Airman Doors:
I don’t care how you take this, but your team has to lose next week. You’re clinched already. Rest your starters. Seriously.
Oh, and the Jets can lose too. And the Colts can win.
Then I will watch the playoffs and all will be copacetic in Scrappyland.
Why do they absolutely HAVE to lose?
I also am missing out on the logic. Why do the Steelers have to lose? We can rest some people, but I think we would still prefer to win the game.
Also, talk about a lot of “talking,” The_Raven! After the Steelers took the Patriots collective pants down and laughed at their small penis last Halloween, I would think it more productive to see if your team might be able to turn things around on the field, rather than running your trap. It is an anything-can-happen kind of league, no doubt, but the way Tom Brady turned into a frightened little girl throwing the ball all over the field down in Miami, I’ll be happy to take our chances with them again.
Howyadoin,
From:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04362/432941.stm
As running back Jerome Bettis declared, “The road to the Super Bowl comes through Pittsburgh.”
Like I said; talk so much, win so little… Hey guys, you got beat by Drew Bledsoe in an AFC Championship game!
Really now, penis jokes? From fans of the team that subjected us to Kordell Stewart? The home of hyper-macho Sgt. Slaughter, Coast Coward? Hmmm… Methinks thou dost… something or other.
Jan. 11, 2003 AFC Divisional Tennessee 34, Pittsburgh 31 OT
Jan. 27, 2002 AFC Championship New England 24, Pittsburgh 17
See a pattern developing here? BTW, I think black and gold are great colors for a bridesmaid’s gown.
-Rav
Seriously, what is so hard to understand by the particularly Happy Scrappy Hero pup? The Steelers have to lose because of exactly two words:
GO BILLIES!!!
All you need is a Denver loss, you don’t need the Jets to lose as well. I’m rooting for the AFC East to send three teams to the playoffs and wreck havoc unto all comers.
Go Billies, it’s your birthday. Go Billies, it’s your birthday.
J.P. who? Go Bledsoe, he finally has a legitimate replacement for Peerless in Evans. I was listening to sports talk radio last night, and a Billies fan called up with some tidbits that got me pumped for them.
“In the last 6 games, the Bills have scored 200 points.”
Wow. Just wow. A buddy is a huge Bills fan, and it just rubs off. For the longest time he had to console himself by rooting for the Giants and Jets, but now his is clearly the best team of the three. As a Giants fan first and Jets fan second, I must say I’m starting to be a little ambivalent about the Jets with the Bills playing so well in all three phases of the game.
I’d love love love to see the Billies win it all. To have Bledsoe deliver on his most excellent promise.
“So Drew, how did it feel to get a Superbowl ring as a backup?”
“It was nice to be a part of such a successful team, but it won’t compare to the joy I will feel when I win one for Buffalo and its fans.”
Oh hell yeah.
Be warned, you will be facing the absolute best effort imaginable from the Steelers’ practice squad.
GO BILLIES!!!
It seems that you don’t know what that cliche means. Perhpas you haven’t been following football very long. It simply refers to home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Which the Steelers won by not shitting their pants against the Dolphins.
So, in fact, the road to the Superbowl does go through Pittsburgh this year.
No, that cliche does not mean that. It means that the Steelers are declaring themselves the best team in the AFC this year and that anyone who wants to go to the Super Bowl is going to have to beat them. It has nothing to do with home field advantage. That’s why defending champs always say that the road to the championship still goes through them, even if they didn’t do so hot that year and don’t have home field advantage.
Not that I disagree with Pittsburgh’s assessment of the situation, mind you.
I disagree, particularly in the context in which The_Raven brought up the quote. Anyone who didn’t have home field advantage and said that the road to the Superbowl goes through them would be talking out of their ass. Of course, having home field throughout means by definition that one is the best in the league. Tell you what - find me a quote of any Steeler saying that the road to the Superbowl went through Pittsburgh before they secured home field throughout, and I will gladly concede the point.
Howyadoin,
If the road were really to go through Pittsburgh, that would mean that is is a certainty that the eventual AFC champion would have to play the Steelers. So where is it written that the Steelers are a lock to go to the AFC Championship game? Anything can happen, especially if Wonder Boy can’t raise his arm above his shoulder in a few weeks. Either way, good luck outscoring the Colts in the Divisional playoff! You remember that game, right? It’s the ugly on-ramp to the the road to the AFC championship.
Pittsburgh PF: 343 PA:227
Indianapolis PF: 508 PA:318
Oh, and another thing… Only the Cowboys and Eagles faced an easier schedule than the Steelers this season. The average winning percentage of the Steelers opponents was a redoubtable .476
Cite: http://www.theredzone.org/strength.asp
Dolphins .531 135 119
Cardinals .523 134 122
Seahawks .516 132 124
Jaguars .516 132 124
Patriots .512 130 124
Bills .512 130 124
Jets .512 130 124
Rams .512 131 125
Raiders .512 131 125
49ers .512 131 125
Texans .510 130 125
Ravens .508 128 124
Bengals .508 129 125
Colts .508 130 126
Packers .508 130 126
Chargers .506 129 126
Saints .504 129 127
Vikings .496 127 129
Bears .496 127 129
Lions .492 126 130
Panthers .492 126 130
Redskins .492 125 129
Broncos .490 125 130
Chiefs .488 125 131
Falcons .488 125 131
Browns .488 124 130
Titans .486 124 131
Buccaneers .484 124 132
Giants .480 122 132
Steelers .476 120 132
Eagles .472 120 134
Cowboys .469 119 135
…god, my vB coding sucks… My apologies for the puddle of vomit I just left… Dammit, where did I put that funny smelling sawdust?
