NFL - NEWS & NOTES

The 49ers are in an interesting situation where there could be a very likely scenario where if they win vs Seattle in week 17 they would be the #1 seed but if they lose they'd be the #6 seed.

 

Buffalo - x

 

1st 10-win season since 1999.

 

If the Steelers lose to the Jets next week then we get into some very weird playoff scenarios.

 

So far this week...

 

In a nutshell...

 

Rams completely crapped the bed yesterday. Dismal performance from a team that needed a win to keep realistic playoff hopes alive.

 

A look at MNF...

Though the Saints are coming off a defeat to the 49ers in a game-of-the-year candidate, all is reasonably well for coach Sean Payton's bunch.

It's a stark contrast to coach Frank Reich's Colts, who hobble into the Superdome on a three-game slide that has them a defeat away from losing their glimmer of hope at a return to the postseason.

On the agenda in NOLA is a Super Bowl XLIV rematch, Drew Brees and Michael Thomas zeroing in on NFL landmarks held by former Colts, the Saints vying for top seeds and first-round byes and Jacoby Brissett, Darius Leonard and the rest of the Colts hoping to put a stop to the struggles that have clouded their last six weeks.

In the second-to-last Monday Night Football offering of the season, Brissett and the Indianapolis Colts (6-7) are looking for an upset against Brees and the host New Orleans Saints (10-3) in a showdown that commences at 8:20 p.m. ET on ESPN.

These franchises most famously faced off in Super Bowl XLIV, with Brees and the Saints emerging from their first and only trip to a championship game with their first and only Lombardi Trophy.

The Saints have won the last three against the Colts, including the Super Bowl triumph.

For the Colts to cling to any semblance of postseason hope, they must win on Monday, as a loss will eliminate them from postseason contention. New Orleans, meanwhile, has already clinched the NFC South, but must keep pace with NFC heavyweights San Francisco, Seattle and Green Bay in its quest for a top-two seed and a first-round bye.

source; NFL.com
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Gotta love those games where a teams back is against the wall. Colts in a must win or its over thing, should be fun.

 

Looking at the Saints road to the SB. Wouldn't mind playing any of these playoff teams...…….. at home.

The only game that scares the hell out of me is Saints@Packers.

On the road, outside, in the cold. For the Saints ? That never works.

 

The Saints are gonna need a lot of help to pull that off.

 

Yep, turf teams from a dome up in Green Bay with sub-zero temps is where no one wants to be.

 

Rather be in San Fran or Seattle. It's cold, but not Green Bay COLD !!

 

I've got my playoff seeding predictions coming up in the next podcast, likely Wednesday. However if you care what I think I have my predictions on Twitter.

 

If it’s December it must be about time for Josh Gordon to get suspended again.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.nf...ff&p.bgc1m=%230964bf&p.bgc2m=%23053a74&sr=amp

yep

 

This is not a long shot.

Maybe not. As long as the "any given Sunday" thing doesn't rear it's ugly head.

Next weekend. The Packers go to the Vikings. Early odds say, Vikings by 4+.

That takes them down a notch.

Week 17.

The Niners go to Seattle.

You don't want to be the road team there,,,,,,, or NOLA !!!

The Saints have the Titans and Panthers.

Titans could be tough. Panthers ??? Pffffft

Then we see how the tiebreakers shake out.

WHO DAT !!!!!!!!

 

Drew Brees breaks Peyton Manning's all-time passing touchdown record.

 

Brees goes 29/30. Wow. Almost perfection. Great night for #9.

 

Matt Patricia doesn't have to worry about his job security this winter.

The Lions organization announced Tuesday its decision to keep both the head coach and general manager Bob Quinn.

Patricia has been under fire, and legitimate questions swirled around his status after his Lions took a step backward in the win-loss category this season, going from 6-10 in his first campaign to 3-10-1 with two games left to play. He said Monday as long as his key card works, he's going to continue to go to work and give it his fullest effort until those in charge "have to throw me out."

Lions owner Martha Firestone Ford was less humorous in her words Tuesday.

"We expect to be a playoff contender," Ford said, per the team's official website. "That means playing meaningful games in December."

