<p>For The Win's Steven Ruiz and Chris Korman take a deeper look at the week's NFL news. Relying on film study and advanced stats, they push to counter easy narratives and understand the intricacies that make football the country's favorite -- and most fascinating -- sport.</p>
Five questions:
Final predictions
Rundown!
The Super Bowl matchup is set ... but it's been overshadowed
The Brian Flores lawsuit
-- Of course the NFL had discriminated against Black coaches
-- Of course the league will move to settle and make this story go away
-- But will this ultimately change anything at all other than Brian Flores' future employment prospects?
Tom Brady has retired
-- He's bitter about *something* that went down in New England
-- How will his legacy change in the coming years?The Super Bowl
-- The Bengals are good AND lucky
-- The Rams were built for this but ... is Matthew Stafford OK?
-- Let us now praise Aaron Donald again and again and again
-- How worrisome is Mahomes' second-half meltdown?
Quick thoughts on new coaches
-- Josh McDaniels to the Raiders
-- Brian Daboll to the Giants
-- The Vikings appear to favor Jim Harbaugh
Rundown:
We're here: Championship Sunday
Bengals-Chiefs
-- Wow, Cincy's offense got good fast
-- The magic of Joe Burrow
-- Why they aren't using more blockers
-- The Chiefs don't have answers in their secondary
-- Nothing the Bengals do will matter if Mahomes plays like he did last weekend
49ers-Rams
-- Two really smart coaches enter the game with very different QBs
-- Jimmy G has been here before ... with mixed results
-- Matthew Stafford has not ... but this is why he was brought here
-- Man, these defensive lines are ferocious
Coaching moves
-- This Broncos hire makes sense if it helps with a certain QB
-- This Bears hire makes sense if he knows a really, really good OC
Rundown:
That was one of the best weekends of football we've ever gotten.
Chiefs-Bills
— Greatest game of all-time?
— Yeah, let's change the OT rules
— Is this who Josh Allen is now?
Rams-Bucs
— Guess that trade for Matthew Stafford paid off (so did the one for Von Miller)
— Is Tom Brady actually done?
49ers-Packers
— Bye for now, Throw Rogan. What's next for Aaron Rodgers?
— How the 49ers did it: By realizing what they do best
Bengals-Titans
— The Titans were frauds, but it didn't help that Henry wasn't all the way back
— The Bengals found a way despite not protecting Joe Burrow at all
Coaching carousel
— Sean Payton stepping down
— Other rumors
Rundown:
Wait, Mason Rudolph thinks he should be Steelers starter?
On to the real football: Divisional Round breakdown
-- Will the Titans be able to slow the Bengals' offense?
How efficient will Tennessee's offense be with Derrick Henry back?
-- How much success will the 49ers have running the ball and will Kyle Shanahan stick with it?
-- Can Matthew Stafford disable whatever magic Tom Brady uses to win everything all the time?
-- The Chiefs have no room for error against Josh Allen and the Bills
A few coaching carousel thoughts
Rundown:
The hypocrisy of NFL's MLK messaging
Was Wild Card Weekend truly bad?
Breaking down each game:
-- Wait, the Cowboys aren't going to fire Mike McCarthy after that?
-- So long, Big Ben. You won't be missed.
-- Are the Chiefs ALLLLL the way back?
-- Bill Belichick did not, in fact, have any answer for Josh Allen
-- Hey, good for you, Bengals.
-- The Bucs did what we expected them to do to the Eagles
-- Why does Kliff Kingsbury get so much worse as the season goes on?
-- The Rams are good enough to go far ... as long as Mathew Stafford can stay steady
Rundown:
It's playoff time!
Let's make some predictable predictions
-- How will Bill Belichick try to contain Josh Allen?
-- What's the key factor in Rams-Cardinals this time around?
-- Tom Brady is about to ruin everything, isn't he?
A look at the NFL coaching vacancies and who should fill them
-- The Dolphins' baffling decision
-- The Giants got it right, but the process is off
-- Where do Vikings, Broncos, Raiders go from here?
-- The Bears and Jags have what every coach should most want
-- Give Jim Caldwell another shot, somebody
MOCK DRAFT
-- Let's take some wild guesses
-- Four edge rushers lead a class without any standouts
-- Figuring out which QBs will get most overhyped
-- Players likely to deliver strong value later in the round
Run down:
What we got wrong back in September ...
-- The Bengals aren't awful (but still need to make some changes)
-- The Eagles didn't tank (and maybe didn't need to after all)
-- Urban Meyer flamed out as a human but ALSO couldn't coach at all
-- The Texans didn't lose every game by 30
Week 18 picks against the spread
-- The Chargers are in position to beat the Raiders for a playoff spot
-- No, the Jaguars won't pull off the unthinkable
-- How the 49ers' messy QB situation impacts the game against the Rams
-- Will the Saints jump into a spot if San Fran falters?
Rundown:
Four Verts!
-- Tua is in limbo
-- How De'Vondre Campbell got so much better (and will get paid)
-- What's next for Jimmy G? (And why Trey Lance has earned his shot)
-- The Falcons' plan may force them to trade away talent, again
Let's talk about CTE and TBI and the way football damages players
-- What we can learn from Casey FitzSimmons' story. Former Lions TE told us about his last concussion and the struggle of former players to find help.
-- Why it's OK to talk about Antonio Brown and how football may have impacted his decision-making and impulse control
That awful college football take from Kirk Herbstreit-- No, today's college athlete doesn't care less than previous generations
Rundown:
We did it: Urban Meyer is gone
-- What's next for the Jaguars?
FOUR VERTS
-- The Falcons are bad
-- The Cardinals are probably still good, but should be embarrassed
-- The Colts are very legit (but what if they need Wentz to win them a game?)
-- John Harbaugh made the right call and John Harbaugh is a good coach
Closing thoughts: There are a lot of strange Bowl sponsors. Chuck reads some of them.
Rundown:
Week 14 gave us so many good games and storylines...but now Covid is looming -- again
FOUR VERTS
Let's look at the four teams already eliminated and what they need to do next
-- Jags: Find a better coach, support the franchise QB
-- Lions: Good culture in place, keep building roster talent
-- Jets: It's probably too early to give up on the Saleh or Wilson, have faith
-- Texans: ??????????????????
Games of the week and what we learned
Rams-Cardinals: Aaron Donald remains great and the Rams are back
Bucs-Bills: Sloppy play on both sides at times, but still two top teams
49ers-Bengals: Yes, San Francisco keeps figuring it out
Cowboys-WFT: Why is Dallas' offensive not working?
Browns-Ravens: Welp, everyone is hurt for Baltimore
The big question-- If you could build your franchise around one QB, who would it be?