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    NFL Playoff Predictions: Our Picks in the Wild-Card Round

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyN.F.L. Playoff Predictions: Our Picks in the Wild-Card RoundAn expanded first round is highlighted by a few tough matchups, including Colts-Bills and Ravens-Titans.Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens has lost both of his career starts against the Tennessee Titans — once in last year’s playoffs and again in Week 11 of this season. Jackson is hoping to find playoff success after two seasons ended in disappointment.Credit…Nick Wass/Associated PressJan. 7, 2021, 12:01 a.m. ETThe N.F.L. got through all 256 games, no matter how tenuous, completing the regular season. Now, an expanded field of 14 teams enters the playoffs with a chance at qualifying for Super Bowl LV, which is scheduled to be held on Feb. 7 in Tampa, Fla. The format, conceived to balance out the pandemic-related issues of the season, resulted in six games slotted this weekend, rather than the usual four. It also left only two teams with first-round byes, which was terrible news for the Buffalo Bills and the New Orleans Saints, both of whom would have been able to sit out this round in a typical season.Here is a look at the wild-card round. Unlike in the regular season, these picks are not made against the spread.Saturday’s GamesStefon Diggs and Josh Allen have turned the Buffalo Bills into must-see TV.Credit…Maddie Malhotra/Getty ImagesIndianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills, 1:05 p.m., CBSLine: Bills -6.5 | Total: 51One of these teams finished in the N.F.L.’s top 10 in offense and defense, and it wasn’t the Bills (13-3). The Colts (11-5) were wildly inconsistent, barely qualified for the playoffs (Buffalo’s blowout win over Miami in Week 17 helped considerably) and had a bad habit of wearing down as games went along. Despite that, they finished with the statistics of a solid contender and the franchise’s best record since 2014.That could fall apart quickly against Buffalo.The Bills’ success starts with quarterback Josh Allen, who progressed from a mistake-prone gunslinger to a legitimate candidate for the Most Valuable Player Award, leading Buffalo to its first division title since 1995. A fair amount of that improvement should be attributed to the arrival of wide receiver Stefon Diggs, whose presence opened the field for Cole Beasley and John Brown. Buffalo finished second in the N.F.L. in scoring, and closed the season with a six-game win streak in which the team averaged 38.2 points a game.The Bills’ defense didn’t rank nearly as high statistically, but cornerback Tre’Davious White and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds led a unit that tied for the third-most takeaways in the N.F.L. After a rocky start to the year, Buffalo’s defense was particularly impressive in late-season wins over the Chargers and the Steelers.The biggest factor in this game will probably be the weather. It is expected to be around 30 degrees in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Saturday afternoon, and Indianapolis’s quarterback, Philip Rivers, hasn’t won with a kickoff temperature below 35 degrees since Week 12 of the 2013 season. A creaky 39-year-old quarterback who has spent nearly his entire career playing in warm weather or domes is not a recipe for January success in western New York. Pick: BillsWhile John Wolford, right, performed admirably in his N.F.L. debut last week, the Los Angeles Rams are hoping Jared Goff, left, will be available this week.Credit…Harry How/Getty ImagesLos Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks, 4:40 p.m., FoxLine: Seahawks -4 | Total: 42.5That we are discussing whether quarterback Jared Goff can play is a testament to medical advances or his toughness, or both. Goff had surgery on the thumb of his throwing hand on Dec. 28 — that would allow for only 11 days of recovery and rehabilitation. Coach Sean McVay has said Goff is throwing in practice and “preparing himself to play,” but should he be ruled out, the Rams (10-6) would turn