NFL Week 18 -- The merciful end

[MileHigh]

Happy the Steelers won. I was texting the husband of my longtime best friend last night. She died in September (f***ing cancer) and was from the Pittsburgh area and a HUGE Steelers fan. The three of us went to many Broncos-Steelers games. Big smiles when it sailed wide right.

 

[outofplace]

Rodgers has been amazing.

The Steelers receivers are a 35-year-old undrafted receiver, a 31-year old fifth-round pick… both of which were slicing meat in the deli before the Steelers signed them midseason, and a guy who is 5-9 in three-inch heels.

The running backs were a fifth round pick and an undrafted guy…

And they just scored 26 points.

Now, should Eat n Park start calling toast “Ramsey?”

Yes

Ramsey was thoroughly awful last night. He has been very good most of the time this year, but he has had a couple of absolute stinkers. He was late coming over on the throw to Likely that should have won the game for the Ravens. I'm not sure every play that got behind him was all his fault. The Ravens' last touchdown, it looked like Samuel didn't drop deep enough.

The secondary was a mess last night. Part of it was playing so aggressively up front to stop Henry. I'm sure some people will question Henry getting only five carries in the second half last night, but it was the right call. The Ravens barely had the ball in the third quarter, then scored two touchdowns and drove into position to win the game in under a minute in the fourth.

Austin stepped up last night. People are going to see the defender fall down on the game-winning touchdown and not give him enough credit, but he made a move that led to the stumble.

 

[outofplace]

Thoughts:
1) The Shield must be giddy.
2) For a week now, I have thought to myself, "Just don't lose in a gut-wrenching fashion like a goal-line fumble or a missed field goal or the opponent pulling something like the ****ing Music City Miracle."
3) Somewhere, Justin Tucker is laughing his ass off while he mistreats another woman.
4) I'm glad my team cut ties with that guy even though he was totally money and wouldn't have missed that one.
5) Steelers fans get to live another week to cheer on their anti-vax Trumpist prick QB.
6) Missing the PAT might have saved the Steelers. If down three, the Ravens would have tried for the TD at least once.

Why would the Shield be giddy? If the Shield wanted the Steelers in the playoffs so badly, they wouldn't have ignored precedent to suspend Metcalf for two games.

 

[rtse11]

Or Tomlin.
Stefanski strikes me as someone who hopes he gets whacked because he knows he won't be unemployed for long and he'll be out of Cleveland and the Browns' absurd ownership.

1,000,000,000 times this.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Why would the Shield be giddy? If the Shield wanted the Steelers in the playoffs so badly, they wouldn't have ignored precedent to suspend Metcalf for two games.

I read that as the front office being happy that the game they flexed into SNF came down to the last play.

 

[outofplace]

I read that as the front office being happy that the game they flexed into SNF came down to the last play.

They did get a great game with one hell of a finish. My daughter happened to be home for the weekend. She's not a fan like I am, but she has started watching a lot more football the last few years. She stayed up to watch the entire game with me. There were times she was on her phone, but that fourth quarter had her locked in. She and I were both utterly deflated when Jackson hit that pass to Likely to set up the field goal. We were sure the Steelers' season was over. I was cursing Boswell for the missed extra point. Neither of us could believe he missed.

When Loop's kick sailed right, I was looking for flags. I was frozen, waiting for something to wrong. My daughter let out this squeal of joy and hugged me, "We're in the playoffs!" It may not be my most treasured sports memory ever, but it's in the top three.

 

[outofplace]

Or Tomlin.
Stefanski strikes me as someone who hopes he gets whacked because he knows he won't be unemployed for long and he'll be out of Cleveland and the Browns' absurd ownership.

If you are right, he got his wish. The Browns fired Stefanski this morning.

 

[Cosmo]

Just for fun, which fourth-place team is best set for a major move next year?

My candidates:
Giants (4-13) -- You assume they get Skattebo and Nabers back. Dart with a year under his belt. Schedule is way more favorable -- AFC South and NFC West, and the Browns. It's an attractive coaching job.

Saints (6-11) -- Shough might be the guy at QB. They get the AFC North and NFC North, along with the Jets.

Lions (9-8) -- Fun fact: They had the best point differential in the NFC North at +68, good for second in the NFC overall. They get the NFC South and AFC East along with the Raiders. Feels like a big-time bounce back season is in the cards.

All of the AFC fourth-place teams (Jets, Browns, Titans, Raiders) are too far away to think they can turn it around fast.

 

[Batman]

I'm not sure that Giants schedule is as favorable as you think it is. The AFC South has two 11-win playoff teams this year and the Colts weren't terrible. If they can find a quarterback they can be dangerous. And then the NFC West is a beast outside of the Cardinals, and even they had their moments this season. I don't think you can expect a huge dropoff from the top three there.

Out of those four I'd pick the Lions. They're obviously a good team that misfired a little bit this year. They're much closer to getting back to 12 wins than dropping to five. Throw in that fourth-place schedule, maybe the Bears coming back to Earth after winning so many close games this year, and there's no reason to think they can't get back on track assuming they have most of the key pieces returning.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

The NFL draft and college recruiting out of HS are two of the most overrated, over covered things in sports.
Talent evaluation is under appreciated.
Smart, patient ownership is also a good thing.

