2017 NFL Playoffs - Super Bowl LI Confirmed! Atlanta Falcons vs New England Patriots!

[Lord Raven]

 

Summer/Jiac - Chargers
Anacybele - Steelers/Panthers
Lord Raven - Ravens
Life - Bills
Phoenix Wright - Rams
Cynthia - Jaguars
Alucard - Lions
chococoke - Patriots
Zasplach - Cardinals
Jedi - Cardinals
ClevelandSteve - Browns
Bullwine85 - Packers
TheAssassinMercenary - Patriots
Lord Gaius - Jets
Master Awesome - Jets
Pete Rose: Baseball Legend - Raiders
Hawk King - Bills
Jack - Panthers
Jack. - Giants
Suzaku - Patriots
Hylian Air Force - Titans

AFC North
- Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5)
- Baltimore Ravens (8-8)
- Cincinnati Bengals (6-9-1)
- Cleveland Browns (1-15)

AFC West
- Kansas City Chiefs (12-4)
- Oakland Raiders (12-4)
- Denver Broncos (9-7)
- San Diego Chargers (5-11)

AFC South
- Houston Texans (9-7)
- Tennessee Titans (9-7)
- Indianapolis Colts (8-8)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (3-13)

AFC East
- New England Patriots (14-2)
- Miami Dolphins (10-6)
- Buffalo Bills (7-9)
- New York Jets (5-11)

NFC North
- Green Bay Packers (10-6)
- Detroit Lions (9-7)
- Minnesota Vikings (8-8)
- Chicago Bears (3-13)

NFC West
- Seattle Seahawks (10-5-1)
- Arizona Cardinals (7-8-1)
- Los Angeles Rams (4-12)
- San Francisco 49ers (2-14)

NFC South
- Atlanta Falcons (11-5)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7)
- New Orleans Saints (7-9)
- Carolina Panthers (6-10)

NFC East
- Dallas Cowboys (13-3)
- New York Giants (11-5)
- Washington (8-7-1)
- Philadelphia Eagles (7-9)

Wild Card Playoffs:
Miami Dolphins (6) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (3)
Oakland Raiders (5) @ Houston Texans (4)
Detroit Lions (6) @ Seattle Seahawks (3)
New York Giants (5) @ Green Bay Packers (4)

Divisional Playoffs:
Pittsburgh Steelers (3) @ Kansas City Chiefs (2)
Houston Texans (4) @ New England Patriots (1)
Seattle Seahawks (3) @ Atlanta Falcons (2)
Green Bay Packers (4) @ Dallas Cowboys (1)

Conference Championships:
Pittsburgh Steelers (3) @ New England Patriots (1)
Green Bay Packers (4) @ Atlanta Falcons (2)

 

SUPER BOWL LI

New England Patriots (1 AFC) @ Atlanta Falcons (2 NFC)
 

 

I don't have any fancy pictures here, but shit is about to get fucked. The most insane free agency of all time has finally subsided, and the draft is less than a week away - supposedly the #1 overall pick

will be Jameis Winston, QB, FSU, but what about #2? Will the Titans take the other QB prospect, Markus Mariota? Will Chip Kelly finally go fucking crazy and bet the farm to get his former quarterback from Oregon?

Rumor has it that Chip Kelly's proposing a three way trade with the Titans and Browns; Browns get Bradford, Titans get the #19 and #20 overall pick as well as Fletcher cox and some other guy, and finally the Eagles get the #2 overall pick...

Playoff Seeding

AFC
1. Denver Broncos (12-4)
2. New England Patriots (12-4)
3. Cincinnati Bengals (12-4)
4. Houston Texans (9-7)
5. Kansas City Chiefs (11-5)
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)

NFC
1. Carolina Panthers (15-1)
2. Arizona Cardinals (13-3)
3. Minnesota Vikings (11-5)
4. Washington (9-7)
5. Green Bay Pakcers (10-6)
6. Seattle Seahawks (10-6)


Wild Card Round

Pittsburgh Steelers (6) @ Cincinnati Bengals (3)
Kansas City Chiefs (5) @ Houston Texans (4)
Seattle Seahawks (6) @ Minnesota Vikings (3)
Green Bay Packers (5) @ Washington (4)

Divisional Round

Pittsburgh Steelers (6) @ Denver Broncos (1)
Kansas City Chiefs (5) @ New England Patriots (2)
Seattle Seahawks (6) @ Carolina Panthers (1)
Green Bay Packers (%) @ Arizona Cardinals (2)

Conference Championships

New England Patriots (2) @ Denver Broncos (1)
Arizona Cardinals (2) @ Carolina Panthers (1)

SUPER BOWL 50!!!!!!!!!!!