again to John Wolford, the pride and joy of the Alliance of American Football and the surprise winner of his first N.F.L. start, which came in Week 17.Be it Wolford or a limited version of Goff, the Rams should be underdogs against the Seahawks (12-4). Seattle’s offense was never in question — Russell Wilson is a threat to throw a touchdown pass to Tyler Lockett or D.K. Metcalf on almost every play — but after a brutal start to the season, the Seahawks’ defense improved considerably. The only solace for Los Angeles is that Seattle may be without safety Jamal Adams and defensive tackle Jarran Reed, which would significantly weaken the Seahawks’ pass rush.At full strength, this would probably have been a terrific game between N.F.C. West heavyweights. And you can’t count out the Rams as long as defensive tackle Aaron Donald — one of the best players in the N.F.L. at any position — is around. But when taken in its diminished form, this game tilts in Seattle’s direction. Pick: SeahawksThe Washington Football Team isn’t quite ready for prime time — and still needs a name — but opponents have become painfully aware of how much damage the rookie defensive end Chase Young, center, can do in any game. Credit…Patrick Smith/Getty ImagesTampa Bay Buccaneers at Washington Football Team, 8:15 p.m., NBCLine: Buccaneers -8 | Total: 45Winning your division is important. The Footballers (7-9) have the worst record of any playoff team — they tied the 2010 Seattle Seahawks for the worst record for a playoff team in N.F.L. history — but they get to host a game against the Buccaneers (11-5) by way of Tampa Bay’s being a wild-card entrant. It may seem unfair, but it wasn’t Washington’s fault that the Buccaneers lost both of their games against division rival New Orleans (by a combined score of 72-26).Home field advantage shouldn’t be ignored, and Washington’s defense should give it a bright future, but Tampa Bay is expected to win easily. Tom Brady and the Bucs’ offense got into a groove, ending the season with a four-game streak in which they averaged 37 points a game. And Tampa Bay’s defense, which specializes in getting to the quarterback, should have a field day thanks to the limited mobility of Alex Smith, who is not 100 percent after a calf injury to the same leg that nearly ended his career.If there is a path to victory for the Footballers it would start with turnovers caused by Chase Young and Washington’s upstart defense. Young, a rookie defensive end, appears to have skipped right from promising player to superstar. His day for playoff success will most likely come, but not this week. Pick: BuccaneersSunday’s GamesDerrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans rumbled for 195 yards against the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round of the playoffs last season. Can he repeat that success?Credit…Rob Carr/Getty ImagesBaltimore Ravens at Tennessee Titans, 1:05 p.m., ABC and ESPNLine: Ravens -3 | Total: 55Only two road teams are favored this weekend, and while Tampa Bay got that distinction thanks to Washington’s ineptitude, the Ravens (11-5) got there by looking nearly unbeatable over the season’s final five weeks.Somewhat written off after a midseason lull, Baltimore took advantage of a soft schedule to get things right, winning five consecutive games with an aggregate score of 186-89. The formula was familiar, with the Ravens rushing for more than 230 yards in four of the five games, but it was clear that a fire had been set under quarterback Lamar Jackson, who largely recaptured the form that made him the N.F.L.’s most valuable player in 2019.Tennessee’s offense is just as intimidating thanks to a formula not all that different from Baltimore’s. Running back Derrick Henry is a nearly unstoppable force — he became just the eighth N.F.L. player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season — and quarterback Ryan Tannehill makes teams pay for stacking the box with deep strikes to wide receiver A.J. Brown.The Titans (11-5) are nowhere near as capable as Baltimore on defense, but making them underdogs at home ignores the fact that the