Saturday games:

KC at Denver 4:30 ABC/ESPN

Dallas at Philly 8:30 ABC/ESPN

Yawn.

Seeing a valiant effort by the Broncos against the Chiefs and I'm reminded

Anyone who advocates the Browns lose their final game for a draft position

Just doesn't get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I get that people want a higher draft pick, but I think the teams playing at home owe that effort to the fans who paid good money for tickets and showed up for a meaningless game. The same goes for the Browns tomorrow, IMO.

Anyone think the Browns offense can look good tomorrow, I mean they're playing the hapless bengals !!

The Broncos made a Browns play. Denver was in deep in KC territory they fumble Chiefs recover and return it 86 yards for what turned out to be winning score. We couldn't do it any better!!!

I don't give 2 Turds about any game the dallas cowboys have played in the last 20 years, or that they'll play the next 20 either!

Unless it helps the Browns!

It was a great play by Melvin Ingram. The RB (Gordon) had no chance to even get a handle on the handoff. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to a great play by the defense.

No D so far in the Philly/Dallas game. 7-7 with 5 left in the 1st.

No refs either apparently - Dallas wasn't called for one of the more blatant OPIs I've seen.

agreed... 100%.

Win your games. Win as many as you can in every season. If your GM/FO is worth what they're being paid, they'll get best value wherever they draft. Losing intentionally to move up a space or two is the epitome of a loser's culture. Besides, this team's "middle of the pack" final record isn't going to make much of a difference in draft standing with one more loss in the books. Play to win because you have fans in the stands at a home game. Play to win because it's a division rival. Play to win because it shows the fans that you care as much as they do. Play to win because you have some freakking pride. It's still professional football, even if there is no post-season to play for. Do your jobs; earn your paychecks.


.02

The NFC might as well be soccer.

I have no interest in watching any NFC games and haven't watched one, really since the Thursday opener of the season,
and I was pretty unhappy that the owboys were in that one anyway.

I see no reason why a decent thinking person would watch the cowboys play, they are irrelevant

felt bad for Denver... was hoping they'd pull that one off...

Keep this in mind, I think this is correct (Haven't double checked it).

But if we win and Pittsburgh wind, the Ravens finish last in the division.
If we lose or Baltimore wins, we finish last.

Steeler go up 13-10 with 2:51 left in the 4th

13-13 now. 1:13 left.

Pitt and Balt looking like nobody wants to win.

Overtime

I think om gonna puke

What's less nauseating, watching the steelers in the playoffs or having to root for the rats to beat them?

Can both teams lose? Lol

Only if they tie.

If that rapist gets in stefanski must be fired

Is it wrong of me to hope that the Steelers lose as Ben throws an INT for a TD?

That would be awesome

FURE STEFANSKI. This is his fault

Just waiting on that Steeler last second field goal now

Any minute now…..

PI call?

Aaaaaany minuuuute now…..

lets go tie

Tomlin has the balls of a burglar.

He had no choice.

really hoping for a tie

I cant stand you stefanski. You let this rapist into playoffs

The rapist is in.

Unbelievable.

I hate this year.

Damned stoolers.

I hate you stefanski !!!!!!!!!!

Looks like they are going for the kick, hopefully wide right!

On a positive note, we finish 3rd in the division and the ravens 4th.

Can only hope...

Unless the Chargers and Raiders tie

Get a grip.

ffs

Come on Chargers/Raiders tie!!

Is the guy on the right comedian John Pinnette? R.I.P.
wait: Is he the "old man" from the t.v. show "Pawn Stars" 2010, also R.I.P.
Just a common face structure of a scow

I hate you stefanski!!!!!!!!!I HATE YOU

Who did the Steelers just know out?
The Colts???
I think the Colts, not the chargers or Raiders winner, the Chargers or Raiders winner would still get in, I'm going to have to check some notes.

I can't believe the colts lost to the Jags

Remember the day the League Manufacutred the win for the Steelers over the Bears, because of a 15 yard personal conduct penalty on the Bears player who had just gotten the sack, and all the player did
was stare at the steeler sideline, and didn't even,
didn't even
didn't even "stop and stare" as he was still moving off the field. But!

