South Shore Press Sports Director Tom Barton is one the nation’s top sports betting experts. He spent time with South Shore Press News Director Stefan Mychajliw to offer his hot take on the AFC/NFC Championships, along with the New York Jets landing a familiar face as their next Head Coach.
SSP Sports Director Tom Barton: “Does it feel like everybody was still drafting their fantasy teams just a couple of weeks ago? I know I say it every year, but it does go so fast.
SSP News Director Stefan I. Mychajliw: “I make no bones about being a hard core Buffalo Bills fan, part of Bills Mafia. Tom, don't you think the whole country is cheering for the Bills this weekend just to see Patrick Mahomes lose?”
Barton: “Absolutely. And it's not only just to see him lose. It's not like they think he's a bad guy. It's the antics. I heard somebody compare this to the Brady situation. Brady was good and people didn't like him because he was good and whatever Belichick did. But the antics on the field was never that. Brady was never taking flops. Brady was never running out of bounds looking for a flag. Brady was never doing things of that nature. I think that that is really what has made people root against Patrick Mahomes. They don't want to see him win three in a row. It's the antics that Mahomes has done.”
Mychajliw “You are a national sports betting expert. So just what are intangibles or things that you're thinking of when it comes to the upcoming Bill's Chiefs matchup? What do you see that the average fan doesn't?
Barton: “It’s been well publicized at this point about the penalties. This is not an opinion. This is reality. Penalties from the last 11 Chiefs playoff games, Kansas City, 36 penalties, the opponent 66 penalties, Kansas City 319 penalty yards, the opponent's 549 penalty yards. There's only been one instance ever in their last 11 playoff games. where they didn't have more penalties, meaning the opposition.
That was a Super Bowl against San Francisco, where they both had the even number of penalties and both had six. So you have to take that into consideration.
I don't think the public really realizes how much that does go into effect, not only with the game itself, but also with the totals.
Mychajliw: “Tom, I'm obviously biased. I'm a Bills fan. But you look at Denver's defense, phenomenal defense, Baltimore, phenomenal defense, and same thing with KC. But the Bills basically just pounded and grounded and ran all over those two defenses. So don't you see the same in this game? It just feels like it's the Bills year, it's Josh Allen's year, that they can go out there and score 50 points. And then, ‘okay, KC, go ahead, score as many as you want.’ It just feels like this is the Bills year.”
Barton: “Yes, it does. A lot of people jumped on Josh Allen this week because Josh Allen said after the game, ‘we're the underdogs. Everybody counted us out.’ And people said, ‘what are you talking about? You have one of the best records in the league?’
But let's go back to OTAs. Let's go back to when they heard, well, Stephon Diggs leaves. The door is closing. They lost Diggs. And their Super Bowl hopes are gone. And people had the Jets winning the division. People had Miami winning the division.
I talked about this on my pregame show at Fox Sports. And I said, guys, I feel like it's just his (Allen’s) time to say, ‘I don't need digs. I don't need him because we have a team. And watch me take this team.’”
Mychajliw: “I can't believe there were so many ass clowns in the media and so-called experts who actually picked the Jets to win the division.”
Barton: “I bet against the Jets to make the playoffs. One of the easiest bets that I've ever won. I bet against the Jets on team total under. I went against the Jets. And the more that people kept talking, the more the line went up and the bigger the smile I got on my face.”
Mychajliw “Vince Lombardi could rise from the grave and coach the Jets and they'd still be a dumpster fire. Speaking of which, there's a familiar face going back to New York. They've landed their head coach. What are your thoughts on the pick?”
Barton: It's a safe pick. It's a smart pick. I like Aaron Glenn. Joe Namath comes out and he says it's a great pick. The fans love it. He was named the best defensive coordinator among the players in 2023, right? So the players love him. He's a players coach. He's put in his dues. He's had a long road here. I like Aaron Glenn a lot. I don't know if I like Aaron Glenn with the Jets. They have a problem at quarterback.
Offensive problems, offensive problems, offensive problems. So they go out and they get a young defensive coordinator. If Rodgers comes back, he's running the offense. And if he doesn't come back, who's the guy under center? Who's the offensive coordinator? There's so many moving parts. I mean, they don't even have a General Manager right now.
Aaron Glenn is a good guy, probably deserves more than the Jets.”
Mychajliw: “I'm glad they're an absolute dumpster fire and trainwreck because that's good for my favorite football team, the Bills. All right, let's jump from the AFC to the NFC NFC Championship game. What do you see from the matchup of the Redskins/Commanders against the Eagles that the average fan won't?
Barton: Now let me talk about the line here. The line opened up at five and a half and quickly went to six. Now if you listen to the sports media and you listen to the chatter out there, you'd think Jaden Daniels walks on water. You would think that Jaden Daniels is the greatest quarterback that ever came out.
Jayden Daniels is the best rookie quarterback we've ever seen. Here we go. Jayden Daniels, Jayden Daniels, Jayden Daniels. And the public and the line makers and everybody that's on the end said, ‘we're going to set it at five and a half and it's not even going to be enough. It's going to go to six.’ I think that's because we understand who the Eagles are.
And while Jayden Daniels is a good story, rookie quarterbacks do not go on the road and win. He's done it twice now. It would be completely unprecedented for him to win this game.
I think the Eagles win. They could run Barkley. The first time he played this team he ran for 146 yards. The next time he played this team he ran for 150 yards. They're gonna run Barkley all day long and they're not gonna be able to stop Barkley.
Can Jayden Daniels keep up? We'll see. Jalen Hurts, I don't believe he's fully healthy. And if he's not fully healthy, I can't lay the six.”
Mychajliw “So you're leaning towards your thinking of a Bill's Eagle Super Bowl?”.
Barton: “Bills-Eagles Super Bowl makes a lot of sense. Chiefs-Eagles would be awful, awful, awful. Even Chiefs-Washington, Bills-Eagles makes sense. It'll be a really well-watched Super Bowl no matter what happens.”
Mychajliw: “The saying around here, ‘one before I die.’ So that would be very nice.
Barton: “Somebody said, ‘you know, Patrick Mahomes has now beaten Josh Allen three straight times in the playoffs. You know, it's not like any team could possibly lose four straight, right?”
Mychajliw: “I'm going to start my car in the garage. Thank you, Tom. Thank you for the reminder. I greatly appreciate it. Go Bills.”