NFL - NEWS & NOTES

The NFL playoff picture is taking shape. Here’s how it looks after the latest slate of games:

AFC
1. Chiefs (13-1) Clear path to home-field advantage.

2. Steelers (11-2) Clinched playoff berth.

3. Bills (11-3) Clinched the AFC East.

4. Titans (10-4) Owns the division record tiebreaker over Indianapolis.

5. Colts (10-4) Still a chance in AFC South.

6. Browns (10-4) Closing in on a return to the playoffs.

7. Dolphins (9-5) Own the last wild card thanks to conference record tiebreaker over Ravens.

***

8. Ravens (9-5) Game clear of rest of but loses tiebreaker on conference games to Miami.

9. Raiders (7-7) Two games out in the wild card race with two games to go.

10. Patriots (6-8) Mathematically eliminated.

11. Broncos (5-9) Mathematically eliminated.

12. Chargers (5-9) Mathematically eliminated.

13. Texans (4-10) Mathematically eliminated.

14. Bengals (2-10-1) Mathematically eliminated.

15. Jaguars (1-13) Mathematically eliminated.

16. Jets (1-13) Mathematically eliminated.

NFC
1. Packers (11-3) Clear path to home-field advantage.

2. Saints (10-4) Clinched a playoff berth

3. Seahawks (10-4) First in the NFC West.

4. Washington (6-8) Still lead the NFC East.

5. Rams (9-5) Leads Tampa Bay in the wild card race based on head-to-head tiebreaker.

6. Buccaneers (9-5) Well positioned for a wild card.

7. Cardinals (8-6) One-game lead for the final wild card.

***

8. Bears (7-7) Still alive for the wild card.

9. Vikings (6-8) Loss to the Bears all but ends their playoff hopes.

10. Lions (5-9) Mathematically eliminated.

11. Cowboys (5-9) Still not out of it in the NFC East.

12. 49ers (5-9) Mathematically eliminated.

13. Giants (5-9) Still not out of it in the NFC East.

14. Eagles (4-9-1) Still not out of it in the NFC East.

15. Falcons (4-10) Mathematically eliminated.

16. Panthers (4-10) Mathematically eliminated.

NBC

 

Browns defensive end Myles Garrett has played in the last three games after missing two weeks with COVID-19, but he still isn’t completely healthy.

Garrett revealed after Sunday night’s win over the Giants that it was still affecting him and he isn’t sure when he can expect to feel good as new.

“I am not sure. I am just getting over a coughing fit from the locker room earlier,” Garrett said. “Taking those deep big breaths are tough right now with the shortness of breath and that turning into a cough or getting choked up. You just have to find a way. . . . Hopefully, if we make it to the playoffs, I can try to get myself to as close to 100 percent as possible.”

Garrett says there’s no guarantee he’ll be 100 percent healthy even in a month.

“It’s bound to affect your lungs, and I feel like I need those to be out there and give my full effort,” Garrett said. “It is hard to make a move or do something that you know is going to expend a lot of energy, knowing that you have to do it again the next play and the next play. It kind of throws off what I am doing, but just have to go out there and make it happen.”

Even for a young and healthy elite athlete like Garrett, this disease is serious business.

Myles Garrett still battling COVID-19, had “coughing fit” in locker room Sunday originally appeared on Pro Football Talk

 

So far . . . so good !!!

 

Panthers fire G.M. Marty Hurney



Add the Panthers to the list of teams looking for a new General Manager.

The team announced that they fired Marty Hurney on Monday. Hurney’s contract ran through June, but team owner David Tepper said he believed that now was the right time to make a move.

“I think sometimes you just need a restart, a refresh,” Tepper said, via Darin Gantt of the team’s website. “We did it last year on the coaching side. Maybe you could say it should have been done before on the G.M. side. Maybe it should have been. I’m sure people may say that, or otherwise, on both sides. I think it’s just time, on both sides, to do that. It just seems like the right time to move forward.”

Hurney was in his second stint as the team’s G.M. He was in the role from 2002 to 2012 and returned in 2017 after Dave Gettleman was dismissed.

Tepper said he wants more of a data-driven approach to the football operation and that head coach Matt Rhule will play a role in the search process for Hurney’s successor because “to not have a head coach with some input into that is stupid.”

NBC

 

***WANTED***

GM's

 

Dead or alive

 

Just heard that Kevin Greene has died. No details that I heard. 58 years old. How sad.

 

RIP

 

Browns can be in an intriguing position. If the Steelers beat the Colts then the Browns clinch the playoffs with a win. If the Colts beat the Steelers then the Browns will win the division if they win out.

 

1-0, all they can do is focus on the Jets.

 

Juju = Idiot! lol! Steelers choking!!!

 

Oh crap. This loss tonight is huge when you look at what it means for the Bills and by proxy their week 17 status.

Buffalo Bills can clinch the #2 seed next week with a win, Steelers loss + Titans loss. Titans loss only needed if the Steelers and Browns tie in the finale. This means the Dolphins could face a resting Bills. Steelers vs Browns likely division or bust (eliminated) for Cleveland.

 

Monday Night Football: Bengals hand Steelers third straight loss, 27-17



The last undefeated team in the NFL has now lost three straight games.