The League, wuvs their steelwer teddy bwear, no way could they ever wet duh Old stewuh ohwuners not make duh pwayoffs

They should be ashamed. As Charles Barkley says, That is tuurable

Unless the Raiders and Chargers tie, the Stool Samples are in.

Their 9-7-1 beats the loser of the Raiders/Chargers game. The Wild Cards would be the whichever team has the better seed between the Bills and Pats ..... The West WC .... and the Stool Samples.

Sickening that Pittsburgh just defies odds to win

oh look, my wife's FB feed is blowing up from all her steeler friends celebrating, I should unfriend them for her

It's Joe Cobb and Norman Chaney. It's a still from "Our Gang" (Little Rascals), both kids thought they were supposed to win and the other one was supposed to lay down. So neither tried to win and just expected the other to give up.

Sickening.

We had our chances to take them down and crapped ourselves. They’re in because of us.

They're in because they won 9 games... sure we could have knocked them out... but so could baltiwhore and a bunch of other teams...

Someone said the Colts hadn't won IN Jacksonville, since 2014.

....------

Are the Patriots about to lose on purpose to make sure they play the Bengals in round one or something???

Miami and NO both with early leads which helps our draft order

It is. On paper we were the superior team, this was OUR year to start dominating them, and just like always we crap the bed

On a positive note, unless those #####s win the super bowl, the Browns will have won more games in the last 2 years than the bengals.
4-12 in 2020 they were.

You could stick it to him by boycotting the forum until the Browns win a Super Bowl with their next coach.

OMG!!!! Jacksonville won! I didn't think it was possible but wow! As long as the Chargers and Raiders don't tie, the Steelers are in! Sorry, didn't read the entire thread.

Buffalo is leading the jets 13-0,< by google (10-0 by update 8 minutes later) maybe pending the xp I dunno.

As long as Buffalo beats the jets, the patriots can not win their div. with either a win or loss against the dolphins.

Either way, they'd stay at the #5 seed, iirc.

The Colts 9-8, and the
loser of the Chargers- Raiders game, about to be played, both 9-7, will each be 9-8 and behind the 9-7-1 steelers for wild card spot #7

The winner of the Chargers Raiders game, at 10-7, would be above the steelers at 9-7-1, yet if they tie, the 3 teams at 9-7-1
in a 3 way tie, they'd first remove the team in 3rd place in any div. not 2nd place,
and 2nd look at if any team had swept both other teams, well the steelers lost to both the raiders in week 2 and chargers in week 11.

So if the Raiders and chargers tie the,... the chargers beat the raiders in the first meeting and would be ahead 2nd place in their div. so the chargers would be in at 9-7-1 over the 9-7-1 raiders, and 9-7-1 steelers.
but if either the Raiders or chargers win their game they would be 10-7 and In along with the steelers, while their opponent would be out.

If the Patriots, lose and finish 10-7, they beat the chargers so they are ahead of the chargers,
my notes had the raiders conf record wrong so the raiders (f they win) and pats would be 8-4 in the afc and go to common games minimum 4.
At which the Raiders, if they win, would surpasse the Patriots for the 5 seed, if the patriots lose to the dolphins whom they' are trailing,
on the strength of a 5-1 v. a 2-4 record in common opponents minimum 4 which would be 5 opps. the Browns, Colts, Dolphins, Cowboys, and Chargers.

In the Patriots Dolphins game, the referees reviewed the 3rd down spot.

After looking at the video the Ref said,
" After review the ball is 6 inches further, we will move the ball and measure for the first down." It was still not a 1st down.
now. Make of that what you will. ( I don? No, I don't know if the Ref was married.)

This 49ers at Rams is a pretty fun watch.

Lets go Chargers!

Great game to watch.

Dolphins begin the season 1-7 and finish with a better record than the Browns. Yikes!

Obligatory game-changing PI call on Niners in OT vs Rams. It would have been a better no-call on 3rd & 10, with pretty insignificant contact, IMO. Zebras wrecking the game, once again.

No matter, Niners just intercepted Stafford to win in overtime, 27-24.

On a throw towards OBJ too...

