2 division in English football enter the competition.
There were plenty of “David vs. Goliath” encounters in the 3rd round. The most notable of the bunch featuring 2019 Champions League finalists Tottenham Hotspur against 8th tier outfit Histon.
Here are the biggest shocks of the 2020/2021 FA Cup 3rd round.
64 places separated the two teams going into the match. That fact clearly didn’t phase Crawley as they came out with a highly impressive 3-0 win.
Nick Tsaroulla opened the scoring in the 50th minute with an incredible solo goal. He ran with the ball from well outside the box, swivelling past several defenders in the process before blasting into the bottom corner.
Ashley Nadeson doubled their lead just minutes later with a well-executed finish past the near post. Kiko Casilla could perhaps be criticized for his ‘keeping leading to the goal but take nothing away from Nadeson.
Crawley added insult to injury with a 3rd and final goal in the 70th minute. Jordan Tunnicliffe was the scorer this time around.
Crawley are now through to the 4th round for the first time since 2012. They’ll travel to Championship side Bournemouth in the next round of fixtures.
National League North side Chorley were the 2nd lowest ranked team – behind Marine – in the FA Cup 3rd round. They took on Championship side Derby County with hopes of progressing to the 4th round.
Their chances were amplified as Derby were forced to field a youth side due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the senior squad. Chorley took the chance presented to them and defeated the young Derby side by 2-0.
The first goal didn’t take long to come, Connor Hall hit the net in the 10th minute after a scramble in the box. Hall has now scored in his last 3 FA Cup matches.
Mike Calveley secured victory for Chorley in the 84th minute with a close-range shot.
Chorley have been drawn at home against Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers for the next round.
BLACKPOOL 2-2 WEST BROM (3-2 TO BLACKPOOL ON PENALTIES)
Blackpool are having an unremarkable but solid season in League One, sitting 13th in the table. West Brom, on the other hand, have been struggling since transitioning from the Championship to the Premier League.
Sam Allardyce was yet to win a game as West Brom manager before the match against Blackpool and that stat would remain unchanged at the full-time whistle.
Blackpool managed a victory on penalties after a hard-fought 120 minutes of football.
Jerry Yates opened the scoring for Blackpool in the 40th minute as he finished off an inviting pass from Bez Lubula. In truth, Blackpool were good value for their lead having been the better team up until that stage.
Semi Ajayi, as he has done previously in the season, equalized for West Brom with a towering header in the 52nd minute.
Gary Madine struck cleanly from outside the box in the 66th minute to regain Blackpool’s lead. The goal came after a fluid counter-attack from Blackpool.
West Brom were given a golden opportunity to equalize in the 80th minute after a Blackpool player was adjudged to have handled inside the box. Matheus Pereira stepped up to the spot and made no mistake as he made it 2-2.
Full-time ended 2-2 and no further goals followed in extra time. 120 minutes finished with the teams on level terms meaning a penalty shootout was needed to decide a winner.
PENALTY SHOOT-OUT
Blackpool missed their first penalty but went on to score their next 3, meanwhile West Brom had 2 of their 4 penalties saved by Chris Maxwell in the Blackpool goal.
Sullay Kaikai stepped up to take Blakcpool’s 5th penalty knowing if he scored, they would go through to the next round. Cruelly, though, he missed as he hammered his penalty off the post.
West Brom had to score their next penalty otherwise they would be knocked out of the competition. Matheus Pereira stepped up to take another penalty but this time he would be denied by shootout hero Chris Maxwell. His save meant Blackpool progressed to the FA Cup 4th round.
They have been drawn away to Brighton & Hove Albion for the next round of the competition.
MAXWELL DENIES PEREIRA! THE SEASIDERS ARE THROUGH!!!
European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) announced that the Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup back to back fixtures scheduled to take place over the next two weekend will not now take place as planned. Over the last week there had been rumours of disquiet among both French clubs and the French government. Particularly in relation to their clubs both traveling and hosting clubs from the UK.
The plight of Bayonne in particular was highlighted last week. The club had reportedly withdrawn from their remaining two pool games against Leicester and Zebre. This came after positive COVID test within their squad after their most recent challenge cup game led to the squad being placed into self-isolation.
