NFL (2024 Season)

[thspfc]

Brandon Staley needs to be fired tomorrow. Unbelievably awful timeout. He literally sold away the season. Not an exaggeration at all.

Can't write a script better than that though. Best ending to a regular season of all time.

[webny99]

Have there been any situations in the past where it's the last week and two teams playing each other would both be guaranteed playoff spots if they tie? (It's happened in soccer before.)

🔔 Just realized there is a potential situation where this could happen next week 🔔

...

There's no way two teams could orchestrate a tie without making it obvious, and if that happened the league would just boot them both our of the playoffs and put the next two teams in.

Have you seen the Chargers and the Raiders? If there's any two teams that could do it, those would be the two. 

And what we just witnessed is exactly why! Total madness!

[webny99]

Can't write a script better than that though. Best ending to a regular season of all time.

I agree, that was an all-time classic, and what a strange and crazy experience it must have been for Steelers fans.

I'm disappointed with the result, since I think both teams are more deserving than the Steelers, and it killed my prediction that only one AFC North team would make it. Plus I would have much preferred Bills-Chargers over Bills-Patriots (and I imagine Pats fans probably would have preferred Cincinnati over Buffalo too).

But ultimately I think the Raiders made the right decision to go for the win: Not only were they deciding between eliminating the Chargers or the Steelers, they were also deciding which playoff opponent they preferred, Chiefs or Bengals. That combined with the strange timeout made it a pretty obvious choice. Even without the timeout I think they would have tried a long FG anyways, but I guess we'll never know.

[webny99]

And the Raiders end the season with a 4th overtime victory. That seems like it could be a record.

[jgb191]

I was wishing for a tie in the Chargers at Raiders game for TWO reasons:


#1 -- For the last several years, I had wished for an LA vs LA in LA Super Bowl this February (no visiting teams allowed!!).  Chargers vs Rams co-hosting the Super Bowl would have been a fun game to watch.  But now with the Chargers eliminated, that dream could be gone forever as (just as in the mid 90s) there is no guarantee that LA could keep both or either team in the city.

#2 -- Big Ben Rothlissberger finishes his career in a high note, a two-game winning streak.  I will not like seeing him walk off a football field for his last time in a loss.  I wanted his final game to be a win, so another wish of mine gone!


As far as my Houston Texans, I vote David Culley coach of the year simply because our Texans matched last year's four wins, when not a soul alive even predicted a single win.  Every prediction I have heard during training camp was a winless season.  So he exceeded all expectations.  Our players love playing for him and believe in his style.  Everybody had been telling me the Texans' offense was believed to be the absolute worst in NFL history so much so that many people thought a high school defense could easily stop them from scoring.  So to match last year's win total was an amazing accomplishment and I am so proud of our players and staff for their immense effort all season long.

Now I am rooting for the Tennessee Titans for represent our AFC South Division in the Super Bowl and bring the Vince Lombardi trophy back to the AFC South division for the first time since February 2007.

[NWI_Irish96]

Playoff predictions:

Wild Card:
AFC: Bengals over Raiders, Bills over Patriots, Chiefs over Steelers
NFC: Eagles over Bucs, Cowboys over 49ers, Rams over Cardinals

Divisional:
AFC: Titans over Bengals, Bills over Chiefs
NFC: Packers over Eagles, Cowboys over Rams

Championship:
AFC: Bills over Titans
NFC: Cowboys over Bills

Super Bowl, Double Revenge Edition:
Bills over Cowboys

[hotdogPi]

Here's another scenario that I thought of.

It's the middle of the season. You're heavily favored to lose today's game. Your next game is in just four days. Should you play as usual, or should you just not show up, take the loss that you were likely going to get anyway, and give your team some more rest?

[NWI_Irish96]

Here's another scenario that I thought of.

It's the middle of the season. You're heavily favored to lose today's game. Your next game is in just four days. Should you play as usual, or should you just not show up, take the loss that you were likely going to get anyway, and give your team some more rest?

That's one of the reasons I don't like having Thursday games. You're just asking teams to not be at their best. Keep the Thanksgiving games in Detroit and Dallas because of the tradition, but ditch the rest of the Thursday games. If you want to make up the TV revenue, have 2 games on Monday.

