Let's chat about the National Football League. This thread will be dedicated to all post-season games, including the Super Bowl. This post will be updated with results and schedules going into February (All times Eastern):
Wildcard matchups:
2025-01-11:
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04:30PM: Los Angeles Chargers vs. Houston Texans
08:00PM: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens
2025-01-12:
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01:00PM: Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills,
04:30PM: Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles
08:00PM: Washington Commanders vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2025-01-13
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08:00PM: Minnesota Vikings vs. Los Angeles Rams
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Notes -
I want to give my most sincere thanks to Sam Darnold and the Vikings for taking all of the “shocking and embarrassing choke job” heat off of the Chargers.
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On the scene! Your intrepid correspondent has arrived at the Linc. I am not the drunkest one here. On the train in we sang Fly Eagles Fly twice and No One Likes Us We Don't Care once, in unison as a car. It's a beautiful day. Go Birds.
E A G L E S eagles!
How do you feel having seen that game in person? It felt like the Eagles should have buried the Pack a lot earlier, and they just kinda chose not to go for it and just play it safe. Which, fair, they still won and it never felt like the game was in doubt; sometimes that's all you need. They'll be the favorites against whoever ends up winning tonight, but they feel like they have another level yet to reach.
When I watch live, it's very different than watching on TV. I mostly have very little idea what is going on at any level of precision, I just yell along with everyone else.
Vibes wise, the moment Jeremiah Trotter Jr. recovered that fumble, the Packers never really felt threatening. It was chill, very little booing by Philly standards. My friend who came in a Packer's beanie was very well treated, with a lot of "Man, that sucks." commiseration about how the game was going. When the Hatchet recovered the fumble, I jumped up and down yelling no fucking way, and passed around my flask of whiskey to everyone around me until we killed it, and the vibe never really came down. I was surprised to read how poorly the offense performed.
You can play games with if this call or that call went differently what would have happened to the result, but good teams win, great teams cover. The Eagles covered against the Packers, Rams, Ravens, Steelers, Commies. I think they have a good shot at reaching the NFCCG against either possible opponent, where they'll have a puncher's chance against Detroit and be heavy home favorites over Washington at the Linc. Get to the Super Bowl and anything can happen.
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So far neither the Chargers nor the Texans seem too interested in winning this game.
Back to back interceptions. Don't see that every day in the playoffs. And both of them thrown right to a defensive back.
This has been a terrible game by Herbert’s standards, although some of that is just his pass-catchers besides McConkey just hanging him out to dry. This team is at least a year, realistically two years, ahead of schedule in terms of roster development and cap space, so I’m trying to keep this game in perspective. I’m more shocked by how poor the Chargers’ defense has been in the second half of this game. (Turns out the Texans weren’t just a paper tiger propped up by a weak division.)
Brutal game for the Chargers offense. The defense couldn't stay off the field for missed third downs and interceptions, and that left them vulnerable. I'm not looking at Houston and thinking they'll beat the Chiefs, but if the Broncos get the upset I could see them beating the Ravens if Anderson keeps playing out of his mind.
There were a lot of plays where Anderson was practically in Herbert's lap within seconds.
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Motte NFL Playoff Preview
Sports fans IT IS TIME. The last few weeks of the season are often doldrums, the Eagles didn’t have much to play for since losing the second Redskins matchup. But now it is revving up. This weekend will see six matchups, and for the most part I’m pretty happy with the field. Few teams I hate made it, and within the teams I do hate (Redskins, Bucs) I actually kind of begrudgingly like some of their players. So I’ll start things off this week with a guide to every matchup for the weekend and a quick blurb on each team to help start arguments among the regulars, and to give a reference for anyone just tuning in to go to watch parties.
Number One Seeds: Off this week, the best teams in the league.
Kansas City Chiefs: A study in media and public exhaustion, the 2024 Chiefs just won. Over and over. Despite an offense that was stripped of all playmaking talent beyond Patty Mahomes and an aging Travis Kelce, they just win. Well coached, experienced, disciplined. A stifling defense makes up for offensive deficiencies. They’re not getting a lot of press compared to other, more exciting contenders, but no one is going to be surprised to see them in the Super Bowl. I’ll always be a fan of Andy Reid, who I grew up on in Philly, and it’s tough to dislike the Chiefs the way I used to dislike the Brady-Belichek Patriots, but they’re probably my last choice of team to win.