Ravens haven’t had anything resembling a dominant win over a good team since Week 9. It is possible Baltimore would have had similar late-season success against any opponent, but running up the score against teams like Jacksonville and Cincinnati isn’t enough to support such a bold pick. Pick: TitansChicago Bears at New Orleans Saints, 4:40 p.m., CBS, Nickelodeon and Prime VideoLine: Saints -10 | Total: 47The most interesting part of this game is that Nickelodeon will be doing a broadcast of it for children. There will be animated graphics, guest reporters, filters on the screen and, of course, slime.They couldn’t have picked a better game in which to inject some distraction, as the Bears (8-8) have little business being in the playoffs, let alone playing the Saints (12-4), who were among the N.F.L.’s five best teams this season.Chicago started the season with a 5-1 record, then looked so bad in a six-game losing streak that Coach Matt Nagy’s job appeared to be on the line, and then surprised everyone with three wins to get back in the playoff race. On the season’s final day, the Bears were blown out by Green Bay, but backed into the playoffs because of Arizona’s loss to the Rams.It is hard to imagine quarterback Mitchell Trubisky of the Bears winning a playoff game, but the Saints, who can dominate on both sides of the ball, have repeatedly reminded us that absolutely anything can happen in the playoffs. The Vikings shocked New Orleans in the divisional round of the 2017 season with a Stefon Diggs touchdown catch that will live forever. The Rams got away with an undeserved win in the N.F.C. championship game of the 2018 season thanks to one of the most brutal cases of uncalled pass interference you’ll find. And Minnesota ruined the Saints’ season yet again last year, with Kirk Cousins marching his team 75 yards on nine plays in overtime, throwing a walk-off touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph before Drew Brees could even touch the ball. Pick: SaintsThe Pittsburgh Steelers have frustrated many with a dink-and-dunk approach to offense this season. If they decide to be more aggressive this week, wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is more than up for the challenge.Credit…Scott Galvin/USA Today Sports, via ReutersCleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers, 8:15 p.m., NBCLine: Steelers -6 | Total: 47.5Only 11 teams in the 16-game era have started a season 11-0, and none of the others finished with a record as bad as this season’s Steelers (12-4), who were 1-4 down the stretch. Several factors contributed to Pittsburgh’s collapse, including the team having played the season without a real bye week, injuries to crucial defenders and the decision to rest quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and multiple defensive starters in Week 17. But it is also worth wondering if the Steelers were never as good as their franchise-best start suggested.This is a rematch of the teams’ game in Week 17, which the Browns (11-5) won, 24-22. But the close result had to be disturbing for Cleveland given Mason Rudolph’s starting for Pittsburgh in place of Roethlisberger. Cleveland’s defensive struggles can largely be attributed to three of the team’s four starting defensive backs being out because of coronavirus protocols, but the game was still far more competitive than it should have been.Pittsburgh will have players like T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward and Roethlisberger back this weekend, and while the Browns should get their secondary restored, they will be weakened considerably by having their head coach, Kevin Stefanski, out after he tested positive for the coronavirus. Defensive end Olivier Vernon will be out as well after sustaining a season-ending injury in last week’s win. Of all the games this weekend, this one seems to be the most unpredictable one, but a narrow Pittsburgh victory is the most likely outcome. Pick: Steelers.All times are Eastern.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    Enjoy Derrick Henry’s High-Mileage Fun. History Shows It’s Unsustainable.

