WHAT WE LEARNED” NFL DIVISIONAL ROUND

BY ADAM GREENE

With barely a chance to catch our breath after the greatest weekend of NFL football in the sport’s history, the news cycle decided to go ahead and be relentless.

SEAN PAYTON “STEPS AWAY” FROM SAINTS

Some are calling it a “retirement.” Others are calling it a “break,” but either way Sean Payton has probably coached his last game for the New Orleans Saints.

With that job opening up, there are now nine vacant head coaching positions in the NFL.

The 58 year-old Payton is probably going to land on a network somewhere as an analyst until another head coaching job opens up that appeals to him. I’m thinking one in Dallas might be clear come January of 2023. Certainly, Payton would have his pick.

But New Orleans would still have a say in the matter. Payton’s current contract has him locked up with them through the 2024 season. That means if Payton decided he wanted to return and coach a certain team in the Dallas region of Texas, the Saints could ask for some kind of compensation.

If, say, an owner like Jerry Jones wants to go ahead and pull the trigger on the inevitable and save his team one more wasted season under Mike McCarthy, I can see Payton being amenable to that. The Saints, of course, would probably require at least a first round pick to make it happen.

If Jones waits a year, and until this news broke it appeared he’d hooked his wagon to McCarthy’s ox-like self for at least another 365 days, the price will be considerably cheaper.

As it stands today, Payton is 161-97 as a head coach and 9-8 in the postseason with a Super Bowl XLIV Championship.

IS THE SAINTS JOB NOW THE BEST OPENING?

It’s definitely not bad, though whoever the next head coach is, he’s going to have to solve his quarterback issue. Of course, that’s exactly where Payton was when he first signed on with the team a few months before landing Drew Brees.

There are obviously lots of interviews that are required to take place because of the NFL’s rules, but the early favorites to take over are already on the staff — Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.

Allen was the then Oakland Raiders head coach from 2012-2014, finishing with an abysmal 8-22 record, so he probably shouldn’t be a shoo-in.

Carmichael has been with New Orleans since 2006 in some role, taking over as offensive coordinator in 2009. Of the two, my money’s on him.

As far as where it ranks? I’m going to say No. 1. There should be plenty of good quarterbacks available this offseason. Hell, one of them is still playing this weekend (Jimmy Garoppolo). Marcus Mariota and Mitchell Trubisky will both be free agents, as will Jameis Winston. And, somebody is going to trade for Deshaun Watson, regardless of what Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson decide to do. So QB is realistically fixable outside the draft with men that have been proven winners.

THE BEST DIVISIONAL ROUND IN HISTORY

It was probably not only the best NFL Divisional Round in history, but maybe the best weekend of football we’ve ever seen.

Four games, with teams pretty evenly matched, all ending in walk off fashion. Three came with last second field goals. The fourth when Patrick Mahomes found Travis Kelce in the end zone to wrap up an epic Buffalo Bills postseason.

After waiting 31 years for a playoff win, the Cincinnati Bengals figured seven days were plenty for victory No. 2, holding the Tennessee Titans scoreless in the final quarter to win in the final seconds.

The San Francisco 49ers did the thing they always do to the Aaron Rodgers Green Bay Packers — beat them in the playoffs. Rodgers is now 0-4 facing the Niners in the postseason and I’m guessing his team was favored every single time.

Speaking of solid streaks, the Los Angeles Rams are working on a three-gamer over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since Tom Brady took over as QB. The game Sunday was the closest of the three, thanks to four Rams turnovers that let Brady and the Bucs back in it, only for Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp to “steal their soul” with a handful of ticks left on the clock.

But the game should not have been that close. Every Rams turnover was crazy, nearly out of nowhere, and they all led to Tampa Bay points. Any one of those drives produces so much as a field goal for LA, this game coasts to the finish.

Lastly, we have the Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs, a game each team won about four times before they lost it. The fact that Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs could get into the field goal range with just 13 seconds on the clock will be an example to playoff teams until the sun burns out that, one, you kick the ball short of the end zone to run time off the clock and, two, take your time outs to the end of a close game.

Josh Allen played nearly the perfect game for the Bills and still lost. He was 27 of 37 for 329 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and 68 yards on the ground. Mahomes was 33 of 44 for 378 yards, three touchdowns and 69 rushing yards with a rushing TD.

It was the perfect game, the perfect performances, to end the greatest football weekend of all time. Allen went out on his shield while serving notice that the AFC will probably come down to these same two teams again next year.

Of course, the Bengals could have a few things to say about that.

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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