Let's chat about the National Football League. This week's schedule (all times Eastern):
Thu 2024-12-19 8:15PM Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals
Sat 2024-12-21 1:00PM Houston Texans @ Kansas City Chiefs
Sat 2024-12-21 4:30PM Pittsburgh Steelers @ Baltimore Ravens
Sun 2024-12-22 1:00PM Arizona Cardinals @ Carolina Panthers
Sun 2024-12-22 1:00PM Detroit Lions @ Chicago Bears
Sun 2024-12-22 1:00PM New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills
Sun 2024-12-22 1:00PM New York Giants @ Atlanta Falcons
Sun 2024-12-22 1:00PM Tennessee Titans @ Indianapolis Colts
Sun 2024-12-22 1:00PM Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Commanders
Sun 2024-12-22 1:00PM Los Angeles Rams @ New York Jets
Sun 2024-12-22 4:05PM Denver Broncos @ Los Angeles Chargers
Sun 2024-12-22 4:05PM Minnesota Vikings @ Seattle Seahawks
Sun 2024-12-22 4:25PM Jacksonville Jaguars @ Las Vegas Raiders
Sun 2024-12-22 4:25PM San Francisco 49ers @ Miami Dolphins
Sun 2024-12-22 8:20PM Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Dallas Cowboys
Mon 2024-12-23 8:15PM New Orleans Saints @ Green Bay Packers
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Notes -
Eagles win the Pennsylvania Bowl. Wawa>Sheetz, Youse>Yinz.
Pretty big win for the iggles. Steelers are a very, very good team, they play physically and hard. Watt is a monster, game wrecker. He should be getting MVP buzz, because of the impact he has on the game for a top team in the league.
The Steelers sold out to stop the run, and Jalen Hurts and co showed that they could beat teams in the air. O-Line held up against an excellent Steelers' D, with Dickerson, Becton, and Johnson being replaced with Steen, Driscoll, and the other Johnson at different points, with virtually no change in result. AJ and Devonta feasted.
There were some bad calls in the Eagles favor, so maybe the game was closer than it looked. Or maybe it wasn't: the Eagles chose to run out the clock on their last drive, eating over 2/3 of the fourth quarter on a drive in which they did not score, which some tweets said was the longest game ending drive they had ever seen.
I'm starting to think the Eagles have a viable path to the Super Bowl. The entire NFC looks pretty beatable for the Eagles. Lions are looking increasingly worn down by injuries, they already beat the Rams and Green Bay (and while Green Bay might be better than it was in Week 1 so is Philly), and Minnesota is relying on Sam Darnold at QB. The Bucs rape choked the Eagles earlier this year, but I'm not sure that's repeatable, and there's a good chance that the bracket shakes out so that they never face the Bucs anyway. If the Eagles get the 1 seed, big if, they're going to be weak favorites to win the NFC. And no team in the AFC looks unbeatable either: the Bills are going to be a boat race that could go either way, the Chiefs are great but weaker than the team that beat a weaker Philly by 3, and the Eagles have already smacked the Ravens and Steelers.
Elsewhere, Detroit now has an entire viable starting D on the DL. Josh Allen has gone crazy since getting engaged. The Falcons are benching Kirk Cousins, a hilarious outcome given that they are now starting their first round pick while paying $45mm to the backup QB.
And Patrick Mahomes may be day to day with an ankle injury. Putting the current #1 seed in the AFC in the hands of...Carson Wentz. Wentz has the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever. Wentz famously had his best year in 2016, leading the Eagles most of the way to the #1 seed in the NFC before getting injured, forcing the Eagles to turn to backup QB Nick Foles. Foles would rip through the end of the season, outpunch Tom Brady in the Super Bowl, winning the Eagles their first ever Lombardi, and leaving Wentz a permanent also-ran in Philly sports history. Now, Wentz has a chance to redeem himself, and take over someone else's #1 seed, and lead them to a few wins. I want it to happen just for the podcast drama.
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