JAGS TO RICHES
‘Sacksonville’ will bury Bills
SOMETIMES when a team makes the playoffs in dramatic fashion — as the Bills did last week by winning in Miami and then watching in the locker room as the Bengals KO’d the Ravens on a miracle late touchdown — it’s just the beginning of a long, magical postseason ride.
Other times, when a team ends a long playoff drought — as Buffalo has after 17 empty seasons — they arrive at that first postseason game just happy to be there.
The task this week is to try to figure out which of those scenarios is most applicable to the Bills as they head to Jacksonville for Sunday’s game. It’s their first playoff game since Jan. 8, 2000, when t hey l ost, 22-16, to the Titans on the Music City Miracle — Kevin Dyson’s 75- yard kickoff return which featured a cross-field lateral (or forward) pass from Frank Wycheck. Bills fans have been complaining about that noncall ever since, mainly because they’ve had nothing with which to replace that memory.
The suspicion here is the latter, that they’re just happy to be here, judging from the explosion of emotion that occurred on Andy Dalton’s touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd in Baltimore. It was an up-and-down year for Sean McDermott, the rookie coach who almost torched the season when he benched starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor for Nathan Peterman — who threw five interceptions in the first half of a 54-24 Week 11 loss to the Chargers.
McDermott did get the Bills to the dance at 9-7. It was a weak year for the AFC, but even so, it’s more than his six predecessors were able to do.
One of those men is Doug Marrone, who bolted the Bills after his second season when they went 9-7 in 2014, seizing an out in his contract. New Jaguars chief Tom Coughlin took the interim tag off Marrone and quickly turned this team that had a nine-year playoff drought of its own into a force in the AFC South. They were 10-4 before losing their final two games after they had clinched the division with a 45-7 blasting of the Texans to end the postseason dry spell.
The Jaguars did it with suspect QB Blake Bortles playing above the back of his football card, fortified by dynamic rookie running back Leonard Fournette, and especially with a defense that ranked No. 2 in yardage, points allowed and sacks.
The injury to watch is LeSean McCoy. He leads the Bills in rushing yards (1,138) and receptions (59) and is a t remendous part of their offense. He wasn’t able to practice Wednesday or Thursday and is likely to be a game-time decision. If he’s out or even severely limited, it’ll be lights out for Buffalo against this “Sacksonville” D.
The picks: Jaguars -8¹/₂, Over 39¹/₂.
Jaguars, 30-13 CHIEFS (-8¹/₂) over Titans; Under 44¹/₂ (Saturday): Like the Bills, the Titans are in at 9-7, ending their postseason drought at eight seasons. They had a minus- 22 point differential unbefitting a play- off team. It’s a meat-grinder bunch that can bog down a game, but it’ll be tougher to control the ball without DeMarco Murray. K.C. won and covered four in a row to end the season.
Chiefs, 24-13
RAMS (- 6¹/₂) over Falcons; Under 48¹/₂ (Saturday): Both Wildcat and North Star are on the other side here, pointing to the Falcons’ edge in playoff experience and the Rams’ lack of a home-field advantage. Thought here is the home edge is actually pretty big, as the Falcons have to go cross country on a short week to play on grass. Just love what the Rams have done this year, and am all in, for this first week at least. Like the Under because both Todd Gurley and Devonta Freeman can churn clock.
Rams, 27-20 SAINTS (- 6 ¹/₂) over Pant hers; Over 48 (Sunday): Have to respect a Panthers team that beat both the Patriots and Vikings this season. Still, they were 0-2 against the Saints, losing 34-13 at home and 31-21 in the dome, and they didn’t face Saints star rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore in either game. Stud rookie RB Alvin Kamara will “hit ’em where they ain’t” against the Carolina defense.
Saints, 30-20 LOCK OF THE WEEK: Jaguars (Locks 6-10-1 in 2017). LAST WEEK: 8-8 overall, 1-2 Best Bets.