2017 NFL Playoffs - Super Bowl LI Confirmed! Atlanta Falcons vs New England Patriots!

[Team Alucard]

Flacco needs glasses. He had like 4 guys wide open on that last play.

TNF should be a good game. I wonder how much Mike Vick has left. Atlanta Vick would have been absolutely lethal with this Pittsburgh team, but he's long gone.

[Anacybele]

Omg poor Ravens. Wow, I honestly didn't expect them to go 0-3 this season. I did pick the Bengals here, but still.

Panthers came from behind to go 3-0 though WOOT!

[chococoke]

The AFC North sure has fallen. I wouldn't be shocked if three AFC East teams made the playoffs now. The Bengals could cruise to a division title at this rate

[Team Alucard]

Has it been confirmed that Ben is done? I mean it looked real bad but it might just be a sprain. If he only misses a few games I think the Steelers still win the division.

[Lord Raven]

Flacco needs glasses. He had like 4 guys wide open on that last play.

Watching him for 8 years, I'd say that he got flustered due to an OL break down and he saw a guy wide open down the sideline and went for it. He's always a "go deep ask questions later" first type of QB, not quite a gunslinger like Favre but he's also not gonna take the time scanning the field when his OL is so inconsistent.

It's ridiculous too because Steve Smith dropped a sure first down earlier in that series and #87 (I can't remember his name for the life of me - is Maxx Williams wearing #87) definitely could have made that catch.

I'm so sick and fucking tired of three games in a row where we were let down by both our secondary and our receiving corps. Steve Smith should've had that catch in the Broncos game. Derek Carr should not have been able to march down the field in less than a minute. Andy Dalton should not have a total of two touchdowns in two drives amounting to 3 minutes. Osemele's facemask was stupid as shit, what the fuck is wrong with him? He was supposed to be one of the best guards in football! Steve Smith had two perfect opportunities for first downs there.

On top of that, how the fuck can we still not completely crush the Bengals? We haven't beaten them since 2013 and even that game we let AJ Green catch a Hail Mary on the goalline after we intercepted Dalton four times and we had to make the weirdest and iffiest catch on the sidelines to put us in field goal range in the fourth quarter. Such bullshit!

The only way we can make the playoffs is the Cincy implosion that could be inevitable, considering they looked like the best team in football at this point last year and they fell hard, as well as the Steelers injury luck from last year biting them in the ass. I'm hopeful for an 8-8 season at least. I'm not gonna be mad if we do end up with a losing record because last time we had one I was 13-14 but fucking ballsack these losses are legitimately frustrating. Neither side of the ball can play 4 quarters of football. We get a pick and a fumble recovery TD on Dalton and they still manage to neutralize it by allowing like 50000 receptions and yards to AJ Green. And where were our safeties this whole game????

Also RE: Ben, I heard minimum two weeks with an MCL Sprain.

EDIT #5000000: I am now on the fire Dean Pees hype train. This man cost the Pats a perfect season which was enough of a red flag, but he also cost us 3 games and infinitely many more last year due to his mishandling of the secondary. There's no reason our corners should be playing 5-10 yards off on 3rd and short. The "bend don't break" defense is breaking like fucking mad. He can't get pressure on the other QB this season. He just keeps blowing leads because of his terrible handling. We have talent - we sincerely do. Our secondary is anchored by two All-Pro level players, we have an All-Pro level NT, ILB, pass rusher, and run stopper, but they just can't get their shit together. It's absolutely the dumbest thing ever.

Fuck Dean Pees. Fuck every single coordinator that has left us. I can't fucking believe we've had to settle for Dean Pees after getting Rex Ryan and Chuck Pagano poached, and I can't fucking believe we have the only fast receiver on our team injured (the ONLY fast receiver) and have to rely on a second year Tight End and a 36 year old fucking Wide Receiver for everything. I can't believe that we're on our fourth OC in four years because two of them got HC jobs and one of them got fired midseason due to his own incompetence and mishandling. It's annoying as fuck to watch a team held together by scotch tape that changes so retardedly much every year and is always pushed against the cap because we give players like Lardarius Webb large contracts due to a half a season of good play.

