Official Week 15 Thread

[Hornsby]

Should they just sit Zeke? Absolutely. Honestly Pollard is the better back right now.

Will they just sit Zeke? Nope.

Ah well, maybe his injury "lingers" for a few more weeks...I could use a few more weeks of Pollard.

[Hornsby]

Anyone think that the Jaguars would trade away the Trevor Lawrence pick? Minshew is really not that bad and should still have some more upside. The Jaguars could get a king's ransom for Lawrence.

No chance...Minshew is at best, a middle of the road QB. Lawrence is by all accounts, a generational talent. That's why Jets fans are ripping their hair out right now. But it shows that players are not in it to tank games, they still try no matter what.

[chancellor]

Fun football observations from week 15, much of which spent in my local ER, where it appears many NFC teams deserved to be:

- Bears ownership decided to reprogram Matt Nagy's brain with Papa Bear Halas playcalling to great result. For those of you who held onto Montgomery for your fantasy playoff run, congratulations.
- Oh, and the field mic delay didn't work all game in the Bears-Vikings game. This was definitely a PG-13 game, rated for language.
- Which, if you were listening, you got to hear Justin Jefferson curse out Kirk Cousins. It's on Yahoo Sports and other places if you're interested. Oh, and Jefferson is really, really good.
- Mahomes and Rodgers have been superlative, but if I were voting for MVP, it'd be Derrick Henry. You can find his weekly brutal stiff arm of a hapless Lion DB on a lot of sites, but the play that blew my mind was far more ordinary - fairly early, gets a handoff, left guard whiffs on a block. No problem. Henry simply runs through a 300+ lb DL and needs to be tackled by about five people for an ordinary four yard gain. I mean, that's no lightweight DB he ran through, it was a giant defensive tackle. And then it took half the Lion defense to bring him down.
- Bevell won't sniff a HC job, but the Lions played hard for him against a much more talented Titans team.
- The Packers won't get out of round 1 of the playoffs until they figure out how to have more than a great half.
- It'll be interesting to see if the Panthers take a QB in the first round.
- The Bills won't need a QB for, like, ten years or more.
- It's not that the Patriots were knocked out of the playoffs, but that Miami simply beat the crap out of them that amazed me. Ahmed and Brieda for 35 carries and over 200 yards? Wow.
- Proving the adage that if you don't come ready to play in the NFL, the Rams humiliate themselves to a level I haven't seen in years.
- Cam Jordan, come on down for "Stupid Play of the Week" award.
- The Chiefs scored 32, and the Saints defense played really well. But especially with Edwards-Helaire out, I suspect the Chiefs will see a lot of the style of defense the Saints played against them.
- Baker Mayfield threw some absolute laser beams against the Giants.

[madducks]

The Panthers fire GM Marty Hurney... again. He was also their GM from 2002-2012. He only lasted 3 seasons this time around.

[revo]

Cam Newton has 5 passing TDs in 13 games, which is among the lowest all-time for a starting QB.

[chancellor]

The Panthers fire GM Marty Hurney... again. He was also their GM from 2002-2012. He only lasted 3 seasons this time around.

He's had an interesting history - typically made very good to great first round picks, but a lot of misses after that. 2019 was a really bad draft year for the Panthers, and the lack of depth showed this year.

[revo]

The Steelers are playing the worst I have seen a team play all year. Worse than any Jets game. Worse than any Jaguars game.

[Judge Jude]

THE BAD AND THE UGLY, NFL 2021 DRAFT LOOK, order by tankathon.com

Jags and Jets have clinched the top 2 slots

1. Jaguars 1-13
2. Jets 1-13

3. Bengals 3-10-1

4. Panthers 4-10
5. Falcons 4-10
6. Texans 4-10 (but pick goes to Dolphins)

7. Eagles 4-9-1

8. Cowboys 5-9
9. Chargers 5-9
10. Giants 5-9
11. Lions 5-9
12. 49ers 5-9
13. Broncos 5-9

14. Vikings 6-8
15. Patriots 6-8

ELIMINATED FROM PLAYOFFS
Jets, Jaguars, Bengals, Texans, Chargers, Broncos, Patriots (!)
Panthers, Falcons, Lions, 49ers

[Judge Jude]

PLAYOFFS?

AFC
2 xy-BILLS 11-3, 7 DOLPHINS 9-5
3 x-STEELERS 11-3, 5 BROWNS 10-4 (Ravens 9-5)
4 TITANS 10-4, 6 COLTS 10-4
1 xy-CHIEFS 13-1

NFC
4 TEAM 6-8 (Giants 5-9, Cowboys 5-9)
1 xy-PACKERS 11-3 (Bears 7-7)
2 x-SAINTS 10-4, 6 BUCCANEERS 9-5
3 x-SEAHAWKS 10-4, 5 RAMS 9-5, 7 CARDINALS 8-6

x-clinched playoffs
y-clinched division

PIT 11-3 and 4-1, swept BAL and 1-0 vs CLE
CLE 10-4 and 2-3, swept BY BAL and 0-1 vs PIT
BAL 9-5 and 3-2, swept CLE and swept BY PIT

PIT has IND so maybe 11-4
CLE has NYJ so maybe 11-4
BAL has NYG so maybe 10-5

PIT-CLE finale would be for all the Tostitios, then

madducks post on 12-8-20: "There's a reason why only one team in NFL history has had a perfect season. Part of me is relieved that the Steelers lost a game before the playoffs start. Now the pressure of remaining undefeated is gone."

(I had also gotten a "lol" and a "Terrible Towel" reply weeks ago when I called the Steelers "paper tigers.")

if the Steelers can lose two more, they are a lock for the Lombardi Trophy!

#ikeedbecauseilove

[madducks]

The Steelers must think that they have five bye weeks before they begin the playoffs. Good thing these last few games are meaningless. Unless you're a betting man. Steelers fans learned a long time ago to never bet on the Steelers.

[Judge Jude]

to be fair, they HAVE clinched a playoff spot.

and if they finish 11-5 and have a nice line in Round 1 of the "you can't kill me, I'm already dead" phase, I'll take a look.

great coach, and even the leftovers of the banged-up D and rotting corpse of Big Ben are dangerous.

11-0? total imposters

forgotten postseason extra team? this kitty may have claws