I thought it was a pretty clear penalty. The guy had a fist full of jersey.

I watched the Dolphins & Patriots game.. Good to see the Pats lose...

Didn't get to see that... QB error ...OBJ on wrong route or good d play ?

Nah Stafford threw the ball up for grabs about 40 yards downfield…

The Rams clinched the division because the Cardinals lost. They heaved one downfield to end the game.

I wonder if Stafford was expecting OBJ to come back and catch it or draw the penalty. The DB played the ball like it was for him.

I agree it was probably a penalty, I just didn't think it was significant to the incompletion.

The Rams were trying to end the game.

Thank you !!

I think it slowed the receiver enough that is likely it affected the receiver's ability to make a better play on the ball.

It did feel kinda gimme since it was the end of game and it really could have changed things.

Collinsworth must be hammered. He just called Al Michaels "Mike". No Chris, Mike Tirico was last week.

Don't attribute to alcohol what can be chalked up to just being an idiot.

Al Micheals is outmatched,
Al said in the show open, " if they tie the steelers get in" . (completely incorrect,)

The Raider Offense is 2 and a half times greater than the Browns offense!

Teams that make playoffs' have offenses that get points!!!!!!!!!!

looking at some of the other teams stadiums.... it's like .. seriously, can the Browns get a nice stadium ? It's not bad but....

Chargers deserved to lose for going for it 4th 1.5 yards from there own 19.

Chargers went for it on 4th down from their own 18 and didn't convert. That's a crazy decision to me

they went for it on their own 26 the day the refs stole the game for them against the Browns with that bogus PI call where the receiver pulled either greedy or newsome into him on the day the chargers played the browns.

-----------------

Now. Some may look at the Raiders and say, Defense wins Championships.
But!

The Raiders opened the game with Dominance and Power to get 10 points on Offense, in the opening few minutes of the first quarter!

Without OFFENSE, the adage of defense winning championships is just a joke!

Yes, please!

Build a stadium w/ a retractable roof. Stadium is wildly outdated.

Should the Raiders take the Field goal on 2nd down?

Milk Man wants to pay for 100% of the new stadium!

I advocate that any football NFL owner that gets a new stadium by abandoning a current stadium that is less than 39.5 years old needs to pay a 250 million, adjusted for inflation from the year 2005 luxury tax back to the community that paid for the previous stadium!

or a value equal to 1/4 of the new stadiums cost, whichever is greater! And I think if it were up to the voters, more would be on my side.
(from ground breaking or stadium open?, from stadium open of course otherwise owners would just break ground on stadiums 20 years early to create a loophole.)

The Raiders went for the touchdown and got a 12 point lead, now they go for 2 and don't make it.

If the Raiders win I think they go to the bungles. I heard one of the announcers let it slip 3 weeks ago, that they "have to get the raiders into the playoffs"
it feels like the entire leagues outcomes are scripted.

j/c...

The Chargers is the Chargers. - JuJu

If the Browns tried what the Raiders just did.
The Refs would have called pass interference and roughing the passer, because the league hates Cleveland.

I remember when Greedy Williams had that interception late against the raiders,
and then

I will self-fund the entire endeavor!

Raiders vs Chargers proves to us.
The ability to throw the ball down field for completions, and get receivers open downfield, (is as important) as the ability to pressure and sack quarterbacks.

If the Raiders and Chargers tie, what would happen.
They would seed the seeds in the playoffs, and as they begin to seed spot #6
they'd take all 3 teams that were 9-7-1 (the 3 way rule would remove the raiders, and it would be a one on one look steelers vs. chargers tie break where the head to head victory gives the Chargers a win over the steelers and the #6 seed spot

Then they would again look at the remaining 2 teams 9-7-1 and do a one on one look at the steelers and raiders for the #7 seed,
and it would give the head to head the raiders beat the steelers, decision to the Raiders, for the #7 seed,

and the steelers would be 8th and no playoffs.

So of the Raiders vs. Chargers, if they Tie, they BOTH get in. and the steelers don't.

that was the longest 2 minutes ever.

This game is drunk

Absolutely crazy game! Wildly fun.

