Happy opening week of 2021, friends! Hope you were able to enjoy some time off and ring in the new year safely and happily. I sat on the couch, watched hockey, ate Chinese food and drank champagne, which is about as strong as you could ever hope to transition to a Zach Davies Jersey new calendar, if you ask me.Not only do we have a fresh new year upon us (rot in Hell, 2020), but we've also got plenty of sports to help start 2021 off strong. The NFL playoffs are here. College football's national championship is next week. The NBA is hitting its stride. The NHL is a little over a week away from a new season. College basketball is cruising along. Dare I say we're being spoiled here?I'm excited to spend another year with you (our official one-year anniversary is later this week!) and I hope that excitement goes both ways. If I find out you don't love me anymore I'm just going to start showing up in your inbox with a boombox above my head every morning. Don't think I won't do it. What you need to know 1. The NFL playoff schedule is set | Eagles-Washington was the perfect NFC East sendoff The NFL's regular season has had its time in the sun ... now the playoffs are about to shine. Week 17 came and went this weekend and the final batch of games helped finalize the postseason picture. Some teams entered yesterday with their spot already locked up, others were competing for seeding, and others were just focused on keeping their season alive. Here's :Both the and the won and clinched playoff spots. That's three AFC North teams in the postseason, and it's Cleveland's first playoff berth since 2002The blew out the , 56-26, to lock up the No. 2 seed in the AFC while Miami was booted from the playoff pictureThe won the AFC South with a game-winning field goal as time expired vs. beat the to claim the NFC East crown (... more on that below)You're probably gonna want a look at now, aren't you? Say no more, friend. I got you covered:AFC(7) Colts at (2) Bills
Browns at (3) Steelers(5) Ravens at (4) Titans Bye: (1) ChiefsNFC(7) Bears at (2) Saints Rams at (3) Seahawks(5) Buccaneers at (4) WashingtonBye: (1) PackersIt's pretty amusing that we spent the entire season making fun of how lousy the NFC East is, yet we all spent last night with our eyes glued to the TV watching Washington and Philadelphia battle it out on Sunday Night Football to decide the division. And what did we get? A painful primetime display that e sentially featured two teams trying their best to give the game away.Ultimately, though, Doug Pederson put on an absolute clinic on how to lose a football game. I'm not sure I've ever seen a coach actively try to lose as hard as Pederson Hernan Perez Jersey tried to take the L in that game. Pulling a bunch of starters in the second half of a one-score game? Giving the football to ...*checks notes* ... ? Not exactly being subtle there, Doug -- and about coaching to win, either. As you can imagine, the , who needed an Eagles win to secure the NFC East crown and sneak into the playoffs, were NOT THRILLED with the way Philly approached the second half of the game last night. A bunch of Giants players , and you can bet the G-Men and their fans are already rushing to circle next season's Eagles games on the calendar.In any case, it's hard to feel like anyone deserved better in this scenario considering it's the NFC East and none of those teams deserve anything. Oh, a 6-10 team didn't make the playoffs? What an outrage!2. Steph Curry goes off for career-high 62 points Just a word of advice to anyone who might be thinking of doubting Steph Curry: He will take it personally, and there's a good chance he'll make you look stupid. He provided that warning on Sunday. Curry received plenty of heat after a relatively slow start through the ' first five games, but he .Curry dropped a career-high 62 points in a win over theHe shot 18-of-31 (including 8-of-16 from distance)Curry began the night with 21 points in the first quarter aloneCurry:Everybody, welcome Spite Steph to the party! Delivering the highest-scoring individual performance of the season so far and then basically telling the haters "I heard what you said" after the game ... that has to be pretty damn satisfying.Steph may not Stephen Vogt Jersey be flanked by the superstars that he once was in Golden State, but he's still an unbelievable talent who is capable of pouring in buckets on any given night and he did a great job reminding us of that this weekend. We should not only remember to appreciate the smooth stroke and preposterous range whenever we can, but his gamesmanship is top-notch, too. 3. Around goes the NFL coaching carousel With Week 17 in the books and the regular season behind us, it's now time to take a spin on the NFL's annual coaching carousel. More than a few coaches were already fired in-season and will need to be officially replaced, and a few more could be out of a job this week.Keeping up with who's in and who's out can be overwhelming, so luckily our John Breech has . Here's some of the latest updates: yesterday and they could look to the college ranks for their next coachThe have interviewed former coach Marvin Lewis and former coach Jim Caldwell. They're also expected to be interested in Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric BieniemyThe are "likely" to fire Doug Marrone, and they may try to hire Urban Meyer or head coach Ryan DayAnthony Lynn is on the hot seat, but he may survive another season with the due to his good relationship with It probably shouldn't come as any surprise that Gase was the first coach to be axed after this season ... nine total wins and a Eric Thames Jersey heaping amount of disfunction in two seasons will do that. This offseason should be an extremely interesting one, and now it'll start with finding a replacement at head coach (luckily, it should be pretty easy to find an upgrade.) It's worth noting that Pederson is expected to return as Eagles coach and he certainly didn't coach last night's game like a guy trying to save his job. That being said, you do have to wonder if what he pulled last night might have an impact on his job security. Pederson's seat was warm to begin with, and I can guarantee there are a number of guys in that Eagles locker room that lost some respect for the guy in charge last night.4. Texas lands a slam-dunk hire in Steve Sarkisian Speaking of football teams parting ways with their head coach ... my Texas Longhorns , firing the coach after four seasons with the team. The decision wasn't entirely a surprise -- this was a disappointing season for the Horns and rumors had Herman on the hot seat -- but the timing? Well, that was a bit curious.Herman received a vote of confidence from UT's administration just three weeks ago. If I had to gue s, I'd imagine said "vote of confidence" either expired once National Signing Day pa sed or once Texas locked in the guy they wanted to replace Herman. That replacement? It's offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Sarkisian has spent the last four years at Alabama (two stints) and with the He spent seven seasons as a head coach in the Pac-12, first at Washington (2009-13) and then (2014-15)Sarkisian battled alcoholism while coaching at USC and was eventually fired after taking a leave of absenceIt's a big-time hire by Texas and a big-time shot at redemption for Sarkisian, who probably didn't imagine he'd be in charge of a power program le s than five years after the lowest point in his career. But our Dennis Dodd penned a column about the "slam-dunk hire" and .Dodd: "And so Texas will once again try to rebuild the program under a new coach. The Longhorns have been looking to establish a consistent, stable foundation ever sinceMack Brown left and Sarkisian will be the next guy tasked with achieving that tall task. Personally, I'm already excited to see what kind of offense he can build around next year. Odds & Ends Will Ohio State's perseverance or Alabama's season-long dominance ?Ringing in 2021 with New college basketball top 25 rankings? What to watch today , 8 p.m. | HOU +1.5 | TV: NBATV , 9 p.m. | OKST +1 | TV: ESPN2 Top scores from last night Washington becomes the first team in the Super Bowl era to reach the playoffs following a 2-7 start. Winning wagers: PHI +6.5, Under (43.5) Manny Pina Jersey Paul George had 39 points in the win but Los Angeles nearly blew a 31-point lead.Winning wagers:LAC -3.5, Over (215.5)Hunter Dickinson scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half as Michigan remained undefeated.Winning wagers:MICH -9, Over (145.5)