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTrend WatchEnjoy Derrick Henry’s High-Mileage Fun. History Shows It’s Unsustainable.The Titans running back rushed for 2,027 yards, the fifth-highest total in N.F.L. history, and is hauling the team back to the postseason. It will be a fleeting joy ride, if past seasons are any indicator.Derrick Henry ran for 710 yards in his final four regular-season games, including 250 yards as the Titans clinched the A.F.C. South with a 41-38 victory over the Houston Texans.Credit…Sam Greenwood/Getty ImagesJan. 6, 2021, 3:00 a.m. ETTennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry is the last American muscle car. He’s huge, fast, powerful, a little intimidating and undeniably retro-cool. But he’s not very practical, and despite appearances, he’s probably not built to last.Henry rushed for 2,027 yards this season, the fifth-highest total in N.F.L. history. He became the second running back to eclipse 2,000 rushing yards since Chris Johnson of the Titans in 2009 and Adrian Peterson in 2012, and is just the eighth player in league history to reach that milestone. Henry led or tied for the lead in rushes, yards and rushing touchdowns for the second consecutive season in 2020.Henry’s accomplishments become even more remarkable on closer examination. He rushed for 1,268 yards on first downs alone; that production by itself would have allowed him to finish third in the N.F.L. in total rushing yards. Henry ran for 710 yards in his final four games, including 250 yards as the Titans clinched the A.F.C. South with a 41-38 victory over the Houston Texans, reinforcing his reputation for getting stronger as the season wears on. Pro Football Focus credits Henry with a league-high 77 eluded tackles on running plays; Henry “eludes” most tacklers by tossing them out of the saloon like the hero of a wild West serial, but that still counts.Henry rushed for 446 yards in last year’s playoffs, propelling the Titans to upset victories over the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots before the Kansas City Chiefs came back to defeat them for the A.F.C. championship. Only four other running backs rushed for more yards than Henry in a single postseason, and three of them — Terrell Davis in 1997 and 1998, Marcus Allen in 1983, John Riggins in 1982 — are now Hall of Famers, due in large part to their playoff and Super Bowl heroics. (Titans great Eddie George was the other, in 1999). A similar performance this year could vault the Titans into the Super Bowl and Henry onto a short list of all-time legends.Henry rushed for 446 yards in last year’s playoffs, propelling the Titans to upsets over the Ravens and Patriots. A similar performance this year could vault the Titans into the Super Bowl and Henry onto a short list of all-time legends.Credit…Carmen Mandato/Getty ImagesUnfortunately, strategic trends, analytics precepts and history itself are not on Henry’s side.Henry’s success flies in the face of modern N.F.L. wisdom. He’s a workhorse in a pass-happy league which has determined that sharing carries among a committee is more efficient, sustainable and affordable than force-feeding even the most formidable rusher. Henry rushed 378 times during the regular season, the highest total since DeMarco Murray rushed 392 times for the 2014 Dallas Cowboys. Two or three running backs each season typically earned 350-plus carries from the 1980s through the early 2000s. Only three rushers (Henry, Murray and Arian Foster in 2012) have crossed that threshold in the last decade.Henry’s heavy workload makes him a potential victim of the dreaded Curse of 370, an analytics principle popularized by Football Outsiders in the mid-aughts. Research suggests that 370 or more carries in one season typically result in injuries or steep decline the subsequent season. Murray, for example, fell to just 702 yards in 2015 after his high-mileage 2014 season. History is littered with other examples (and scant counterexamples) of rushers whose careers were curtailed by overuse, many of whom were thought to be exempt from the “curse” given their greatness, fortitude, dedication, etc.