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Thread: Still make the playoffs if we win out!!

  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by MrHand View Post
    Yep, and if it is, somehow in this "safer" offense Ben will have managed to miss 7 games in it.

    More than he missed COMBINED in Whiz and Arians system.
    Again you act like there can not be other reasons for that. IT is fact with you that Haley sucks. Keep pushing your agenda. Could it be there have been a few different O line men in these offenses? No that does not matter.

  2. #32
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    With all of the doom and gloom, the Steelers are in the best position to win the AFCN, win out, win the division.

  3. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by JAR View Post
    With all of the doom and gloom, the Steelers are in the best position to win the AFCN, win out, win the division.
    Exactly ....

  4. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by JAR View Post
    With all of the doom and gloom, the Steelers are in the best position to win the AFCN, win out, win the division.
    this is true... LOL.

  5. #35
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    Week 13: Bengals in favorable spot

    Thanks to gift win, Cincinnati has leg up in AFC North

    Originally Published: November 30, 2014
    By John Clayton | ESPN.com

    Thanksgiving was an NFC feast, as Seattle, Philadelphia and Detroit stepped up like playoff contenders.

    Sunday's leftovers were dominated by AFC storylines. We saw the near collapse of the AFC North, with only the Cincinnati Bengals winning, and only because the Tampa Bay Buccaneers forgot you can't have 12 offensive players on the field. Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cleveland each had inexplicable losses.

    Although the Bengals' 14-13 win over Tampa Bay can be categorized as a Lovie Smith gift, the Bengals emerged as the clear leader of the AFC North. At 8-3-1, they lead the Steelers, Ravens and Browns by a game and a half and can make their situation even better next Sunday if they can beat the Pittsburgh Steelers at home.

    The San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills kept their hopes alive with victories. The Miami Dolphins can do the same Monday night if they can beat the New York Jets. The Indianapolis Colts entered Sunday with nothing to worry about in the AFC South and breezed to a 49-27 win over the Washington Redskins.

    Here is what we learned in Week 13.

    1. NFC South steps forward: With Atlanta and New Orleans at 5-7, it's still unlikely a team with a winning record is coming out of the NFC South, perhaps the worst division in NFL history. Overall, the NFC South is 8-25-1 in non-divisional games. Yet the Saints and Falcons showed some pride with impressive victories Sunday.

    The Falcons, who hold the current tie-breaker over New Orleans because of their season-opening victory, dominated the Arizona Cardinals 29-18 in the Georgia Dome. The bigger surprise was seeing the Saints dominate the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 35-32 win that wasn't as close as the score.

    The Saints started to take control in the second quarter, after they fell behind 6-0. For a while, the Saints looked like the team that made the playoffs last year and was supposed to be competing for the No. 1 seed this year. Drew Brees was sharp with his throws. Sean Payton called a balanced offensive game. And finally, the defense won the turnover battle with a plus-2.

    "We did the things that are necessary to win," Payton said. "I thought we ran the ball better. We defended the run better. We had balance. We were better on third down."

    The Saints entered Sunday with a minus-9 turnover differential. They forced only 11 turnovers in the first 11 games and had only eight drives start in opponents' territory in the first 11 games. Defensive end Cameron Jordan gave New Orleans a big lift in the third quarter by deflecting a Ben Roethlisberger pass into his own hands and setting up an easy touchdown drive for Brees at the Steelers' 15. Brees hit Nick Toon with an 11-yard touchdown to open a 21-6 lead, and it didn't take too long for the Saints to open a 35-16 lead.

    Still, the NFC South had its typical bad moments. The Bucs had 13 penalties, including a costly 12-men-on-the-field blunder late in the game, in a 14-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Carolina Panthers had two punts blocked in a 31-13 loss to Minnesota.

    "That's how 2-10 football teams play," Bucs coach Lovie Smith said. "We found a way to lose it at the end."

    2. AFC North falls flat: A week ago, the Browns beat the Falcons, despite Brian Hoyer's two fourth-quarter interceptions. Horrible clock management by Falcons coach Mike Smith allowed Hoyer to lead a game-winning field goal drive in the final seconds. That win gave the AFC North four teams with seven wins. Sunday was a meltdown.

    The Bengals survived three Andy Dalton interceptions in their win. The rest of the division went 0-3. For the seventh time since 2013, the Steelers fell to a team with a losing record in their loss to New Orleans. Remember, this is the team that lost to Tampa Bay and the New York Jets. Although the Saints might be a more respected franchise because of Brees and Payton, the Steelers can't shake the bad habit of playing to the level of their competition.



    Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers were largely out of sync on offense Sunday.

    "We didn't make enough plays to win the game," tight end Heath Miller said. "We didn't convert early on offense. We were moving the ball, but we didn't put the ball in the end zone. That came back to haunt us."

    Part of the problem was Ben Roethlisberger's right hand. He hit it on the helmet of Saints linebacker Curtis Lofton in the process of throwing a 21-yard completion to Antonio Brown. Leading 3-0, he was forced to call four straight handoffs with his left hand. Although his hand recovered enough to complete 32 passes, the Steelers' offense was off the rest of the day and only able to rally for meaningless points when the game was out of reach.

    Meanwhile, the Ravens fell apart in the final seconds of a game they appeared to have in control. Justin Tucker put the Ravens ahead of the Chargers 33-27 with 2:22 left. But Chargers QB Philip Rivers drove 80 yards in eight plays and got the game-winning touchdown with 38 seconds left.

    On that drive, Ravens linebacker Elvis Dumervil lined up in the neutral zone to negate a sack that would have set up a third-and-16. Cornerback Anthony Levine got a pass interference call in the end zone against Malcom Floyd to set up the win. Overall, the Ravens had 14 penalties for 98 yards.

    [URL]http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/lastcall1413/nfl-john-clayton-last-call-week-13[/URL]

  6. #36
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    The Pittsburgh Steelers really do control their own destiny in the AFC North

    By Anthony Defeo  @Defeoman on Dec 3 2014



    Every year at this time, it seems the phrase "We control our own destiny" gets used by NFL players and coaches when discussing their team's playoff possibilities. As they head toward the last four games of the 2014 regular season, it's actually true for the Steelers in the AFC North.

    That pesky tie the Bengals have on their record, thanks to a 37-37 finish against Carolina in Week 6, is just sitting there like an annoying tear in the seat of your pants, and you're just waiting for it to rip even more and ruin your day.

    But the one good thing about Cincinnati's tie, is it guarantees there will be no three-way finish in the AFC North standings (unless there's another tie, of course). And this is good news for the Steelers if they can somehow find the consistency that has alluded them for the better part of three years and actually win their remaining four games to finish out the 2014 regular season.

    If that happens (and if I've studied the NFL's divisional tie-breaking procedures as well as I think), Pittsburgh, 7-5 heading into a crucial Week 14 road match-up at Paul Brown Stadium this Sunday, will be AFC North champions for the first time in four seasons. Mark it down. It's a guarantee.

    How? It's simple.

    Obviously, as it pertains to the Bengals (currently 8-3-1), if Pittsburgh defeats them twice and wins its other two games to go 11-5, the best Cincinnati can do is finish 10-5-1. That's simple math, right there.

    But there is a chance that either Baltimore (7-5) or Cleveland (7-5) will also win-out and finish at 11-5, just like the Steelers. What happens then?

    As for those hated Ravens, even if they also win-out and join Pittsburgh at 11-5, they would lose the tiebreaker by virtue of their division record, which can be no better than 3-3. Since the AFC North foes split their two games this year, that would nullify the first two-way tiebreaker--head-to-head. The next two-way tiebreaker would be record within the division. If the Steelers win their remaining four games, they would be 4-2 in the division and capture the North crown.

    How about the Browns? This is where it gets slightly more complicated. Cleveland has the same 2-2 division record as the Steelers, with games remaining against Cincinnati and Baltimore. If the Browns win-out, like Pittsburgh, they would be 11-5 and also 4-2 in the division. Since the two teams split their games earlier in the season, the third tiebreaker would be record against common opponent. If the Browns run-the-table, both teams would have 9-3 records against common opponents. Then it would move down to conference record--the fourth two-way tiebreaker to determine a division champion. The best Cleveland can do is finish with a 7-5 mark in the AFC. The Steelers (currently 6-3 in the AFC) would finish 9-3 if they win their last four games and would win that tiebreaker over the Brownies.

    Obviously, none of these tiebreakers are aware of Ben Roethlisberger and his inconsistent play, as of late, and they probably don't know that Antwon Blake will be trying to cover receivers over the last month of the season. But, yes, at this very moment, the Steelers really do control their own destiny as at pertains to winning the AFC North.

