Just Because It's A Bye...

Doesn't mean we need to let our guard down and not pay attention to some big games affecting our team's playoff chances.

The Steelers losing last night, despite the Vikings' best effort to blow a 29-point lead in less than a quarter and a half, was a Very Good Thing. That drops them to just half a game (stupid tie) ahead of the Fins.

49ers-Bengals is surprisingly important. Either the 49ers lose and improve the Fins' draft position a little more, or they win and hand Cincy a 6th loss. In this case I won't mind the drop in draft position.

We really want the Chiefs to beat the Raiders, and IMO they will. That would drop the Raiders to 6-7.

Ravens-Browns? GO RAVENS!!! A win by them drops the Browns to 6-7.

Unfortunately the Titans face the Jags, the Chargers face the Giants, and the Broncos face the Lions But the way this season's been going I wouldn't be surprised if *one* of those games was an upset...

Yeah, I think we are in good shape with those Bengals, Raiders and Browns games.

As for the thers:

Titans-Jags: Tannehill can shit the bed at any moment now that he doesn't have Travis Henry, and the Titans D is shaky at best. They probably win, but maybe the Jags' D plays good enough to pull off an upset?

Chargers-Giants: Hard to imagine the Herberts losing this game, but the Giants' D is surprisingly great at times. Have to hope for a couple of Herbert's patented boneheaded INTs in key situations.

Broncos-Lions: Of the three, I think this one is the most likely upset. The Broncos look like they're barely on life support at this point, especially offensively, and the Lions are playing like their hair is on fire the last few weeks. I could definitely see a Lions W here...at least I hope so!

Interesting...there is a chance the Chargers could be without Mike Williams and Keenan Allen - both are on the Covid list. And, Austin Ekeler is banged up but should play.

JMP wrote:Interesting...there is a chance the Chargers could be without Mike Williams and Keenan Allen - both are on the Covid list.  And, Austin Ekeler is banged up but should play.

They must not have ever gotten vaxxed, since as we all know vaxxed people are completely immune to infection, right? So why hasn't Goodell suspended them already???

Now you have to add Gaskin to the COVID list. At least we aren't playing this week.

Umix10 wrote:Now you have to add Gaskin to the COVID list.  At least we aren't playing this week.

It's almost like the vaccine is completely useless at preventing anybody from getting infected or infecting others. But that can't be right because the government and the media keep telling me it works, and they would NEVER lie since they're so concerned about our well-being...

Haven't heard anything about Williams' status, but he reportedly is not vaxxed. Allen is definitely out Sunday, and he is is vaxxed.

I forgot that Jake Fromm is starting for the Giants, so the Chargers should win easily no matter who is out for them.

Hopefully Gaskin is OK to play net week. But regardless, the Lindsay signing now looks a whole lot better. He is supposedly healthy and ready to go.

We would be lost without Gaskin's 20 carries for 20 yards.

I'm really looking forward to the Titan's game. I hope our D pounds Tanny and punishes him all game for ruining 7 years of me watching him play.

A mixed bag today. No help from the Jags, Lions or Giants as expected. Chiefs clobber the Raiders, and...the 49ers just beat the Bengals in OT But the Ravens continue to shit the bed now that I actually WANT them to win

If 49ers/Bengals goes the other way this is a Very Bad Sunday but it didn't, and even the Ravens' slide might have a silver lining. If they lose two more (and they look like they just might) then that's one team Miami would have a tiebreaker over.

BTW I'm pretending Bills-Bucs isn't happening. Nope, those teams don't exist. EDIT: Okay, never mind Bills still aren't losing out, though.

The Dolphins need to take care of their own business first, but things are definitely getting interesting in the AFC....

The Fin's were an absolute mess for the 7 loses and got out coached and outplayed. During this stretch they battled to loses with teams just as bad or worse.
I hope they run the table and finish strong but they can only blame themselves for this.

There's something to shoot for even if we fall short of the playoffs.

Back to back winning seasons.  It would be the first time since 2002-2003.

The way our schedule is setup the games get progressively more difficult - Jets then Saints then Titans and finally NE.

If we can close out the first two (which I fully expect) we have a meaningful game at 8-7 which is a thrill in itself. Dare we hope to dream and win THAT game, the final against NE has some real drama to it!

The Bills seemed to wake up in the second half yesterday, and get Panthers, Jets and Falcons in addition to New England at New England. Might lose at NE, but they will safely be 10-7 at worst so we can't pass them

Patriots/Colts will have some real implications for us, as will Bills/Pats. Pats seem likely to beat the Jags who are free falling.

Bottom line, no margin for error for us.

Welp, by the time the Jets game rolls around the whole team's likely to test positive. Now I've got a feeling we might be seeing the first actual forfeited game in recent NFL history. And by "recent" I mean "at least the last 80 years".

But vaccine and all that

white1 wrote:The way our schedule is setup the games get progressively more difficult - Jets then Saints then Titans and finally NE.  

If we can close out the first two (which I fully expect) we have a meaningful game at 8-7 which is a thrill in itself.  Dare we hope to dream and win THAT game, the final against NE has some real drama to it!

The Jets and Saints are games we simply cannot lose. We are the better team in both cases, and there's no excuses. The Titans will be really tough - their D is better than I expected and they do have some weapons on offense. Still, without Henry that's a game we should win IMO. That Patriots game will be EPIC if we're 9-7 at that point!!!

But - first things first: BEAT THE JETS!!!

HalCHorn wrote:The Bills seemed to wake up in the second half yesterday, and get Panthers, Jets and Falcons in addition to New England at New England.  Might lose at NE, but they will safely be 10-7 at worst so we can't pass them

Patriots/Colts will have some real implications for us, as will Bills/Pats.  Pats seem likely to beat the Jags who are free falling.

Bottom line, no margin for error for us.

That Bills-Falcons game could be interesting, depending on which Falcons team actually shows up. It would be all kinds of awesome to finish ahead of the Bills!!!

But yes, no margin for error at all...we need to take care of business.