Playoff Preview: 1 vs.

254
September 6, 1998; the Indianapolis Colts were facing off with the Miami Dolphins in Peyton
Mannings first career start, while Peyton was starting his hall of fame career Johnny Manziel
was trying to decide if he wanted a PB & J or a ham and cheese lunchable before his nap. It has
been 16 years since Peyton first blessed the league with his presence and 16 years ago Johnny
Manziel was rocking a chili bowl haircut as a 6 year old in the first grade. With time comes
wisdom, and experience; without that experience you are subject to arrogance and uncertainty,
and that is the case with our QB matchup this week.

QBs: Johnny Manziel (1) vs. Peyton Manning (254)

This Sunday marks Peyton Mannings 254th regular season start; it also marks the start of an era
in Cleveland in which Johnny Manziel takes the field as a starter for the 1st time. When Manziel
took the field for the 1st time in college he was less than his Heisman winning self, 173 yards
passing with 0 TDs and 60 yards rushing and 1 TD. What ensued following that week 1 loss to
Florida was magical, Johnny Football was born. Once his feet were wet he ran off 3,533 yards
passing, 1,350 yards rushing and 46 total TDs, which in his 12 games would come out to a 44.9
ppg average. Basically what I am getting at is, Johnny Football was not born on day 1, but more
on day 2, and that could very well be what happens this Sunday. Cincinnati comes in as the 6th
best pass defense, only allowing single digits by opposing QBs in 4 of the last 7 games (including
against Brian Hoyer 5 weeks ago). With that being said none of the 4 QBs held under 10 (TB,
HOU, CLE, BAL) would be considered dual threat, so with the help of his wheels I would expect
Manziel to eclipse the 10 point mark this week at the very least. If Manziel doesnt do much
then this game will be tough to win because the other side is bringing out the biggest gun
known to football kind, Peyton Manning, in my opinion the greatest QB to ever lace them up. In
the past 5 games vs. SD (16th ranked) Peyton is averaging 296 yards and 3 TDs with almost 1 INT
for each game, coming out at 27 points per contest. San Diego has been good against opposing
QBs this season but as history shows, Manning seems to always play well against them.
Obviously Im taking Manning in this matchup with the potential for it to be a landslide or just a
mediocre win of the QB battle, it all depends on if we see Johnny Football, or just Johnny.
Advantage: Man-Things

RBs: Bell vs. West & Anderson

In the past 3 weeks LeVeon Bell has faced defenses ranked at #29, #30, and #31, in those
games he has put up 34, 33, and 44 respectively. Well unfortunately for one team and
fortunately for the other, he is facing the #32 ranked defense this week, and is not looking to

slow down anytime soon. Joique Bell has been on a tear the last two weeks; hes been getting a
nice 25 ppg which is much higher than what hes used to, and now that hes going up against
the #24 rush defense in Minnesota, I am expecting another good game out of him. I am thinking
that CJ Anderson will continue to dominate like he has, in his last 5 games he has 4 20+
performances and is averaging 22.2 ppg, the only issue with that is since he has performed well,
Peyton has started to dip a little. I feel like this will be a win for Anderson if Peyton can return
to his normal self (17 & 2 in his last 2 games) and Anderson also gets over 15, sometimes there
just isnt enough balls to go around (go ahead and laugh). With West I dont see a good game
coming, although he is going up against the #31 rush defense in Cincinatti who got torched by
LeVeon last week for 44 I see West as more of a back up type of player. Even with his 15 carries
last week he only managed 5 points and has not gone over 7 points in the last 4 games. If
Anderson doesnt come to play like he has been then LeVeon could very well win this 2 v. 2
matchup all by himself.
Advantage: Bells 2.0 and it isnt close