Carolina Panthers @ Denver Broncos

AFC North
- Cincinnati Bengals (12-4)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)
- Baltimore Ravens (5-11)
- Cleveland Browns (3-13)

AFC West
- Denver Broncos (12-4)
- Kansas City Chiefs (11-5)
- Oakland Raiders (7-9)
- San Diego Chargers (4-12)

AFC South
- Houston Texans (9-7)
- Indianapolis Colts (8-8)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11)
- Tennessee Titans (3-13)

AFC East
- New England Patriots (12-4)
- New York Jets (10-6)
- Buffalo Bills (8-8)
- Miami Dolphins (6-10)

NFC North
- Minnesota Vikings (11-5)
- Green Bay Packers (10-6)
- Detroit Lions (7-9)
- Chicago Bears (6-10)

NFC West
- Arizona Cardinals (13-3)
- Seattle Seahawks (10-6)
- St. Louis Rams (7-9)
- San Francisco 49ers (5-11)

NFC South
- Carolina Panthers (15-1)
- Atlanta Falcons (8-8)
- New Orleans Saints (7-9)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-10)

NFC East
- Washington (9-7)
- Philadelphia Eagles (7-9)
- New York Giants (6-10)
- Dallas Cowboys (4-12)

Edited February 6, 2017 by Lord Raven

[-Cynthia-]

It honestly wouldn't surprise me if the Eagles did something like that- they've been making a lot of crazy moves this offseason for whatever reason. It could work out too- I don't think the NFC East is a very strong division right now.

[Anacybele]

I thought Bradford was basically finished. Didn't the guy tear his ACL like three times? o.O

Glad to see Tim Tebow back though, he gets so much undeserved hate. He's a cool guy and I've had respect for him ever since he whooped the Steelers out of the playoffs. He was a better QB than people give him credit for too. I mean, I didn't want the Steelers to sign him for nothing. Yeah, he's not the best thrower. But he runs around and stuff like Cam Newton does. He's basically a white Cam Newton. Great at scrambling and running, bad at throwing. And people call Cam SuperCam (pun on Superman) these days for the stuff he does.

Although, I still hope Cam improves his accuracy, of course.

[-Cynthia-]

I suppose Tim Tebow gets some undeserved hate, but this is often in response to undeserved praise. Yes, the Broncos surprised the Steelers in the playoffs- but they only got into the playoffs because the rest of their division wasn't good. They went 8-8, losing their last 3 games and putting up a grand total of 3 points against the Chiefs in the last game of the season.

Even disregarding that various NFL scouts don't seem to put much faith in Tebow, he had a poor overall showing in 2011 which is all we can really judge him by. Going by DVOA, Tim Tebow was the 37th best quarterback in 2011. By comparison, Cam Newton was 16th in DVOA in 2011 (and had similar rankings in later years except for last year where he was 33rd). I would overall say that Cam Newton is a pretty average quarterback and Tim Tebow has shown to be below average.

Edited April 25, 2015 by -Cynthia-

[Anacybele]

Well, the last time I saw Tim Tebow play, as soon as he was put in, the team was actually getting somewhere. They started getting first downs and stuff right off the bat. I don't remember what team it was, I think it was the Jets. But yeah.

So, I saw this shirt I'd totally love, as it says "You can take the girl out of Pittsburgh, but you can't take Pittsburgh out of the girl" on it. And obviously, I love the city I was born in and spent the first six years of my life in. But the shirt is PURPLE. Why is it purple, save that for Baltimore. xP I like purple, but Pittsburgh is black and gold, yo!

Also, that reminds me, it looks like AB won't actually get himself kicked off the team for asking for more money. The real reason he skipped practice was because he and his wife just had a new baby girl! That's so sweet, and he even tweeted that he's a dad first. That's the mark of a good man. I'm glad I decided that I want to replace my Troy Polamalu fathead with him. Polamalu is still an awesome guy, but he's not playing anymore. And I love AB and Le'Veon Bell. I'd get fatheads of both, and maybe of Ben too, but I don't have enough space for even two of them, let alone all three. xP So I picked AB because, man, he is AB and the freaking man.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

Tim Tebow had that one game which is wasn't even that good, he has completed less than 50% of his passes and Tebows gonna be nothing more than a camp arm. His mechanics are incredibly poor, his release is very slow, and his instinct is just awful. His first choice on any given snap is tuck and run and his passes are always wildly off because of his baseball pitcher and javelin esque throwing motion.

