There's a special electricity hanging in the air today because after a grueling training camp/preseason and seventeen weeks of hard fought football contests, the NFL Playoffs kick off this afternoon. The field of thirty-two teams have been narrowed down to twelve and those teams are prepared to give it their all for a shot to play in the greatest game in all of the land...the Super Bowl. So, let's not waste any more time and get down to taking an in depth look at today's upcoming Wild Card contests. 

A LOOK BACK AT OAKLAND AND HOUSTON'S 2016 CAMPAIGNS
Both of these AFC teams saw quite the rollercoaster ride during the 2016 regular season. For the Oakland Raiders, they found themselves in control of both the AFC and the AFC West for the majority of the season before injuries and some rough games changed their fortunes and a tough loss in Denver helped them slide down to the #5 seed in the tournament. They will be hosted today by the Houston Texans, a team that managed to win the AFC South by the skin of their teeth thanks to a rough year offensively since Brock Osweiler, their brand new and incredibly expensive quarterback, struggled all season long, leading to his eventual benching for a couple of weeks before he was pressed back into action due to injury at the position. 

KEYS TO THE GAME 
It's all about the quarterbacks in this particular game. Both of these young signal callers will need to play the role of game manager, which means we can expect simple game plans on offense, that rely heavily on the run, with some dink and dunk throws tossed into the mix as well. That also means they need to limit turnovers and that will be their greatest challenge of the game. After all, Osweiler has a proclivity to throw interceptions and Cook had issues protecting the ball as well against the Broncos, so also expect both defenses to bring the heat all day long and the team that turns the ball over the least, will most likely emerge as the winner. 

A LOOK BACK AT DETROIT AND SEATTLE'S 2016 CAMPAIGNS
Early on in 2016, it seemed as though the Detroit Lions were going to be in for another rough season, losing three of their first four games. But something awakened at Ford Field and they were able to put together a string of impressive wins before suffering three rough losses at the end of the season, but the football gods were kind to Detroit this year, and they were able to secure the #6 seed in the playoffs. They head to CenturyLink Field to duke it out against the Seattle Seahawks, a team that also proved to be quite the conundrum this season. While they won the NFC West this season, they had trouble all year long putting away opponents or closing out close games, to the point where they even managed to tie the Arizona Cardinals, but they did just enough to secure the #3 seed in the playoffs, and a home game where they will enjoy the luxury of their boisterous '12th Man'.  

KEYS TO THE GAME
Simply put, the winner of this game needs to play some solid defense, and the fact that both teams struggled to stop elite offenses from time to time this year should make for an interesting contest, since it features a pair of pretty awesome quarterbacks. Russell Wilson has proven he can play at a high level and dismantle a defense at will and Matthew Stafford was quite the iron man quarterback this year, willing his team to a big time win on several occasions. It may come down to which defense wants it more and the one that manages to disrupt their respective opponent's passing game will help their team advance to the Divisional Round. 

New year, new trends! Plus some of the same exciting storylines too. The Association’s big titans are still duking it out atop the standings. Some new teams are crawling into playoff positions. Other teams are already making plans for draft night. A battle rages on between MVP-caliber players. The NBA train is picking up steam. Here’s what to watch for as the calendar turns to 2017.
 
Battle for the Basement
And with the number one pick in the 2017 draft… Three teams are putting up a pretty strong fight to be the worst in the entire league. The Miami Heat (11-26), the Philadelphia 76ers (9-24), and the Brooklyn Nets (8-25) currently boast the NBA’s worst records. There’s no real way to sugarcoat their performance. The Sixers and Nets have been particularly awful, ranking 29th and 30th in point differential (i.e. points scored vs. points allowed per game). The Nets are surrendering a league-high 114 points per game, putting them in prime position to finish the year with the league’s worst record and thereby securing the best odds at getting the number one pick in the draft lottery. Can they dethrone last year’s number one pickers, the 76ers? Or will Philly be more terrible down the stretch to repeat? Either way, the 2017 draft class is stacked with talented players, so regardless of where they finish, these teams should have a shot at finding a key player to, hopefully, turn their fortunes around.
 