[webny99]

In head coach news...

Matt Nagy fired - definitely expected, although he does finish with a winning record as Bears head coach

Mike Zimmer fired - somewhat expected, time for a change for the Vikings

Brian Flores fired - What!?!? Now that is a shocker. Flores had two winning seasons, was 4-2 against the Patriots, and was the first coach in NFL history to come back from 7 losses with 7 wins. You can argue the Dolphins have been worse than their record in all three of his seasons, which is a credit to coaching. I can't even comprehend that he was somehow viewed as a problem.

[NWI_Irish96]

In head coach news...

Matt Nagy fired - definitely expected, although he does finish with a winning record as Bears head coach

Mike Zimmer fired - somewhat expected, time for a change for the Vikings

Brian Flores fired - What!?!? Now that is a shocker. Flores had two winning seasons, was 4-2 against the Patriots, and was the first coach in NFL history to come back from 7 losses with 7 wins. You can argue the Dolphins have been worse than their record in all three of his seasons, which is a credit to coaching. I can't even comprehend that he was somehow viewed as a problem.

Bears GM Ryan Pace follows Nagy out the door. Should have been fired the minute he gave up a first round pick to trade up from 3rd to 2nd in the draft, and then drafting Trubisky instead of Mahomes.

[Henry]

When two hated rivals go down to the wire with a playoff berth up for grabs, you know it's going to be a terrific end to the season. Kudos to the Raiders and Chargers for writing that storybook ending!

[CoreySamson]

Comparison of all the most hyped starting rookie quarterbacks this year:

Trey Lance:   97.3 QBR, 57.7% Comp Pct, 100.5 Yds/G, 5 TD, 2 INT, 6 games

Mac Jones:   92.5 QBR, 67.6% Comp Pct, 223.6 Yds/G, 22 TD, 13 INT, 17 games

Davis Mills:   88.8 QBR, 66.8% Comp Pct, 204.9 Yds/G, 16 TD, 10 INT, 13 games

Justin Fields:   73.2 QBR, 58.9% Comp Pct, 155.8 Yds/G, 7 TD, 10 INT, 12 games

Trevor Lawrence:   71.9 QBR, 59.6% Comp Pct, 214.2 Yds/G, 12 TD, 17 INT, 17 games

Zach Wilson:   69.7 QBR, 55.6% Comp Pct, 179.5 Yds/G, 9 TD, 11 INT, 13 games

[JayhawkCO]

Colts getting hammered by Jacksonville. Any given Sunday, folks.

Colts are OUT? Like, OUT-OUT?

Upset of the season.

Guess I won the bet with jayhawkco? Or is it null? I mean, he said it would be official once he saw playoff matchups . . . oh wait!

Bizarre end to the year for the Colts.  I thought Taylor and the running game would be enough to offset Wentz's Wentziness.  I think the bet should be null and void since I said I would essentially decide if I thought it was going to work out once I saw the matchups, but alas, no need now.  Out of sportsmanship though, you get to invade my signature for a week.  Let me know.

[JayhawkCO]

Playoff Prediction Time:

AFC Wild Card - Chiefs over Steelers, Bills over Patriots, Raiders over Bengals
AFC Divisional Round - Titans over Raiders, Chiefs over Bills
AFC Championship - Chiefs over Titans

NFC Wild Card - Bucs over Eagles, Cowboys over 49ers, Rams over Cardinals
NFL Divisional Round - Packers over Rams, Cowboys over Bucs
NFC Championship - Packers over Cowboys

Super Bowl - Packers over Chiefs

Feels gross to say it as a Vikings fan, but it is what it is.

[thspfc]

Colts getting hammered by Jacksonville. Any given Sunday, folks.

Colts are OUT? Like, OUT-OUT?

Upset of the season.

Guess I won the bet with jayhawkco? Or is it null? I mean, he said it would be official once he saw playoff matchups . . . oh wait!

Bizarre end to the year for the Colts.  I thought Taylor and the running game would be enough to offset Wentz's Wentziness.  I think the bet should be null and void since I said I would essentially decide if I thought it was going to work out once I saw the matchups, but alas, no need now.  Out of sportsmanship though, you get to invade my signature for a week.  Let me know.