If you look up that 3:16 game highlights and compare is throwing motion to, say, Tom Brady then you will see exactly why Tebow sucks ass. It takes him forever to release it and it looks like he puts in way more effort than the thrown ball; Brady can effortlessly get the ball 40 yards down the field. Tebow is actually really bad, I would take Kyle Boller over him and I hate Kyle Boller.

I haven't seen Newton with any semblance of a good offense around him so I won't judge him.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

Well, I did say Tebow's throwing was bad.

As for Cam Newton, he might have one soon, as Kelvin Benjamin is good and Greg Olsen is a Pro Bowl TE. Throw in a couple more good receivers and one or two good linemen and that offense is good to go.

[ClevelandSteve]

Ugh. I hope the Browns don't go for Bradford. That would basically mean we've skipped waiting for our QB picks to be busts and are just trading for proven draft busts.

[Anacybele]

...Flacco, you're happy with a 36-year-old being your no. 1 receiver, even after Torrey Smith is gone? Okay, dude, whatever floats your boat. I just hope you haven't forgotten that a certain AFC North rival has a top ranked offense in the league now and are feeling confident about their defense improving...

[Lord Raven]

Campanaro, Aiken, Marlon Brown, and Crockett Gillmore have shown promise whereas Pitta may be back (well here's the third season in a row of saying that...) I don't think he's gonna throw our receivers under the bus and go like "man I'm so sick of throwing to these geriatrics and undrafted guys" either.

News flash: We got way more rushing yards/TDs than the Steelers, same number of offensive TDs, and only scored like 20 less points, with a much better kicker. I think you're overstating the difference between the Ravens and Steelers offense, especially since the Ravens offense this was the only offense that actually managed to make New England's defense look pedestrian. Pretty sure 3 of our TDs in that game were from guys currently on the roster.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

Those numbers are skewered by the consistency issues the Steelers had for like half the season, which were largely caused by a defense playing like crap and the fact that the team was still looking for a no. 3 receiver behind AB and Wheaton for half the season too. Ben, AB, Bell, Bryant, Wheaton, etc. put up 6 passing TDs two games in a row, and the first opponent they did that against had shut out the Bengals in the game before that, while the second opponent was your Ravens. If you improve that defense, which I can definitely see that happening, these guys will get their hands on the ball quicker than ever before.

The best Flacco has done recently is five TDs in just one game.

"Much better kicker?" lol no. Justin Tucker isn't even on your team anymore, for one thing. He went to free agency. For another he's the best kicker right now, I won't deny that, but Shaun Suisham isn't much worse at all. His accuracy is just as good. The only thing that makes him worse is a weaker leg. Dude needs a leg like Jeff Reed had, damn it... (that guy successfully kicked a 54 yarder and Suisham couldn't quite nail a 53 yarder).

Martavis Bryant will just get better since he put up like 10 TDs in his rookie year in just seven games and he caught a freaking 94 yard bomb. Bell was the second leading RB last year behind DeMarco Murray. AB has the second most single season receptions in NFL history and he was the leading receiver last year. And we have Big Ben, the only player in history to throw 500+ yards twice and throw 6 TDs in back to back games. If that's not enough to say this offense is much better than that of the Ravens, I don't know what is.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

Skewed by consistency? If an offense can't stay consistent then they're not that great an offense. If anything, those numbers were skewed by two games where they put up 100 points against two secondaries missing their best players.

The best Flacco has done recently is five TDs in just one game.

You mean the one where he shattered a record of how quickly one can score 5 touchdowns? Don't forget that he completely fucked the record sideways, breaking the previous one by almost an entire quarter.

"Much better kicker?" lol no. Justin Tucker isn't even on your team anymore, for one thing. He went to free agency. For another he's the best kicker right now, I won't deny that, but Shaun Suisham isn't much worse at all. His accuracy is just as good. The only thing that makes him worse is a weaker leg. Dude needs a leg like Jeff Reed had, damn it... (that guy successfully kicked a 54 yarder and Suisham couldn't quite nail a 53 yarder).

Nope, he was a restricted free agent and signed his second round tender with us. He's currently Raven.

Tucker nails 54-55 yarders much more consistently, and his long is 61 yards. On top of that Tucker has the highest career accuracy of all time. Suisham isn't even Top 10 among active kickers, because he's trailing by 5%.

Martavis Bryant will just get better since he put up like 10 TDs in his rookie year in just seven games and he caught a freaking 94 yard bomb. Bell was the second leading RB last year behind DeMarco Murray. AB has the second most single season receptions in NFL history and he was the leading receiver last year. And we have Big Ben, the only player in history to throw 500+ yards twice and throw 6 TDs in back to back games. If that's not enough to say this offense is much better than that of the Ravens, I don't know what is.