The EPCR, Ligue Nationale de Rugby, representatives of the French ministries of the Interior, Health and Sport, as well as of the President’s office took part in a meeting by audio conference last week. This highlighted concern around the testing procedures and Governmental concerns around the risk of transmission of the English strain of COVID in particular.
The full EPCR statement available here would indicate that this is only a temporary suspension of games. It remains to be seen if the tournament will resume unaltered or if the format will be tweaked to condense it in order to play the finals in Marseilles as scheduled on the weekend of 21/22 May.
What happens now?
The cancellation of these back to back fixtures frees up the next two weekends. This may allow the Guinness Pro14 to schedule some previously postponed games. We will bring you news of any rearranged fixtures as soon as a decision on this is made.
There is huge uncertainty around the current rugby fixture schedule. Both club and international fixtures look set to be either cancelled or rearranged due to increased COVID rates during the last month all over Europe, as well as in South Africa.
Speaking after Munster’s narrow win over Connacht on Saturday night head coach Johann Van Graan said: “We appreciate that the EPCR are dealing with a worldwide pandemic. We are getting accustomed to having to adapt, so we will just adapt as best we can and take anything that comes our way.” Indeed van Graan went onto revel that Munster have tried to build adaptability into their mindset for this season and chose the mantra “Change or be changed” at the start of the crisis back in March. “We know that change is the only certainty at this stage. We are so lucky to be able to play rugby. When we drove in today we said hopefully as the four provinces at least we are giving people an out for their mental space.”
Connacht coach Andy Friend was similarly asked about the stresses of dealing with the current uncertainty around fixtures. He commented “It’s not just at Connacht, it’s at every other PRO14 and European team out there. So the quicker we can get clarity on what the next few weeks look like, I think it’s going to be better for everybody.” However, he was keen to add that he’s not in any was apportioning blame for the uncertainty. He added: “I’m not having a shot at anyone. It’s the reality of what we’re living in at the moment, it’s tricky times. We will all look back in a few years’ time and ask how the hell we got through it.”
Will other tournaments be affected?
At this point, given the understandable stance of the French government in particular, it’s hard to see the Six Nations proceeding as planned on 6th February. The proposed Rainbow Cup involving the four former Super Rugby side – the Blue Bulls, Stormers, Lions and Sharks as well as the current Pro12 sides is due to commence in April. Talks continue behind the scenes in relation to the fate of the Lions summer tour to South Africa. We will endeavour to keep you updated on any breaking news.
The new age of technology and social media has allowed data retrieval to become substantially simpler to acquire. Data-driven marketing has set the foundation for success in the business realm. This marketing technique gives you the ability to market yourself to reach and entice your key demographic. The data allows you to create a sense of community within your business and keeps customers attracted with more personalised campaigns. When conducting data-driven marketing, it is critical to recognise who your target audience is and what content to create to catch their attention. Below are four ways you can optimise your digital marketing operation and boost your profits.
Form Audience Segments
When creating a marketing plan, it is essential to identify what audience you’re trying to capture. Forming audience segments – based on common demographics – will aid in the process of dividing and categorising them appropriately. Every identified subgroup will grant you the ability to tailor your content according to their:
Age
Gender
Location
Common Interests
Consumption Habits
Behaviour
Engagement Level.
Instead of presenting a uniform, generic brand message to your customers, audience segmentation designs more personalised messages that have more reach. The goal of this approach is to clearly define and organise the needs of each subgroup. Doing so allows tailored email campaigns or messages to be created that best suit each subgroup. However, it is important to note that subgroups shouldn’t be too narrow or too specific. Narrow segmentation ends up wasting precious time and energy or reaches very few people. When done right, this strategy reaps its rewards in the form of maintaining your audience’s attention and loyalty. It refines your marketing approach to strategically give every subgroup what they are looking for.
Simplify Data Analysis
Retrieving analytical data has become easily accessible as the popularity of different media platforms has risen. Analyzing simple data is a useful resource when forming a marketing plan. It allows you to examine the strengths, weaknesses, progresses, or regressions of your business. Compiling data from multiple different platforms can easily become confusing, so using a web analytics tool can help consolidate all of the data into one simple analysis. When analyzing your data, it is important to keep a few questions in mind:
What are your objectives and goals?
