#Saints defense seals the win with a forced fumble!#PITvsNO pic.twitter.com/k7JswELAOh
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) December 24, 2018
First of all, it is always a good day when the Pittsburgh Steelers lose. All -6 of my readers know this already. But if we are being real here, these Steelers losses have folks in their feelings because they have all been winnable games. The Steelers should have beaten the New Orleans Saints. QB Ben Roethlisberger was very good, as expected. New Orleans does not have a very good pass defense. Despite Roethlisberger’s success, head coach Mike Tomlin decided to go for it on fourth down in Pittsburgh territory against New Orleans’ special teams. How’d that go?
Lmao over the last 23 hours of memes you currently hold 1st place….. https://t.co/Yy5INPbxyM
— 5?Roosevelt nix (@Dat_Dude_Nix) December 25, 2018
Now, Pittsburgh’s defense had to hold on late against the New England Patriots the week before at home. Perhaps they would have been able to hold New Orleans QB Drew Brees if the game was at Heinz Field. But it was at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. And Brees found Can’t Guard Mike.
There was enough time for Roethlisberger and the offense to give their shaky kicker a chance to at least force overtime, and that’s where WR JuJu Smith-Schuster lost a fumble right on the target line. For the Steelers, it was a total team loss. For the Saints, it makes their Week 17 irrelevant, as they clinched the top seed in the NFC and will not play a meaningful game until January 12 or 13.
Other teams clinching items in Week 16 include the Dallas Cowboys (NFC East) and the Seattle Seahawks (NFC Wild Card).
Teams of the Week:
NE, BAL, IND, OAK
DAL, CHI, NO, LA
Winning units:
TEN offensive line (QB Blaine Gabbert)
BAL pass defense (CB Tavon Young)
ATL pass rush (DT Jack Crawford)
CLE pass offense (TE David Njoku)
DAL offensive line (QB Dak Prescott)
MIN pass offense (TE Kyle Rudolph)
IND pass offense (WR Chester Rogers)
JAX run defense (DE Calais Campbell)
NE run defense (DE Ufomba Kamalu)
GB run offense (QB Aaron Rodgers)
PHI pass offense (TE Zach Ertz)
LA run offense (RB C.J. Anderson)
CHI run defense (ILB Roquan Smith)
NO offensive line (QB Drew Brees)
SEA run offense (RB Chris Carson)
OAK special teams (WR Dwayne Harris)
Looking ahead to Week 17
Falcons at Tampa Bay: There are three games that mean absolutely nothing to the postseason picture entering Week 17, and this one is the absolute worst. Yes, even more than the game in Buffalo (can Miami finish .500?) and Green Bay (can the Lions sweep the Packers for the second season in a row?). This game has shootout potential, and then the coaching staffs will be shaken up (even if Dan Quinn and Dirk Koetter are safe, the coordinators are certainly not).
Browns at Baltimore: Steelers fans have to root for the Browns, a team that went 0-16 last year. The Ravens had to merely defeat the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17 last year, and they choked, allowing the Buffalo Bills to be the 6th seed. I fully expect the Browns to complete the sweep of the Ravens behind some ferocious blitzing of Baltimore rookie QB Lamar Jackson. The Steelers will win the AFC North.
Raiders at Kansas City: The Coliseum can be melted in sewage now that the Raiders beat the Broncos on Monday Night Football. This game is real simple, as is Kansas City’s path to the top seed in the AFC: If QB Patrick Mahomes II can get a multi-TD first half lead, then the Chiefs should be fine. The Raiders are better equipped to run the ball than protect QB Derek Carr, especially at Arrowhead Stadium. A Chiefs loss opens things up for the Los Angeles Chargers (at Denver), New England Patriots (vs. Jets), and/or Houston Texans (vs. Jaguars) to slide into a bye week.
Bears at Minnesota: The Vikings failed to win in Chicago on Sunday Night Football despite Minnesota QB Kirk Cousins suggesting that America was there to watch the Vikings. A repeat of that, and the door opens for the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles to go into Washington and secure a Wild Card berth. The Vikings will be in the playoffs, likely due to a Philadelphia loss.
Colts at Tennessee: Game 256! There’s a scenario that happens where the Titans could get a Wild Card bye, which is nuts. At its core, this game will determine the final playoff spot. Another scenario exists where the Ravens could win the AFC North, Game 256 ends in a tie, and the last playoff spot would go to … the Pittsburgh Steelers. I expect the Indianapolis Colts to win the AFC South.