"**** you, I'm gonna prove you wrong this time."--Woody Johnson

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

I'm not sure that Giants schedule is as favorable as you think it is. The AFC South has two 11-win playoff teams this year and the Colts weren't terrible. If they can find a quarterback they can be dangerous. And then the NFC West is a beast outside of the Cardinals, and even they had their moments this season. I don't think you can expect a huge dropoff from the top three there.

Out of those four I'd pick the Lions. They're obviously a good team that misfired a little bit this year. They're much closer to getting back to 12 wins than dropping to five. Throw in that fourth-place schedule, maybe the Bears coming back to Earth after winning so many close games this year, and there's no reason to think they can't get back on track assuming they have most of the key pieces returning.

There's also a lot of reason to wonder if Jaxson Dart can become a franchise QB as currently constructed (guy who runs around like a lunatic) and if the new HC will mesh with him. I'm always wary of inherited HC-QB situations, especially for a guy like Dart who was not a high first-round pick and who was nabbed by the just-fired HC. Joe Schoen is also a complete moron, so there's a real good chance he hires a CYA HC and further screws up the draft.

 

[playthrough]

They did get a great game with one hell of a finish. My daughter happened to be home for the weekend. She's not a fan like I am, but she has started watching a lot more football the last few years. She stayed up to watch the entire game with me. There were times she was on her phone, but that fourth quarter had her locked in. She and I were both utterly deflated when Jackson hit that pass to Likely to set up the field goal. We were sure the Steelers' season was over. I was cursing Boswell for the missed extra point. Neither of us could believe he missed.

When Loop's kick sailed right, I was looking for flags. I was frozen, waiting for something to wrong. My daughter let out this squeal of joy and hugged me, "We're in the playoffs!" It may not be my most treasured sports memory ever, but it's in the top three.

That's good stuff. The flip side is my 13-year-old daughter, who is completely indoctrinated into Bengals fandom and I feel increasingly guilty about it. Her NFL life peaked at age 9.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

They did get a great game with one hell of a finish. My daughter happened to be home for the weekend. She's not a fan like I am, but she has started watching a lot more football the last few years. She stayed up to watch the entire game with me. There were times she was on her phone, but that fourth quarter had her locked in. She and I were both utterly deflated when Jackson hit that pass to Likely to set up the field goal. We were sure the Steelers' season was over. I was cursing Boswell for the missed extra point. Neither of us could believe he missed.

When Loop's kick sailed right, I was looking for flags. I was frozen, waiting for something to wrong. My daughter let out this squeal of joy and hugged me, "We're in the playoffs!" It may not be my most treasured sports memory ever, but it's in the top three.

My 17-year-old daughter walked in right as Baltimore was lining up to kick the FG. She doesn't care about sports at all. But she looked at me and said "He's going to miss it." When it sailed wide right, we hugged and she said "You're welcome" and went back to her room to keep practicing her violin.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

Out of those four I'd pick the Lions. They're obviously a good team that misfired a little bit this year. They're much closer to getting back to 12 wins than dropping to five. Throw in that fourth-place schedule, maybe the Bears coming back to Earth after winning so many close games this year, and there's no reason to think they can't get back on track assuming they have most of the key pieces returning.

Chances are Taylor Decker will retire and Penei Sewell moves to left tackle. Offensive line will be an offseason priority

 

[BTExpress]

That's good stuff. The flip side is my 13-year-old daughter, who is completely indoctrinated into Bengals fandom and I feel increasingly guilty about it. Her NFL life peaked at age 9.

My NFL bitterness peaked at age 9 when I watched Earl Morrall throw the Super Bowl.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

There's also a lot of reason to wonder if Jaxson Dart can become a franchise QB as currently constructed (guy who runs around like a lunatic) and if the new HC will mesh with him. I'm always wary of inherited HC-QB situations, especially for a guy like Dart who was not a high first-round pick and who was nabbed by the just-fired HC. Joe Schoen is also a complete moron, so there's a real good chance he hires a CYA HC and further screws up the draft.

The Giants will suck until further notice.

 

[DanOregon]

I was already starting to get the shakes thinking there woudn't be any football until Thursday - the longest stretch without football on TV since the start of the year, thankfully ESPN has the FCS championship on.

 

[Batman]

I was already starting to get the shakes thinking there woudn't be any football until Thursday - the longest stretch without football on TV since the start of the year, thankfully ESPN has the FCS championship on.

I was thinking this is the first day since about mid-October with no football of any kind on, but I guess we had some in early December.

 

[Scout]

Headed up to the Monday game with my daughter who will be seeing her first NFL game. I go to 2-3 games a season and she will be a Mountaineer next year, so her games attended total will rise over time.

She chose West Virginia over other colleges in part to their passion for college football.

Life would be so much easier if we were going out for the Saturday game, instead. Or, Sunday.

 

[rtse11]

Headed up to the Monday game with my daughter who will be seeing her first NFL game. I go to 2-3 games a season and she will be a Mountaineer next year, so her games attended total will rise over time.

She chose West Virginia over other colleges in part to their passion for college football.

Life would be so much easier if we were going out for the Saturday game, instead. Or, Sunday.

Proper throwing of beer bottles at opposing players is part of orientation.