From the given data, how can you improve customer relations?
How are your current marketing strategies faring in your business?
Are your competitors marketing their business more efficiently and effectively?
Can you change your marketing approach to render it more fruitful?
Are your resources being utilised efficiently?
Being cognisant of these questions will help improve the marketing techniques that are being used in your company. It puts into perspective the outcome of your past actions, the current market, and to predict the future market. It is essential to act on the data that is recovered and analysed from your simplified data analysis. Solutions and improvement techniques can be created or re-formatted according to the collected data. When new ideas are implemented to respond to your customer’s wants or needs, it gets reflected in your business’s success.
Personalise Content
Customers want to feel appreciated and welcomed by a business. Establishing a strong connection with your customer through personalised content will create a fruitful relationship for both parties. The customer will feel no desire to go window shopping for your competitor’s services, and you will have acquired a recurring customer. There are a few ways that you can easily personalise your content to build that bond between the customer and your business:
Attempt to address your customer by their name – this technique has been shown to increase open rates of emails by 14%!
Use insight-driven marketing to create personalised messages for your customers – taking advantage of data analysis’ insights can help direct what messages should be sent to different subgroups.
Try offering personalised offers – an increase in brand engagement is observed when customers receive unique offers.
With such an overly-saturated market, customers are looking to receive a unique and customised experience when visiting your business. Relevant and personalised content has become a critical marketing strategy in data-driven marketing. When delivering your services to customers across different platforms, it is key to perform this tactic to keep their loyalty and engagement.
Create Gripping Taglines
Capturing a potential customer’s attention is done over a matter of seconds. You have a limited amount of time or characters to draw them in. First impressions are arguably the most critical step in acquiring a customer. The taglines in your email or message have to pique their attention and make them interested in seeing your content for fear of missing out. A sense of exigency must be instilled while still delivering a personalised message. The tagline must remain relevant to them. Any applicable information should be mentioned in the tagline to make them want to click on the email and respond to it. Mentioning the personal interests of the customer makes a huge difference in gripping their attention. The more personalised, the better!
These key strategies are the baseline of data-driven marketing. When implemented correctly, they can skyrocket your customer activity and create meaningful relationships that result in higher revenue and traction for your business. The goal of a business is to provide the finest treatment and service to its valued customer. The multitude of different media platforms offers valuable information about your customers that should not be overlooked. Use this data to improve, accentuate, and adjust your business to service your customer to the best of your ability.
Reality star Mark Wright also made his debut for the League Two side in the match.
Crawley Town took on Leeds United today in a much-publicised FA Cup 3rd round fixture. The pre-match attention was focused on whether Crawley could produce a “giant-killing” performance, but rather the potential debut of reality TV star, Mark Wright.
64 places separate Leeds and Crawley in the English football pyramid leaving many sceptical about the League Two sides’ chances.
Additionally, Leeds put out a strong starting team featuring a number of first team regulars. Viewers could be forgiven for expecting a Leeds walkover.
The FA Cup, though, has a reputation for providing cup upsets throughout its history. Leeds, in particular, have been on the wrong end of cup upsets several times in the past.
Today, they suffered one of the most high-profile shocks in recent FA Cup history.
Not only did Crawley win, but they did so comfortably. They managed a 3-0 victory against Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
As mentioned previously, much of the pre-match attention was on the potential debut of Mark Wright, given most thought it would be a straightforward Leeds victory.
That all changed when Crawley opened the scoring in the 50th minute leaving viewers to ponder whether a shock was on the cards. Nick Tsaroulla was the goalscorer and what a strike it was. He swivelled past a number of Leeds United players as he moved into the box before unleashing a well struck shot into the bottom corner.
Crawley could have sat back thereafter and hoped for a result but that was not the case. In fact, they got their second just minutes after. Ashley Nadeson was played through and he found himself in the box but at a tight angle, that didn’t phase him though and he struck a low shot into the near corner. Leeds’ goalkeeper Kiko Casilla should have done better at his near post but take nothing away from Ashley Nadeson, he worked hard and was rewarded for it with a goal.
They all but secured victory in the 70th minute as they got their 3rd goal of the night. This time Jordan Tunnicliffe smashed into the back of the net after a scramble in the box caused by an indirect free kick.
