Reid Kerr

Only three games left in the season, and to be honest, this is the time of year I get bored. Not with the games, but after obsessively following the game since August, I just get a bit tired of the hype. There’s no sneaky angles to follow here, we’ve just got the best games ahead of us, so I don’t have to work as hard to try and figure out at what point the Colts are going to implode or the Giants will cut their starting quarterback.

So for now, let’s get caught up on things we know, things we suspect to be true, and things I admit I don’t have a clue about.

— The Cowboys had a chance, with the right hire, to make that NFC East Division absolutely must-see TV for the next couple of seasons. I just don’t see that happening now. Jerry Jones’ lifetime J-Jonah-Jameson-like commitment to being cheap with his staff really handicaps this team.

— The Texans are still on the right path, but man, do they need a better offensive line. C.J. Stroud has been sacked more than a hundred times in his first two years. Anywhere else, that kind of workplace neglect would result in a very justified HR complaint.

— Saints fans, hang in there. There’s always Mardi Gras.

— The whole situation with the Jaguars keeping their General Manager, then finally realizing it was scaring away quality candidates, then firing him to attract the guy who had already turned them down who just got a new contract with his team, only to find out that guy never signed his extension so he could still leave for Jacksonville … that’s the craziest thing I’ve seen in many years. It would make a good Netflix documentary, but since it’s the Jaguars, nobody really even noticed.

— The Rams have been fun to watch for a while now, but I think that might have been it for them for a couple of years.

— Every time that NFL fans want to talk about bad officiating, Roger Goodell distracts by talking about adding another game to the schedule and playing more internationally. Which is an excellent way of covering up a pile of refuse.

— Speaking of, the NFL should realize no one cares about overseas games except the people in those countries. For the rest of us, that’s just another early morning game we’re going to be sneaking looks at during church.

— I think Aaron Glenn is a great hire for the Jets. That doesn’t mean I think the Jets will immediately turn around, though. Dumpster fires need to be fully extinguished before you can start using them again.

— I feel like Kirk Cousins is going to get paid a lot of money this season to go away, and eventually wind up being pretty darn good talking about football on TV somewhere.

— This season was a renaissance for running backs, but that’s the exception and not the norm.

— This is a very close MVP race, but only because the voting is done before the playoffs.

— There simply isn’t a better fanbase in pro sports than the Bills Mafia. Among their other charity efforts for other teams’ players, they have now donated more than $115,000 to Ravens tight end Mark Andrews’ charity for juvenile diabetes after he had a bad game against them, and Baltimore fans were sending him insults and death threats. Bills fans are good people, even if they do like to eat horribly and slam each other through tables.

— Ohio State was not the best college football team this season. But they were clearly the best team at the end of the season, and that’s what matters from here on out. I get the thrill of having a tournament, but I’ll miss the days when college football was the only sport where the regular season was absolutely vital.

Time for my Championship round picks. In the Divisional round I went 2-2, and 3-1 against Vegas. I’m 5-5 and 6-4 against the spread so far in the playoffs. In my defense, I always pick the Bills to lose in big games because I’m a lifelong Bills fan, and I’ve been trained to do that. Lesson learned there. Here’s my picks. As always, these are for the purposes of comedic discussion only. No wagering.

Washington (+6.5) at Philadelphia: This is a matchup of Dallas’ successful former Defensive Coordinator against their successful former Offensive Coordinator. The Cowboys weren’t any good at either of those two things this season. Just pointing that out for no real reason.

Pick: Eagles to win but not cover, winning by six or fewer points.

Buffalo (+1.5) at Kansas City: I can’t pick against Mahomes and Andy Reid, especially when only two quarterbacks have ever beaten them in the playoffs, and one of those guys will be in the broadcast booth for this game and not eligible to suit up at halftime.

Pick: Chiefs to win and cover, winning by two points or more.

I’ll also take the AFC winner to be favored in the Super Bowl, Dan Campbell for Coach of the Year, and Severance to be the new Lost. Good luck, everybody.