Detroit Lions: The best Detroit Lions team, by far, of my entire life. A high-octane offense behind two (healthy for the playoffs!) running backs in Gibbs and Montgomery, with a high end game manager in Jared Goff passing to excellent pass catchers, and an OC in Ben Johnson who always has a trick up his sleeve. Don’t be surprised to see them give the ball to a big ol’ offensive tackle for a touchdown, or a triple flea flicker for an 80 yard gain. Their defense has been devastated by injuries, but "you can't bury what comes from the dirt" and they're biting kneecaps behind clear COTY Dan Campbell, playing hard physical disciplined football. If my Eagles don’t win, I’ll be rooting for the Lions. I want Detroit to get this one.
Wildcard Games:
Los Angeles Chargers (-150) at Houston Texans: One of the two away favorites, the LA Fighting’ Justin Herberts are hoping to overcome decades of Chargering to win a game they should win. The Texans had big expectations coming into the year, behind standout sophomore QB CJ Stroud. Injuries and underperformance hit the team pretty hard, and though they won a weak division to get a home playoff berth, I don’t have a lot of faith in them here. The Chargers meanwhile have looked well coached behind Harbaugh (who claims he can remember his own birth), and combine a tough defense with a workable offense lead by the hyper-talented Herbert. MOTTE ROOTING INTEREST: @Hoffmeister25 is a Chargers fan, so root for LA.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens (-550): The Steelers spent much of the year looking like a tough, well disciplined team with coach Mike Tomline able to squeeze wins out of the rind of Russell Wilson and TJ Watt’s game-breaking ability on defense. After their devastating loss to the Eagles, they’ve looked weak, and fumbled the division to the rival Ravens, who they’ll face in the playoffs. The Ravens have also been fairly disappointing this season, with all-universe MVP talent Lamar Jackson and big boy Derrick Henry leading an offense that should be unstoppable, and an always tough defense. But they fumbled shoulda-been wins to the Browns and Eagles. The Ravens are clear logical favorites, I just don’t have faith in the Steelers offensive talent, but Tomlin doesn’t let any game get away from him easy, and boy would it be fun to see the Discourse about the Ravens after a loss. MOTTE ROOTING INTEREST: We have a ton of Pittsburgh boys here, so let’s all root for Pennsylvania’s second best team to get the devastating upset.
Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills (-550): The Bills are thinking THIS IS OUR YEAR. The Bills have been great since Josh Allen came into his own, but have fallen short on the biggest stages. Following last year’s overtime loss to the Eagles, a Bills fan on the train told me “Just once, I’d like us to win the Game of the Year instead of losing it.” A deeply lovable team, they play exciting football, they have a ton of cute players like rookie WR Coleman who has fantastic interviews and DB Hamlin who literally died and came back to life. The Broncos, meanwhile, are mostly just happy to be here. Head Coach Sean Payton has turned the team around impressively after jettisoning Russell Wilson and drafting rookie QB Bo Nix. The Broncos have impressed by making it this far, and Bo Nix is going to be good, but the dead cap hit from Wilson hamstrung talent levels on this team. Look out for the Broncos in a year or two, but this year, Buffalo is gonna boot them out in the first round. MOTTE ROOTING INTEREST: @Walterodim is a Bills fan, root for Josh Allen to rout the Broncos on his way to a rivalry game next week against another great QB.
Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles (-240): The main event of the day for me. I’m attending this game, the first playoff game I’ve been to at the Linc since I was in middle school. Look for me in the end zone with a cardboard sign talking about probabilities and Berkson’s paradox. Comparing the squads, the Eagles have the advantage in talent at every position except QB and maybe edge rusher. The Eagles offensive attack relies on simply having so many threats that it is impossible to handle them all. You have to rush extra men to beat the best offensive line in the league, but you also have to watch out for local-boy-made-good Saquon Barkley on an all time rushing season, and you have to keep a QB spy to keep Jalen Hurts from taking off, and you have to double team AJ Brown or he’s #AlwaysOpen, and if you double team AJ you risk leaving DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert open. There just aren’t enough defenders to do it all, if the scheme works and they can play how they want. Plus, the Eagles have their special ability, the Brotherly Shove, think of it as like Tim, trade one down for one yard, which makes a huge difference in every game. The Packers are one of those teams that always has talent, they’ve managed their QB transition better than any team, with Jordan Love seamlessly taking over for Aaron Rodgers. In general a mediocre team by playoff standards, and weaker than the Eagles in talent and playmakers, but they are well coached and Love is poised beyond his years. If the Eagles lose this one, it is because LaFleur out-coached Nick, and Love outplayed Hurts. MOTTE ROOTING INTEREST: If you enjoyed any of my posts, root for the Eagles.ETA: If you like @SubstantialFrivolity better, root for the Packers
Washington Redskins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-175): A clash of two surprise teams, the Redskins have over performed with surefire OROY Jayden Daniels leading the best Washington team in years. Washington is thin all over, but they’re scrappy and they’re excited to be here. The Bucs, meanwhile, were supposed to be in their post-Brady wilderness years right now, but Charlie Day Look Alike Baker Mayfield’s renaissance and Todd Bowles defensive coaching has won this team the division. Neither team is expected to make a deep playoff run, and whoever wins this one will likely lose in the next round. I personally despise both these franchises, though not their current incarnations or players. MOTTE ROOTING INTEREST: I don’t think we have anyone for this one, so I’m going to personally plead, root for Washington, if my Eagles make the next round I’d be terrified to watch them face the Bucs.
