About an hour ago
Monday’s “First Call” shows us that the Indianapolis Colts is not handling the defeat against the Steelers very well.
The Ravens may be back at Camp Heinz soon. Baker Mayfield is blaming himself for the humiliating defeat of the Cleveland Browns.
And a reality test slaps in the face about Josh Bell’s pirate trade.
Blame the referees!
Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard is furious with NFL officials after his team’s 28-24 defeat at Heinz Field.
Darius Leonard at DPI over Kenny Moore (replay showed that the ball was tilted): “It was a terrible decision, I don’t care, it was horrible … and the one against TJ (Carrie), it was a great move by TJ. If you’re going pay what’s in TJ, you need to pay what’s in TY. “
– Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) December 27, 2020
He’s right. Many of these pass-through interference calls – and not calls – it was 50-50. They were made in favor of the Steelers. And they definitely impacted the game.
But I would humbly present Colts attackers’ blatant missed calls waiting for TJ Watt as proof that the bad attack was a two-way street.
Yes. That sums it up
Baker Mayfield only answered one question during his post-game Zoom press conference.
And he responded by saying that “he failed with this team”.
That’s how the Cleveland Browns quarterback summed up his club’s humiliating 23-16 loss to the New York Jets (2-13).
Baker Mayfield answered just one question during his post-game call about Zoom. Completely possessing the loss – “I failed this team” – that’s what he had to say the most: #Browns pic.twitter.com/PxSjbLglID
– Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) December 27, 2020
Mayfield tried 53 passes, threw 25 incomplete, took four bags and got in the way three times (losing two of them).
The 10-5 Browns can still make it to the playoffs if they beat the Steelers on Sunday in Cleveland. The Steelers may have very little to play for, depending on the Buffalo Bills’ result tonight against New England and how seriously coach Mike Tomlin takes the difference between the two and the three.
But here’s what needs to happen for the Browns to make it to the playoffs. They need to defeat the Steelers and they are inside. Or they need the Colts to lose to the Jacksonville Jaguars 1-14. Or they need the Tennessee Titans to lose to the Houston Texans, in addition to the wins of the Baltimore Ravens and the Miami Dolphins.
Did you understand all that? Not?
That’s nice. Just understand this: the Browns lost to the Jets.
Wow!! Didn’t that make a loss to Bengals last week hurt a little less?
Anyway, about Baltimore …
In the meantime, no mockery can be found for the Baltimore Ravens. They are firmly back on track, dealing with the New York Giants 27-13 on Sunday.
After losing the Covid Bowl to the Steelers on December 2, the Ravens have won their last four games.
Granted, these wins were mostly against bad teams in the Cowboys, Browns, Jaguars and Giants. Cleveland is the only team with a record over 0.500 in that group.
According to ESPN, Baltimore has a 92% chance of making the playoffs.
Ravens playoff winning scenarios for Week 17:
Victory in Cincinnati
Or the Browns lose at home to the Steelers
Or Colts losing at home to Jaguars
Thus, the Ravens do not necessarily need to win to enter, but they probably do not want to count on the defeat of the Browns or Colts.
– Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) December 28, 2020
As of now, the Ravens are seated at No. 6 in the AFC playoff bracket. This lines up very well for a trip back to Heinz Field for the first round of the AFC playoffs, as the Steelers are likely to be the third seed.
The Steelers (12-3) cannot fall to the fourth seed, as Indianapolis or Tennessee will win the division with 11 wins. And Steelers can only move up to the second seed if they finish with a better record than Buffalo Bills (11-3). Buffalo plays in New England tonight. Bills have an advantage in the tie because of their face-to-face victory over the Steelers earlier this month.
Keep in mind, however, that the Ravens can still jump to fifth place and face the South AFC champion.
What the watt wants
Two-thirds of the trio of Watt brothers had a good week.
TJ and Derek celebrated the 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) December 27, 2020
The Houston Texans of JJ Watt were not so lucky, however. They lost their fourth straight game and dropped to 4-11 in the season. This was after a 37-31 defeat against Cincinnati Bengals.
The older Brother Watt is demanding that his fellow Texan players end the 2020 campaign against the Tennessee Titans next week on a professional basis.
JJ Watt speaking the truth. Please watch.
( @joeagleason)pic.twitter.com/jdSqldxH1s
– NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) December 27, 2020
Watt is probably also personally frustrated. He has only five sacks in the season and one in the past seven weeks.
A matter of perspective
The Pirates left former All-Star Josh Bell for Washington Nationals on Thursday.
How about this view of ESPN.com’s Buster Olney transaction?
“… Although Bell is expected to earn about $ 6 million in 2021, not much more than the sport’s average salary, he was among Pittsburgh’s most expensive players. The Pirates do not have a single contractual commitment for the 2022 season, other than the acquisitions of years of option, and appear to be on their way to having the lowest wage expense in sport – by a considerable margin, perhaps.
“In fact, when a rival officer learned that Bell had been negotiated, his first question was, ‘Did the pirates earn any wages?'”
There is! The Pirates? Earn salary? That’s a good one, “rival officer”. I do not know who you are. But if you know the baseball front maneuvers as you know the humor, you will win the World Series.
Tim Benz is an editor on the Tribune-Review team. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via Twitter. All tweets can be posted again. All emails are subject to publication, unless otherwise specified.
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Pirates / MLB | Sports | Steelers / NFL | Breakfast with Benz