There will be no meaningful games this December for the Lions, who will forge into 2020 with Patricia and his trademark pencil still in charge. We'll see if they can improve in the new decade.

source; NFL.com

 

Here are the playoff-clinching scenarios for Week 16 of the 2019 NFL season

AFC

CLINCHED:

Baltimore Ravens - AFC North division

Kansas City Chiefs - AFC West division

Buffalo Bills - playoff berth

New England Patriots - playoff berth

BALTIMORE RAVENS (12-2) (at Cleveland (6-8), Sunday, 1:00 PM ET, CBS)

Baltimore clinches a first-round bye with:

1) BAL win or tie OR
2) KC loss or tie OR
3) NE loss

Baltimore clinches homefield advantage throughout AFC playoffs with:

1) BAL win OR
2) BAL tie + NE loss or tie OR
3) KC loss or tie + NE loss

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (11-3) (vs. Buffalo (10-4), Saturday, 4:30 PM ET, NFL Network)

New England clinches AFC East division with:

1) NE win or tie

New England clinches a first-round bye with:

1) NE win + KC loss or tie OR
2) NE tie + KC loss

HOUSTON TEXANS (9-5) (at Tampa Bay (7-7), Saturday, 1:00 PM ET, NFL Network)

Houston clinches AFC South division with:

1) HOU win OR
2) HOU tie + TEN tie OR
3) TEN loss

Houston clinches a playoff berth with:

1) HOU tie + PIT tie OR
2) PIT loss

NFC

CLINCHED:

New Orleans Saints - NFC South division

Green Bay Packers - playoff berth

San Francisco 49ers - playoff berth

Seattle Seahawks - playoff berth

GREEN BAY PACKERS (11-3) (at Minnesota (10-4), Monday, 8:15 PM ET, ESPN)

Green Bay clinches NFC North division with:

1) GB win or tie

DALLAS COWBOYS (7-7) (at Philadelphia (7-7), Sunday, 4:25 PM ET, FOX)

Dallas clinches NFC East division with:

1) DAL win

MINNESOTA VIKINGS (10-4) (vs. Green Bay (11-3), Monday, 8:15 PM ET, ESPN)

Minnesota clinches a playoff berth with:

1) MIN win or tie OR
2) LAR loss or tie

 

AFC Playoff Scenarios per NFL.com's

• Jeremy Bergman
• Around The NFL Writer

CURRENT PLAYOFF TEAMS

1) Baltimore Ravens (12-2, AFC North champions) -- at CLE, PIT (Remaining strength of schedule: .500)
2) New England Patriots (11-3) -- BUF, MIA (.464)
3) Kansas City Chiefs (10-4, AFC West champions) -- at CHI, LAC (.429)
4) Houston Texans (9-5) -- at TB, TEN (.536)
5) Buffalo Bills (10-4) -- at NE, NYJ (.571)
6) Pittsburgh Steelers (8-6) -- at NYJ, at BAL (.607)

IN THE HUNT

7) Tennessee Titans (8-6) -- NO, at HOU (.714)
8) Cleveland Browns (6-8) -- BAL, at CIN (.464)
9) Oakland Raiders (6-8) -- at LAC, at DEN (.357)

Home-field advantage + first-round byes: Ravens vs. Patriots vs. Chiefs (vs. Texans vs. Bills)
Riding a 10-game winning streak, Baltimore is in the driver's seat and has been for the back half of the season. If the Ravens win one of their final two games, a first-round bye and home-field advantage is theirs, due to their head-to-head advantage over New England, the only other team that can reach 13 wins. But Baltimore's final two games are no sure things, given the Ravens have already lost to Cleveland, while Pittsburgh and its top-tier defense are still in the hunt for a wild-card bid. A major slip-up from the slippery Lamar Jackson and company could open the door for the Patriots or Chiefs to snag home-field advantage.

That being said, in all likelihood, Baltimore will be the No. 1 seed and the second bye will be left to the remaining quartet of contenders -- Patriots, Chiefs, Texans, Bills. Of the four, New England currently has the best chance of securing the bye (78 percent to Kansas City's 22 percent, according to New York Times' Upshot tool).

Of the five sides that can snag a bye, the Texans currently have the most variance in potential outcomes. Houston can get a first-round bye if it wins out, New England loses out and Buffalo falls to the Jets, but the Texans can also crash out of the postseason if they lose out while Tennessee and Pittsburgh win out (all according to NYT Upshot). The latter is the more likely scenario than the former. Speaking of Houston ...