Minnesota Vikings (-130) at Los Angeles Rams: The Vikings are probably the second best team in the NFC, but rules are rules and they have to play away to the still-hanging-on Rams. The Vikings have way over performed expectations, especially after losing their planned starting QB in the pre-season, but GEQBUS Sam Darnold has had a tremendous year and should win CBPOY. The talent on offense, especially the pass catchers, is tremendous. Brian Flores has the best coached defense in the league, getting a ton out of his players and throwing confusing looks at offenses to get sacks and turnovers. The only concern for the Vikes going into this game is losing spirit after dropping the biggest regular season game of the year against Detroit last week. The Rams have been milking the last years of Matthew Stafford, getting a few playoff seasons out of what was figured to be the denouement of their Super Bowl win. WR Puka Nakua and Cooper Kupp provide offensive firepower, while DROY Jared Verse is in the backfield every play. They lack the juice to be expected to win a playoff game or make much of a run, but they have the ability to make any team sweat going against them, and beat Buffalo in a thriller earlier. MOTTE ROOTING INTEREST: I don’t think we have one for this game.
What a regular season! It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Well, that's not entirely true - as a Jets fan it was pretty much all the worst of times after boat racing the Pats in week 3 (though at least my fantasy teams did well?). But now we're onto the teams that aren't abominable dumpster fires, at least most of the time. Spreads are taken from my (just for fun) Yahoo pick'em league - I don't gamble but it gives a good indication of what people are thinking for the matchups. (for those who don't know, spreads are effectively the margin by which teams are expected to win. If a spread is -7 for example, a team has to win by more than 7 points to win the bet. Negative numbers mean the team has to win by more than that amount, while a positive number means a team has to either win or lose by less than that amount. If the team wins by exactly the amount, its a push and the bet is returned.) Many thanks for the format!
Kansas City Chiefs: They Can't Keep Getting Away With It, and yet somehow they do. After completely laying down against the Broncos (even compared to other teams that rested their starters), the Chiefs have shown that they are not only the best at winning; they're also the best at tanking (RIP to the Bengals' playoff hopes, and may their defense be executed for crimes against humanity). Seriously, all the teams that blew their chances at the #1 overall pick should take some notes (Giants/Raiders/Pats, I'm talking to you). Similar to the Steelers of a few years ago being "the worst 10-1 team of all time", the Chiefs' performance this season has to put them as one of if not the worst 15-1 team of all time (excluding the last game). Time and time again they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat (as opposed to my Jets, who remained the experts at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory during the most depressing season of my fandom). Between their overwhelming dominance of the league by the slimmest of margins the past couple years (and the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift relationship that still sticks in the craw of many for some reason), most fans of the NFL are sick of the Chiefs - but they just keep winning, and are my favorites for the Super Bowl until someone finally manages to slay the dragon (and even then, they better make sure it's dead - I'm not counting them out until the clock hits zeroes).
Detroit Lions: After a dominating second half against their surprising contender, the Lions finally managed to secure the top spot in their best season since the merger (at least). No one needed the first-round bye more than the heavily injured Lions, who hope to have star running back David Montgomery back for the playoffs. If you found it hard to notice his absence, blame other star running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who showed himself more than capable of handling the load in Montgomery's absence. The Lions are stacked throughout the offensive roster, with top pass catchers, a kick-ass offensive line, and the best running back room in the league by a wide margin, led by the resurgent Jared Goff. Their defense has been absolutely crushed by injuries, but looked strong against the potent Vikings offense last week. If not for the Chiefs' devil magic, the Lions would be my favorites for the Super Bowl.
