NFL fans watching the postseason is going to see many ProDucks trying to go to the Super Bowl.
The Oregon football program has always had players with the talent to play on Sunday and the 2023 NFL season isn’t any different.
Many of those players will be participating in this year’s NFL postseason, hoping to win a Super Bowl and the ring that comes with it. The Ducks will have alumni playing in most of the Wild Card games played this weekend and some Pro Ducks will have this week off awaiting for their chance the following round.
Jevon Holland of the Miami Dolphins probably had the ProDuck highlight of the year when he returned a Hail Mary pass 100 yards the other way for a touchdown.
Marcus Mariota received some playing time in the last game of the regular season for the Eagles and showed he still has some in the tank.
San Francisco doesn’t play until next week, but a pair of Pro Ducks, Arik Armstead and Deommodore Lenoir, anchors that defense. The 49ers are a favorite to win the NFC and advance to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas next month.
Here’s a look at all of the Oregon alums who are set to play in the playoffs this year.
Here’s how the #49ers can clinch a playoff spot this week:
The Rams’ win over the Browns in Week 13 took the 49ers’ ability to win the NFC West in Week 14 off the table. However, San Francisco can still punch its ticket to the postseason Sunday.
While this iteration of the 49ers has goals well beyond simply making the playoffs, including trying to track down the No. 1 seed, getting to the postseason is still a necessary box to check on the road to a Super Bowl.
Here are the three ways the 49ers can clinch a playoff spot in Week 14:
A loss to Miami ended the playoff hopes of Bill Belichick and the Patriots
It has been a brutal year in New England. Tom Brady left, players opted-out due to the pandemic, Cam Newton and Stephon Gilmore, among others, were hit with COVID-19.
And now, after a loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, Bill Belichick & Co. won’t be going to the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons.
The Patriots have been eliminated from playoff contention, breaking their 11-year streak. pic.twitter.com/XvwQM4aepI
The last time New England did not make the playoff was 2008 when they finished 11-5. That was good for second in the AFC East behind the Miami Dolphins but not good enough for a playoff berth.
Prior to that, New England gone to the postseason in five conecutive years.
The San Francisco 49ers’ Week 10 loss to the Saints did big damage to their NFL playoff chances.
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The 49ers’ already long-shot odds to return to the postseason for a second consecutive year took a significant hit with their 27-13 Week 10 loss to the Saints according to Football Outsiders.
Football Outsiders also lists a club’s chances to land any of the first through seventh seeds. San Francisco has a 0.0 percent chance of nabbing either of the top two seeds or the fourth seed. That No. 4 spot belongs to whatever team stumbles out of the NFC East.
Their chances for the No. 3 seed are only a tick higher at 0.5 percent. That’s the same number of their chances to earn a division championship. They’re 4-6 and the rest of the NFC West is 6-3. Somehow 0.5 percent seems high.
San Francisco’s best odds fall at the No. 7 seed where they have a 2.7 percent chance of landing. With a 4-6 record through 10 games, the 49ers have to go at least 5-1 down the stretch if they want to overcome the long odds.
Getting a road victory against the second-place Rams in Week 12 would go a long way toward helping the 49ers’ chances, but they have a steep hill to climb no matter how they slice their final six games.
How would the last 10 seasons have shaped up in the NFL playoffs under this new proposal?
Looking back as the NFL looks ahead to a new playoff format, the Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers would have made the playoffs and been in Wild-Card games in 2019.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported:
As part of the proposed new playoff format, only one team from each conference would receive a first-round bye as opposed to the two that currently do, league sources said. That would mean a revised postseason schedule that includes six games on wild-card weekend, with three on Saturday and three on Sunday.
Previewing the Tennessee Titans at Kansas City Chiefs AFC Championship Game, with NFL betting odds, picks, futures and best bets.
The Tennessee Titans (11-7) look for a third straight upset on the road when they travel to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Kansas City Chiefs (13-4) in Sunday’s AFC Championship. The Titans pulled off a surprising 28-12 victory over the Baltimore Ravens last week, which was the team’s fifth straight road win, a span in which they have outscored their opponents by 16 points per game.
Tennessee has been playing extremely well with QB Ryan Tannehill under center, going 9-3 in his 12 starts. He hasn’t been asked to do much with his arm in the playoffs, as the team has leaned very heavily on RB Derrick Henry, who topped 180 rushing yards in both games.
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These teams met in Nashville back in Week 10, and there were plenty of offensive fireworks in Tennessee’s 35-32 win. In that game, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes exploded for 446 yards and three touchdowns, while Henry ran all over the Kansas City defense, racking up 188 yards and two scores.
It will be tough to steal a win in Kansas City, but this game stands a strong chance of going down to the wire. The Titans are getting 7.5 points (-121) on the spread and +260 odds on the moneyline. Both represent solid value.
Establishing the run
(Photo Credit: Geoff Burke – USA TODAY Sports)
Henry led the NFL with 1,540 rushing yards in the regular season, and he has been virtually unstoppable lately. He is averaging 196 rushing yards over his past three games and has topped 100 yards in seven of his last eight, including 149 yards or more in six of those contests.
The Kansas City defense has been vulnerable against the run all season. They have surrendered the fourth-most yards per attempt on the ground, and seventh-most yards per game. The Titans offensive game plan looks pretty obvious, and Henry should have another huge day.
Which defense will step up?
(Photo Credit: Evan Habeeb – USA TODAY Sports)
The Titans aren’t built to play from behind, so they can’t afford to get down a couple scores. As long as the game is close, they should be able to continue feeding the ball to Henry, and he should run wild on the porous Chief run defense.
The Tennessee defense will need to do a better job of containing Mahomes, who went off for 446 yards and three scores in the Week 10 matchup.
This should be a high-scoring affair, as the Titans should move the ball at will on the ground, but they will have a hard time slowing down the Kansas City air attack. The Chiefs, winners of six straight, deserve to be slight favorites, but Tennessee has beat them once already, and has a good chance to hand them their fourth home loss of the season. Back the Titans in this one.
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