Sigh... here are the stats.

Steelers: 436 PF, 6577 total yards (offense + Special Teams), 21 Turnovers, 41.4% of drives ended in scores, 33 passing touchdowns, 1752 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns

Ravens: 409 PF, 5838 total yards (offense + Special Teams), 20 Turnovers, 39.6% of drives ended in scores, 27 passing touchdowns, 2019 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns

If you really want to cherry pick stats, we've had numerous games that we've put away by the end of the first half, whereas the Steelers have played down to like 10 of their opponents. At least 1/5 of those stats (and 1/3 of those touchdowns) came from two games which skews the data a lot, so picking a two game sample size where he was playing significantly better to any other moment of his career is intellectually dishonest. Besides, a bunch of those stats came from being within a pass heavy offense, it's sort of like Drew Brees syndrome where you just pass a ton and rack up volume stats that way, but despite the yardage differential, the Steelers offense and Special Teams scored literally as many points as the Ravens offense and Special Teams (1 kick return TD, 29 field goals, 43 touchdowns). I have no idea why you think an offense's consistency is an excuse for playing poorly, if anything it shows that the offense is not as good as you'd think. Interestingly enough, Tucker attempted two more field goals but missed them; one was a 65 yarder in Tampa Bay, and one was like a 58 or 59 yarder (which he nailed later on anyway), so we were technically in scoring position more often too. The point gap definitely came from having 3 more pick sixes than us (and some random two point conversions maybe) so it's more like 401 PF (Pittsburgh) vs 402 PF (Baltimore). These offenses are not far apart at all, and Marc Trestman was the mastermind behind the 2002 Raiders.

At our peak we had 4 TDs through the air on the best secondary in the NFL bar none and for some reason you ignore that, basically forcing Tom Brady to play catch up and nearly going blow-for-blow with him despite our awful secondary... whereas Ben's 500 yards/6 TDs against two very awful secondaries is a great accomplishment. Give me a break.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

Skewed by consistency? If an offense can't stay consistent then they're not that great an offense. If anything, those numbers were skewed by two games where they put up 100 points against two secondaries missing their best players.

I never said the offense was inconsistent. The offense actually WAS consistent for the most part, aside from a few brain farts by the o-line. And if the o-line doesn't do its job, nobody else on that offense really has much of a chance at getting anything done. The defense failing a lot caused several of those losses.

Tucker nails 54-55 yarders much more consistently, and his long is 61 yards. On top of that Tucker has the highest career accuracy of all time. Suisham isn't even Top 10 among active kickers, because he's trailing by 5%.

Once again, actually read my post. I said Suisham can't even kick that far because he's too weak, that's the only thing keeping him from being as good as Tucker. If he isn't listed in anyone's top ten lists though, he's underrated. He went around 25 games without missing a single FG.

whereas the Steelers have played down to like 10 of their opponents.

Which they only did for half the season. Their win/loss ratio was much better in the second half. And even if they still played like shit against bad opponents, the only ones they're playing against next season are the Raiders and Browns. However, they know that a lot of fan rage will ensue if they play like shit against them.

Bottom line is, Big Ben, Antonio Brown, and Le'Veon Bell were top three in their class last season. None of your Ravens even made top five, except for maybe Justin Forsett. They also blundered against a shitty Texans team and got swept by a mediocre Bengals team. And that Bengals team was shut out by the Colts...and swept by the Steelers!

Edited April 27, 2015 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

Texans went 9-7 and have arguably the best player in the league in JJ Watt... Meanwhile you guys lost to two teams picking in a the Top 10 and almost lost to a third... Is that even a comparison about wins and losses?

I know talent wise you guys are better but execution wise they aren't leagues apart (which is what matters). Pittsburgh was not that much better than Baltimore, and they also don't deal well with any injured players. We lost our starting TE, LT, and RT, two of which were elite players and one who was well above average, and didn't figure out our RB situation until midseason. Unlike the Steelers we were much more consistent considering our stats weren't padded by a single game wrapped around a bunch of crappy games and games that weren't nearly as explosive... And that shows that we can at least hang with you guys.

You literally said skewed by consistency issues... ie they were inconsistent. Even in the second half they had problems and weren't nearly as explosive as the first half, and once they playoffs hit they were helpless. On top of that they didn't torch any top flight secondaries at all except the Bengals (who are a grade F DL this year, Dumervil had more sacks than the whole team).