Wildcard Games:
Los Angeles Chargers (-3) @ Houston Texans (Sat, 4:30 ET): The Houston Texans and hosting the early Saturday wild card timeslot: name a more iconic duo, I'll wait. Seriously, the Texans have played in this time slot literally every time they've made the playoffs. In what was expected by many to be a rebuilding year in their first year with new coach Jim Harbaugh, the Chargers have exceeded expectations to get this far in a tough division featuring two other playoff teams. They face off against the Texans, who despite winning what remains the worst division in the league did not look particularly convincing doing it. Last year's rookie phenom CJ Stroud took a step backwards this year despite the addition of talented WR Stefon Diggs, even before Diggs tore his ACL halfway through the year. As a whole, after exceeding expectations with both a rookie head coach and QB last year the entire team seems to have hit a sophomore slump. They are still the more talented team, but Harbaugh is a damn good coach who's been here before, and the Chargers have played above their level all season while the Texans haven't looked good in over a month. I would take the Chargers to win, and even with the point spread the Chargers would still be my choice.
Pittsburgh Steelers (+10) @ Baltimore Ravens (Sat, 8:00 ET): In their third matchup of the year, these two will face off in Baltimore once again, where the Ravens handled the Steelers just three weeks ago. These two teams seem to be heading in opposite directions, with the Ravens defense finding itself after a rough first half and the Steelers offense collapsing after a strong start with Russ. In fact, the Steelers enter the postseason on a four-game losing streak after a brutal schedule to end the season, facing the Eagles, Ravens, Chiefs and Bengals in succession. Lamar and the Ravens have not been able to elevate their play in the postseason, and Ravens-Steelers games have tended to be close slugfests throughout their history. This year however, the Steelers seem to be just about out of gas, while the Ravens are hitting their stride. I expect the Ravens to come out on top, while the Yinzers continue to question their team's inability to make the divisional round (if they'd like to move on from Tomlin as they seem to argue for every year, I'd take him on the Jets in a heartbeat). Against the spread, 10 points is a lot, particularly for a divisional playoff game; while I expect the Ravens to win, I would probably lean towards grabbing the points.
Denver Broncos (+9) @ Buffalo Bills (Sun, 1:00 ET): The Broncos demolished the preseason-level Chiefs last week to squeeze out the last playoff spot. Their reward is to face the Buffalo Bills and likely MVP Josh Allen (I would give it to him, personally). The Bills have had some of the most impressive wins of the season this year, handing the Chiefs their only full-blooded loss and beating the other #1 seed Lions in a thriller. However, they have a clear Achille's heel, and in their case it's less a heel than it is an Achille's left arm: the Bills' defense has been unable to stop anyone
except my inept Jetsall season. They lost to the Rams despite Josh scoring six touchdowns, and gave up six TDs to the Lions in that thrilling game. The Broncos have a competent-if-not-awe-inspiring offence, and a more-than-competent defense; the Bills D is probably the worst unit in this game. Even so, it's hard to pick against Josh Allen here; he's been able to carry them this far, and the Broncos have generally not looked good against other good teams this year. Additionally, their best player on defense, cornerback Pat Surtain, will have a limited impact in this game as the Bills don't have a true #1 WR for him to erase - Amari Cooper is generally considered their best, but his impact has been limited since he came over from Cleveland in a midseason trade; their most-used receivers have been third-year slot man Khalil Shakir (by targets and yards) and Eagles castoff Mack Hollins (by TDs), neither of whom are particularly frightening. No one on the Bills reached 1000 yards receiving, and Hollins led them in TDs with all of five. They barely even had a 1000-yard rusher, with James Cook managing only 9 past that mark (though he did lead the league with 16 rushing TDs). This team has been nothing but Josh Allen, and I have to back him to carry them through this matchup with a decent, but not inspiring Broncos team. With the points, however, 9 is a lot to give up for a team that doesn't have a strong defense; I would likely take the Broncos to cover.Green Bay Packers (+4.5) @ Philadelphia Eagles (Sun, 4:30 ET): In a rematch of the second game of the season, a green team with a 26-year-old mobile quarterback, a strong offensive line, an overload of weapons in the passing game and a rejuvenated veteran RB in his first year on a good team faces off against a green team with a 26-year old mobile quarterback (fun fact, Hurts is about two months older than Jordan Love), a strong offensive line, an overload of weapons in the passing game and a rejuvenated veteran RB in his first year on a good team. While that's a bit reductive, the two teams do legitimately have a number of parallels; the Eagles are (imo) basically a better version of the Packers. The Packers have 4 #2-quality receivers (or did, before Christian Watson went down), looking to overwhelm you with options; the Eagles have 2 #1 quality WRs, forcing you to choose which one to focus on while the other beats your worst corner. The Packers have a continuous tradition of having a top-10 offensive line; the Eagles have a continuous tradition of having a top-3 offensive line. The Packers went out and got Josh Jacobs in free agency coming off a down year in a terrible organization; the Eagles went out and got Saquon. Everything the Packers do, the Eagles seem to do better. Both have solid defenses, but the Eagles is (again) just a better one than the Packers. They are the better team on paper, and should win this game. The one place the Eagles have a disadvantage, in my opinion, is coaching: I would rather have Matt LaFleur than the oft-maligned Nick Sirianni. Unfortunately for them, coaching is one of the more significant areas to have that disadvantage; that said, they're so talented it's hard for me to really argue the other way. I'd take the Eagles to win the game and cover the spread.