Eh, I'll respect the specific wording and say that it's a no-contest.

[JayhawkCO]

Colts getting hammered by Jacksonville. Any given Sunday, folks.

Colts are OUT? Like, OUT-OUT?

Upset of the season.

Guess I won the bet with jayhawkco? Or is it null? I mean, he said it would be official once he saw playoff matchups . . . oh wait!

Bizarre end to the year for the Colts.  I thought Taylor and the running game would be enough to offset Wentz's Wentziness.  I think the bet should be null and void since I said I would essentially decide if I thought it was going to work out once I saw the matchups, but alas, no need now.  Out of sportsmanship though, you get to invade my signature for a week.  Let me know.

Eh, I'll respect the specific wording and say that it's a no-contest.

Nah, fair is fair.  The intent was that the Colts weren't up to snuff, and clearly, they weren't.

[thspfc]

I'm still recovering from that game last night, and yesterday in general. Mostly the Colts losing, Steelers sneaking into the playoffs, then all of a sudden almost not sneaking into the playoffs, then sneaking back in due to Staley's stupid timeout.

I agree with the general sentiment that the Chargers "feel" like more of a playoff team than the Steelers do. But that's mostly because the Chargers are very pretty when they win and usually still watchable when they lose, whereas the Steelers are ugly when they win and terrible when they lose. The Chargers might be a better team, but they did only beat the Steelers by 4.

Only change to the Super Bowl list this week is swapping the Cowboys and Cardinals, putting the Cowboys at 5 and Cardinals at 6.

[thspfc]

Colts getting hammered by Jacksonville. Any given Sunday, folks.

Colts are OUT? Like, OUT-OUT?

Upset of the season.

Guess I won the bet with jayhawkco? Or is it null? I mean, he said it would be official once he saw playoff matchups . . . oh wait!

Bizarre end to the year for the Colts.  I thought Taylor and the running game would be enough to offset Wentz's Wentziness.  I think the bet should be null and void since I said I would essentially decide if I thought it was going to work out once I saw the matchups, but alas, no need now.  Out of sportsmanship though, you get to invade my signature for a week.  Let me know.

Eh, I'll respect the specific wording and say that it's a no-contest.

Nah, fair is fair.  The intent was that the Colts weren't up to snuff, and clearly, they weren't.

If you insist. I'll come up with something . . .

[thspfc]

My playoff bracket:

(4) Bengals defeat (5) Raiders
(3) Bills defeat (6) Patriots
(2) Buccaneers defeat (7) Eagles
(3) Cowboys defeat (6) 49ers
(2) Chiefs defeat (7) Steelers
(4) Rams defeat (5) Cardinals

I do feel like a coward picking no upsets in the wild card, especially considering that higher-seeded teams are a dismal 4-10 in the wild card round since 2018. But the only two that I feel are "givens" are Bucs over Eagles and Chiefs over Steelers.

(4) Bengals defeat (1) Titans
(2) Chiefs defeat (3) Bills
(2) Buccaneers defeat (3) Cowboys
(1) Packers defeat (4) Rams

(2) Chiefs defeat (4) Bengals
(2) Buccaneers defeat (1) Packers

Chiefs defeat Buccaneers

[Roadgeekteen]

Can't write a script better than that though. Best ending to a regular season of all time.

I agree, that was an all-time classic, and what a strange and crazy experience it must have been for Steelers fans.

I'm disappointed with the result, since I think both teams are more deserving than the Steelers, and it killed my prediction that only one AFC North team would make it. Plus I would have much preferred Bills-Chargers over Bills-Patriots (and I imagine Pats fans probably would have preferred Cincinnati over Buffalo too).

But ultimately I think the Raiders made the right decision to go for the win: Not only were they deciding between eliminating the Chargers or the Steelers, they were also deciding which playoff opponent they preferred, Chiefs or Bengals. That combined with the strange timeout made it a pretty obvious choice. Even without the timeout I think they would have tried a long FG anyways, but I guess we'll never know.

It's time for round 3. May the Patriots win.

