About an hour ago
Monday’s “First Call” shows us that the Indianapolis Colts are not handling their loss against the Steelers very well.
The Ravens may be back to Heinz Field soon. Baker Mayfield blames himself for the humble loss of Cleveland Browns.
And a slap-in-the-face reality test on the Pirates trade with Josh Bell.
Blame the refs!
Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard is angry with NFL officials following his team’s 28-24 defeat at Heinz Field.
Darius Leonard on the DPI on Kenny Moore (the replay showed the ball was tilted): “It was a terrible call, I do not care, it was terrible … and the one against TJ (Carrie), it was a great game from TJ. If you’re going to call the one at TJ, you have to call the one against TY. ‘
– Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) 27 December 2020
He has a point. Many of these interference calls succeed and non-calls – was 50-50. They were made in favor of the Steelers. And they definitely had an impact on the game.
But I would humbly submit the tremendous failures by Colts offensive lineouts against TJ Watt as proof that the poor service was a two-way street.
Yup. It sums it up
Baker Mayfield took only one question during his Zoom press conference after the game.
And he responded by saying that he ‘failed this team’.
That’s how the Cleveland Browns full-back summed up his club’s humiliating 23-16 defeat to the New York Jets (2-13).
Baker Mayfield asked only one question during his Zoom call. He completely possessed the loss – ‘I failed this team’ – this is what he still had to say: #Sources pic.twitter.com/PxSjbLglID
– Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) 27 December 2020
Mayfield tried 53 passes, threw 25 unfinished throws, took four sacks and stumbled three times (losing two of them).
The 10-5 Browns can still make it to the playoffs if they beat the Steelers Sunday in Cleveland. The Steelers may have very little to play for, depending on the result of Buffalo Bills tonight against New England and how seriously head coach Mike Tomlin selected the difference between the two and the three.
But this is what needs to happen for the Browns to win the playoffs. They have to beat the Steelers, and they’re in. Or they should lose the Colts against the 1-14 Jacksonville Jaguars. Or they need the Tennessee Titans to lose to the Houston Texans, in addition to wins by the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins.
Do you have it all? No?
It is good. Just understand this: The Browns lost to the Jets.
Wow! Doesn’t that somehow make a loss for the Bengals last week, just a little less?
Anyway, about Baltimore …
Meanwhile, no such mockery can be found for the Baltimore Ravens. They are back on track and handle the New York Giants 27-13 Sunday.
After losing the Covid Bowl to the Steelers on December 2, the Ravens have won their last four games.
Granted, the wins were mainly against bad teams in the Cowboys, Browns, Jaguars and Giants. Cleveland is the only team with a record of over .500 in the group.
According to ESPN, Baltimore has a 92% chance of winning the playoffs.
Ravens’ play-off scenarios for Week 17:
Wen in Cincinnati
Or Browns lose at home to Steelers
Or Colts lose at home to Jaguars
So Ravens do not necessarily have to win to get in, but they probably do not want to rely on the Browns or Colts losing.
– Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) 28 December 2020
From now on, the Ravens are in the no. 6-slot in the AFC play-off bracket. This agrees well with a trip back to Heinz Field for the first round of the AFC playoffs, as the Steelers are likely to be the third seeded.
The Steelers (12-3) cannot fall to the fourth seed, as Indianapolis or Tennessee will win the division by 11 wins. And the Steelers can only climb to the second-seeded if they end up with a better record than the Buffalo Bills (11-3). Buffalo plays New England tonight. The Bills hold a draw advantage based on their win against the Steelers earlier this month.
However, keep in mind that the Ravens can still jump to fifth place and play the AFC South champion.
What Watt wants
Two-thirds of the Watt Brother trio had a great week.
TJ and Derek had to celebrate an AFC North championship with the Steelers, thanks to the club’s victory over Indianapolis on Sunday.
Kings of The North! #DivisionChamps pic.twitter.com/cV70tSEXBj
– Derek Watt (@ DerekWatt34) 27 December 2020
However, JJ Watt’s Houston Texans were not so happy. They lost their fourth consecutive game and dropped the season 4-11. This is after a 37-31 defeat against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The oldest Watt brother demands that his fellow Texans players end the 2020 campaign against the Tennessee Titans with professional motivation.
JJ Watt speaks the truth. Please see.
( @joeagleason)pic.twitter.com/jdSqldxH1s
– NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) 27 December 2020
Watt is probably also personally frustrated. He only has five bags on the season and one in the last seven weeks.
A matter of perspective
The Pirates traded former All-Star Josh Bell to the Washington Nationals on Thursday.
What about this view of ESPN.com’s Buster Olney deal?
‘Although Bell is likely to earn about $ 6 million in 2021, not much higher than the sport’s average salary, he was one of the most expensive players in Pittsburgh. The Pirates do not have a single contractual commitment for the 2022 season, other than buy-out options this year, and look well on their way to having the lowest salaries in the sport – perhaps by a significant margin.
“Actually, when one rival official heard that Bell had been traded, his first question was, ‘Did the Pirates kick in any salary? ‘
Ha! The pirates? Kick in salary? This is a good one, ‘competitive official’. I do not know who you are. But if you know the baseball front office as you know humor, you’ll win the World Series.
Tim Benz is a staff writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets can be re-posted. Unless otherwise stated, all emails are subject to publication.
Categories:
Pirates / MLB | Sport | Steelers / NFL | Breakfast with Benz