Dunno why you're talking shit about us getting swept by the Bengals and losing to the Colts (who had a healthier DL and secondary when they played us btw) when you guys went 1-2 with us... Do you know what a playoff game is? With marginally better receivers Flacco has four TDs in that game but instead we had mediocre-as-fuck Torrey Smith who should be better than Martavis Bryant but isn't.

I mean in all honesty the point is that looking at the numbers and game to game consistency the Ravens weren't that much worse than the Steelers, even despite the talent gap between offensive skill positions. It's almost like its about scheme and execution than flash; the Steelers just had two explosive games and inconsistency everywhere else. They were decimated by that poor Saints and Jets defense, and only had major plays when the game was already decided.

Also Tucker is definitely head and shoulders above Suisham; better accuracy by a noticeable amount and a much stronger leg. This better accuracy is despite having what amounts to much longer field goals on average.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

Yeah, skewed by the inconsistencies of the rest of the team. Antonio Brown won't get a chance to catch a pass if Ben doesn't get a chance to throw to him, and he can't get a chance if the o-line doesn't protect him enough. Football is a team effort, after all.

The Steelers were without one of their best players in that playoff game. If you can excuse the Colts and Ravens losing simply because of not having one player, then the Steelers can be excused for not having Bell too. Bell did more than just run, he blocked, he caught passes, he did everything. They don't call him the best all-around RB in the league for nothing.

Thankfully, Bell's suspension will be over by the time the Steelers play the Ravens again. He's suspended three games, whereas the Steelers don't play the Ravens until week 4.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

We had our best defensive back on IR, another defensive back playing through a back injury, another defensive back on IR, a suspended defensive back, a big injury to our left tackle, as well as losing our best TE... and in the playoffs we were starting practice squad-guys at cornerback and rookies (both undrafted and late drafted) at left tackle and right guard, and a dude who had been playing RG all year at RT (which messes with your mechanics). If you can't get over a single running back then your team is dead in the water.

[Anacybele]

Hey, I never said our depth was as good as yours is. I hope ours improves though. We just can't have anymore situations like the Bell one. I don't want these guys to become a one-and-done team like the Bengals...

Edited April 28, 2015 by Anacybele

[-Cynthia-]

I'm going to do the same thing I did last year and say that the Bengals are contenders in the AFC North as well (and they were a game away from winning the division, so I was hardly off).

[Anacybele]

Oh yeah, they're contenders. I mean, they're not a bad team. They're just not quite as good as either the Steelers or the Ravens.

Which reminds me, I'm kind of mad at the media right now. At first, I simply thought they probably made a mistake about thinking AB wanted a new contract. But then I remembered, they made up BS about Ben wanting to be traded as well and then there's this:

TY Hilton has baby girl: Media makes big story about it, happily helps him welcome the kid

AB has baby girl: Media writes "AB wants more money! Skipping practice!" while AB is actually being a good dad and spending time with his new kid instead

Yeah, fuck the media now. Seems they hate the Steelers.

Edited April 29, 2015 by Anacybele

[chococoke]

Hard to believe the draft is FINALLY here in just over 24 hours. CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY MA FUCKAS

Can't wait for the Pats to trade out of round 1 so I have to wait another day to see who gets selected

EDIT: Here are my crazy draft predictions

-Leonard Williams falls out of the top 5 picks

-Todd Gurley is taken in the top 10

-Kevin White is the first WR off the board (c'mon Raiders, don't fail me now...)

-Chip Kelly packages himself in a deal to trade up for Mariota (let's be real, anything is possible with Chip)

-The 3rd QB selected will be taken at #32 overall

Edited April 30, 2015 by chococoke

[Anacybele]

Draft day!

CBs and safeties first, Steelers, PLZ. That secondary was awful last season, while the defensive line was actually better. After that, some linemen. Defense only though, except for maybe a TE since both Heath Miller and Matt Spaeth are in their 30s. THE STEEL CURTAIN MUST BE REBORN!

Edited April 30, 2015 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

Alright, I'm 100% sure the #1 pick will be Jameis Winston, as is everyone else.

[Anacybele]

Yup, Winston it is. Huh.

EDIT: Cynthia, your Jaguars got themselves a mighty good-sounding DE.

(Btw, I'm actually watching the draft this time. If I'd known I could just watch it right on NFL.com, I'd have started doing so a long time ago. How did I never figure this out? xP)

Edited May 1, 2015 by Anacybele

[chococoke]

Looks like I was right about Leonard Williams. I doubt John Fox lets Chicago pass on him at #7

I'm a little surprised he was taken by the Jets, but I'm sure Todd Bowles couldn't pass on his versatility

Edited May 1, 2015 by chococoke

[Anacybele]

Except he's now taken! Heh, as soon as you mention him, he gets picked. XD