# The Sweet 16 Addition By Subtraction LOL RAIDERS Steelers March to the Super Bowl Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 6, 2019, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762 "2019-09-06T00:04:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/181 "2019-12-22T22:00:58Z")
Titans hold tiebreaker over Pittsburgh, right? From here on out through the end of the season? (assuming both teams same record) ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/182 "2019-12-23T02:40:49Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Titans hold tiebreaker over Pittsburgh, right? From here on out through the end of the season? (assuming both teams same record) Yes. Pittsburgh has to beat the vacationing Rats in Ratbirdland, still not an easy task, and the Texans, who have nothing to play for pending the foregone conclusion of tonight’s game, will probably be laying down for the Titans as well. If you can’t beat the Jets you don’t deserve the playoffs. Pittsburgh didn’t beat the Jets. ---
**Author:** ![Harrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac8455/32.png) [@Harrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harrington)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/183 "2019-12-23T02:56:13Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Yes. Pittsburgh has to beat the vacationing Rats in Ratbirdland, still not an easy task, and the Texans, who have nothing to play for pending the foregone conclusion of tonight’s game, will probably be laying down for the Titans as well. > > If you can’t beat the Jets you don’t deserve the playoffs. Pittsburgh didn’t beat the Jets. If both teams win or lose next week, they will have the same conference record, which I believe is the first tie-breaker since they didn’t play each other. What’s the next tie-breaker? Common opponents? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/184 "2019-12-23T03:37:32Z")
> [@Harrington](#): > > If both teams win or lose next week, they will have the same conference record, which I believe is the first tie-breaker since they didn’t play each other. What’s the next tie-breaker? Common opponents? The one that gets the Titans in if they win and the Steelers win is strength of victory, the fourth tiebreaker. The really crazy scenarios are fun, too. If they both lose, the Raiders can get in if Indianapolis wins and some other voodoo that Pittsburgh could mess up, and if they do Pittsburgh still gets in. If the Raiders lose and the Colts win, a loss by both Pittsburgh and Tennessee gets Pittsburgh in because the tiebreakers apply in the division first, which puts Indy over the Titans, then below the Steelers on head-to-head. I love bizarre scenarios. We could see one of them for real next week. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/185 "2019-12-23T16:36:36Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > So there I was, holding off until opening day, trying to find the appropriate angle for the opening of my annual thread, and as he has so many times before when he was with Pittsburgh and wasn’t a CTE-afflicted lunatic who no longer has any control over himself, Antonio Brown came through for me. After all the stuff about Big Ben and Mike Tomlin not having control and deep-freezing his feet and not being able to find a helmet big enough to fit that ego-swelled melon, he is about to be suspended by the Raiders and may lose all of his guaranteed money before even playing a game. This idiocy has not only vindicated my beloved Steelers, but getting a 3rd and a 5th-round draft pick for a guy who couldn’t even make it to week one has to go down as one of the Steelers’ best trades of all time. Tomlin had no control? He kept this under control for years. Gruden couldn’t do it for a month. Ah, it’s such a relief that this is now someone else’s problem. > > Also a relief is that football is back, and this year there are none of the distractions of the last few years for Pittsburgh. You could argue that objectively they are a worse team than they were two years ago without Bell and Brown, but this is a genuine case of addition by subtraction. Conner is a Pro Bowl player, JuJu is a bonafide number one receiver, and in the preseason Washington showed he was much improved from last year. Ben is still Ben, Mason Rudolph is looking like a solid backup and (potential) future starter, the offensive line is still beast, and there’s little reason to doubt they’ll still put up tons of points. Hopefully Boswell’s yips are gone for good. They seem to be, but these things are unpredictable so it will still be a bit of a wild ride for a while. > > The real story, though, is the defense. Pittsburgh traded up to get Devin Bush, something they almost never do, and my God, he is everything they hoped for and more. He is a true replacement for Shazier, and with him out there it will make everybody better. Look for career years from Watt and Dupree. The secondary is the best it’s been since the glory days of Polamalu. This defense can be as great as it wants to be. > > The pundits on aggregate have the Browns and the Steelers duking it out for the division, with the Rats maybe pulling it out and the Bungles pursuing the number one pick. I think they pretty much have it right but they’re giving the Rats’ run-only offense too much credit. If Jackson throws 25 times a game they’ll be 6-10, and if he doesn’t the league will figure it out quickly and they’ll be 8-8 at best. As for the Browns, they haven’t played a meaningful down yet and Cleveland is already all-in on a Super Bowl. As the Iggles proved a few years ago, so-called Dream Teams don’t always work out as hoped. Lots of egos to feed, lots of questions to answer, lots of maybes. In the Factory of Sadness, those historically turn into losses, annually at the hands of the winningest QB in the history of the stadium, Big Ben. We’ll see, but when in doubt, remember it’s Cleveland. If you don’t, they’ll usually remind you sooner or later. > > I’m always excited for the beginning of the season (as the previous 15 of these will attest to), but this year I’m really hyped. It’s not exactly a fresh start, but now that the trash has been taken out and the damage has been repaired things are looking up. I’m more optimistic than usual about Pittsburgh’s chances, although I can’t account for the blown calls that screwed them out of the playoffs last year (blow me, Saints fans, the Steelers missed the playoffs because of two horrible DPI calls against your team, so suck that schadenfreude down deep and hard). Bring on the Patriots. Bring on the Chiefs. Just bring it. My beloved Steelers are ready for you. It’s fun to go back and revisit the high hopes and hubris of the OP at the end of the year. For those keeping track of the “addition by subtraction:” [ul] [li]Steelers 18-19: 9-6-1[/li][li]Steelers 19-20: 8-7 with one game to go[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/186 "2019-12-23T18:57:39Z")
