His Achilles’ heel. 
I hope we mess up their playoff chances too. If it does happen we’re going in hot.
As expected, the word out of Kansas City is that they are going to lie down against San Diego. Well, that gives me another team to hate.
I understand the temptation to do it, “resting” players and the like, but intentionally throwing a game disgusts me. It disgusts me when any team does it in any sport. Naturally, I find it particularly galling when my favorite team is victimized by it, but it’s gutless, chickenshit football under any circumstances. I recall the Colts laying down during their “perfect season”, throwing it away to “rest” their players, and then the Bengals throwing their scrubs in next week and getting demolished by 30 points, thus knocking the Steelers out. Some of you may recall how out-of-my-mind irate I was back then, too. I also recall the Colts losing the Super Bowl that year, which I found intensely satisfying, and the Bengals losing as well, always a plus for a Steelers fan. If the Chiefs do it this year, I will feel exactly the same, and like the Colts I will actively wish them nothing but misfortune and misery for the rest of my days.
That said, if the Steelers had won just one more game this year against some real dogs I wouldn’t have to say this, so let’s not act like I’m blaming another team for the misfortune of mine. No, this is just a fan talking.
Anyway, there’s still a chance. If the Chiefs’ backups play over their heads and the Jets play like they want to save Rex Ryan’s job it could still happen.
But let’s talk about another scenario, one that I find infinitely amusing. Let’s say that the Rats pull out a win against the Bengals (hungry for a shot at a bye week) with their gimpy self-tackling quarterback under center this week. And let’s say that the Jets don’t care about Rexy and lose to the Dolphins. That means that the 6th seed will be determined by a Chiefs team emptying their bench versus a team that cannot make the playoffs and has nothing to play for either. The Apathy Bowl will determine who makes it, and the Chargers’ fate is also that of the Rats and the Dolphins. Is that not just about the most ridiculous scenario of all time? The fate of two teams hinges on someone caring in a game where nobody cares anymore. How absurd.
That’s a lot of disgust for something that you have absolutely no evidence for.
“The word out of Kansas City”? That’s the extent of your evidence? Get over yourself. If there’s something almost as bad in sports as throwing a game, it’s all the outsiders who seem to think they know what the hell is going on inside the locker rooms and private meetings of people they don’t know and will never meet.
I understand that this sort of stupid speculation is what passes for sports reporting among ESPN talking heads who don’t know how to actually analyze the game itself, and have to be satisfied with gossip that would not be out of place on an episode of E! Insider or TMZ, but the least we could do around here is not fall into this juvenile trap.
Why would anything change this time - the Steelers have run the same defense for a decade and it doesn’t match up well against New England.
If you sit your first team you’re dumping the game. Dumping the game is defined as not trying to win. When you sit your starters and roll with your backups, i.e., people who aren’t good enough to start for your team when the starters are available, you’re not trying to win.
I suppose we’ll just wait and see, but this script has been written before. We’ve all seen it happen.
It’s interesting how this didn’t seem to worry you when your own team did it.
The last time that the Steelers went into the last week of the season with a playoff berth secured and nothing on the line (in terms of Division title, home game, etc.) was in 2004. They played Buffalo in the last game of the regular season, and here’s what you had to say at the time:
Emphasis mine.
I guess that this strategy only disgusts you under certain circumstances.
It’s frustrating to have your team’s chances dependent on other games. I don’t like the resting starters strategy either, but I see why teams do it. Losing your franchise player to an injury just before the playoffs in a meaningless game would really suck.
As fans, we will always second guess. It’s our job. 
No, it pretty much disgusts me all the time. It annoys the hell out of me when they put the starters on the bench. I’m sure I was annoyed then, too. Also, they won. They didn’t dump the game.
Last, note that was a decade ago. Nah, pay that no never-mind.
By your own definition, the Steelers dumped that game:
Anyway, no team owes anything to any other team. If the Chiefs feel that it’s in their best interest to rest their starters, then that’s what they should do. If the Steelers (or Dolphins, or Ravens) don’t like having their hopes pinned to KC’s second string, they should have won more games.
Did they win? Yes. They didn’t dump. QED.
I already said that.
Christ, can’t you people read?
