2021 NFL predictions

[racepug]

Pittsburgh's defense was embarrassing in the third quarter. How long will Tomlin continue to coach this team ? His teams havent done anything in the postseason since beating the Jets in 2011. They have went 3-7 since losing the SB to the Packers with two victories in the 2016/17 postseason before getting blownout in the AFC Championship game ...

Well, PIT's isn't the first defense that Patrick Mahomes & Co. has embarrassed (and it won't be the last) but what I don't understand is why some people were predicting a PIT upset when the Chiefs had beaten them soundly just a couple of weeks before. Nothing's ever a complete sure thing but I would have been stunned if PIT had come away with the "W" yesterday.

[Brian wolf]

Youre right racepug, bad call on my part ... the way the Chiefs had played pass defense lately, I thought the Steelers could throw the ball on them but once again in the playoffs, Big Ben and the offense cant seem to do anything until its way too late. Who will the Steelers try to bring in at QB next year ?

[sluggermatt15]

SFO almost gave the game away in the fourth quarter. Should not have been as close as it was.

I TOTALLY agree. Matter of fact I texted that very thing to another PFRA member as the game was winding down. The home team struck me as being VERY undisciplined and (as usual) not worthy of the hype surrounding it.

I think that is really why Dallas lost, they are a very undisciplined team. Most penalties in the league. They committed stupid penalties an inopportune times which cost them.

[sluggermatt15]

Pittsburgh's defense was embarrassing in the third quarter. How long will Tomlin continue to coach this team ? His teams havent done anything in the postseason since beating the Jets in 2011. They have went 3-7 since losing the SB to the Packers with two victories in the 2016/17 postseason before getting blownout in the AFC Championship game ...

Well, PIT's isn't the first defense that Patrick Mahomes & Co. has embarrassed (and it won't be the last) but what I don't understand is why some people were predicting a PIT upset when the Chiefs had beaten them soundly just a couple of weeks before. Nothing's ever a complete sure thing but I would have been stunned if PIT had come away with the "W" yesterday.

The defense kept the Steelers in the game in the first quarter and part of the second. It's just the offense is horrible. They couldn't move the ball to save their lives. But look at the big picture.. they have a rookie RB, a rookie TE, inconsistent WRs, and the worst offensive line in football. What can you really expect from that?

[racepug]

I think that is really why Dallas lost, they are a very undisciplined team. Most penalties in the league. They committed stupid penalties an inopportune times which cost them.

That was certainly part of the reason but not the whole reason, in my view. At one point in yesterday's game the 49ers had more plays of 10 or more yards than the home team did plays, PERIOD. Once again, people cherry-picked a couple of results from the home team's season and determined that they were going to "go all the way!" when it was clear to people like me that they finished with a record as good as they did not because they were so great but because the other teams in their division are some of the worst teams in the N.F.L. right now. Through 3 quarters that game was San Francisco's all the way. Only some blunders by J.G. in the 4th gave the home team any chance of winning that game at all. But of course Dak and the "fans" want to blame the refs instead of facing the truth that their team wasn't nearly as good as some people made it out to be. That would be admitting that their team is inferior which is something that that team and its "fans" can't ever seem to do.

[racepug]

I think that is really why Dallas lost, they are a very undisciplined team. Most penalties in the league. They committed stupid penalties an inopportune times which cost them.

"Dallas fans never feel the Cowboys have lost a game. It's always that the referees screwed them or the Good Lord looked the other way or something. . .The fans don't know football. They just know something's wrong if the Cowboys aren't winning by two TDs."
"A few years ago their highlight film was called Like A Mighty River. Boy, that's Texas all right. And John Wayne is the quarterback. You do a game in Detroit, say. The people there have seen a little football. You can't BS them. But try to tell the truth in Dallas and you'll find some frozen hemlock in your nachos." - (former Eagles DB) Tom Brookshier (from way back in 1982!)

[racepug]

The defense kept the Steelers in the game in the first quarter and part of the second. It's just the offense is horrible. They couldn't move the ball to save their lives. But look at the big picture.. they have a rookie RB, a rookie TE, inconsistent WRs, and the worst offensive line in football. What can you really expect from that?

https://sports.yahoo.com/steelers-face- ... 53860.html

[sluggermatt15]

I'm not going to defend Ben. I think he had a decent year, not one of his best, but not one of his worst.

What did he really have to work with? Not a whole lot.

[Brian wolf]

Weekend Divisional Playoff Picks

Sat ... Titans and Bills
Sund ... Rams and Packers

Can the Rams beat the Bucs twice ?

[ChrisBabcock]

Predictions for this weekend's games...

Combovers 31, Flaming Thumbtacks 20 (my wife's names for these teams)
Packers 27, 49ers 20
Skeletons 38, Bananas 24 (my 3 year old son's names for these teams)
Bills 38, Chiefs 34