(The fact that usage declined at the same time that the Curse of 370 gained exposure is hardly a coincidence. N.F.L. decision makers act like high school tough guys when it comes to analytics, shouting “Math is for nerds!” at news conferences, then whispering asks for all the test answers.)Henry’s rugged style only compounds concerns about his workload. Most modern running backs double as receivers, allowing them to work the sidelines and absorb fewer hits against smaller defenders. Henry hammers the middle of the field like a 1970s running back, turning every Sunday into a demolition derby. It’s a refreshing change of pace in a league that has strayed far from its muddy roots, and Henry certainly catches some defenders off guard by opting to run straight through them instead of around them. But between the carries and the collisions, Henry has voided the terms of his service warranty and is starting to tempt fate.Henry “eludes” most tacklers by tossing them out of the saloon like the hero of a wild West serial, but that still counts.Credit…Jay Laprete/Associated PressEvery generation produces one or two running backs who buck every statistical trend, shrug off grueling workloads and remain effective well after their odometers flip: Adrian Peterson, Frank Gore, LaDainian Tomlinson, Curtis Martin, Eric Dickerson, Allen, Riggins and a few others. Henry may well be one of those backs. Then again, Todd Gurley, Le’Veon Bell and many other recent rushers appeared to be indestructible one year and their production fell off the next season, in many cases soon after they signed lucrative long-term contracts.The Titans signed Henry for four years and a reported $50 million in July. Despite his current excellence, there’s a high risk that they will wind up paying to have Henry towed to the scrapyard in a year or two.For now, however, the Titans are counting on Henry to once again drag them through the playoffs. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s crisp passing reduces Henry’s burden to a degree, but the Titans defense finished 24th in the league in points allowed and 28th in yards allowed.On Sunday, Tennessee will face a Baltimore Ravens team that scored 186 points in its last five games. They will need Henry to stiff-arm weary defenders and hammer home touchdowns to win that potential shootout but also to have a prayer against the Kansas City Chiefs and/or the Buffalo Bills in later rounds.Henry must do whatever it takes to muscle the Titans way into the Super Bowl this year, because history warns that they will not get many more chances.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    Coronavirus Will Keep Browns Coach Out of Long-Awaited Playoff Game

    #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesVaccination StrategiesVaccine InformationF.A.Q.TimelineAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyCoronavirus Will Keep Browns Coach Out of Long-Awaited Playoff GameCleveland announced that Coach Kevin Stefanski, two members of his staff and two Browns players’ positive tests will keep them out of Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.Browns Coach Kevin Stefanski led Cleveland to its first playoff appearance in 17 seasons, ending the N.F.L.’s longest postseason playoff drought.Credit…Terrance Williams/Associated PressJan. 5, 2021Updated 3:31 p.m. ETThe Cleveland Browns have seen their share of highs and lows over the decades, including the past 17 years, when they won less than one-third of their games and failed to reach the playoffs.Misery turned to elation on Sunday, though, when the Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to qualify for the postseason for the first time since the 2002 season and end the N.F.L.’s longest playoff drought. The Browns’ championship aspirations took a severe hit on Tuesday when the team said its head coach, Kevin Stefanski, two other coaches and two players tested positive for the coronavirus, the latest additions to a growing outbreak that has hampered the team the last few games.All five people will miss the Browns’ matchup against the Steelers on Sunday night in Pittsburgh. Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer will take over as head coach in Stefanski’s absence. The Browns have shut their training facility in Berea, Ohio, in the meantime.Offensive lineman Joel Bitonio is one of the two players who tested positive. Bitonio has been with the Browns his entire seven-year career, which has included the 2016 and 2017 seasons, when the team went 1-15 and 0-16. Stefanski gave Bitonio, the longest tenured player on the team, the game ball after Sunday’s win. Now Bitonio will miss his first chance to play in a postseason game.“This is just a terrible scenario for him,” J.C. Tretter, a center on the Browns and the president of the N.F.L. Players Association, said after the team’s announcement.The number of players, coaches and staff who tested positive picked up noticeably starting in November as the virus raged through communities around the country. In the week that ended Jan. 2, the N.F.L. said there were 34 new confirmed positive tests among players and 36 new confirmed positives among other personnel. The 70 combined cases was up from 58 positive tests the week before and 45 cases the week before that.Since August, 256 players and 432 coaches and staff have tested positive for the virus. There are at least 6,000 people regularly being tested throughout the league, including about 2,500 players on rosters and practice squads.The Coronavirus Outbreak More