Team Rocket Blasting Off Again
The Houston Rockets have liftoff and are blasting towards the top of the Western Conference standings. The Rockets are on a five game winning streak and have won eight of their last ten games. They are firmly in third place in the West and only trail San Antonio by one and a half games for second place. Houston is playing solid basketball, with numerous players scattered amongst the league leaders. James Harden is having a tremendous year, sitting fourth in the league in points scored with 28.4 per game and first in assists at 11.9 per game. Trevor Ariza is third in steals, averaging 2.17 per game. It’s not only the starters who are contributing; Houston has decent depth to help win games, too. Patrick Beverly, Corey Brewer, Nene, and Sam Dekker are very good role players who are contributing off of the bench. Historically, the Rockets have had trouble getting over the hump in the playoffs. This year’s team may not have what it takes to beat the seemingly unstoppable Warriors and Spurs, but they definitely could make some noise in the playoffs.
 
An MVP in OKC
Russell Westbrook is looking to bring the Maurice Podoloff Trophy back to Oklahoma City for the first time since Kevin Durant was named Most Valuable Player in 2014. Westbrook is playing like a created character out of NBA 2K, putting up video game numbers and staying on pace to average a triple-double. You read that right: he is averaging a triple-double. Here’s a list of all the players in the NBA’s seventy year history to average a triple-double: Oscar Robertson. Yep. Russell Westbrook is leading the league in scoring and is currently putting up 30.9 points, 10.5 assists, and 10.5 rebounds per game. Despite all that, Westbrook is trailing former-teammate James Harden in the MVP race in the eyes of many experts. This is because Harden is putting up big numbers too, but doing so more efficiently on fewer possessions. It’ll be a test of longevity as the two superstars fight for the award during the remaining forty-plus games.
 
Rebounds: A Look Back
Updates on the storylines from December’s Hoop Talk

• Things are still trending toward a Golden State v. Cleveland NBA Finals. The Warriors are now 31-5. The Cavaliers are 26-8. The two teams faced off in an epic Finals rematch on Christmas Day, which saw the Cavs stage a fourteen point comeback in the fourth quarter to steal a win. When these teams come together, they provide some of the best basketball games of this decade.
• Coach Malone has found a more consistent lineup for the Nuggets. Jokic is now starting, while Nurkic rides the bench. Gary Harris is back in the lineup from injury, and the starting five is more settled. The Nuggets have also been better about closing out games. Despite the fact that they have begun to find an identity, locker room and leadership issues remain. The Nuggets may be on the brink of a couple big trades.
• The LA Clippers looked like the real deal in December, sitting third in the West at 16-6. Since then, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul have missed some time due to injuries and the Clippers have gone an even 8-8. They’re now 24-14 on the year, slipping down to fourth in the West.
• Last Hoop Talk, things were looking up for the Lakers; at least relative to their seventeen win campaign last season. Since then, they have only won three games, putting them at 13-25 so far this season. Executive VP of Basketball Operations Jim Buss said he would resign if the Lakers weren’t competitive by the end of this season. If he keeps his promise, it looks like he’ll be out the door come June. 

It should have been a relatively quiet weekend when it comes to the NFL. With most of the playoff picture set, the games should have come and gone with minimal fuss but that simply wasn't the case. Week 17 was a weekend that featured some incredible surprises. Because in many ways, Black Monday came early as several coaches were relieved of their duties and one simply said goodbye to the game and he wasn't the only to walk away, since a pair of star players hung up their cleats as well, making this final week of the regular season one filled to the brim with fascinating stories and here are the top ones from Week 17 in the NFL.