[NWI_Irish96]

My annual "what if there were no conferences" post. I maintain that there is no good reason to separate the league into conferences, even less so now that an inter-conference game has been added to the schedule. Outside of the six divisional games, teams play six intra-conference games and five inter-conference games. The playoff should just be one large tournament with division winners seeded 1-8 and wild cards seeded 9-14. Tiebreakers would be 1) Head to head [2 team ties only], 2) Division record [intra-division ties only], 3) Strength of Victory, 4) Strength of Schedule, 5) Point Differential, 6) Coin Toss

This year, the seeding would have been:

1) Green Bay
2) Tampa Bay
3) Kansas City
4) Tennessee
5) Dallas
6) LA Rams
7) Buffalo
8) Cincinnati

9) Arizona
10) Las Vegas
11) San Francisco
12) New England
13) Pittsburgh
14) New Orleans [wins SOV tiebreaker among the five 9-8 teams]

First round matchups:
New Orleans at Kansas City
Pittsburgh at Tennessee
New England at Dallas
San Francisco at LA Rams
Las Vegas at Buffalo
Arizona at Cincinnati

I think you get a better quality playoff tournament with this format. Fewer games with division opponents playing for the third time. When the two best teams are from the same conference, you have the possibility that both get byes and both reach the Super Bowl.

[webny99]

I agree, that was an all-time classic, and what a strange and crazy experience it must have been for Steelers fans.

I'm disappointed with the result, since I think both teams are more deserving than the Steelers, and it killed my prediction that only one AFC North team would make it. Plus I would have much preferred Bills-Chargers over Bills-Patriots (and I imagine Pats fans probably would have preferred Cincinnati over Buffalo too).

It's time for round 3. May the Patriots win.

Yep, definitely a "here we go again..." factor which hasn't happened in the AFC East for a while. I'm not sure who will win this one, but I have a feeling it will be close.

[webny99]

Taking a look at the bigger picture...

I think that was one of the best last weeks of the season ever. There was a big upset out of nowhere, a bunch of close games, and the three most important games all went to overtime. Unlike last year, no teams with a losing record made the playoffs, while 4 teams with a winning record missed the playoffs (Saints, Colts, Dolphins, Chargers).

Only 3 AFC teams (and only 7 teams total) finished with fewer than 7 wins this season, 10/16 AFC teams finished with a winning record and 12/16 finished with at least 8 wins. And this may be a first: all 32 teams had at least one win over a team with a winning record. Just an unbelievable level of parity.

The Steelers somehow making the playoffs means the playoff field is split 7-7 between repeat teams from last year and new teams. That means 21 of 32 teams have made the playoffs the last 2 seasons, including 2 entire divisions (AFC North and NFC West).

With so many teams regularly in the mix, I'd say the two New York (City) teams are the biggest outliers in terms of how bad they've been in recent years. Jets are the only team with a playoff drought longer than 5 years, and Giants are the only team not to have a winning record at any point in the last 5 years. The Jets have some things to feel good about, but I think the Giants are the worst team in the NFL right now. Joe Judge is supposedly safe, which is just absurd when you consider that he lost to three fired coaches (Fangio, Flores, and Nagy) by a combined score of 25-76 this season.

[Alps]

And the stars have aligned for the Chargers and Raiders to purposefully tie. Otherwise, the Steelers will, inexplicably, make the playoffs.

I'm going to the game...

I'll be slightly upset if both teams decided to take 3 knees and punt every possession

I think that game justified your ticket cost and then some.

[thspfc]

Colts getting hammered by Jacksonville. Any given Sunday, folks.

Colts are OUT? Like, OUT-OUT?

Upset of the season.

Guess I won the bet with jayhawkco? Or is it null? I mean, he said it would be official once he saw playoff matchups . . . oh wait!

Bizarre end to the year for the Colts.  I thought Taylor and the running game would be enough to offset Wentz's Wentziness.  I think the bet should be null and void since I said I would essentially decide if I thought it was going to work out once I saw the matchups, but alas, no need now.  Out of sportsmanship though, you get to invade my signature for a week.  Let me know.

Eh, I'll respect the specific wording and say that it's a no-contest.

Nah, fair is fair.  The intent was that the Colts weren't up to snuff, and clearly, they weren't.

If you insist. I'll come up with something . . .

Here's your new signature . . .

Limon, Colorado should not be a primary Interstate control city, and anyone who suggests it should be is wrong.