Washington Commies (+3) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Sun, 8:00 ET): In one of the biggest surprises of the season, the Commies rode rookie QB Jayden Daniels and new HC Dan Quinn to the playoffs after being one of the worst teams in the league last year. Although they did have to pull out some improbable wins (including a Hail Mary) to get here, they are by no means undeserving; it was clear pretty early that they were legitimately a good team, and other than when Daniels was limited with a rib injury they looked good pretty much the whole season through. The Bucs had an interesting season, handing the Eagles their only real ass-kicking of the year but playing below-.500 during their rough early schedule before rolling through the easier back half to clinch the (weak) NFC South once again behind touchdown king Baker Mayfield, 11-time 1000-yard receiver Mike Evans, and a combo of WR Chris Godwin (before a season-ending knee injury) and rookies Bucky Irving and Jalen McMillan, who took off after Godwin went down. I would back the Bucs, but this is probably the weakest matchup in the NFC, only rivalled by Chargers-Texans for weakest overall.
Minnesota Vikings (+1) @ Los Angeles Rams (Mon, 8:00 ET): After a horrific offseason featuring (among other things) the season-ending injury of first-round rookie QB JJ McCarthy and the death of fourth-round rookie DB Khyree Jackson (car accident), it's safe to say things were not looking up for the Vikings entering the year. While they still featured All-World WR Justin Jefferson and a good OL, their offseason additions of aging and injury-prone RB Aaron Jones and retread QB Sam Darnold (who was expected to be replaced at some point by McCarthy before his knee went pop) on one-year contracts did not inspire confidence that this team could improve on the one that lost QB Kirk Cousins to a monster contract from the Falcons. In a remarkable turnaround, probable Coach of the Year Kevin O'Connell rallied the team and they came out firing, winning nine straight games after losing to the eventual #1 seed Lions in week 1. Sam Darnold turned in by far the best year of his career, throwing for over 4000 yards and 35 touchdowns en route to a likely Comeback Player of the Year award and a large payday this offseason. The team finished with 14-3 record, their best in more than 25 years. In the last game of the year, they played the division rival Lions with a chance at the #1 seed; however, after a close first half in which the Vikings couldn't find the end zone the Lions (and standout RB Jahmyr Gibbs) ran away with the game in the second half. They will try to bounce back this week against the Los Angeles Rams, who overcame the retirement of all-world DT Aaron Donald and a horrific start to the season that saw standout WRs Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua both miss several games to win the mediocre NFC West. Sean McVay continues to be one of the best coaches in the league, and the offense led by veteran QB Matt Stafford was supplemented by a hungry young defense, particularly a defensive line that remained strong even after Donald's retirement due to second-year DT (and talented singer) Kobie Turner and rookies Braden Fiske and probable Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse. This should be an interesting game, as the two coaches know each other very well; O'Connell served as the Rams' offensive coordinator in their Super Bowl-winning season before accepting the head coaching job with the Vikings. While the Vikings have been a very strong team throughout the season, the emotional letdown of losing the #1 seed to the Lions has me worried about a potential hangover in this one against a Rams team that, while young on the surface, retains plenty of institutional playoff knowledge with McVay, Stafford and Kupp. Many of the Vikings' important pieces have never been important pieces on playoff teams; how will they respond? With the line of 1 implying this as basically a pick'em, this is considered the most even matchup of any, and it's definitely the one I have the hardest time choosing. In the end, I think I'll go with the Rams' experience taking it over the Vikings, but my confidence level is not high.