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    In Georgia, Pro Teams Dive Into Senate Races With Different Playbooks

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    N.F.L. Black Monday: Jaguars Fire Marrone After Jets Dump Gase

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyN.F.L. Firings: Jaguars’ Marrone and Jets’ Gase Are OutDoug Marrone’s departure in Jacksonville came hours after the Jets fired Adam Gase. But Black Monday may not be as dark as usual this year.Jacksonville’s Doug Marrone, left, with the Jets’ Adam Gase in 2019. Both were fired after Week 17.Credit…Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressJan. 4, 2021, 9:42 a.m. ETBlack Monday, the day when N.F.L. head coaches are often shown the door, wasn’t as black this year. But that was only because so many coaches had already been fired.Doug Marrone of the Jaguars was the first to learn his fate on Monday morning, with the news confirmed in a statement from the Jacksonville owner Shad Khan.Statement from Owner Shad Khan. pic.twitter.com/cmLo7ss9gS— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) January 4, 2021
    Marrone joined Adam Gase of Jets, who lost his job on Sunday, and three coaches who didn’t even make it through the season: Bill O’Brien of the Texans, Dan Quinn of the Falcons and Matt Patricia of the Lions.Who Is Out?Doug Marrone, JaguarsThe Jaguars won their first game of the season against the Colts, launching a wave of Minshew Madness headlines about the triumph of their colorful quarterback, Gardner Minshew. They then proceeded to lose 15 games in a row. That signaled the end of the line for Marrone, the former Buffalo Bills head coach who took the Jaguars to the A.F.C. championship game in his first season, but was 12-36 since. The Jaguars’ 1-15 record will give them the top pick in this year’s draft, a selection they are very likely to use on Trevor Lawrence of Clemson. Farewell, Minshew Madness.Adam Gase, JetsGase was fired Sunday, not long after the Jets lost to the Patriots. The team finished the season 2-14 after an 0-13 start. Gase was expected to be an offensive guru, but he was 9-23 in his two seasons, and the young quarterback Sam Darnold struggled. With the Browns making the playoffs after 17 years, the Jets now hold the longest streak of missing the playoffs, 10 seasons. The next longest playoff drought is five.Midseason FiringsThree head coaches did not even make it to Week 17.Bill O’Brien was fired by the Texans after an 0-4 start. O’Brien was 52-48 with four playoff appearances and two playoff wins, but his roster moves as general manager didn’t produce the success needed to keep his job.Dan Quinn was fired by the Falcons after an 0-5 start. In five-plus seasons, he was 43-42 with two playoff appearances and a loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI.Matt Patricia was fired by the Lions after a Thanksgiving Day loss. In two plus seasons, Patricia was 13-29-1.Who’s Next?Four other teams who put up poor records are not expected to fire their head coaches.The Bengals (4-11-1) got an exciting season out of the rookie quarterback Joe Burrow, but despite that poor record the team said Monday that they would not dismiss Coach Zac Taylor.Doug Pederson is still revered in Philadelphia for his Super Bowl season and despite some grumbling in his city and his locker room he is expected to keep his job even though the Eagles ended up 4-11-1 in a terrible division.The Panthers and Broncos were both 5-11 this season, but Matt Rhule and Vic Fangio are likely to stay as well.The Chargers may be a different story: Although their record was a bit better than those teams, they may fire Anthony Lynn, who followed a 12-4 season in 2018 with records of 5-11 and 7-9.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    What We Learned From Week 17 of the NFL Season

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyWhat We Learned From Week 17 of the N.F.L. SeasonGreen Bay secured home-field advantage, Buffalo ended Miami’s season and Cleveland ended its 17-season playoff drought.Green Bay’s Marquez Valdes-Scantling had a 72-yard touchdown catch against Chicago, one of four touchdown passes Aaron Rogers threw while helping the Packers secure the No. 1 seed in the N.F.C. playoffs.Credit…Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesPublished More

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    Browns Are In, Ending N.F.L. Playoff Drought