Reality star Mark Wright was brought on in the 90th minute for his Crawley Town debut after victory was almost certainly secured.
Wright signed for Crawley on a non-contract basis last month as part of an upcoming TV mini-series titled ‘Mark Wright: The Last Chance’.
His introduction today seen him make his professional debut at the age of 33. He previously played at a semi-professional level before settling for a career in television.
The score ended 3-0 to Crawley with the players and staff deserving enormous credit for the performance and result.
Crawley are now through to the FA Cup 4th round for the first time since 2012.
A crisp clear day in Galway gave way to a light drizzle across the city as darkness fell. Whatever breeze there was favoured Munster for the first half. Both squads showed an impressiveintensity in their pre-game warm-ups and this turned into pure ferocity as the game commenced.
Both sides showed impressive line-speed in defence, at times Munster were up suspiciously quickly. Munster’s work on the floor led to pressure relieving turn overs at crucial times. Tadhg Beirne was to the fore in this department. His man of the match award was more in recognition of the work he did over the ball rather than on it. However, the second row wasn’t alone in his work on the floor. Gavin Coombes won some crucial turnovers. CJ Stander won more again as Munster’s groundhog’s never let Connacht get clean quick ball.
Early action
A couple of strong early carries from Sam Arnold led to a Connacht penalty. The resulting line out was overthrown, but then snaffled up by Jack Carty and another penalty followed just to the left of the post less than thirty out. However, Carty pulled his kick and Connacht failed to take the three points on offer.
Munster won an early penalty in the scrum, Finlay Bealham adjudged to be the guilty party. Shortly after on ten minutes Shane Delahunt was sin-binned for collapsing the maul. JJ Hanrahan converted the resulting penalty. Munster turned the screw while a man up and from the line out they drove their maul forward. The ball was recycled twice before Chris Farrell ran in the try on 18mins. Hanrahan added the extras. By the time Shane Delahunt retuned Connacht had shipped ten points.
Chris Farrell dives over for the games opening try. Photo credit: Shane Tighe
Connacht enjoyed some good territory during the next phase of the game. However, they were unable convert this into points. A knock-on at a crucial stage while deep in the Munster 22’ was the closest they came to the line in the first half. Just before the break Jack Carty made amends for his earlier miss from a similar position by stroking the penalty over.
Half-time: Connacht 3 Munster 10
JJ Hanrahan restored Munster’s ten point lead two minutes into the second half. Sweetly striking over a breakdown penalty. Connacht won a scrum penalty and threatened the Munster 22’ once more in the next phase of play. However, the outcome was similar to their first half efforts.Gavin Coombes this time winning a crucial turnover.
Hanrahan kept the scoreboard ticking over with another 3 points for the visitors on 63mins. This came when Connacht were penalised for not rolling away.
Connacht preserverd and pressed for a try as the clock ticked into the final ten minutes. They turned down a kickable penalty in favour of chasing seven points. However, Munster drove them back out of the 22’ in an impressive show of defensive strength.
At 3-16 behind entering the final three minutes it looked as if all Connacht’s efforts were in vain. Then Rory Scannell received a yellow on 78mins, shortly after coming on. Connacht made their numbers count with a try in the corner from Peter Sullivan in the next phase of play. When Carty converted superbly from the touchline Connacht were back within losing bonus territory.
Shortly after Munster were down to 13 men. Nick McCarthy joined Scannell in the bin as the clock entered the red. This time it was for cynically killing the ball as Connacht pressed for a winner. Connacht opted for the scrum and pressed for a winning try. However, Munster came up with another crucial turnover when it mattered most.
Full-time: Connacht 10 Munster 16
Pro14 standings
Munster stretch their lead at the top of Conference B to eleven points. Now with eight wins out of nine they lead the way on 37 points. Connacht (on 26 points) by dint of their losing bonus move two ahead of third place Scarlets (24) who lost 29-20 away to Cardiff (22, who close to within two of their Welsh rivals. The Blues have, however, played a game more than Scarlets and two more than Connacht.