The Cincinnati Bengals jumped all over the Pittsburgh Steelers early and held off a second half rally in a 27-17 victory over the Steelers on Monday night.

Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers Offense looked completely broken in the first half as the Bengals jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead. The Steelers had 40 yards in total with 7 net passing yards, two first downs and three turnovers. Roethlisberger had completed just 7-of-16 passes for 19 yards and an interception with two fumbles and one lost. JuJu Smith-Schuster also lost a fumble as a part of three first half turnovers for Pittsburgh.

Ryan Finley, Cincinnati’s third different starting quarterback this season, didn’t do much for the Bengals. But he didn’t have to with the mistakes from the Steelers. Finley completed just 7-of-13 passes for 89 yards. It was the first victory for the Bengals when they had fewer than 80 net passing yards since a 14-0 win over the Cleveland Browns in December 2008 with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback. That game was played in 18 degrees with 26 mph winds.

But Finley also rushed for 47 yards and a touchdown to help lift the Bengals to victory. Maybe more importantly, he didn’t turn the ball over and the Bengals Defense kept the Steelers offense from producing.

All 17 first half points for Cincinnati came off Pittsburgh turnovers.

A Roethlisberger fumble led to a 34-yard Austin Seibert field goal to take a 3-0 lead. Smith-Schuster fumbled off a hit from Vonn Bell that led to a 4-yard Giovani Bernard touchdown run to make a 10-0 lead. Roethlisberger was then picked off by Mackensie Alexander and three plays later, Finley hit Bernard for a 14-yard score to take a 17-0 lead.

Bernard had 83 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries for Cincinnati.

The crippling mistakes disappeared in the second half but the hole for Pittsburgh was too big to climb out of.

Roethlisberger hit Diontae Johnson for a 23-yard touchdown on Pittsburgh’s opening drive of the second half. Chris Boswell‘s 25-yard field goal on their next drive would cut the lead to seven.

Finley would then be left unaccounted for on a read-option run and scampered 23 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to extend the lead back to two touchdowns.

William Jackson dropped an interception for Cincinnati and then picked up a pass interference call against Johnson that moved the Steelers to the 1-yard line. Benny Snell scored from a yard out on the next play as the Steelers pulled within a touchdown. Pittsburgh would get one last chance with 2:18 remaining. However, they would go four-and-out with Roethlisberger pressured into a throw over the head of James Washington.

The turnover on downs gave a short field that allowed a 33-yard field goal from Seibert to push the margin to 10 points.

Roethlisberger did become just the seventh quarterback in NFL history to reach 60,000 passing yards for his career during the performance. He finished the night 20-of-38 for just 170 yards with a touchdown, interception and lost fumble.

NBC

 

Browns vs. Steelers in Week 17 may determine AFC North champion



When the Steelers opened the season at 11-0, it appeared to be a foregone conclusion that they would win the AFC North. That’s no longer the case.

The Steelers are now 11-3 after Monday night’s loss to the Bengals, and the 10-4 Browns still have a chance to win the AFC North.

If the Steelers lose to the Colts next week, and the Browns beat the Jets, both teams will be 11-4, and the winner of the Week 17 Steelers-Browns game in Cleveland will be the AFC North champion.

The Steelers own the tiebreaker over the Browns, so if Pittsburgh beats Indianapolis next week (or if Cleveland loses to the Jets), the Steelers clinch the AFC North. In that scenario, the Steelers would likely rest Ben Roethlisberger and other key players in Week 17 to try to get everyone healthy for the playoffs. Roethlisberger said after the loss to the Bengals that he’s not 100 percent healthy and no one else is either.

But if the Steelers lose to the Colts, and the Browns beat the Jets, Week 17 becomes a very big game.

NBC
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If it boils down to it... That game will be 'must see TV' . I hope it does.

 

Well, then, I expect a very big week 17 in the AFCN.

If the Jets beat the Browns then Cleveland doesn’t deserve to be in the playoffs. (But they do.)

Indy will be fired up for the PIT game, and I believe Big Ben is hurting more than what he’ll admit.

Meanwhile, I just cannot stand the football team from Miami (it’s a ‘70’s thing) so I won’t say anything nice after this: they deserve to be in the race. And, squish the fish!!!

Go Bills!

 

Frank Reich on tight playoff race: If we’re good enough, we’ll be there



There are several ways that things can go for the Colts over the final two weeks of the season.

At 10-4, they can clinch at least a wild card spot with a win and other results this weekend. They could win the AFC South and wind up as the No. 2 seed in the conference, but they could also wind up out of the playoffs entirely if they stumble against the Steelers or Jaguars.

Colts head coach Frank Reich called the state of the conference “shocking” on Monday, but added that he’s “glad it’s like this” because it forces the team to keep their focus on the game in front of them.

“The rest of it takes care of itself,” Reich said, via Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. “If we’re good enough, we’ll be there. The way to be good enough is to focus on getting better every day.”

There have only been two teams in league history to win 11 games and miss out on a playoff berth. The Colts would like to avoid making that number grow this season.

NBC

 

If the Colts and Bills win next week expect Buffalo to rest guys vs the Fish.

 

That would be smart and a luxury the Steelers lost themselves out of