Yeah, you sure sounded annoyed in that post that i quoted. And a search of the thread shows that you were so annoyed that you completely failed to criticize the Steelers for sitting their first-string players.
First, as Enginerd notes, they did dump the game by your own definition, because you have already defined dumping the game, in this very thread, as sitting your first team.
Second, if winning the game negates your definition of dumping the game, then shouldn’t you shut the fuck up with your whining about the Chiefs until the game has actually been played? And can we assume that you’ll come back and admit you were wrong if the Chiefs beat the Chargers this weekend?
Dexter McC will probably have 200+ yds rushing, 100+ receiving, and 7 TDs, including one each punt, kick off, and missed FG returns.
156 fantasy points!
10 years ago. Celebrating a win.
With no intention of winning. Important omission.
No, I won’t shut the fuck up. See the thread link? Don’t click on it if you can’t handle it. I’m a fan, my team has something at stake, and I have never, ever been anything but rabid when it comes to the Steelers. That is what the whole fucking thread is about, after all.
And yes, I will be glad to come back and eat crow if the Chiefs don’t dump. All of this has already been addressed in the post that got you so fired up. All of it.
From your lips to God’s ears.
Yes. By you. You were the one who wrote “If you sit your first team you’re dumping the game.” You didn’t write “If you sit your first team and lose you’re dumping the game.”
And an even bigger problem is that you can’t define intention because, as big a fan as you think you are, you still can’t get inside the heads of the people running the team. Even if they sit their best players, this doesn’t negate the intention to win. The guys who run onto the field will still give it everything they’ve got, and i’m willing to bet that the people who make the personnel decisions would still prefer a win to a loss.
If the Chiefs lose to the Chargers on Sunday, you still won’t be right, because you’ll still have no evidence that they intended to lose. A loss is not evidence of an intention to lose, because if it were, then there must be 15 teams every week that intend to lose.
I’m pretty sure the Chiefs second stringers are going to try to win that game. It’s their chance to play on a bigger stage, and showcase their own talents for both KC’s staff and other teams that might be interested in them in the future. And hey, they might win… in which case, apparently, there was no problem and Doors’ ill-considered rant will magically disappear or something.
Yeah, I brought this up in the other thread. Even though I cheer for the Chargers, part of me really wants to see this.
If they play their second string, but actually try to win, it won’t be nearly as shameful as what the Colts did in 2007. The final game of the season, the Colts played Tennessee in a game where, if Tennesee won, they’d be in the playoffs. Division rivals.
The Colts started Jim Sorgi and a variety of second and third stringers. That’s pretty bullshitty right there, but let’s ignore that for a moment. They also deliberately did not make an effort to win. They were down by 4 points and gave the ball back to the Titans with a little bit over 2 minutes left in the game with 2 (IIRC) of their timeouts. So they can use the two minute warning and timeouts to get the ball back with somewhere around a minute to play down by 4.
The Titans knelt the ball rather than trying to get a first down. What the fuck is that? How do you kneel in a situation where a first down wins the game but no first down gives the opposing team the ball back down by 4 points?
Because the Colts somehow indicated that they wouldn’t use their time outs. That they were deliberately losing, to their own division rival. Tennessee ran the clock out by kneeling the ball and the Colts never called their last time outs. They conceded the game. At a post-game press conference, Tony Dungy bragged about winning a division that had 3 playoff teams. After he’d just given a free playoff birth by not even playing the fucking game with his division rival.
That piece of shit franchise lucked into drafting two once in a generation QB prospects, so their fair weather housewife fans will still show up. Fuck them. They deserve nothing but failure. Most gutless organization in the league.
Ugh. The Flacco v. Dalton Incompetence Bowl is painful to watch.
It’s pretty bad, but for overall offensive incompetence i think the Ravens win out. At least the Bengals have a running game.
And, with those last couple of plays, the game is basically over. Bengals lead by ten, and have the ball deep in Baltimore territory.
With Miami down against the Jets, i’m going to have to hope that Airman Doors is right, and that the Chiefs are lying down against the Chargers. I don’t like the Chargers, but i’d prefer them than the Steelers in the playoffs.
Edit: Ravens intercept Dalton in the end zone. They still have an outside shot.
Dalton’s keeping it neck and neck, though.