​Denver Broncos Head Coach Gary Kubiak has said goodbye to life in the NFL. 
It's no secret that Gary Kubiak is a coach who is incredibly dedicated to his craft, so much in fact that his health has suffered for it. He collapsed midfield from a mini stroke in 2013 when he was the coach of the Houston Texans and he was taken to the hospital after the Falcons game this year due to a complex migraine condition and it's clear that the risk of causing further harm to his health from the daily grind has become too great to ignore and earlier today, Coach Kubiak called it a career with the team that gave him his start in the league so long ago and that makes yesterday's victory over the Raiders all the more special because the team did it for their coach, did it for the man who brought the Lombardi Trophy back home to Denver and hopefully Coach Kubiak gets healthy and he will definitely be missed here in the Mile High City.

The Mike McCoy era has come to an end in San Diego. 
A few years ago, Mike McCoy was considered to be quite the offensive genius. As the Offensive Coordinator for the Denver Broncos, he managed to get the most out of journeyman QB Kyle Orton and found a way to adapt his offensive scheme to allow for Tim Tebow to thrive and heck, he even got to game plan for future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning. That string of successes intruiged the San Diego Chargers enough to give him the Head Coaching job and alas...that's where the feel good part of Mike McCoy's story comes to an end, because despite making the playoffs once and seeing some limited success, his tenure in San Diego went from decent to disaster and the front office decided the free fall simply needed to come to an end and relieved Coach McCoy of his duties. He leaves behind a 28-38 record in San Diego and hopefully McCoy will land on his feet and find another gig as an Offensive Coordinator in a league starving for talented offensive minds such as his. 

The San Francisco 49ers cleaned house on Sunday. 
For the second straight year in a row, the San Francisco 49ers are heading into the offseason without a head coach in place because shortly after the 49ers lost to the Seattle Seahawks, Chip Kelly was fired and well...this is one I think everyone saw coming. At no point this season did the 49ers show any sense of competitive fire or improvement for that matter, which always falls upon the head coach but the Niners weren't done making personnel changes, they also fired General Manager Trent Baalke, another decision that makes perfect sense seeing as to how Trent had the chance to hire a sound football mind in Mike Shanahan, but instead chose Chip, a coach that had plenty of question marks surrounding his skill set as a head coach following his dismissal from Philadelphia. Either way, San Francisco has hit the reset button once again and hopefully this time around they find the right people for the job because while fans are a forgiving bunch...it's only a matter of time before they have enough of the constant turmoil...and turn their backs on the team...

The Houston Texans might be in big trouble come Wild Card Weekend. 
Injuries are a part of life in the NFL, but they become costly for a team when a talented player is hurt...and the person taking their place pales in comparison talent wise and that's precisely the situation the Houston Texans are in right now with Tom Savage currently in concussion protocol. He was injured early in the game against Jacksonville, forcing Brock Osweiler into service and clearly his time on the bench did nothing for him because yet again he was unable to guide the team to the end zone when it mattered most and considering how important concussion protocol is at this point, and the fact that there is no solid timetable in recovering from one...the Texans may be in big time trouble if Osweiler has to start against the Raiders this weekend so don't be surprised if Brandon Weeden gets extra reps in practice this week, all in the hopes of having a solid backup plan in case Tom Savage isn't ready to go.

The league said goodbye to a pair of incredible players on Sunday.
Normally when a big time player retires, there's a waiting period at the end of the NFL season where they take their time to make sure that they are ready to walk away from the game and all it has to offer, but yesterday...a pair of players already knew it was time to go and Steve Smith Sr. and Robert Mathis said their goodbyes shortly after their games came to an end and well...both of these fine men contributed plenty to the game during their tenure in the league. Mathis was a powerhouse defensive end and one that quarterbacks feared because he had a knack to strip the ball from their hands as he pulled them to the turf, something he accomplished once again in his final game and Steve Smith Sr. was simply a terror on the field for opposing defenses. With his deceptive speed and solid hands he made one big play after another and despite the fact that Father Time finds all players as he did with Robert and Steve, these two men inspired a generation of players with their incredible play...and the game simply won't be the same without them on the field come next season.