Is your opinion on the Vikings-Rams altered by the game being moved to Arizona because of the fires?
It seems to me that often as not tragedies make teams/players more connected as a unit, rather than preoccupied with their off-field lives (as I would be - if my house burned down you can bet my focus at work would slip that week.) So for now I'll stay with my original prediction (even though most of them this week have been wrong!)
I'd also say that LA suffers from a bad home crowd to begin with, so it probably hurts them less to lose their home game than it would the Packers or Bears. Whole thing is pretty unpredictable.
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My rooting interests are tempered by the fact that, living in Pittsburgh, I have to deal with the annual chorus calling for Tomlin's head in a season where we make the playoffs because he hasn't won a playoff game in nearly a decade and he's entirely to conservative on offense and who cares if he has no losing seasons, yadda yadda yadda. There's also this perception that the Steelers are in some kind of hell where they need to get bad before they get good and maybe we need a losing season or two to get some top 10 picks and rebuild for the future. Never mind that the Patriots were strong for nearly 20 years picking at the end of the draft, or that the Browns, Raiders, Jaguars, Giants, Jets, Panthers, etc. have all had plenty of high picks in the past decade and they all still suck. Never mind that the Bengals have the best WB-WR tandem in football and they're out of the playoffs, or that the high-flying Dolphins have the most creative offense in football and are out of the playoffs. Never mind that the vaunted "Killer Bs" era that they think should have won 2 or 3 Super Bowls had to deal with a perpetually injured Le'Veon Bell and a defense so bad that they couldn't stop Blake Bortles despite putting up 40+ points. It's not Tomlin's fault that Bell could never stay healthy. It's not Tomlin's fault that Ben was a gunslinger who threw a lot of picks. At the very least, he's handling losing his franchise QB better than Belechick, whose Pats collapsed following Brady's loss despite one good season from Mac Jones. I get the impression that these people would be pissed if the Steelers won the Super Bowl because that would mean another decade of Tomlin.
With that in mind, I'm rooting for the following teams in non-Steelers games:
Los Angeles Chargers The Chargers had one of those wunderkind head coaches in Brandon Staley whom Steelers fans liked to point to whenever they talked about how Tomlin was too old-fashioned and was letting the game pass him by. Except Staley couldn't win anything and got his ass canned. Now they've replaced him with a guy who is committed to running the ball despite not being particularly good at it and not letting Herbert run wild despite years of the media stroking him off, and they're having a great season. Nothing against the Texans, who have similar numbers, but they're said to be having a down year while Harbaugh supposedly turned this ship around by playing more conservatively.
Buffalo Bills I like Buffalo, and while they definitely play a brand of football quite different from what Tomlin would play, they're up against the Broncos. I don't have anything against the Broncos per se; I do have something against Sean Payton, who acted like he was the savior of the team and shit all over Russ. Of course, people in Pittsburgh are acting like he saw something in Russ that Mike Tomlin missed and we should have known he as cooked because he was worse last year than his numbers would indicate, which is all the more reason to root for them to lose. Also, the guy was involved in Bountygate, which should be enough to get him barred from the league for life.
Philadelphia Eagles Well, whaddya know? Another team that plays lights-out defense, runs the ball, and has a QB and coach who people were ready to run out of town on a rail at the beginning of the season. Also Kenny Pickett. Also people in Pittsburgh act like we should be rivals with them even though we only play each other once every few years. The Eagles aren't the Flyers. All the people thinking the Steelers need to tank need to remember that Hurts was drafted in the second round and people were suspect after his rookie season. Honestly, the Packers aren't much different, having been criticized for investing in defense and that "won't win in the playoffs", but with Aaron Rodgers as their WB for so many years it's easy to root against them, even if they now have Jordan Love (Hey! Another good QB not drafted in the top ten!)
Washington Commanders First, enough with calling them the Redskins. I know it's nostalgic and I wouldn't have changed the name either, but teams changing names isn't uncommon and it's been done for stupider reasons. The Redskins were originally the Braves. The Steelers were originally the Pirates. The Jets were originally the Titans. The Pirates were originally the Alleghenies. The Astros were originally the Colt .45s. And if we're talking baseball, in the Dead Ball Era some teams changed their name almost every season. While I'm not a fan of changing names for political reasons, I'm even less of a fan of people calling things that have names by other, incorrect names for political reasons. I'm rooting for them so conservatives will have to hear about The Commanders for a few more weeks. Also, everyone agrees that their stadium is trash, and, though I haven't been there, I never understood why. Does it have seats? Does it have a field? Is the building actively trying to kill the fans? What's the problem here? People like to tout these "State of the Art Stadiums" that are optimized for fan comfort with a retractable roof that's open once every decade and a giant LED screen that blocks the view of the field and five star dining and between-play entertainment. I hear some of them also have football games there.