Teams
Connacht: 15. John Porch, 14. Ben O’Donnell, 13. Sammy Arnold, 12. Tom Daly, 11. Alex Wootton, 10. Jack Carty, 9. Caolin Blade, 1. Denis Buckley, 2. Shane Delahunt, 3. Finlay Bealham, 4. Ultan Dillane, 5. Quinn Roux, 6. Sean O’Brien, 7. Conor Oliver, 8. Sean Masterson. Replacements: Dave Heffernan – temporary sub for Masterson 15mins, Matthew Burke, Dominic Robertson-McCoy – for Bealham 51′, Gavin Thornbury for Masterson 56′, Paul Boyle – for O’Brien (HIA) 42′, Kieran Marmion – for Blade 55′, Diarmuid Kilgallen, Peter Sullivan – for O’Donnell (HIA) 48′.
Munster: 15. Mike Haley, 14. Keith Earls, 13. Chris Farrell, 12. Damien de Allende, 11. Shane Daly, 10. JJ Hanrahan, 9. Conor Murray, 1. James Cronin, 2. Kevin O’Byrne, 3. Stephen Archer, 4. Jean Kleyn, 5. Tadhg Beirne, 6. Gavin Coombes, 7. Peter O’Mahony, 8. CJ Stander. Replacements: Niall Scannell for O’Byrne 53′, Josh Wycherley – for Cronin 59′, Keynan Knox – forArcher 53′, Fineen Wycherley – for Kleyn 15′ (HIA), Billy Holland – for Coombes 65′, Nick McCarthy for Murray 73′, Ben Healy for Hanrahan 63′, Rory Scannell – for Shane Daly 70′.
Somehow, through all the madness, we’ve made it to 2021. It seems like forever ago since mass gatherings and pints in the pub with the lads was a guilt-free experience.
When covering your face in public was more likely to get you pulled over by your local law enforcement than it was an act of decency. And when Netflix and Chill was a euphemism rather than a government recommendation. But as much as we’d love to believe we are completely done with all the turmoil and mayhem the 2020 brought us, there is one massive issue that needs to be resolved. The 2020 NFL Season. Well, yeah, I suppose there’s still Coronavirus too, but as a Dolphins fan the NFL has been killing my hopes and dreams regularly for over 30 years so I’ll start with that. As anyone who has followed my babble since the preseason will be aware of, I’m not one to play it safe with my predictions and I don’t shy away from taking shots at whoever I think deserves it. So, sit back while my opinion on what we can expect to see from this season’s playoff football no doubt earns me yet more backlash but hopefully from a safe distance! Lets start with a quick look at who is in and who are conspicuous by their absence:
The AFC side is less dominated by who is in (don’t worry, we’ll chat about the Brows later) and more by the familiar name that is missing. Yes, The New York Jets. Just checking you’re still paying attention, of course I’m referring to the New England Patriots. Whether you love them (I suggest seeking psychological help) or hate them, there is no denying January football is always more fun when Hoodie and his evil empire are in the mix. But the lack of talent, which has been evident since last season, has finally caught up to them and they were well off the pace this season. Their torch of dominance has well and truly been passed to Cheeseburger Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs. They have continued to look borderline unstoppable at times and any money put down on them not being there in February is a brave call. The line of teams ready to take a swing at them are the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens and even the Cleveland Browns are in there too. To be honest, all of these teams come to the table armed with legit ways to win it out and none can be counted out in any game. Whether it’s the ground and pound run games of the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans that suits playoff football so well. Or the suffocating defences in Baltimore, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. You know the saying, defences win Championships. Or the sheer QB mastery that Pat Mahomes and Josh Allen have displayed this year. This AFC race could provide instant classic after instant classic.
I’m not sure the same can be said for the NFC side. In comparison to the very competitive AFC, it’s fair to say the NFC needs to drop some dead weight before that will really get going. Although who knows, it may provide a heart-warming underdog story for the ages. Top of the mountain stand the Green Bay Packers and pissed off Aaron Rodgers (although if you’ve watch him on the Pat McAfee Show every week, he doesn’t seem all that pissed off!). They’ve got themselves a bye again this year, although this one is an actual bye and not just having to go through the formality of beating the Cowboys.