-Rav
All cleaned up for ya…
Dolphins .531 135 119
Cardinals .523 134 122
Seahawks .516 132 124
Jaguars .516 132 124
Patriots .512 130 124
Bills .512 130 124
Jets .512 130 124
Rams .512 131 125
Raiders .512 131 125
49ers .512 131 125
Texans .510 130 125
Ravens .508 128 124
Bengals .508 129 125
Colts .508 130 126
Packers .508 130 126
Chargers .506 129 126
Saints .504 129 127
Vikings .496 127 129
Bears .496 127 129
Lions .492 126 130
Panthers .492 126 130
Redskins .492 125 129
Broncos .490 125 130
Chiefs .488 125 131
Falcons .488 125 131
Browns .488 124 130
Titans .486 124 131
Buccaneers .484 124 132
Giants .480 122 132
Steelers .476 120 132
Eagles .472 120 134
Cowboys .469 119 135
Those numbers are misleading, btw. The Steelers play a 9 (or 10) win team next week. The rankings are meaningless until the season is over.
For example, the Jets’ opponents have 5 more wins than the Pats, but they are listed as even because the two opponents next week have a 5 win differential between them. In reality, the Pats total opponent rank is .496 while the Jets is .517, if you include next week.
Howyadoin,
Wow, that was faster than a instant microwave drive-through fast thing! Thanks Ellis!
Good luck to your beloved Bills! I’d like to see Drew get a break for once, it’s been a tough couple years for him in Buffalo, and he took a pounding toward the end of his time in NE. Since the XFL MVP will be starting for the Steelers, I’d give the Bills a fair chance. Now if the Rams can just stand up on their hind legs and whup up on the cheap-shotting New Jersey Jets, things will be beautiful…
-Rav
P.S. On preview, I understand what you’re saying re: the numbers being meaningless until the season’s over, but once the season’s over, the numbers are meaningless, eh?
The Steelers have to lose because the Bills have to win. It don’t take Socrates to figure that one out.
And I’d like to see Indianapolis beat Denver just becuase I love watching Peyton do his thing. And maybe this season will make poor Jake Plummer realize that waiting for the play to unfold rather than going off half-cocked is a better way to play football.
If the Bills make the playoffs, it might even begin to fill the Stanley-Cup-sized hole in my heart that I’ve got no Devils games to watch.
Come on, Steelers. Home-field throughout the playoffs. Football’s a tough game. It hurts a lot to play. Boy, could you guys use a couple weeks to get healthy again.
Maybe I don’t understand, but since the Stillers are the 1 seed and the Colts the 3 seed, isn’t it pretty much impossible for them to meet in the divisional round?
The Stillers should get the lowest seeded winning team from week 1 of the playoffs in the divisional round. If the Colts win in week 1 of the playoffs, the other winner has to be seeded lower than them. A win for the Colts means they have to play at New England. Right??
As a Bills fan (season ticket holder yada yadda) I am looking forward to Sunday. I can only hope the Steelers fall into the pattern Buffalo had once upon a time of resting a lot of the dinged up starters in a meaningless game after homefield was wrapped up.
Hmmmm, maybe this is a bad example considering the outcome 4 times in a row…
So, how 'bout those 15-1 Steelers?
I notice that with this win the Buffalo Bills are out of the playoffs. Better luck next year. Too bad that your first team couldn’t beat the Steeler benchwarmers. Ain’t that a bitch?
I also notice that the Eagles are getting utterly crushed by the Bengals. While you can make the case that they put in their schlubs for the game, you can also make the case that they’re not very deep, so all you Eagles fans better hope that you don’t lose anybody else to injuries.
Onward to the Super Bowl. Just a few more ass-whoopings and it’ll be all over, with the crowning of a new NFL Champion after one of the best seasons the NFL has ever seen.
Oops, looks like I was 1 game off in my prediction (made August 9th, 2004). How was I supposed to know the Steelers would be so charitable as to spot the Ravens a game in week 2 of the regular season?! And I guess I was a little off on my predictions for the scores in the Browns games…again, the Steelers are a charitable lot and show mercy to vanquished opponents by not running up the score.
Screw you, Airman Doors, and screw your Stealers. We needed that game and you didn’t.
Screw you. No hockey and no AFL yet. Maybe I’ll go to work or something.
Hell, we tried, but you guys just wouldn’t take it. I think we were playing with 10 guys on defense during the fourth quarter. They called me to see if I would like to come in for a few plays there at the end, but I was in the shower and the machine picked up the call.