The Steelers have been an iffy team all year, even in the middle of their unbeaten streak. They were just managing to hold on to games or get on top of the score in the last few minutes. Sometimes it was pure luck that the other team blew it. I like the Steelers, but Big Ben is not all that good and some of Tomlin's play calling at critical times is just dumb, no matter what the announcers don't want to say. They are fading when others are getting hot.

Colin Cowherd had a funny comment about that. He said Brady and Tampa Bay were "flourishing" but New England "is living in a van down by the river," (while showing a still from a Chris Farley SNL sketch (early-mid 1990's) where that "van down by the river" line comes from).

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
It just goes to show that no Couch, not even the proclaimed genius ones, can be a winner if he doesn't have the Quarterback or the Team. Brady is laughing, he's still got a chance with Tampa.

Today's game will be remembered as one of the great wins in Miami Dolphins' history. With 19 seconds left in the game and the team down by two points, quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, completed a long pass while his facemask and the head behind it were being pulled. He didn't see the completion. The additional 15 yards from the penalty put the team into field goal range and place kicker Sanders hit the high-pressure kick. The win keeps the Dolphins in contention for a playoff spot while the loss eliminated the Raiders' chance at postseason play.

Dolphins 26 Final
Raiders 25

Happy Fitzpatrick is getting the recognition. Liked him when he was in NY, but he had little chance for success. Yet he always persevered as one of those journeymen QBs that never got the good team or the good breaks and was just good enough to hang on anyway. He still always tried his best.

OMG it was heart in mouth time again.

Time for another dolphins dance.

Steelers win, figures. Every time I come back, they quit, and every time I quit, they come back.

Jets win two in a row. They always do the same thing at the end of every year. Just enough to make you think they are improving for next season. Next season never happens.

Giants do the opposite. Show some hope and die at the end.

.....and just like that it was all over.

We are just not good enough yet but are moving in the right direction compared to the last few years.

COLT POWER

While you can often see it in Baseball, when teams have clinched and the starting line up is being rested, I can't recall ever seeing a Football game so obviously tanked as last night's Washington/Philly match up.

With the Giants playoff hopes riding on it, the Eagles coaching staff apparently decided to make sure Washington won the slot. They even removed the not so bad QB, just in case he wanted to play. Football being such a physical game, you usually don't see players laying off as a group. Even the SNF announcers didn't know what to say about it.

So the Giants don't get their chance and the viewers saw a lousy game instead of an honest contest. It wasn't even a feel good story for Washington, which is what they wanted since both the Couch and QB have had personal health problems, as they were handed the game.

Brady and Tampa Bay are waiting. I don't think they cared whether it was going to be Washington or NY, both teams with losing records. I know NY didn't deserve it. From the look of last night's game neither does Washington. Tampa Bay won't tank the game.

My Bears backdoored into the playoffs but I'll take it. They'll probably get massacred next weekend in New Orleans but you never know. They're certainly capable of hanging around in the game but they're also more than capable of losing by 30.

What, nobody wants to go out on a limb and pick playoff winners this week?

OK so there are pretty strong favorites in all 6 games, probably because a few of the teams in the Wild Card games don't really look so good. I prefer to see upsets, but this week its hard for me to find an upset I think can happen, so I will have to go with all the favorites.

Bills over Colts. This is the best chance for a big upset if Rivers gets hot, but Bills have been solid.

Seahawks over Rams. I don't like Seahawk play this year, but have to go with them anyway.

Tampa Bay over Washington. This could be embarrassing, Washington shouldn't even be playing.

Ravens over Titans. I see this as kind of even, but will go with favorite.

Saints over Bears. Could also be another no contest.

Steelers over Browns. Second best chance for an upset. I have been very leery of Steelers play even when winning. A couple of weeks ago I might even have said Browns, but they haven't looked good in final games.

Let's hope we have all good, tight games to watch.

Play-offs??

