I hate everything about this fucking game. I mean, obviously my first instinct is that I want to win it by 63-0. But my hardon for Luck or RG3 grows, and this would be the most pointless of pointless wins. It does hurt you in seeding, but it’s not like it makes a difference as far as to whether or not you’d make the playoffs.
I’m starting to think that McCoy comes back and barely beats you in some sort of gutsy performance which both knocks down the draft position and justifies the FO with sticking with McCoy for an extra year. I mean - no win that takes you from a 4-12 to 5-11 team could be worth trashing your future for, right? And on top of that the Ravens beat the Bengals, meaning we didn’t even hurt your draft position anyway.
But fuck if I can root for you guys to win. Maybe I’ll just take some knockout drugs Michael Jackson style before the game starts.
Edit: On further thought, a win would make me feel good for a few days, but it would hamper my enjoyment of draft season, which lasts months. So probably a bad tradeoff there. Plus, you know, the future of the team and all.
Plus, sometimes I start to think that this shittastic team doesn’t deserve the happiness of pointless late season wins, even though they’ve been playing better lately.
Ben should sit this one out too, though he won’t. The Steelers will go absolutely nowhere no matter what seed they are if Ben is jacked up. Put Batch in. If the Steelers can’t close out the Cleveland Browns they deserve the 5 seed anyway.
The Murdering Ratbirds have been terrible on the road this year though. And the Bengals have everything to play for and (gasp!) the game is a sellout. It should be a good game but I think the Bengals prevail.
I hope you’re right, but I’m not nearly as optimistic as you are. This team isn’t the same old Bungles but they haven’t shown the ability to win the big game yet. With something to play for they ought to put up a good effort, but the Ravens have something to play for, too. Now’s the time for the Bengals to show that they are an “elite” team (I laughed just typing that… let’s see if they keep it up for more than a year or two).
Incidentally, this week has finally allowed me to indulge in some of my old-school Browns hatred rather than malicious indifference. It’s good to see a game against the Browns that matters, even if it only matters to Pittsburgh.
If I were Tomlin, I’d play Ben for maybe a quarter, just to see how he feels and get some points on the board, then switch to Batch. Or just not play Ben at all, save him for the playoffs.
I think Ben should play. It always takes him a while to get his rhythm back if he sits too much and injuries are part of life in the NFL. If they get up by two scores then pull him out.
What do you guys think about Brown being voted MVP for the team? I think a strong argument could have been made for Max Starks. They looked well on their way to a .500 season until he came back.
I almost never root for any sort of injury - I might’ve done it once or twice ever - but I think it would be fully justified if someone on the Browns knocked the living shit out of Harrison, preferably Joe Thomas.
But I don’t know if anyone on the team has the balls.
This game is really starting to feel like an upset to me. It’s going to be nasty in Cleveland, 30 mph wind. The Browns run game is clicking better than yours lately, since Hillis has been back and healthy and Wallace has been behind center. It’ll be a revenge game. Ben is gimpy.
A win would be bad for the long term interest of the team, so it does seem like the ideal time for the Browns to snatch one away.
Pittsburgh- #5 seed guaranteed at the minimum. #2 seed if they win and the Ravens lose to the Bengals in Cincinnati. #1 seed if they win, the Ravens lose and the Patriots lose in Buffalo.
Ratbirds- #2 seed with a win. #5 with a loss and a Steelers win at Cleveland.
Bengals- #6 seed with a win, or with a loss and a whole truckload of help that they won’t get.
The Bengals are going to play hard before a sellout crowd with the playoffs at stake, and the Ravens don’t do well at Paul Brown Stadium. The Patsies don’t do well at Buffalo, either. The Steelers have a very real shot at the #1 and #2 seeds.
So once more the Steelers have to go the Wild Card route. It certainly wasn’t preferable, but it’ll do. They start with the Broncos, which should be fairly easy given the way they’ve been playing. Of course, you never can tell, but I think Pittsburgh has that game in hand.
The next week: if the Bengals beat the Texans, a distinct possibility given Yates’ shoulder separation, the Steelers get Baltimore. If not, they get the Patriots, a team they exposed badly earlier this year. They got that handled, too. Then it’s on to the Ratbirds for the AFC Championship game. Any way you look at it, Pittsburgh and Baltimore seem destined to meet yet again, a seemingly annual 3-game tradition.
Man…I’m not one to normally get all crazy with blaming the refs for anything, but that Ravens/Bengals game was really poorly officiated. It was really bad.
Also, I fell asleep halfway through the game (not that it was boring, just that I was up for 40+ hours). Was it at least a physically tough game? 13-9 loss seems pretty reasonable at this point, just hoping we made sure you guys got beat up going into the playoffs.
It’s amazing how that second loss to the Ravens was the difference between being the Number 1 seed and the Number 5 seed (the first one too I suppose but that was just ugliness).
Oh and special thanks to Oakland for losing so now we will have to endure one more week of All Tebow All the Time in the sports media until Denver gets their ass handed to them next week.
I agree they match up well against the Pats, but I’m a trifle skeptical of the “first game is a reliable indicator to how the second one will go” theory.
