Steelers MMQB: NFL Week 14 Wrap Up

Dec 8, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) throws a pass under pressure from Miami Dolphins defensive end Olivier Vernon (50) during the second half at Heinz Field. The Dolphins won the game, 34-28. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports

What We Learned in Week 14 in the NFL:

• LeSean McCoy sets Eagles rushing record in 8 inches of snow
• Ravens and Vikings trade lead six times in 4^th quarter of wild game
• Peyton’s got no problems throwing in the cold
• NFL officials continue season of bad calls
• Steelers playoff hopes sunk

Well that sucked. What a wild ending to the Steelers playoff hopes. Cue endless Steelers sideline karma references. While the Steelers may have just watched their playoff hopes go out of bounds along with the side of Antonio Brown’s foot there is still football to be played and enjoyed. Also there are cheap shots to give out.

The worst weather of Sunday afternoon was blowing through Philly as the Lions hoped to extend their NFC North lead and the Eagles hoped to gain an outright NFC East lead. A reported eight inches of snow fell in Philly on Sunday. You wouldn’t know to look at the stats line for Eagles RB LeSean McCoy who broke an Eagles’ rushing record with 217 rushing yards in their 34-20 victory over Detroit. By the way the game started it looked as though it was headed towards a 0-0 tie but somehow both offenses got going even as the snow fell. Detroit’s Calvin Johnson became the Lions’ all-time receiving leader but the Lions offense fell short in Philly.

In the day’s craziest finish Minnesota and Baltimore collectively decided that defense required too much effort as each team traded touchdowns six times in the fourth quarter before the Ravens ended up with the 29-26 victory. There were five lead changes within 2:05. For all of Baltimore’s efforts to retain their hold over the 6^th seed in the AFC Playoff race they now will face three straight division leaders to end their season. Also, apparently Vikings RB Adrian Peterson thinks that the Ravens fans are a bunch of douchebags so, there’s that.

Speaking of people who can suck it, Peyton Manning would like to extend those wishes to anyone who thinks he can’t play in cold weather. Manning had a 3-7 record in games with temperatures below freezing before Denver kicked off against Tennessee with a 13 degree game-time temp. Manning then went on to throw four touchdowns on his pace to score a gajillion touchdowns and eleventy billion points this season in a 51-28 win over the Titans. I mean, I get why Peyton doesn’t like people assuming he sucks in cold weather because, well, he’s sucked in cold weather but you have to think that he knew what he was doing when he basically had his choice of teams to play for and chose to go to Denver where 13 degrees is a mild December day. Also notable in that game; Broncos kicker Matt Prater broke the NFL’s record for the longest field goal when his 64-yarder sailed through as time expired for the first half. This dude couldn’t kick an extra point when he played for Central Florida but nailed a 64-yarder in Denver. Go figure.

Also on the topic of people who can suck it the NFL refs this year are a dumpster fire of bad calls. They suck worse than the replacement refs did and that’s being generous. From the phantom DPI call against Cleveland that solidified the comeback for New England to the phantom touchdown given to the Bengals after a friggin review was done and everything. This should be embarrassing for the league with the amount of BS calls that have been made so far this season. If this season doesn’t cause for some changes with the officiating, i.e. making them full-time employees and given proper training and subject them to actual accountability for their actions than fans can be sure it will only get worse from here on out. There’s no reason a league that can wipe its own ass with the amount of money it makes can’t improve the quality of the game by having competent officials enforce the rules consistently and accurately.

Ryan Clark said something to the effect following the Steelers 34-28 loss to Miami that if the ball ends up in the hands of Marcus Gilbert at the end of the game, something didn’t go right. Well, a lot of things didn’t go right on Sunday for Pittsburgh. Some things did go right. Cam Heyward and Jason Worilds had some outstanding plays. Troy Polamalu had a 19-yard touchdown off of an interception. Ben Roethlisberger passed Terry Bradshaw for the Steelers all-time touchdown leader. But, in the end, the Steelers defense couldn’t stop the Dolphins and the Dolphins defense stopped the Steelers offense.

The Steelers playoff hopes are just about gone now at 5-8 and in the 11^th seed in the AFC. They’d need to win out and a cholera outbreak to hit the rest of the teams in the AFC in order to get in at this point. The Steelers will host Cincinnati on Sunday night. Time to get back to work for the Steelers. The playoff chances might be moot but there is still football left to be played.

"“If you care about this, we’ll show up on Monday ready to work. It doesn’t matter what our record is.” – Cam Heyward"

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