That also means the road to the SuperBowl runs through Lambeau which really stacks things in their favour, even in a crowd less environment. Speaking of home field advantage, the Saints can make it to the NFC Championship game playing in their dome, which will be a big source of confidence for Drew Brees. Familiar foes Seattle and the Rams go head to head for the 3rd time this season in a game that could hinge around the availability of QB Jared Goff. The list is made up with the Chicago Bears and Washington Football Team. Both these teams should be thanking their lucky stars they made it this far because neither should really be anywhere near playoffs if we’re being honest. I swear, if Mitch Trubisky wins a SuperBowl, Dan Marino can take it that God either hates him or has the worst sense of humour ever! But as much as I’d love to fire shots left, right and centre at Washington, I just can’t help but be delighted for the 2 guys who are spearheading that effort, Alex Smith and Ron Rivera. Both guys are the epitome of class, and the World and its mother knows that organisation could do with a hell of a lot more of it. So, I hope they can give a good account of themselves, though I don’t expect the dream to live past their trip to Tampa Bay and good old Tom Brady. The Buccaneers simply have too much weaponry for them, whether Mike Evans is available or not.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN:
Obviously, the landscape of these playoffs can change drastically in a very short space of time. The seeding system means one wrong result can throw an entire bracket prediction off completely. It’s impossible to predict injuries and Coronavirus circumstances pooping up at any given time but I’ll have a bash at what could happen:
WILDCARD ROUND:
The Packers and Chiefs have Bye’s into the Divisional Round.
#7 Indianapolis Colts @ #2 Buffalo Bills
Great game to kick this off. The Bills have been on fire lately and they will take some stopping. They won’t have it easy against a very live underdog in the Indianapolis Colts, however. I can see this game being decided late, but I think the Bills will just edge it. The Colts squeezed into the playoffs courtesy of the Bills win over the Dolphins. Josh Allen giveth, Josh Allen taketh away!
#6 Cleveland Browns @ #3 Pittsburgh Steelers
A nice in division rivalry and one that would have been a great game to look forward to if the Browns weren’t dealing with a mini Covid crisis which has already cost them their Head Coach for the game. It’s tough to see them overcome that going up against a Steelers team who have been effective all season in dealing with cannon fodder. I feel sorry for the Dawg Pound who have been waiting so long for this opportunity only to see them not get a fair shake at it.
#5 Baltimore Ravens @ #4 Tennessee Titans
A repeat of a Divisional Round game last season when an upstart Titans upset the in-form Ravens. I can see a similar result too; I just believe the Titans match up well against the Ravens. While Derrick Henry is lining up in that backfield, I have them as favourites over a Ravens team who will need a plan B that we haven’t see from them yet on offense to win this one.
#7 Chicago Bears @ #3 New Orleans Saints
As I expressed earlier, I think the Bears are extremely lucky to have gotten this far. But when you have a fantastic defense and your run game gets progressively better as the season goes on, that can happen. Whether that defense will be good enough to keep them in it against Brees and the Saints is a whole other animal though. I’m going safe with this one.
#6 Los Angeles Rams @ #3 Seattle Seahawks
Another divisional rivalry game that may fall victim to circumstances. At the time of writing, it looks like Jared Goff is unlikely to play. I’m no huge believer in Goff, but they aren’t set up to beat the Seahawks without him to be honest.
#5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ #4 Washington Football Team
Washington’s chances in this game relies purely on their defensive line causing enough disruption to keep Tampa Bay from putting this to bed early. And make no mistake, said d line is good enough to do it too. All 4 are 1st round draft picks and they have another in veteran Ryan Kerrigan. But staying in the game is one thing, winning it is another. And it’s hard to see them having enough to cause a shock. I’m taking the Buccs.
DIVISIONAL ROUND: #4 Tennessee Titans @ #1 Kansas City Chiefs
Can anyone stop the Chiefs? The one weakness we have seen from them in the last 2 years has been stopping the run game. And in Tennessee, they will be facing the best team possible to take advantage of that. Not only can Derrick Henry take a game over by himself, but they are experts at setting up and executing play-action off it to keep defences off balance. It’s an ideal scenario to go against the Chiefs. The question is whether their own defense can hold up. That is a far bigger issue and came up short in the AFC Championship game last year. For some reason my gut is telling me to go with the Titans. I don’t know why. It’s a huge leap of faith, especially given that the Titans defense was better last year and still couldn’t get it done, but I’m going with it.