LA Rams On Christmas Eve, I heard some dildo on the radio say that the NFL needed to change its playoff format because winners of weak divisions didn't deserve to be in the playoffs over teams with good records in tough divisions. Especially when the division winner gets the home game. Well, sometimes that's how the cookie crumbles. No one picked the Rams to win this division, and nothing better than an unexpected run. Besides, we all know that the Vikes are cursed. Plus, I've had the idea for a while of starting a betting tip line that sells picks made on the assumption that the games are fixed, and right now Los Angeles could use an uplifting story due to the fires. Scrappy team scrapes into the playoffs, home game gets moved to Arizona, Rams win anyway. Go to the Super Bowl and win, and Stafford retires. Hollywood ending.
Detroit Lions Everyone says the Steelers need a coach like Dan Campbell who's willing to take risks. Well, the sum total of Dan Campbell's success has been an NFC Championship loss in his lone playoff appearance. There would be nothing more satisfying than to see the high-flying media darling lose to the Commanders in the Divisional round. Nothing against their long suffering fans. Also, I had to point out to a friend that they only landed on Campbell after firing approximately 377 coaches since deciding that Wayne Fontes wasn't the guy to get them over the top.
Kansas City Chiefs Everyone is tired of them at this point, but I was rooting for them when they won in 2020, and they haven't done anything to make me dislike them. Except that my cousin's 11-year-old son roots for them because he "likes Patrick Mahomes". As in, he roots for them over the Steelers, who he says suck. When I was a kid in the 90s there were always kids at school who just rooted for the Cowboys because they were the best team, and I'm disappointed that my cousin hasn't talked some sense into him. This is Pittsburgh. We root for our home teams come hell or high water, and we certainly don't just pick the best team and root for them. If he were a Jets fan because he liked Sauce Gardner I'd at least appreciate the pluck, but damn.
This is why I think the draft system needs to be fixed to reward winning rather than reward being truly terrible. Fans seem to be constantly upset at their teams being good.
I think you have my motivations confused. I don't deadname the 'skins because I have nostalgia for them, I do it because I hate them, then and now, and calling them the Redskins makes their fans unhappy. In the same way I would call opponents the Brooklyn Regrets, the Red Sucks, the LMAOboys. For conservative fans it picks at the scab, for liberal fans I don't want them to get away from their team's racist past. And genuinely, Redskins was a uniquely bad name, an actual slur. Braves, Chiefs point to a particular tradition and archetype of a brave and noble Indian that the team wants to emulate and honor. Seminoles and Utes honor a particular tribe. Even the Cleveland Indians, at least Chief Wahoo was jolly and fun. Anyway, any Washington DC team should be called some version of the Senators.
Though I should also note I printed out a Jaylen Daniels poster from the internet and laminated it so that I could post it on a telephone pole near my house, where a roadside memorial for a big 'skins fan is kept by his family. Felt like sportsmanship.
I agree. Division rivalries are important, and division wins are important. I continue to think that the NFL should add rivalry cups, trophies that teams get for beating rivals and travel from stadium to stadium with the winner, to make rivalry games more aggressive even when one team is bad.
They should be the Washington Lobbyists. Or bureaucrats?
If they were going to do the collective noun thing common among mls and WNBA teams (Fire, Soul, Liberty) I'd love the Cabinet.
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Well, if you hate them, then you should probably be calling them the Wash Redfaces.
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In the Commie's case, Fedex Field (or whatever they're calling it now) is falling apart to the point that:
Sewage occasionally leaks onto fans.
The hot water stopped working in the locker rooms.
A railing broke and fans fell onto the field, almost landing on Jalen Hurts.
The playing surface was famously awful for years. It famously bears part of the blame for RGIII destroying his name (personally his being allowed to pay at all on an unstable knee was the biggest fuckup in my opinion, but the shitty field definitely didn't help). By midseason it looked worse than many high-school fields. They did renovate the field a couple years ago and I haven't heard complaints since, so this problem seems like it may have been fixed.
Some of the seat views are obstructed. They've somehow managed to lose 30,000 seats of capacity since it opened. Not that they've needed it considering the team's ineptitude and the subpar stadium experience, but still. Also, while not the stadium itself's fault, it's located in a high-crime area. Doesn't have the surrounding development that more modern stadiums try to cultivate.
