I always view this time of year with mixed feelings.  On the one hand, there will never be a time where you will find more football being televised.  The playoff hunt is culminating in the NFL, and college football bowls, including the new playoff system, are being played this week.  However, it also means the football season is soon ending, and the long, painful withdrawal of football off season begins.  It's made worse knowing your team won't make the playoffs...again...in addition to the board being down last weekend.  I do apologize for not getting the post up last Wednesday, but as it turns out, the board was down, so not everyone would have gotten to post in it anyway.

 

It seems two coaches in the division-Gus Bradley and the Texans' Bill O' Brien-will survive the annual coaching purge.  Who will replace Pagano and Mularkey in Indy and Tennessee?  Early speculation has Indy possibly inquiring about Sean Payton, while Tennessee has been linked to the just fired former Eagles' coach Chip Kelly.   There are a few things about the supposed interest in Payton by Indy.  First, Payton recently said he intends to remain in New Orleans. Such proclamations typically are worthless.  Plenty of coaches have declared they weren't going anywhere, only to go elsewhere.  SOMETHING had to cause the Saints to announce earlier in the year they would allow Payton to explore opportunities elsewhere. http://www.thescore.com/news/866481 Secondly, since Payton is still technically under contract with the Saints, unless the Saints fired him (doubtful), the Colts would have to trade for him.  I would think the compensation would be heavy, with the standard being set by Oakland trading Gruden to Tampa Bay.  However, Luck is a gifted, still young QB who could be very productive under Payton.  It may come down to what Payton and Irsay think of Grigson.  I think Grigson is awful as a GM and I don't want him leaving Indy.  The Idea of Indy having a depleted amount of draft picks with Grigson running the drafts and free agency largely offsets the advantage of having a Luck and Payton combo.  But perhaps Payton knows he would be hamstrung by that and would try to dissuade the Colts from pursuing him without first getting a guarantee of control over personnel, or minimally firing Grigson.  Personally, I'd rather the Colts have a substandard coach and GM, rather than worry about what Payton could do with Luck.  As for the tacks' interest in Kelly, it is a natural fit because Kelly coached Mariota in college, and the tacks naturally want to put Mariota in the best position possible to succeed.  Mariota is the ideal fit for Kelly's offense.  However, if Kelly still wants personnel power, it might be a push as to whether that would be a good thing or not.  The tacks have a weak roster at the moment, which is why they have had back to back bad seasons.  However, Kelly was fired from Philly in part due to disastrous personnel decisions he made.  Similarly, I'd rather the tacks have a bad coach and GM combo.  Though Mariota has a lot of promise, I don't want him to succeed there.  Edit:  Per PFT, Kelly indicates he doesn't need control of personnel and will stay in the NFL.  That lets me think he is headed to tackland.  http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/201...l-control/

 

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Bradley was retained, though it isn't a total shock he was retained.  Though if the Jaguars lose Sunday, Bradley will have an 11-37 record after three seasons, the offense showed tremendous improvement from last year to this year, and Khan wants to maintain offensive continuity.  But Khan has also indicated Gus is on the hot seat going into 2016, saying "It’s also evident the considerable work that remains to be done to be where we expect to be at this time next season, which is well above where we stand today.  And Gus understands that." (Emphasis added)

 

I won't even bother going into who I would have picked last week.

 

On to this week's picks:

 

Jacksonville (5-10)
at Houston (8-7)
-Houston is on the verge of clinching the division.  If they win, they clinch the division and make the playoffs.  If they lose, they still win the division if they tie with Indy if all of 8 other things don't happen.  Jacksonville is banged up going into this game.  While Bortles has had a fantastic year and looks like a rising star in the league, I think Houston wins this 23-17.

 

Tennessee (3-12)
at Indy (7-8)
Both teams limping to the finish line.  Tennessee and Indy are both down to backup QBs.  In Indy's case, they are down to their 4th QB, Stephen Morris, recently signed...and formerly of the Jaguars practice squad.  Tennessee, meanwhile, has the first overall pick at stake.  Indy wins 14-10.

 

Last week:  woulda coulda shoulda

Overall:  27-20 (also woulda coulda shoulda)

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