#3 Pittsburgh Steelers @ #2 Buffalo Bills
The 2 biggest question that need answering here are 1) Just how good are the Pittsburgh Steelers actually? And 2) Can the Buffalo Bills, and more specifically Josh Allen, keep this for going or will the wheels fall off the cart at some stage? The Steelers have been a lot better than I ever expected them to be. But at the same time, I find it hard to remember any point in the season where I felt like I was looking at a legit SuperBowl contender. I knew the Bills had the potential to be a contender, but I also can’t shake the feeling that the old raw version Josh Allen is still lurking in there ready to pop out any given game. To me, the answer to the 2nd question outweighs the answer to the 1st in this game, because if Allen and the Bills play as well as they have been, the Steelers won’t have an answer. That may be me underrating the Steelers again, but I’ll run that risk. I’m going Buffalo here.
#5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ #1 Green Bay Packers
It’s Tom Brady vs Aaron Rodgers again. The 2 teams met earlier in the year and the Buccaneers put the Packers to the sword. Are we looking at the same thing happening again? I’m not so sure. That game happened in a pleasant Florida afternoon in October. This is going to be on a more than likely snowy day in January in a freezing cold Lambeau Field. Advantage Green Bay. As long as Rodgers is healthy, my money is on the Packers.
#3 Seattle Seahawks @ #2 New Orleans Saints
The other game on the NFC side sees the Seattle Seahawks travel to the Louisiana Superdome to do battle with the New Orleans Saints. The Saints will be hoping to avoid another heart-breaking playoff loss in, what looks likely to be, Drew Brees’ last season. The Seahawks have been impressive at times during the season but haven’t really solidified themselves as a major player in the SuperBowl race. Their secondary is one of the worst in the league, despite adding Jamal Adams. And I believe it will be their undoing against a dangerous New Orleans offense. I have the Saints going through.
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME #4 Tennessee Titans @ #2 Buffalo Bills
I have the first SuperBowl participant being decided by the Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills going head to head. The Bills will need to slow down the power run and play action game of Tennessee. If Henry gets into an early rhythm, I’m not sure Allen and their pass reliant offense can keep pace in what will surely be difficult conditions. But this Bills defense are a tough bunch and won’t shy away from smash mouth football. I genuinely don’t know what way this would go, should it come down to it. It could possibly be whoever has the ball last. I’m going with Buffalo but with absolutely no conviction in that.
NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:
#2 New Orleans Saints @ #1 Green Bay Packers
The NFC comes down to the top 2 seeds in my predictions. Unfortunately, I don’t think this will be close. I think Brees will find it tough to move the ball in Lambeau. Maybe they can lean on Alvin Kamara to stay in the game, but all my senses say the Packers win this pretty comfortably. It would be horrible to see Brees go out on a bad loss after all he has given to the game. But the NFL is an unforgiving environment and all the Packers will be focused on is booking their place in the SuperBowl in Tampa Bay. And that’s exactly what I think they’ll do.
THE BIG ONE:
SUPERBOWL LV: AFC #2 Buffalo Bills VS NFC #1 Green Bay Packers
32 has been whittled down to 2. This game features the 2 favourites for the 2020 NFL MVP award as Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills represent the AFC against the NFC’s Green Bay Packers led by pissed off Aaron Rodgers. And as talented as both those guys, and offenses, are, I think the big advantage in this game is for Buffalo because they have a much more reliable defense. Can Green Bay possibly take that defense apart? Absolutely. But I’d be more inclined to think that Buffalo’s defense has a better chance of holding up against Green Bay’s offense than Green Bay’s defense has of keeping Buffalo’s offense in check. But as I have said earlier, I couldn’t confidently say Josh Allen doesn’t have a disaster day left in him this year either. This could either be a barn burner or a complete blow out. I’ll go with Buffalo again though, although should these 2 meet, it’s the kind of game that my prediction would probably change 1000 times before kick-off.
SUPERBOWL CHAMPIONS: BUFFALO BILLS
All I can be confident of, is between now and February 7th, there will be drama, controversy, tears, e
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