The end of the regular season is here. Teams and players are looking to finish strong. However, it won’t happen for everyone and some will finish wrong and it will wind up costing jobs.
The Bucs will finish .500
Bruce Arians has done a remarkable job in his first season in Tampa Bay. It will be quite the accomplishment to defeat the Atlanta Falcons in Week 17 and finish with an 8-8 record. Quietly, Arians is turning around a moribund franchise.
There will be many jobs open next week
Interim coaches Perry Fewell and Bill Callahan will be out and that will only be the start of the coaching carousel. Jacksonville should be looking for a head coach and it wouldn’t be shocking if the Giants, are, too.
The Eagles will win the NFC East
It won’t be easy, more because of the injuries riddling Philly, but Doug Pederson & Co. will make it 14 straight seasons without a repeat winner in the NFC East. Carson Wentz will lead the Birds over the Giants and into the playoffs.
Nick Chubb will win the rushing title
Not a risky pick with the lead Nick Chubb has heading into the Browns’ final game. Worth praising the former Georgia star, who will become the first Dawg to lead the NFL in rushing since Terrell Davis in 1998 and first Brown since Leroy Kelly in the late ’60s.
Christian McCaffrey will go 1,000-1,000
Christian McCaffrey is the lone bright spot for the Panthers in 2019. The great running back needs 67 receiving yards to have four figures in each category for the first time. The Panthers are playing for nothing and this is something they should look to have McCaffrey accomplish.
Broncos will ruin Raiders
Oakland is the longest of shots to make the playoffs. The Raiders would have to beat Denver and many other teams would have to lose for it to happen. Won’t matter as Vic Fangio has Denver playing well and it will go into the postseason off a victory.
Seahawks will hold off Niners
Seattle is bruised and battered. However, it has Beast Mode and the 12th man going for it Sunday at home against San Francisco. Look for an exciting game with Russell Wilson once again finding a way for the Seahawks to win.
Browns will finish with 7 wins, again
Amazing what a difference a year can make. In 2018, Cleveland won seven games and it was being hailed as the team of the future. There was more buzz coming into 2019 about the Browns than any other team. Now, they need to down the Bengals in Week 17 to match last year’s win total. And no one is happy or content with these results.
Tennessee will make the playoffs
It won’t be easy since it is a road game at Houston, but the Titans will find a way to win and gain the postseason. All credit goes to Mike Vrabel for realizing he needed to switch from Marcus Mariota to Ryan Tannehill to get the Titans’ offense in gear. It will pay off with a playoff spot.
Bills will win 11 games
It has been a long time for Buffalo to reach the 11-win mark in a season. The last time the Bills won that many games was 1999. How long ago was it? Wade Phillips was the head coach and Doug Flutie started 15 games at quarterback. Yeah, that long. A victory at home over the Jets will make this an 11-win regular season for Sean McDermott.
Lions will lose ninth straight
Another lost season in Motown will conclude with a ninth straight loss. The Lions will fall to the Packers. Will Matt Patricia definitely return? Is the excuse of Matt Stafford being out for much of the season enough to give Patricia a third go-round? There’s a lot wrong in Detroit and if Patricia does return he has a huge job to fix this mess.
