Chris Hu: Chiefs by 3 and Buccaneers by 3
Rol: Packers by 10, Chiefs by 7

On behalf of Cleveland, fuck KC up, Bills

Buccs, Chiefs, SB55

Can't believe how much momentum Buffalo lost after 9-0. The Chiefs have the "it factor" to - potentially - be the next dynasty.

Brady is the goat.

I'm getting a lot of '91 NBA Finals vibes from this matchup.

Then: Magic vs. Michael
Now: Brady vs. Mahomes

And just like them, it's going to be like this:

Brady: "The NFL ain't yours yet. I'm still here. I'm still the best."

Mahomes: "No, it's over. This is MINE now. I'm the Man now,"

The game looked like it was getting out of hand early in the third quarter when the Bucs went up 28-10 and that despite the Packers not playing any worse. The rest of the third quarter was all Packers, but afterwards they couldn't capitalize on takeaways like the Bucs did earlier. Granted, the Bucs got short fields after their takeaways while for the Packers it was like receiving a punt, but in the end it's yet another disappointing elimination for the Packers like so many times before in the past decade; they've rarely had that decisive ounce of luck on their side with Rodgers at the helm.

I didn't agree with LaFleur's call to kick a field goal at the end of the game because the Packers defense wasn't trustworthy to get a quick stop. The DPI call on the Packers was upsetting too, because the refs had been very lenient all game long. Sure, a jersey pull was clearly visible here, but the throw was so far off that it should have been ruled uncatchable and the flag been taken back. But this kind of stuff has been typical for Brady's career; he's blessed by the football gods.

The conclusion to this Packers season feels sour, unlike the year before where Green Bay also had a 13-3 regular season and got to NFC Championship Game too. Last season the Pack overachieved because the offense had problems to find rhythm for much of the season; their record wasn't undeserved, but obviously boosted by a soft schedule; their chances to make it to the Super Bowl were miniscule. But this year their offense clicked, they were the best team in the NFC and rightfully had home field advantage throughout the playoffs; not being able to take that final step is certainly disappointing.

...

As for the prediction league, the official update will come later today, but I can already tell you that Shaunodon and Chris Hu are the finalists, because sethnintendo didn't send me anything.

ANNOUNCEMENT - Playoffs, Bracket Predictions

View the spreadsheet with all collected data here. Check your own statlines and let me know if there are any mistakes.

Here it is, the second to last update this season. The results of the semifinals in the playoff round:

sethnintendo forgot to submit predictions, but he would have had no chance to win anyway, because Shaunodon got the best possible score. My faith in the Packers didn't pay off, so the second matchup in our playoffs was decided with the TB vs. GB game.

Therefore the matchup in the Super Bowl is Shaunodon vs. Chris Hu. There's no home field advantage in this round, so it's a straightforward process of who makes the better prediction. Copying a portion of the rules:

In order to prevent an anticlimatic finish of the season which would happen if both players predicted exactly the same outcome for the Super Bowl (and thus the winner would be a foregone conclusion before the Super Bowl even started), both players will be informed that their opponent predicted exactly the same. If this happens, both players are allowed to submit a new prediction or stick with their initial one.

In the unlikely case that we end up with either exactly the same prediction or the Super Bowl result falls right into the middle of the predicted spreads, the winner will be the player who has performed better throughout the playoffs. That is Chris Hu with his 11-1 record; Shaunodon's record is 9-3. This final tie-breaking step has never been needed before, so this explanation merely serves the sake of comprehensiveness.

That should cover everything for this portion. Good luck!

Bracket Predictions

Here are the latest standings, followed by the remaining scenarios for position changes:

Shaunodon can surpass hatmoza with a Super Bowl win by Tom Brady's Buccaneers. Angelus can move up to fourth place with a Chiefs victory. sethnintendo will finish in seventh place if the Chiefs win on Super Bowl Sunday.

The Bucs have had a pretty high ceiling all year, so it wasn't out of the question that they could win, but it was still a very unpleasant surprise that they managed to pull it off this time. Still, they won it fair, so...still hoping the Chiefs embarrass them, because I'm a petty asshole.

I don't understand going for the field goal at the end there, though. It's technically a bit better to be down 5 instead of 8 in that situation, but also not really. I wish he'd gone for it; the results might have been the same, but they'd also taste a little less bitter.

did we watch the same game? leading up to the FG, GB's defense was lights out. While I too don't agree with the FG, I can understand the reasoning behind it; they trusted that their defense can make the stop.