End indignant rant. I'm hoping the Michael Vick led Steelers don't finish us. I can't believe our home games are so back-heavy.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Lord Raven

[-Cynthia-]

Hmm ordinarily I'd pick the Steelers at home with the way the Ravens secondary is playing and their lack of running game, but Ben almost certainly being out makes things more interesting. How much does Vick have left?

Edited September 27, 2015 by -Cynthia-

[MRDRHAWK]

The AFC North sure has fallen. I wouldn't be shocked if three AFC East teams made the playoffs now. The Bengals could cruise to a division title at this rate

The AFC East is not sending three teams to the playoffs. The Jets are gonna get hit in the face by reality any time now - they already lost to a very overrated Eagles team - and the Fins don't look like a playoff team right now. Especially with how they're jobbing to the Bills right now.

Meanwhile, what the hell's with Oakland starting well? Sure, Cleveland sucks, but they beat the Ravens last week, and Derek Carr actually looks functional enough to avoid the sophomore slump - and this is without Greg Olsen as his coordinator.

[Anacybele]

I don't know at all who to pick for Thursday. I'd certainly pick the Steelers too, but they're Big Ben-less now. :(

Vick has gas left in the tank, but still...

And if Ben does only have an MCL sprain, that's sort of a relief.

[Lord Raven]

Were any of you watching them last year? The first half was marred by incompetent coaching and the second half they went like 4-4 after firing that Dennis Allen moron. Derek Carr actually played pretty well despite the losing record and low YPA. They also almost won a few games too, like they almost beat San Diego in a shootout in 2014. They also seemed to hold up pretty well against that Seattle team although said team was missing Kam Chancellor and a few other guys.

The Raiders blew up their roster and these are the fruits of their rebuilding efforts. Granted, I don't see them as anything more than 8-8 by season's end but I'm willing to be proven wrong. Jack Del Rio is also a good coach, which I guess Cynthia can somewhat attest to from his Jacksonville days given that he had to compete against those Peyton Manning era Colts as well as a bunch of pretty good Titans teams in the 2000s.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Lord Raven

[-Cynthia-]

Del Rio is all right- no more axes in the locker room to 'keep chopping wood' though. Our punter sliced his leg with that :/

I don't really see the Raiders as a serious playoff contender, they've looked good in the soft part of their schedule early in the year. If they start winning divisional games, I might give them more credit. Still, good for them.

[MRDRHAWK]

You're forgetting that Jack Del Rio has an awful work ethic, and he got called on it rather publicly at least once while he was in Jacksonville. I'm stunned he's got his team so well-prepped these days, though I wonder if that's the work of his coordinators.

Besides, the AFC West is actually good. Peyton's arm may be done, but Denver's still got a top-three defense, plus the Chargers still have Rivers and the Chiefs are... well, they're okay.

[-Cynthia-]

I've heard reports that he didn't work late hours, but his track record is pretty good. LB coach with that dominating Ravens defense, Defensive Coordinator with the Panthers who had the #2 defense, number of top defenses and good seasons in Jacksonville, then the Broncos defense substantially improved. Probably not someone who's going to win a Super Bowl, but he's the most proven Raiders coach in a while.

[Team Alucard]

Stafford is about to get straight murdered by Von Miller and D-Ware. I don't know if I even want to watch this. =(

[MRDRHAWK]

I've heard reports that he didn't work late hours, but his track record is pretty good. LB coach with that dominating Ravens defense, Defensive Coordinator with the Panthers who had the #2 defense, number of top defenses and good seasons in Jacksonville, then the Broncos defense substantially improved. Probably not someone who's going to win a Super Bowl, but he's the most proven Raiders coach in a while.

Yeah, he's a lot like Wade Phillips in a way. Great coordinator, but ass head coach. Still, I'm surprised that Oakland's doing so well, and maybe he got his shit together when he was our DC and fixed the work ethic issue.

Stafford is about to get straight murdered by Von Miller and D-Ware. I don't know if I even want to watch this. =(

He's been pretty bad this year, honestly. I dunno if it'd be that huge of a loss if he did go down from the Broncos sacking him about twenty times.

