round of the NFL draft Tanoh Kpassagnon Jersey , does that mean Derek Carr will be playing elsewhere in 2019? Not necessarily.Peter King writes in that a lot of people around the NFL think the Raiders will take a quarterback high but keep Carr as well.The Chiefs executed that strategy perfectly two years ago: They traded up into the Top 10 of the draft to select Patrick Mahomes, but they kept Alex Smith as their starter while Mahomes learned from the sideline as a rookie. Even though Smith took them to the playoffs that year, he was traded the following offseason, Mahomes became the starter, and he was the best quarterback in football. That worked out pretty well.It wouldn’t be hard for the Raiders to move on from Carr this year, as he would carry a dead cap hit of only $7.5 million if he were released. But the Raiders may choose to keep him around this year, even if Jon Gruden prefers a first-round draft pick as the team’s franchise quarterback once they’re playing in Las Vegas. The Raiders have three first round picks (fourth Armani Watts Jersey , 24th and 27th overall), so they’ll have plenty of options at quarterback. And one option might be taking a rookie, but giving him a year to learn as a backup. It’s that time of year again! This will be the third year I make picks for the playoffs.You cannot see my 2017 playoff predictions here, and my 2018 predictions here.Check them out.It can be incredibly fun to go back and read the old comments to see just how wrong (or right) we all were.But let’s get to picking 2019’s playoff games!The key stat: SRSFor this article, I’m going to relay primarily on the SRS, OSRS, and DSRS values published by Pro-Football-Reference.com. If you are curious about these Dorian O’Daniel Jersey , you can read more about them here.SRS stands for Simple Rating System. It evaluates teams based on their strength of schedule and point differential. OSRS and DSRS are the offensive and defensive components that are used to create the total SRS value; OSRS and DSRS always add up to equal SRS. SRS Values for 2018 Playoff TeamsHow we’ll make decisionsUsing the OSRS, DSRS, and SRS ratings and each playoff matchup since the 2002 postseason, I was able to come up with a few stats that will help guide my predictions.Since 2002:64 percent of playoff teams with the better SRS won the game.63 percent of playoff teams with the better OSRS won56 percent of playoff teams with the better DSRS wonIn addition, since the merger, 68 percent of playoff games have been won by the home team.Every year there are 11 playoff games. This means that on average, there are four SRS upsets Derrick Nnadi Jersey , and seven SRS-predicted victories.So as I make the predictions. I will use the four upset games as the guideline for my predictions.I will also use factors like home/away, injuries, OSRS/DSRS, other historical factors, etc. to help guide my decisions.So let’s take a look at the picks.Please note the numbers in parentheses are the SRS ratings for each team, with 2.5 points added for home teams.Wild Card RoundAFCColts (3.4) @ Texans (6.3)Chargers (6.0) @ Ravens (9.5)NFCEagles (1.7) @ Bears (8.8)Seahawks (4.5) @ Cowboys (3.6)Divisional RoundAFCColts (3.4) @ Chiefs (11.4)Ravens (7.0) @ Patriots (7.7)NFCCowboys (1.1) @ Saints (12.6)Bears (6.3) @ Rams (11.0)Championship RoundAFCPatriots (5.2) @ Chiefs (11.4)NFCBears (6.3) @ Saints (12.6)Super BowlChiefs (8.9) vs Saints (10.1)Winner: ChiefsWhen I started writing this I had absolutely no clue what teams I would pick. I knew I would have the Chiefs win it all, but I’m writing for a Chiefs blog Breeland Speaks Jersey , so of course I’m going to favor the Chiefs! My readers should expect as much.Also... with Patrick Mahomes at the controls, why shouldn’t I pick the Chiefs?Let’s see how you feel the postseason will play out!