AFC South: Texans vs. Titans
It's hard to overstate how significant Houston's road win against Tennessee, the two sides' first of two meetings in three weeks, was to the Texans' playoff chances. A loss would have given the Titans a one-game lead in the division, some needed wiggle room considering Tennessee draws the more difficult NFC South opponent in Week 16 (Saints, while Houston faces Tampa Bay) before it meets the Texans again. Instead, Houston has the one-game lead going into a Saturday showdown with Jameis Winston and the mercurial Buccaneers. A Texans win would clinch the division before Tennessee even takes the field on Sunday, leaving the Titans to hope for a Steelers collapse out of the wild card. However, a Texans loss to Tampa Bay and a Titans win over the Saints would set up a do-or-die AFC South showdown, with the loser potentially dropping out of the postseason altogether.

AFC East: Patriots vs. Bills
As thrilling as a Buffalo win over New England in December would be to the football landscape and the public consciousness, the likelihood of the Bills stealing the AFC East is low regardless of Saturday afternoon's outcome. Even if the Bills and the Pats enter Week 17 tied at 11-4, New England would be in control of the division due to its record against common opponents (NE, 7-1; BUF, 5-3). For the Bills to win the division, the Patriots would have to lose to both Buffalo and 3-11 Miami ... in Foxborough ... in December. As poorly as New England's offense is currently moving the ball, such a scenario is highly unlikely (17 percent heading into Week 17 tied, per NYT Upshot).

Wild card: Bills vs. Steelers vs. Titans vs. Texans (vs. Patriots)
With Buffalo's win over Pittsburgh on Sunday night, the Bills clinched a playoff berth for the second time in three seasons. The Bills also secured at least the fifth seed for either them or the Patriots, pending the result of the division-slash-how much Fitzmagic is left in the Fish Tank.

The sixth seed will belong to either the Steelers, Titans or Texans (or Cleveland or Oakland, but I mean, come on). Pittsburgh has the tiebreaker over Tennessee because of conference record (6-4 vs. 6-5); Houston owns a far superior 8-3 mark in conference. If the Steelers win out, it's their spot no matter what happens between the Texans and Titans in the AFC South. If Pittsburgh falls to either the Jets or Ravens, Houston could lose out and still hop the Steelers for the sixth seed, while Tennessee could lose to New Orleans (an NFC opponent) beat the Texans and get in over Pittsburgh, both due to conference record. However, if the Steelers drop just one game and the Titans lose to the Texans in Week 17, then the sixth seed is Pittsburgh's. Get it? Got it? Good.

What are the Browns and Raiders still doing here?
As laughable as a Monty Python sketch but without the winking Anglo-absurdism, the Browns are not dead yet in the AFC. Same goes for the zombie Raiders, who are two games behind the Steelers and Titans for the sixth seed. Though playing like their seasons have been over since November, Cleveland and Oakland are both still technically "in the hunt." If the Browns win out, they can still make the postseason in a four-way tie at 8-8 with the Titans, Steelers and Colts. If the Raiders win out, they can still make the playoffs in the same manner. Of course, this would require either Cleveland and Oakland to win their remaining two games after dropping five of their last six combined.

AFC Games of the Week (ranked by significance ... TO ME)
1) Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots
2) Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets
3) Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns
BONUS: Houston Texans at Tampa Bay Buccaneers*

Believe me when I tell you -- not as an employee of NFL Media, but as a friend, man of truth and morally reliable word-typer -- that Saturday's tripleheader on the Big Shield is must-watch television for anyone even remotely interested in understanding the playoff picture. And if you've gotten this far through this word salad of a primer, then I'm guessin' you are.

The opener, Texans-Bucs, doesn't technically qualify under my arbitrary definition of AFC Games of the Week because it includes a team in the NFC (yuck), but if Tampa Bay beats Houston, then the ramifications for the wild-card and AFC South races are huge, as mentioned above. It is a worthy addendum.

Bills-Patriots, the Massachusetts meat of the Saturday sandwich, is significant, not necessarily to the AFC East (as outlined above), but to the race for the first-round bye. A Buffalo win against New England would open up the door for K.C. and Houston (and Buffalo, technically) to secure a first-round bye, as the Chiefs and Texans already have the head-to-head advantage over the Pats. Also, it would be nice to see if the Pats can beat a team currently with a winning record for the first time since Week 4 against ... Buffalo.

On Sunday afternoon, Sammy Spoiler and the Jets can upend the wild card if they iron out a win against the Steelers. Plus, Lamar Jackson is always appointment television, as is the Browns' trainwreck of a season, which could be reaching its final destination at the surface of Lake Erie with a home loss to Baltimore.