[chococoke]

If all of our offensive skill players manage to remain healthy (always a huge if, obviously) I can't see a way for the offense to be stopped. There are too many offensive threats and the offensive line has held up well so far. Even against top defensive lines, Tom

Brady has an insane arsenal of short passing weapons at his disposal that are tough to compete with play to play.

This is thanks in no small part to Dion Lewis. The guy has looked incredibly explosive and has been utilized as a true 3 down back. It's hard to imagine he was out of football last year after being cut by the Browns. I'm really hoping everyone stays healthy and we ride this offense to another 1 seed in the playoffs

[Lord Raven]

Any ideas for a new thread subtitle? I'm all ears.

[Team Alucard]

Ngata sighting!

This game is gonna be a 0-0 tie at this rate. -_-

[ClevelandSteve]

Well, I'm sure the Ravens and Steelers will both bounce back to get about eight or nine wins each. Maybe even ten, if they're lucky. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the Ravens get back to .500 with the next three games (against the Benless Steelers, the Browns, and the 49ers). And the Steelers are 2-1 right now and, if Ben is only out 4 games, they could bounce back even from a 2-5 record once he returns. Whether or not either team will make the playoffs will depend on what the rest of the AFC is looking like towards the end of the year. However, I think the division is most definitely Cincinnati's to lose at this point. With the Ravens slumping, the Steelers losing Ben, and the Browns continuing to be the Browns, there isn't really a team in the division anywhere close to being poised to take the top spot from them.

As for the Raiders, I think their win over the Ravens was one of those freak upsets (like how the 2010 Browns managed to beat the Patroits 34-14, giving New England one of their only two losses of the regular season), and beating the Browns can hardly be considered an accomplishment for any team more skilled than the average group of middle schoolers. They'll fall back to Earth at least as badly as the Browns did last year.

Edited September 28, 2015 by ClevelandSteve

[Jedi]

So um, my Cardinals just kinda curbstomped the 9'ers like I knew it was gonna be one sided but... Damn.

Also I see the Rams have decided to injure yet another QB. It seems to be a running trend now.

Edited September 28, 2015 by Jedi

[-Cynthia-]

The Cardinals have probably had a pretty easy schedule so far to be fair, but the way they're completely destroying teams is impressive.

[Lord Raven]

Besides, the AFC West is actually good. Peyton's arm may be done, but Denver's still got a top-three defense, plus the Chargers still have Rivers and the Chiefs are... well, they're okay.

Is Rivers even healthy? I feel like he's been injured forever and never missed a game but i also almost feel like he's really just not doing too well in general. Then again I haven't looked at boxscores so I have no idea.

Also, I still don't know what I think of the Chiefs. It's still only been 3 weeks, and I've seen us have an early season 3-game losing streak before (2009 - we went 3-0 then 0-3 and were 3-3 by week 7, and those three losses were exactly like the previous three we just saw).

Edited September 28, 2015 by Lord Raven

[Jedi]

The Cardinals have probably had a pretty easy schedule so far to be fair, but the way they're completely destroying teams is impressive.

Yea, our test will be more the middle and end of the season, we seem to have a bit of breathing room right now, although I'm anxious about the Rams considering... Well injuries in the past.

[Anacybele]

Well, there goes our season... Ben's confirmed to have an MCL sprain and will be out 4-6 weeks. The Steelers don't stand a chance against any of the opponents they've got in that timeframe, especially the Cardinals. They MIGHT beat the Ravens on Thursday, but that's no given.

The Rams need to be investigated. They're hurting too many QBs. It's looking suspicious.

[Lord Raven]

It's actually just a freak coincidence.

They brought the guns out against Luck two years ago and Brees last year and they both came out fine. Ben's two injury free years were just kinda lucky but he was due for something like this given his history, advancing age, and terrible interior line. Palmer's also had some ACL concerns (and Cardinals OL last year wasn't spectacular) and Stanton isn't even really a starter, and that's like only 3 QBs too.

Edited September 28, 2015 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

What? The Steelers o-line is pretty decent, it's just missing Pouncey who Wallace isn't as good as. The Rams are just dirty thugs with a good defense. Their game vs the Redskins must've been a fluke.