2022, 2023, 2024 1st rounders and Mayfield for Herbert?

The newest playoff rules make ties more likely than before!
especially limiting the time to 10:00 minutes

Herbert is not as good as Mayfield, Neither is Cousins as good as Mayield.
Neither are a lot of other options as good as Mayfield.
But!
The Browns offense and whatever, game planning, practice camp whatever, would limit anyone you could name the moment they came to Cleveland also!

The Best thing the Browns could do is re- design the offense, so that it does something effective.

Now that all of the nonsense of the two opening poss. of OT are done with, they finaly enter sudden death,

Why don't they just start sudden death when OT when they start OT? like they used to.
At this point there is only 4 minuets 30 something remaining before the game would end in a tie, which is stupid.

There is no incentive for either team to win at this point.

The Chargers were stupid. Their coach cost them the game. What an idiot.

Deal gets squashed after learning Mayfield has been thrown in. Five more 1st round picks required!

For the Chargers not to make the playoffs with their QB and roster is insane. I think they’re as talented as Buffalo or KC

Coaching matters

Part of it is head coaches trying to out-macho each other on 4th down attempts, whether they are forsaking the FG or else going for it on the wrong side of the 50 yard line. I know analytics say otherwise, but sometimes its just dumb IMO. Our HC has left points on the field several times this season, including yesterday, even though he is otherwise pretty conservative. We have not been good at 4th down conversions with a 41% success rate. Meanwhile, our opponents were successful 64% of the time. Context matters, and sometimes a FG is the right call. Staley and Harbaugh both hurt their teams passing on FG attempts this season too.

I’d always be more comfortable going for 4th downs if I had the better Qb than the other team … sadly, that’s not the case with us most of the time

I agree - but I find it funny that when Herbert misses the play offs, questioning the coaching is valid. When Baker doesn't take us to the play offs, questioning the coaching is an excuse. . . . Baker has played like trash this year - I'm not claiming otherwise, but to raise the issue of coaching when we talk about Baker is to be labelled a Baker fanboy and as someone who is blaming everything but Baker. Sort of old.

j/c…

Lol.

Based on social media, I guess I'm one of the few people who was perfectly fine with the way the Raiders/Chargers game ended and if it had been the Browns, I would have hoped they do it exactly the same way.

1. Clearly, both teams played to win the game.
2. Once it came down to winning vs not losing, both teams chose not losing.
3. The chargers scored on the last play of the game, could have gone for 2 and ended it right there. Coach made the correct decision to play for OT.
4. Both teams tried to score and end the game in OT but once the Raiders knew they were down to the final possession, they ran the ball. Either the Chargers would stuff them and they would let the clock run out and go to the playoffs with a tie or they would get in FG range. The Chargers didn't stop them.
5. The Chargers timeout is being overblown, they ran the clock down to :03 on the play clock before calling the timeout on the 3rd and 4 play. They weren't trying to preserve time, they were just adjusting their defense. The Raiders still came out and ran the ball right up the gut, the Chargers just didn't stop it. Had they stopped it, the Raiders would have let the clock run out and both of them would have gone to the playoffs.

Every teams goal from training camp is to make the playoffs. If that means you don't take risks in the final minute of the final game and let it be a tie.... so be it.

I was initially bitter, but now I'm thinking the two teams would've played the next week, and the Raiders wanted no part of that. I believe Raiders would've played the Chargers in case of the tie.

They only talked about it 6000 times last night and I don't believe there was any scenario in which those two teams played in round 1 of the playoffs.

They would've faced the Chiefs instead. Wrong team, but same thought.

Oh I agree. I am also in the camp that think both Stefanski and Baker are both equally bad this year. But make no mistake, Baker isn't even in the same universe as Justin Herbert

Obviously a Freddie Kitchens call.

Raiders had zero reason to tie... they were going to kick that FG try no matter what.... if they tied they got the Chiefs which I can't imagine they wanted to play again

Yeah... I initially had the wrong team, but my thought is still the same. I think the Raiders were making a strategic playoff matchup decision. I still think the Bengals will beat them, but if I coached that Raiders team, I'd much rather face Bengals than Chiefs.