The AFC could allow a wildcard team that finished 8-8. The NFC may require 12 wins to take a wildcard. That said, the NFC’s East division is also a giant dumpster fire of mediocre football. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2019, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/187 "2019-12-23T23:18:41Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > It’s fun to go back and revisit the high hopes and hubris of the OP at the end of the year. For those keeping track of the “addition by subtraction:” > [ul] > [li]Steelers 18-19: 9-6-1[/li][li]Steelers 19-20: 8-7 with one game to go[/li][/ul] How very clever. Of course, some things happened in between. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/188 "2019-12-24T03:07:45Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > It’s fun to go back and revisit the high hopes and hubris of the OP at the end of the year. For those keeping track of the “addition by subtraction:” > [ul] > [li]Steelers 18-19: 9-6-1[/li][li]Steelers 19-20: 8-7 with one game to go[/li][/ul] And then we factor in the roster turnover with the offense when every skill position was filled at some point, sometimes all at once, with the practice squad. Nobody could have predicted that. As a result, I am by no means disappointed by this season. I’d love to see the playoffs, but by rights they should have four wins. They never stopped fighting, and that I can get behind. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/189 "2019-12-24T20:38:09Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > And then we factor in the roster turnover with the offense when every skill position was filled at some point, sometimes all at once, with the practice squad. Nobody could have predicted that. As a result, I am by no means disappointed by this season. I’d love to see the playoffs, but by rights they should have four wins. They never stopped fighting, and that I can get behind. Just a little gentle ribbing, **Doors** 🙂 My predictions weren’t much better than yours, except maybe for your guess about the Ravens, which was…not correct. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/190 "2019-12-24T20:48:52Z")
I agree that you shouldn’t be disappointed in the Steelers. Given all the attrition they’ve had this year, to end the season with a record similar to last year has to be seen as an improvement for the team. Hopefully Ben can be healthy for next year but Pittsburgh better be grooming his successor, and I’m not sure they have him yet. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/191 "2019-12-29T23:49:47Z")
Titans leading Houston and Steelers trailing Baltimore. Not looking good for Pittsburgh. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/192 "2019-12-30T00:20:03Z")
Not just losing to Baltimore, but getting positively annihilated. With an end zone fumble (or near enough) and a safety following immediately, for 9 extra points of humiliation. Since Tennessee already won, it of course doesn’t matter. On the bright side, at least we aren’t the pre-season-Super Bowl-contender Browns. And we will never be the Bengals. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/193 "2019-12-30T00:28:05Z")
And in a sentence I never thought I’d say, and which could get me a mild beating here in the ‘Burgh: I’ll root for the Ratbirds to win the big game. Hats off to them for an impressive season - and some innovative football. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2019, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/194 "2019-12-30T03:50:51Z")
Alas, the offensive problems couldn’t be overcome. To be honest I’m happy with 8-8 the way this season went, but imagine if they actually had a Hall of Fame quarterback playing with a Pro Bowl running back and Diontae Johnson had developed with those weapons and JuJu pulling people away from him… But it wasn’t to be. It was just too much and, as I said earlier, if you can’t beat the Jets you don’t deserve the playoffs. So it was a good season, all things considered. Even with the offense there were reasons to be optimistic for next year. Now, will some team please finish off the Patriots? ---
**Author:** ![Harrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac8455/32.png) [@Harrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harrington)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762/195 "2019-12-31T16:03:22Z")
While I’ve historically hated the Steelers, due mostly to jealousy, I don’t mind admitting that, despite an apparent mediocre 8-8 season, their season would contend for the greatest 8-8 season, because of circumstance. For most of it, they were running a marathon, hopping on one leg. Regardless of my biases, I have to respect the hell out of that. Their 3rd sting QB performed as well as 90% of Chicago Bear starting QBs in their history. The Steelers arguably lost the most talent in the last three years (Bell, Brown, Big Ben) and still competed better than most teams for the playoffs. That is impossible. Their defense is enviable, which is probably the most likely reason for their record. Without hesitation (but not without nausea), I applaud this year’s Steelers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sweet-16-addition-by-subtraction-lol-raiders-steelers-march-to-the-super-bowl-thread/839762.md?page=9)