alleycat

Are we reading this rule differently (for wild-card tie-breakers, after head-to-head which can't apply so many clubs in a scrum)? Apply division tiebreaker to eliminate all but the highest ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to step 2. The original seeding within a division upon application of the division tiebreaker remains the same for all subsequent applications of the procedure that are necessary to identify the two Wild-Card participants.

This is the silver lining of the injuries this late season, win or lose to me. We're going to get the chance to define the NFL caliber of a bunch of our players that will go a LOOOOOONG way toward helping us make personnel decisions this off-season. And now add in the mix of a likely new top draft pick with a Browning trade (or a player for player trade, because I could see waiting past the draft to make a trade to ensure that Burrow is back before pulling any trigger).

It's not about this weekend. It's about future games. Many of these 7-6 teams have cream-puff schedules from here on out. If there's a scrum of teams with the same record as us at the end, we will lose because of tie-breakers. We have a terrible tie-breakers because the first applicable tiebreaker is division record, where we are currently at .000 but can ultimately be no better than .333, which sill still be last among any competitors.

Bengals in deep doo-doo with both of those results today. Their playoff chances dropped significantly, and will even more so if Bills win today. Looking more and more like they will have to win out just to get in.

Bears with monumentally stupid play calling with 8 minutes left, give the ball back to browns who march down field and will score last second FG for the win.

To be clear, I'm still rooting for winning out and taking the 5th seed.

There are a few realistic scenarios where we can actually lose two games and still get in. We HAVE to beat Pittsburgh, though, and we have to hope JAX keeps losing.

Whelp, with their coach bitching out their starting QB on national TV the wheels might just come back off the Broncos. Here's hoping...

Putting our younger players who don't have a lot of high-stakes competition under the belts in those situations might be as valuable as simply drafting new talent. Zach Carter hasn't seen the field as much as he will now, for example. And lord knows our Safeties and backup CBs need all of the experience they can get!

Gotta love him.

I had a separated shoulder. I think the shoulder popping back in is more a dislocation. A separation is usually of the AC joint, that connects the collarbone to the shoulder (scapula, actually). There's a tear or stretching of the ligament that connects them. It's loose for life usually after that, and can lead to recurrence. Surgery can be done to reconnect or repair. What's done, and what you can do, all depends on the grade. This is all assuming AC separation.

In a very real scenario where the Broncos lose today, we'd still need the jags to lose a game (not unlikely without Lawrence) in order to get in. They can't win out if Indy wins out for us to get in. That was why it was less satisfying, but better for us for Indy to lose today.

Imagine if he'd connected with Charlie Jones for that walk in TD.

Then that was two game-saving stuffs back to back by Carter? With Reader down it's time for him to live up to his promise. Good early returns...

Just ran the machine and yes, we want the Stealers to win. Just threw up in my mouth.

The announcers didn't do a great job revisiting the 4th down, but there was someone on the Bengals D-Line who got insane (and insanely fast) push that shocked his guy that bumped into the QB that made him bobble the ball and held him up a beat. Who was that? It was whoever was over the LG/C.

Referring to the occasional badly timed drop.

We always want the Stealers to lose but doesn't it help our playoff chances more if they win and then we beat them?

He's streaky, but when he's on he's ON.

Emphasis on Close.

A miracle of a game. No other way to put it.

Just garbage LB play.

Let's be honest. Once Burrow went down the only way we had a chance this year was if Browning was Superman. He's been close. But with this defense, a couple of missed opportunities on Offense against a good team, particularly a balanced one with a good defense and decent offense, and I don't think this team stands a chance. Yes, the D has been opportunistic at times this season, but that's really only masked their considerable weaknesses. As much as I want O-Line help for Burrow next year, I think this offseason has to be about a major improvement on the defense. As great as it would be to have a dominant defensive Line, particularly upgrade in the interior (what with DJ Reader now almost certainly not playing here next year), I think I would still look to overhaul the LB corps. They are ghosts in the run game and too slow for today's NFL in the pass game. As for the Safeties, I'm at a loss...

That was a DJ Turner Gets Reamed Drive.

DJ Turner with a missed tackle that cost 25 yards.