The U.S. Navy has announced that a new aircraft carrier will be name after Waco native Doris Miller.  Miller was an enlisted man serving aboard the USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  Because of the racial line of the Navy, Miller was a messman assigned to kitchen and cleaning duties.  When the attack occurred, Miller ran topside and was first engaged in carrying wounded sailors to safety.  He was a strong man – a former football player and the ship’s heavyweight boxing champion – and likely saved numerous men including the captain.  Miller then took over a .50 caliber anti-aircraft gun and fired until ammunition ran out.  Even though he had never been trained on the weapon, it is believed he downed a Japanese plane.

Miller was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism – the first African-American awarded that honor.  Miller continued his service and was killed along with 650 other sailors  aboard the USS Liscome Bay when it was struck by a Japanese torpedo in the Pacific in 1943. Miller’s body was never recovered. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart, among other honors.

Red was so-so last week having gone 2-2.  He was wrong about the Vikings as they are in fact pretenders and the 49ers had little trouble in dispatching the northern warrriors.

Red was not entirely shocked by the Ravens loss. In fairness to Red, he did indicate that if any team could beat the Ravens it was probably the Titans.  Red was shocked that the Ravens vaunted offense completely failed to show up.

Less surprising was the Texans historic collapse against the Chiefs.  The only surprise was that the Texans were up 24-0 in the second quarter.  They remedied that by getting  outscored 51-7 down the stretch.  If there has ever been another 44 point swing in the NFL playoffs Red is unaware of same.  And to top it off for long-suffering Texans’ fans, apparently Head Coach Bill O’ the Clown is keeping his job.  Red will be turning in his season tickets.

The Packers and Seahawks predictably played a close game with Red picking the winner.  Neither team is capable of a Chiefs style wipeout of an opponent.

Packers over 49ers –  Red doesn’t really think either of these teams belongs in the Superb Owl, but the point of this exercise is to pick a winner.   Why pick a team that lost to the Niners 38-7 in the regular season?  Why the hell not?  The regular season meetings really don’t seem to mean much in the playoffs.   If all world TE Kittle has an off-day (and boy is he overdue for one), and D. Adams, Geronimo A. and J. Graham have good days (50-75 yards each), then the Pack should be competitive – unlike last meeting.   Those are big “ifs” but not ridiculously so. But Red really thinks this game turns on QB pressure. Whichever team pressures, knocks-down and/or sacks the QB most effectively is going to win.  Right now maybe nobody does it better than the Packers.  Jimmy G. limps off the field more than once.  A-Rodg gets one last shot at history.   Green Bay 24 Santa Clara 21.

Chiefs over Titans – Again, Red believes that if any team can beat the Chiefs it is the Titans who seem capable of winning any game with their offense straight out of the 1950s and a stingy defense.  While Derrick Henry has been nothing short of amazing, he alone cannot win this game.    Red expects Titans coach Mike Vrabel to pullout some of the stops in order to keep up with the Chiefs.  Look for Marcus Mariota to be on the field for more than a couple of plays, to keep the Chiefs defense wondering.  In case anyone has forgotten, MM is capable with the ball in his hands.   And then there is Mr. Brown – the budding superstar of the Titans offense.  Red thinks the stage may be a little too big on Sunday – but the Chiefs have to put a clamp on Brown and force Tannehill to look elsewhere on the rare occasions when the Titans might actually consider using that innovation called the “forward pass.”   On the other side, the Chiefs are relatively healthy, loaded with weapons and have the best offensive-minded coach left standing in Andy Reid.  Patrick Mahomes must drop back in the pocket and ask himself, “Who should I make look like a hall-of-famer today? Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Sammy Watkins, some guy in the stands?”  Add PM’s magic touch to an innovative running game and you have an offense that can score anytime anywhere.  Red just doesn’t think the Titans can keep up with Chiefs unless Henry breaks 180 yards again.  Red calls it – Henry finishes with under 120 and the Chiefs win in a modified shoot-out with the Titans making it close at the finish.  Kansas City 42 Tennessee 34.

Red has never like the “Divisional Round” name for this spate of games.  Yes, there are at least two division champions guaranteed to be playing in each conference.  But this year, you have 3 wild card teams playing as well.  Only the Texans managed to move on as a division champ while the other three flamed out last weekend.

Speaking of last weekend, Red was 3 for 4 missing out only on the Vikings surprising take down of the Saints.  Red was not a believer in the Vikings to say the least, but here they are.

Texans were the walking dead for 43 minutes before coming alive to win in OT despite best efforts of Bill O’ the Clown to snatch defeat from jaws of victory.  There were two situations where the Bills had third and long in Texans territory needing only a field goal to tie or win the game.  Both times, the Texans lined up 3 defensive lineman and had 8 players hanging back 20 yards from line of scrimmage.  A quick toss over the middle for some decent yards gets them within range for Hauschka.   Not to mention the pathetic QB sneak that failed.  The situation – about a minute on clock.  It’s 4th and a long one.  The box is stacked.  The clock is going to stop anyway if you don’t get a first down.  Why not try something different to actually win the game?  Nope.  And we get OT because of pathetic Texans defense and previously mentioned pathetic game management.