Honestly, the fact it's fallen apart so quickly considering it was only built in 1997 is almost impressive. I don't know if they just straight-up didn't have a maintenance department under Snyder or what, but a stadium shouldn't be in this bad of a condition after less than 30 years.
As to their name, I don't type out Redskins anymore when referring to them but I definitely think it when I think of them, and will slip up often when just saying it off the top of my head. Same for the Cleveland Guardians - they were the Indians through all my formative years, including when I had a personal connection to the team; internally, they're still the Indians even if I type out Guardians and understand the change (Chief Wahoo was pretty bad). With time that might change, although the looming potential name change from Commanders->whatever else doesn't encourage too much reprogramming (although the Washington Commies is definitely fun).
Well, I guess I stand corrected given that the stadium does seem to be actively trying to kill its occupants. Which raises an interesting question: What is it about pro sports facilities that leads them to having much shorter usable lives than literally any other buildings? The idea that they would tear down a typical urban skyscraper after 30 or 40 years to build a new one is ridiculous, as most skyscrapers are intended to last indefinitely. Some snarky people may point to government incompetence, but most government buildings last for much longer. Allegheny County has several government buildings dating from the 1920s that haven't even seen significant renovation, and nobody's even talking about replacing or even remodeling them. Yet these stadiums are always falling apart after 25 years.
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Incredibly, incredibly lame. You just don't do that in Western Pennsylvania.
Anyway, I'm rooting for the Steelers. While they remain, I'd prefer they play teams that will give them a higher chance of lasting longer in the playoffs. I have no real commitments otherwise.
:(
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It will be a cold day in hell before I root against my beloved green and gold. For one thing, I'm pretty sure there would be a warrant out for my arrest the next time I visited home. ;)
Honestly I am rooting for the Lions just because their fans deserve it. I respect anyone who sticks with a team that sucks as badly as the Lions have, for as long as they have. Unless they wind up playing the Packers, in which case see previous statement.
I'm actually taking a buddy who is a huge Packers fan. I'm a little nervous because I've never taken a friend to the Linc in enemy colors. But I managed to get two tickets, and he might never get another chance to see his team in the playoffs.
Are Philly fans as bad as their rep suggests? I've heard stories but it's hard to know whether the reputation is earned or if it's exaggerated.
I'm not sure what you've heard, but in general yes they're pretty bad. At least in the section where my family member's season tickets land. If he showed up in a cheesehead and a jersey, he would get cursed at, mocked, trash talked, and probably during the game some small detritus thrown at him. I don't think he's gonna get, like, beaten up, and woe betide the man who should try! my buddy deadlifts 530 and is a judo competitor, but he will get hassled, even just for the Packers beanie he plans on wearing. I wouldn't recommend going to the Linc in opposing team gear for a major game and expecting a perfectly peaceful child friendly experience.
Yeah, that basically lines up with what I've heard. If anything the reputation suggests that one should be prepared for actual violence. Trash talk I expect, friendly trash talk between rival fans is part of the fun! But throwing stuff at people, cursing, etc is a shame.
Back a couple decades now, my family connection had an employee who was a huge Cowboys fan. He'd show up to the annual Cowboys game at the Vet in a big silver Cowboys jacket. Not only would he get trash talk, the next week whoever came to the game would get trash talk about "your Cowboys," because the fans around the seats would remember the seat but not the person in it.
People, including Eagles fans, exaggerate, but the worst I expect on Sunday is an empty beer can or a hot dog wrapper or something like that if the iggles get punked by Green Bay.
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Don’t just do it for me; do it because Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert are the most likable combo of head coach and quarterback the league has ever seen. Harbaugh is a goofball, full of dad jokes and quirky anecdotes, and his players famously love him to pieces. He also loves them back; Harbaugh’s man-crush on the humble, self-effacing, but supremely talented Herbert is incredibly wholesome. Herbert is the anti-primadonna, and I cannot wait for him to finally receive both the credit and the success he was denied by his first few years under a rudderless and inept regime. Come Saturday evening, I hope we can all say to the Texans:
YOU JUST LOST TO TO SHELDON HIGH SCHOOL FISHING CLUB PRESIDENT.
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Herbert haters remain undefeated!
Seriously though, he seems to be overrated by the "football nerd" class and underrated by the bar-watchers. Like he's clearly good, but he's not on the level of the real elite guys. A back half of the top 10 type guy, rather than a front half.
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