WRs: Jeffery, Evans, Hopkins & Kelce V. Julio, Maclin, Edelman & Thomas
I know all too well what this receiving core can do as they torched me last week and knocked
me out of the playoffs with the help of their peers. Alshon Jeffery will be looking to extend his
streak of games with a TD (4) as he tries to go for his 6th TD in 5 games, with Brandon Marshall
out for the season I would imagine that he is going to receive the bulk of those lost targets,
Alshon is in for a big week. Mike Evans is a hit or miss kind of guy, if he hits then he is going for
20+ (5 of last 6 games in the double digits with 8 touchdowns), so for Brads sake you know hes
looking for a hit this week. The final receiver for Bells2.0 is DeAndre Hopkins, he is going to
benefit just like Alshon is because Andre Johnson happens to be out of the game this week
which will increase Hopkins targets tremendously. Just 2 weeks ago Hopkins came away with
44.5 points when he was force fed the ball at an alarming rate and although I am not expecting
that to happen again, I do expect a big game out of him. In Julios last 2 games he has exploded,
like Calvin Johnson in his record breaking season exploded (35.25 ppg). He has eclipsed the 180
yard mark in each of his last two games and has had a TD in 8 straight, if he plays this week
against the 19th ranked Pittsburgh defense you would have to consider him the #1 WR option
this week. Maclin gets a Cowboys defense that he tore up for 8-108 just 2 weeks ago and he will
be looking to continue what he started, the Cowboys defense has been rather pedestrian
against WRs these past few weeks (5 touchdowns in the last 5 weeks) so Maclin will be looking
to do big things on Sunday night in Philly. While Edelman may see Optimus Grimes this week he
will at some point get open, just as he did in week 1 vs. Miami when he saw 6 catches turn into
95 yards, and considering he is coming off of a 141 yard and a TD day vs. SD he is coming in hot
this week. With the TEs I see Thomas outscoring Kelce, mainly because he has Peyton Manning

and he has more talent. But Kelce is the beneficiary of a Chiefs offense who hasnt thrown a
touchdown to a WR all year (let that sink in) and with Jamaal Charles sporting a sore knee they
may go to the big man over the middle a little more often than usual.
Advantage: Man-Things

DEF & K: Rams & Tucker vs. Colts & Novak

I am not even going to preview the defenses considering last week I said its 75% luck, I still feel
that way about them but in this case I see the Rams as the clear cut favorite in this. They have
been averaging 18 ppg in the last 5 weeks and havent allowed a point in the last 2 weeks. This
team looks to have the leagues best pass rush and they are going to pin their ears back against
a Arizona team that doesnt have Andre Ellington or Carson Palmer, remember when it seemed
all Thursday night football games were destined to be blowouts? Well bring that back tonight as
the Rams completely dismantle the Cardinals on national television. As for the kicking battle, I
do see Tucker as the winner, strictly because theyre playing the Jaguars who give up so many
yards and points that they are allowing the opposing offense to be within field goal range a
ridiculous amount of time..and for Tucker, all they have to do is cross the 50 for him to be in
range. #Legatron
Advantage: Bells2.0

Overall
This game will come down to 3 things: #1 How much does Peyton Manning outscore Johnny
Manziel by. #2 Will there be enough points to go around for all 3 of Courtes Broncos to make
an impact. #3 How many players/team defense will go off for Brad.
I see this as one of the closer matchups of the year, these two are 1-1 when facing each other,
when they played in week 5 Brad only started 1 player (L. Bell) that is still currently in his
starting lineup.pardon me, started 1 player who is still ON HIS TEAM! Seriously go check haha.
So I see the 2nd matchup as a more equal representation of these two teams, but with that
being said, I have to go with the team that I know has complete certainty in their lineup, I
cannot go with a team starting a 1st start QB against arguable the G.O.A.T. Give me the ManThings in a thriller that starts tonight and ends on Monday, as Brad makes his 4 th straight
playoff semifinals and again fails to make it to the big dance. ( thats a sad face)
Man-Things: 125.5
Bells2.0: 123.5