Today is the Bengals, part 1. Depending upon which Dalton shows up Pittsburgh has a shot. Pittsburgh’s secondary is garbage, but after last week they have nowhere to go but up, plus it’s a division game so they ought to at least pretend to care. Pittsburgh starts off with Bell all day and then mixes in some play-action and use the Bengals up.
Pittsburgh by 10.
It’s best for the Browns’ chances of winning the division if you two split. So… GO… WHICHEVER TEAM IS GONNA LOSE IN TWO WEEKS.
I felt poorly about the Buffalo game last week predicting a loss, but I feel better about the Browns chances against the Colts. You’re probably going to see Johnny Football too so get ready for the ESPN onslaught.
Division had a poor game last week, so it’s definitely up for grabs still. They’re all playing the early game. Woot gamepass 4 way splitscreen.
Is there a more Jekyll and Hyde team than the Steelers?
BTW according to Nate Silver, The Steelers play off chances go up by 25% if they win today.
The Bengals had a winning record. The Steelers had them right where they wanted them.
Next week though, spells doom. They have the Falcons in Georgia. After that, though they play good teams, so they ought to win out at home.
So you’re tellin’ me we at least split with everyone in the division? That’s…different.
So, do you think the Steelers will start Ike Taylor next week? He got yanked off the field today, I’m hoping that shows the coaches recognize he’s no longer a #1 CB.
Goddamn Ike Taylor is finished. It’s really that simple. Two absolutely atrocious games spell the end of his career.
The problem is, who do you put in? Is he only getting starts because of reputation, or is it that nobody can beat him out for the position? The young guys are going to have to become productive, useful players. The rest of the season amounts to tryouts for most of them, because next year they simply have to draft secondary, and if that happens some of them will be gone. Ergo, if they want to continue to be a member of the team they’d best stop getting blown up with big plays.
Next week they have Matty Hype throwing to Julio Jones and Roddy White. The potential is there for some serious torching. Now’s the time to show what you have. But if Goddamn Ike Taylor goes out there to start the offense is already starting in a hole. He couldn’t stop me from scoring.
I think Blake and McCain have looked pretty good. They fight for the ball and make tackles, more than you can say for Mitchell. He’s been terrible.
Also notable how much better the run defense is when McLendon is in the game (Dalton’s run being a notable exception but that was all on Worilds and Polamalu).
Dalton’s run was a good piece of trickeration. How do you tell two ballhawks to stay home when the run defense has been frequently porous on the off-chance that the QB has the ball? Even in slo-mo that was a hell of a fake handoff. Anybody would have bit on that. And who knew Dalton was so fast? I sure didn’t.
The interesting thing about today is that the Steelers have their destiny in their own hands. If they win out they take the division. If they win any two of those three they still get in as the 6th seed. Not that I want them to lose or anything, but that’s a nice cushion to have. It appears that the Rats and the Bengals also have that luxury, strangely enough. If they all lose just one more game they will all be in the playoffs, making that last game in Pittsburgh absolutely critical, especially for the Bengals if they don’t beat Denver.
A wild finish is coming in the AFC, particularly in the North.
That doesn’t sound right, about all three getting in, since the Chargers will only have 5 losses even if they lose to the Patriots tonight.
You’re probably right. My comment was based on working the playoff machine and picking all the favorites, which isn’t a foregone conclusion. So I’ll call that one a mistake on my part.
Browns play Cinci and Baltimore to end the season, which gives them some control over their own fate. If they can go 3-0 through the last few games, then only the Steelers will be in the running for the division lead. If that happens and the Steelers lose to Cinci, or lose their two other games, they Browns can win the division.
I don’t think that’s as big a long shot as it might seem. I think the Browns have a decent shot of finishing 3-0. Their defense is playing so much better than it was the first half of the season that it’s nuts. They completely demolished a Colts passing offense that’s the best in the league - just utter dominance in the secondary - but Hoyer sucked it up so badly they lost a game they should’ve won 37-10. Or better.
If Manziel can hit the ground running - and produce even league-average quarterback results - the Browns can win those last 3 games. Then they only really need one other game to go their way. Or two others.
When was the last time the Browns won the division, anyway?
Back in the Kosar era, 1989.
Kosar and the Kardiac Kids
Stay gold, Pony Boy.
In the immortal words of the mired in mediocrity, meritoriously mundane Marvin mushmouth Lewis “He’s a midget”.
Money, money, money, money, money, money…"
You guys lucked out with Julio Jones being out. Atlanta might be bad, but with Jones I think they’d have put up 30+ points on you, having a real shot at it. Now meh.
I’ll take that kind of luck all day long. 13-0 Steelers right now.
In other news, Johnny Clipboard isn’t doing a damn thing except 3-and-outs, and the Browns are down 17-0.
The Steelers held on to the win, which inches them ever closer to the playoffs. One more win clinches it. They tried to give it away, and the refs gifted the Falcons 7 points on that awful roughing call, but in the end my beloved Steelers pulled it out. Indicative of how bad the NFC South is, the Falcons still control their own destiny at 5-9. The Steelers ought to be ashamed of themselves losing twice to teams in that division.
In the meantime, the Bengals absolutely skunked the Browns in the Factory of Sadness. Speaking of skunks, Johnny Football’s debut was about as bad a performance as anybody has seen this year and all but eliminates the Browns from contention. You guys begged for him, you got him. Still want him? He’s all yours.