    [URL]http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/pittsburgh-steelers-nfl-features-news-blog-long-form/2014/12/3/7326761/the-pittsburgh-steelers-really-do-control-their-own-destiny-in-the[/URL]

  7. #37
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    • The Steelers can win the division by winning their final four games — Bengals twice, Falcons and Chiefs.

    However, a loss at Cincinnati on Sunday doesn't knock them out of the race for the division title. The Steelers would have to win their final three games, and the Bengals would have to drop their final three to the Browns, Broncos and Steelers. The Browns would have to lose to the Colts and Panthers but beat the Bengals and Ravens. The Ravens would have to lose to the Browns in Week 17.

    [URL]http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/7275824-74/steelers-tomlin-bengals#ixzz3KtShHlre[/URL]

  8. #38
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  9. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by hawaiiansteel View Post
    hahaha this is great.

  10. #40
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    On the Steelers: Former backseat Bengals now atop AFC North

    December 5, 2014
    By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



    The Bengals and quarterback Andy Dalton, who won at Tampa Bay last wee, sit atop the AFC North.

    It's been a Year of Celebration for the Steelers off the field. They honored Chuck Noll, who coached them to four Super Bowl victories. They retired Joe Greene's No. 75. They honored their first Super Bowl team on its 40th anniversary.

    In Cincinnati, there have been no such ceremonies. If there were, the Bengals might want to throw an Almost Silver Anniversary party for their 1990 team. It is the last time they won a playoff game.

    Yes, it has been 24 years since the Bengals beat the Houston Oilers, 41-14, in the first round of the 1990 playoffs. Since that game, Cincinnati is 0-6 in the playoffs, most recently its 27-10 upset loss Jan. 5 at home to San Diego.

    Now, the Bengals are poised to win a second consecutive AFC North championship with basically a 1½-game lead at 8-3-1 on the three other teams, including the Steelers, tied at 7-5. It would be the fourth time in a row Cincinnati makes the playoffs. The Bengals never made it three years in a row until now, and they missed the playoffs altogether for a 14-year stretch through the 2004 season, known as the Bungles Era.

    This could be the year in Cincinnati, but its biggest stumbling blocks are the Steelers, whom the Bengals play twice in the final four games -- Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium and in the season finale at Heinz Field.

    "Right now Cincinnati holds the big stick," said Steelers guard Ramon Foster. "Our job right now is going to be to take them over. We have two chances against them and we can't let that pass. I'm sure they're going to be trying to eliminate us and get the division this weekend. We've got to change that. We have to go in there with our head first and not look back."

    After a rough patch in which they went 0-2-1 in the first three games of October, the Bengals have won five of their past six. This might be their best team since 2005, when they won the division but were upset at home by the Steelers in the first playoff game.

    "Man, it was a powerhouse," Ike Taylor said of that Bengals team nearly a decade ago. "Looking at what we had and looking at their guys, it was like, man, we don't see it happening, we don't see Pittsburgh winning."

    But the Steelers rubbed a little more in the Bengals' faces by proceeding to win their fifth Super Bowl that season and then added a sixth three years later. Cincinnati has reached two Super Bowls, both against San Francisco in the 1980s and both losses in close games.

    Taylor thinks the Bengals are getting over what he called "the hump."

    "I mean, they've been on the edge for the past three years. And they've been winning close games and they won three games on the road. That's key in the NFL when you start winning games on the road, then time and location doesn't matter.

    "I think that was the hump they were trying to get over. At home, we all knew what they could do. Now on the road, man, they came along with three wins and they don't care if it's by one or four points.

    "So when you have a young team like that who's been on the verge, you never know."

    Bengals president Mike Brown often talked about showing the kind of patience with his team that the Steelers have been known for, especially with his coaches. For all the ups and downs in Cincinnati, Marvin Lewis has coached them for 12 seasons, second only in length among current coaches to Bill Belichick's 15 in New England.

    "Marvin Lewis is a great coach," said backup Steelers quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, who had that role with the Bengals in 2011-12. "He runs a good program over there. They have a good group of guys. They have some talent over there and they're young.

    "You love seeing an organization have patience with coaches and players. This game is not easy. It takes time to build a good team. It's cool to see an organization take time in an individual, a player and a coach. It looks like it panned out for Marvin. They're playing well."

    The Steelers, though, hope to have the final say.

    "Right now they're the team to beat," Foster said. "Our job is to get these next two games against them and win the division."

    [URL]http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2014/12/05/On-the-Steelers-Former-backseat-Bengals-now-atop-AFC-North/stories/201412050101[/URL]

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