So Which Is It?

Are the Pittsburgh Steelers going to take advantage of this momentum and win a few playoff games? Or will they fall on their faces and get bounced early? If they would have lost against the Indianapolis Colts instead of making a 17-point come from behind victory, I would have leaned towards them crashing and burning. Since they won and clinched the division title they will now host a playoff game, but only as the third seed. They seemed to be a lock to get the top-2 about a month ago. I don’t think they will be running the ball with any kind of consistency from here on out. However, if they abandon this short yardage passing attack that has been a disaster then they might have a chance. With the depth of receivers at their disposal they need to take advantage of that. The defense is going to do their thing, but if the offense plays like they did during the 3-game losing streak then all bets are off. This is a good team, just not a great one.

It’s A Simple Task

The Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Washington Redskins and Tennessee Titans. All of them had a simple task this past week. If they had won their games they would either have clinched a playoff spot or put themselves in a good position to finish the job for the final week of the season. For the Raiders it’s over and they failed in spectacular fashion late in the game. The Browns lost to the New York Jets and have to hope the Steelers rest the majority of their players in the final game. The Colts and Titans both lost and while Tennessee controls their fate with a simple win against Houston, the Colts have an easier opponent in Jacksonville. Washington could have won the crappiest division in football with a win over Carolina. They still can win it with a victory over Philadelphia on Sunday night. The best example of blowing this simple task goes to the Arizona Cardinals. With the Los Angeles Rams losing to Seattle on Sunday, if Arizona had won their game against San Francisco on Saturday they would be in a nice position for the final week. The Cardinals play the Rams and both teams having lost in Week 16 will duke it out for a playoff spot in the NFC. All this while giving the Chicago Bears added life with their easy victory over the Jaguars. The lesson here is simple. Just win the game when it’s more convenient.

This Division Sucks

Did I ever mention how much the NFC East sucks? Amazingly three teams still have a chance to win this thing. If the New York Giants defeat the Dallas Cowboys and Washington loses to Philadelphia, the Giants are division champions at 6-10. Yes, you read that right. If Dallas beats the Giants and Washington loses, the Cowboys win the division at 7-9. And if Washington wins, regardless of what happens in the Dallas – New York game, they win the division at 7-9. Not a single team in this division had at least 4 wins until Week 12. If this was a normal year with sellout crowds, one of these awful teams will be hosting a playoff game and would probably win it. I guess it’s only fitting that it happens this year. A team who wishes to remain nameless will probably win this division. However, I fully expect the Dallas Cowboys to pull a miracle and win it in the end. I’m literally shaking my head as I type this part of the Weekly Review. Good grief.