NFL Week 15: Green Bay Packers at Pittsburgh Steelers

• Non

  

  We'll see what happens this week.
  
  Packers are playing good defense, Aaron Rodgers is playing well, and they look like a legit playoff team in the NFC.
  
  Steelers have been flat out terrible, losing five in a row.
  
  But the door is still cracked slightly entering this Sunday.
  
  Here's the AFC Wild Card picture
  
  Denver 8-5
  Baltimore 7-6
  N.Y. Jets 7-6
  Miami 7-6
  Jacksonville 7-7
  Pittsburgh 6-7
  Tennessee 6-7
  Houston 6-7
  
  The Steelers must beat Green Bay first of all, no easy task.
  
  But I think they also need Atlanta to knock off the Jets. Won't be easy on the road. The Falcons are 1-5 on the road and Matt Ryan and Michael Turner might still be out.
  
  They could also desperately use a loss by either the Broncos or Ravens.
  
  Let's say for example, Steelers win, Falcons win and Raiders upset the Broncos.
  
  And for good measure Tennessee beats Miami. That game might not matter but we'll call it one way for the sake of it.
  
  that would leave
  
  Denver 8-6
  Baltimore 8-6
  N.Y. Jets 7-7
  Jacksonville 7-7
  Pittsburgh 7-7
  Tennessee 7-7
  Miami 7-7
  Houston 7-7 (they'll beat St. Louis)
  
  In Week 16:
  
  Pittsburgh beats Baltimore
  Denver loses at Philadelphia
  Jacksonville loses at New England
  N.Y. Jets lose against Indianapolis
  Tennessee loses to San Diego
  Miami plays Houston in a game that would be impossible to pick but we'll say Miami wins at home
  
  that would leave
  
  Denver 8-7
  Pittsburgh 8-7
  Baltimore 8-7
  Miami 8-7
  N.Y. Jets 7-8
  Jacksonville 7-8
  Tennessee 7-8
  Houston 7-8
  
  the Jets play Cincinnati the last game so if they beat Atlanta they could still lose to the Colts and Bengals, I just feel having one loss already to the Falcons would make it tougher to win both of those other two
  
  In Week 17:
  
  Pittsburgh beats Miami
  Denver beats Kansas City
  Baltimore beats Oakland
  
  Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Denver are all 9-7
  
  If three teams are tied it would be head-to-head if they were all in different divisions. Denver would be out because they lost to both.
  
  But according to the rules, the division tiebreaker must be performed first to leave one team in each division. That would be Baltimore and Denver. Baltimore won head-to-head so they get the first wild-card spot.
  
  Then, I believe, the two other teams at 9-7 go into a new tiebreaker with the steps starting all over again. Pittsburgh gets the head-to-head nod over Denver.
  
  And that's it.
  
  I would be easier if Baltimore lost another game to Chicago or Oakland. Then the Steelers wouldn't need to worry about what Denver does at all.
• thavoice

  Sounds like an easy path to the playoffs.
  
  Hardly.
  
  They put themselves in this mess. Pretty much dont have any hope of making the playoffs because, well, they have tow in three in a row.
  
  Maybe the loss to the browns will embarrass the team to start performing.
  
  I cannot remember a more demoralizing loss
• killer_ewok

  

  The Pack defense is nasty. And Rodgers and Co. will probably pick apart our porous secondary. There's always a chance but after the last 5 weeks....there's little reason to believe. Still.....
  
  Go Steelers!
• Non

  

  I have this theory that the Steelers play close games against everybody. Whether they're good teams or bad teams.
  
  You might think, well, they couldn't beat the Browns so they'll get killed by the Packers but I think they'll do enough to make it a competitive game but then just like the other games it will come down to like one pivotal drive.
• Al Capone

  I like the way you think Non. I havent given up hope of another game with the bungals.
• Non

  

  As far as the playoff picture, I just like to know what help they need.
  
  People on TV will be like "the Steelers need to win and get help" but they don't have time to go into detail.
  
  Right now they're obviously in deep trouble. But not quite at the point where you can say they're done. This Sunday needs to play out first. If those three things happen this Sunday they'll be very much back in it.
• thavoice

  well....because the help is so much they dont have a full hour to go over it!!!
  
  All i know is.....gotta win out...and I pretty much just hope all the 6-7 loss teams continue to lose. Ill pay more attention next week if they can win against the pack.
• Al Capone

  Something tells me they will beat the Packers and Ravens and lose to the Dolphins.
• Non

  

  I don't have any faith in them right now.
  
  They've bounced back in other years and showed good resiliency.
  
  This is not the same Steelers, unfortunately. So I can't bring myself to be confident that they're going to play well this week and beat the Packers. They're going to have to show it.
• thavoice

  yeah...this season does have a diff feel after this long skid. Been Since Nov 9th I think since we celebrated a W I think..........
  
  Id be more confident if the defense wasnt giving up leads late and the offense had the ability to run the ball....or should I say, an OC that would put some emphasis on the ground game.
  
  T.O.P. is up this year....some of it is the team givng up 8 returns for TD...that is 8 less possessions the opponants offense has almost.....but I think part of the late game downfans is the inability to run the ball an shorten the game. IN the past the team could, and would, have the ability to strangle the life out of teams in the 4th. Mendenhall is good enough, the OL sux but I think in the right scheme even they could be effective run blockers (dislike a running game w/o a FB).
  
  We ll see sunday how it goes I guess.......
• Non

  

  I really can't comprehend this.
  
  Even a guy like Heath Miller, who has been so reliable, has dropped some big passes during this losing skid.
  
  Ben hasn't been right since the injury against Kansas City, as you pointed out. The same thing happened to Tebow after he got injured. There were a few games when he kind of played it close to the vest and didn't have the same energy. The Gators had the guys around him to help him through it. The Steelers need him to play well and be able to avoid the pressure if this is the offense they're going to run, trying to pass all the time.
• gorocks99

  

  Go Pack Go!
  
  
  
  And no, I'm not a disgruntled AFC North fan. I'm actually a Packer Backer.