#154 NFL 2018 Divisional Round Weekend Preview w/Hal Bent

Welcome back to Sports Krunch with DKrom ladies and gentlemen, I’m your host David Kromelow. Well wild card weekend wasn’t as really wild as I expected it to be with the exception of the Eagles/Bears game, but divisional round weekend has a better chance to live up to such a description. Do you believe so Hal Bent? What makes this arguably the most exciting weekend on the entire NFL calendar?

1. Wild Card Weekend Takeaways

-Bears fans should be giving Treyvon Hester FAR more credit than Cody Parkey hell

-Hal: Went 0-4 on his picks last week

2. Head Coaching Hire Grades

-Grading each team’s hire

Browns (Kitchens): C/inc.
Bucs (Arians): B
Packers (LaFleur): B+
Broncos (Fangio): B
Cardinals (Kingsbury): A-
Bengals (Taylor*): A [just for not hiring Hue Jackson]
Jets (Gase): C- 

3. Colts/Chiefs

-The Chiefs have to expect the Colts to pound the ball religiously in this game. Do you think the Chiefs can win without stopping the run?

-Who is more likely to have a good game?: Chiefs DL and edge rushers versus Colts OL or Colts back seven versus Chiefs weapons 

-Other game-deciding matchup

-Prediction

4. Cowboys/Rams

-Is this the worst possible divisional round matchup the Rams could ask for?

-Should the Rams give CJ Anderson a healthy amount of touches even with Gurley back? Two-back sets with them to help compensate for Cooper Kupp’s absence since both backs are great receivers?

-Can the Rams win without stopping the run?

-Game-deciding matchups

-Prediction

5. Chargers/Patriots

-How concerning is the potential disadvantage for the Patriots OL going against that Chargers front?

-Is there anybody in the league not named Derwin James capable of slowing down Gronk on a good day for Gronk?

-What advantages do the Chargers offense have against the Pats D and vice versa?

-Game-deciding matchup

-Prediction

6. Eagles/Saints

-The Eagles incredible run to this point began when Timmy Jernigan returned to the lineup. Just how important is he?

-Wouldn’t you say the Eagles should be given a better chance to win given the Saints inconsistencies in the secondary? 

-Is there a weakness for the Eagles DL to exploit against this rock solid Saints OL?

-Game-deciding matchups

-Prediction

7. Divisional Round Weekend Bold Predictions

-Me: Nick Foles throws for 350 yards, 3 TD’s and 65%+ of his passes….and still loses

-Hal: Andrew Luck throws for 400 yards and 4 TD’s and completes 75% of his passes…and still loses

8. Challenge Flags

-Me: Chargers….this may be your lest best chance to win a Super Bowl with Philip Rivers. PLAY LIKE IT! 

-Hal: Eagles….pull out all of the stops and prove me wrong. PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION AND GO DOWN SWINGING!!!!

Thank you Hal…and that’s it for today here on Sports Krunch, but we’ll be back next week to preview the Conference Championships…so stay tuned! I am also pleased to announce that Sports Krunch will be back on the ground in Mobile, Alabama for the second straight year covering the 2019 Reese’s Senior Bowl. Also, should things currently transpiring behind the scenes continue their course into these next few weeks, Sports Krunch will undergo a fascinating makeover…so stay tuned for a huge announcement if that happens. 

In the mean time, be sure to check out the episode archive as well as my blog at SportsKrunch.com!! And if you enjoy these podcast episodes please consider leaving us an iTunes review and donating to our Patreon at Patreon.com/SportsKrunch so we can improve our iTunes ranking and afford to produce even more shows with awesome guests like Hal.



For Hal Bent our producer Chris Brodhead, this is David Kromelow saying so long…and as usual, stay awe