Red missed the Eagles getting Josh McCown some playoff action.  He performed well enough for the Eagles to have won if not otherwise decimated by injuries.  Seahawks were unimpressive.

And then there are the Titans.  The Titans look capable of beating any team right now with good defense and a ball control offense.  Putting a possible end to the Brady/Bellicheat era is enough for Red to have a soft spot in his heart for the Titans for the remainder of his football watching days.

On to Round Two:

Vikings over 49ers –  At least one wild card team seems to make it to the Conference Championship game ever season.  Red had the Vikings down as pretenders have beaten only one team with winning record all season.   But taking down the Saints in New Orleans has changed the dynamic here.  Plus, Red finally appreciates how good the Vikings’ receiving corps actually is.   Meanwhile, Red still can’t figure out how the Niners managed to win so many games this season.   Perhaps playing a plethora of pathetic or near-pathetic teams (Bucs, Bengals, Stealers, Browns, Rams, Redskins, Panthers, Cardinals) to start the season helped.  After that the Niners did beat Packers, Saints and Seahawks, but still managed to lose to some weak sisters coming down the stretch.    Niners feature running back by committee and two effective receivers in Kittle and Samuel.  None of the RBs are much of a threat in the passing game.  FB Juszczyk  who had all of 3 rushing attempts is the good hands dump off guy.  So this rests on the shoulders of Jimmy G.  Will he rise up in his first real playoff game?  Red thinks the Vikings experience overcomes the Niners.  Minnesota 24 Santa Clara, CA 17.

Ravens over Titans –  If any team can beat the Ravens it just might be the Titans if they D. Henry is on his game allowing the Titans to eat clock and keep L. Jackson and talented crew off the field for 38 minutes.  But Red doesn’t see that happening.  LJ just presents too many problems for most teams to deal with effectively.  Plus, six players have caught more than 25 passes for the Ravens.  Everyone on the field is a threat.  But none more so than a QB who shattered rushing records this season while throwing 36 TDs against only 6 INTs.  Double trouble, in the cauldron boil and bubble. Red thinks Titans are a coming force and will present problems for the Ravens, but he can’t bet against the best regular season team.  Baltimore 28 Tennessee 17.

Chiefs over Texans –  Texans’ defense was horrific on Saturday – until Josh Allen decided to try to do too much.  A fumble and critical sack allowed the Texans new life and D. Watson did take advantage. Before that Allen was either throwing to wide open guys or pulling it down and running freely into the secondary.  P. Mahomes and the vastly superior talent he has at his disposal will destroy the current Texans scheme which seems oddly designed to allow receivers to run freely into space.  Moreover, Bill O’ the Clown is without a doubt the worst head coach left standing right now.  Red wouldn’t trust him to coach in the lingerie league.  The return of W. Fuller V certainly helps, but not enough.  A. Reid wins the day here.  He has balls and will pull all the tricks out of the bag if needed.  Texans defense looks befuddled, but offense keeps them in the game for a while.  Kansas City 45 Houston 35

Packers over Seahawks – The Pack is Back.  Red didn’t believe.  Seahawks could barely get past a horribly crippled Eagles team.  Meanwhile in northern Wisconsin A. Rodgers gets to throw to 5 players who have more than 400 receiving yards for the season.  Combine that with a quality RB and you have recipe for 5 game winning streak to close out season.  Seahawks are good and having Beast back is terrifying.  This one is the game of the week and down to the wire.  Green Bay 27 Seattle 24. 

Red’s Top Ten reasons he is happy to close the books on 2019.

10.  We will finally get to a decade that people will feel comfortable naming.  The teens never really caught on and people spent the entire decade from 2000-2009 without mentioning it if at all possible.

9. Red will soon qualify for every senior discount available to man.

8. Any decade where the Cowboys win two NFL playoff games needs to go away.  As previously noted, Red is perfectly okay with the Cowboys winning one playoff game every decade.

7. The untimely demise of Harry Hamid f/k/a Katy Anders f/k/a something else put a real damper on Red’s enthusiasm for blogging.

6. The Mueller Report did not spark the outrage and calls for resignation that would certainly have been directed at any normal President.

5. The destruction that Hurricane Barry wreaked on Alabama – with the stroke of a Presidential Sharpie!

4. Setting a record for mass-shootings in the U.S.  Just in Texas and listing only those with multiple deaths not including the shooter (place and body count) we have:   Houston – 2 (twice),  Edinburg – 4,  Greenville – 2, Beaumont – 4, Midland – 8, El Paso – 22, Rosenburg – 3, Dallas -2, Henderson – 2,  Livingston -5, San Antonio -2, Houston – 3, Texas City – 3.   We’re number one!

3. Boris Johnson and Tories win in a landslide setting the stage for the un-uniting of the United Kingdom.

2.  Impeachment without conviction is like a chocolate milkshake without chocolate – or milk!

1. Last time Red checked, Abbott was still Governor, Patrick was still Lt. Governor, Cornyn and Cruz were still U.S. Senators, Moscow Mitch was still in charge of about everything and Trump was still President.