Nope, means nothing to me.

My God do the Bears look horrific today. Makes one wonder how in the world this team made the playoffs. And if this is Mitchell Trubisky's last game in a Bears uniform - then good riddance. They haven't had a somewhat decent QB since Jim McMahon. /rant.

If I had conviction in my instincts, I would have been 6 for 6, but I took the easy road. I said Seahawks and Steelers have been playing below par, even when winning, but I thought the Rams and Browns wouldn't take advantage of it. Wrong! Russell Wilson has fallen off and the offense didn't help him much. The Steelers were just blitzed before they knew what hit them and they haven't been a good enough team to get points back quickly. Still that game stunned me, even though I thought the Browns were capable of an upset. Not that much of an upset. The Steelers must make changes.

Anyway, next week is harder and 2 games seem predictable, but the other two could go either way to me.

Packers over Rams. Should be a good bet, I didn't pick the Rams to even be here.

Ravens over Bills. This is me going with gut feeling. Bills really are the better choice overall, but the Ravens look hot.

Chiefs over Browns. Can't see Chiefs losing.

Saints over Buccaneers. This is the big upset that could happen. Saints have beaten them twice this year, I can't see going against them now, however Brady and Brown are dangerous. I always regret counting Brady out too soon. If the Saints make mistakes and don't get a good lead, Brady will find a way to win at the end. Looking forward to this one.

whatever happened to home advantage? Four of the six lost at home.

However that all ends now with four home wins coming up this weekend.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
whatever happened to home advantage? Four of the six lost at home.

However that all ends now with four home wins coming up this weekend.

Home advantage is a non-factor this season because they can't fill the stadiums due to COVID restrictions. They let a few thousand people in for a couple of the playoff games at best, but that had no big effect in the noise volume department. Regular season games often had nearly empty stadiums.

That's where home field advantage made the biggest difference before, besides not having to travel. Crowd noise from home fans would drown out the play calling of the opposing team at critical times, which often helped to disrupt the players. This year no quarterback calls were lost to the noise and there was less confusion than when the away team couldn't communicate with each other. Lack of crowd noise took away a big portion of the home field benefit and the visiting teams liked it.

I think Chiefs and Packers will win easy this weekend. The other two games should be close - but I'll go with the Bills at home and Tampa on the road. Tampa Bay just may be the most talented team in the league. Let's see if they can play like it for 60 minutes.

Will the Chiefs wake up from the stupor the Eagles never got out of? I think they do. The Browns can give them a game but they would need a head start like they got in Pittsburgh to win. Chiefs by 9.

The Ravens are playing their best ball now but so are the Bills. I think it's the Ravens with a late field goal, winning by 2.

The Rams might beat-up the Packers a bit even if it is a loss. Packers by 7.

The best game might be Buccaneers/Saints - another close one with the Bucs by a field goal.

4 for 4 with my picks this weekend.

For next Sunday I'll go with the Chiefs at home vs the Bills. I think Kansas City is being overlooked a little, perhaps because they haven't played all that well of late. But I still think they're the class of the AFC. And I can see Buffalo being a bit overwhelmed by the moment.
And I like Green Bay over Tampa Bay. Rodgers has looked fantastic and he's playing at home in the frozen tundra -- too much for Brady & co. to overcome.

Was surprised at Ravens poor showing. Packers had no problem. Browns made it closer than I thought, but than Chiefs were not dominant. Not surprised by Tampa, but Brees looked like he couldn't throw the long ball. Turnovers killed them more than Brady.

A Florida team in Green Bay in January is a big problem. It may even be snowing. I think Rodgers and the Packers will prevail, but I hope its a tight game.

Now I would say the Chiefs win, but if Mahomes can't start because of the concussion, or starts but has to be pulled, you can throw that out the window. The Bills defense should get enough confidence to smother the offense and they will win. So it all depends on how healthy Mahomes is to me.