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyBrowns 24, Steelers 22Browns Are In, Ending N.F.L. Playoff DroughtCleveland beat Pittsburgh on Sunday, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since the 2002 season.Quarterback Baker Mayfield, celebrating the Browns’ win on Sunday, delivered on his promise: The team’s makeover began three years ago when he was chosen with the first pick in the N.F.L. draft.Credit…Scott Galvin/USA Today Sports, via ReutersJan. 3, 2021Updated 9:31 p.m. ETCleveland Browns fans love to revel in their misery. The long list of dud coaches. The unending line of quarterback busts. The team abandoning the city only to return a few years later. And all that losing, including a winless season in 2017.But Browns Nation got some measure of payback on Sunday when the Browns beat their rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-22, in the regular-season finale, and qualified for the N.F.L. playoffs for the first time since the 2002 season, an absence of 17 years.The two teams — the Steelers (12-4), as the third seed in the A.F.C., and the Browns (11-5), as the sixth — will meet again next week in Pittsburgh in the wild-card round.The Browns’ victory ended the longest playoff drought in the N.F.L. (the Jets now take over the top spot with a 10-year absence) and completed a makeover that began three years ago when Cleveland chose quarterback Baker Mayfield as the first overall pick in the draft.When asked about what the victory meant to the team’s fans, Mayfield said, “It means so much to this city.”The win, in front of a pandemic-limited crowd of about 12,000 fans at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, provided an extra dose of satisfaction because it came against the Steelers, who have dominated the Browns for decades. Since the Steelers beat the Browns in the wild-card round in January 2003 — Cleveland’s last postseason appearance — Pittsburgh has won 29 of their 36 matchups.During that fallow period, the Browns have burned through 25 quarterbacks, 10 head coaches and a whole lot of hope. The team has gone 91-196 since its last playoff appearance (a .317 winning percentage), a stretch that has included 14 seasons with double-digit losses. Their only winning season during that stretch had been in 2007, when the Browns were 10-6.The Steelers had clinched the A.F.C. North and had no way to claim the top seed in the A.F.C. and its first-round bye, so they sat several of their best players on Sunday, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.The Browns were short-handed as well. Six players were on the Covid-19 list and several offensive linemen were injured. Cleveland went without any starting wide receivers last week in a loss to the Jets because of an outbreak on the team. Several more players and coaches were added to the Covid list since then.This made the challenge bigger for the Browns, even though they were playing at home and against the Steelers’ backup quarterback, Mason Rudolph.The Browns opened with a bang, scoring a touchdown and field goal on their first three possessions, sparked in part by running back Nick Chubb, who passed 1,000 yards rushing for the season.But the Steelers kept the game close with three field goals through three quarters. The Browns, though, found a way to stay one step ahead.After Pittsburgh narrowed the score to 10-9, Mayfield scrambled for 28 yards to keep the next drive alive. He then hit tight end Austin Hooper with a 2-yard touchdown pass to put the Browns up, 17-9.On the ensuing drive, M.J. Stewart of the Browns intercepted Rudolph and returned the ball to the Pittsburgh 20-yard line. Wide receiver Jarvis Landry ran for a touchdown four plays later to push the lead to 24-9.No Browns win over the Steelers comes easily. Rudolph hit wide receiver Chase Claypool for a 28-yard score. On the next drive, the Steelers sacked Mayfield to push the Browns out of field-goal range. They then failed to convert a fourth-down play, which gave the Steelers the ball back with 3 minutes 35 seconds to play.Rudolph hit wide receiver Diontae Johnson for a 47-yard completion, then threw a touchdown to JuJu Smith-Schuster to narrow the score to 24-22.The Browns broke up the 2-point conversion to maintain the lead, but nearly fumbled the recovery on an onside kick. It wasn’t until Mayfield ran 3 yards for a first down that the Browns were able to run out the clock, secure the win and punch their ticket to the postseason.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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    Giants Bumble Their Way Into a Win to Retain Playoff Hopes

    AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storygiants 23, cowboys 19Giants Bumble Their Way Into a Win to Retain Playoff HopesThe Giants’ topsy-turvy season had a fittingly odd ending. Now the team awaits the outcome of the Sunday night game between Philadelphia and Washington to learn its playoff fate.Giants running back Wayne Gallman’s late fumble against the Cowboys Sunday threw the game into momentary disarray. The officials ultimately ruled that Gallman picked up a key first down that would allow the Giants to run out the remaining clock in the victory.Credit…Robert Deutsch/USA Today Sports, via ReutersJan. 3, 2021Updated 9:30 p.m. ETPerhaps it is no surprise that a Giants regular season that began with five successive defeats, one victory in the first eight games and a startling late-season charge into playoff contention would not conclude with a routine, humdrum game. No, this topsy-turvy Giants season deserved to end with gripping drama, slapstick failure and ultimately gratifying perseverance.Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, with a potential postseason berth on the line, did not disappoint. In frantic fashion, the Giants spent nearly the entire second half desperately trying to cling to a tenuous 11-point first-half lead they had built.The tension built until the final 58 seconds of regulation, with the reeling Giants still ahead by 4 points, when the game officials huddled, and then turned to a video replay, to decide what had transpired at the bottom of a pileup caused by a shocking, bumbling fumble by running back Wayne Gallman at the Giants’ 39-yard line.Several players from both teams pounced on Gallman as he appeared to awkwardly sit directly on the loose football that had inexplicably slipped from his hands at the end of a crucial run. And when officials combed through the mass of contorted bodies atop him, there was only more confusion about the outcome as two officials initially pointed in separate directions — one awarded possession to Dallas, the other to the Giants. Moments later, the officials conferred and ruled that the Giants not only had retained the football, but that Gallman had picked up a key first down that would allow them to run out the remaining clock.Still, a last, agonizing replay review ensued, after which the call on the field was not reversed. The Giants (6-10) had earned a 23-19 victory that ended the team’s seven-game losing streak to Dallas (6-10) and temporarily kept their playoff hopes alive. If the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Washington Football Team on Sunday night, the Giants, as champions of the N.F.C. East, would host a wild-card game next weekend against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5).The fumble, and who recovered it, was not the only controversial late-game sequence in Sunday’s game. With about seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Giants wide receiver Dante Pettis caught a 10-yard pass, which proved pivotal when Giants place-kicker Graham Gano booted a 50-yard field goal on the next play that extended the Giants’ lead to 23-19. But video replays of the Pettis reception appeared to show that the football contacted the turf in a way that would have ruled the pass incomplete. Even though an incompletion would have moved the Giants out of field goal position, Dallas Coach Mike McCarthy did not challenge the play.The Pettis catch, and the Gano field goal it set up, became meaningful on the subsequent possession when Dallas drove inside the Giants’ 10-yard line with less than two minutes remaining. While the Cowboys were pushed back when quarterback Andy Dalton was sacked by Giants lineman Leonard Williams, if not for Gano’s field goal, they could have played conservatively for a field-goal attempt that would have given them the lead. Instead, needing a touchdown, Dalton scrambled on a third-and-17, and again under pressure from Williams, flung a desperate pass into the end zone that was intercepted by the Giants rookie safety Xavier McKinney.McCarthy said he did not challenge the Pettis reception because it was “too close” and a “bang-bang type of situation.” He added: “The three timeouts were obviously of high value there.”Roughly 15 minutes after Sunday’s game, Giants Coach Joe Judge said he would not be idle as he waited for the result of the game between the Eagles and Washington. Judge planned to go to his office and begin preparing for Tampa Bay.His assessment of the Giants’ season considered other factors.“Our season showed we had a lot of growth,” said Judge, the Giants’ rookie head coach. “I found out more about our team when we were 0-5 and 1-7. We showed a lot of character in those moments.”Judge added: “I told the guys how proud I was of them today. We had a good year — we improved every game.”Judge also said he was not surprised by the tense final moments of Sunday’s game.“I knew it would go down to the wire, as all of our division games have,” Judge said.The game did not begin as if it would be hotly contested to the end. Early on, the Giants dominated, defensively and most surprisingly on offense.Despite scoring only 26 points in their previous three games, the Giants scored a touchdown on their opening drive when wide receiver Sterling Shepard dashed 23 yards around the right end on a reverse, although Gano missed the extra point attempt after the score. The Cowboys cut the Giants’ lead in half with a 38-yard Greg Zuerlein field goal, but Shepard was the star of another Giants touchdown drive, catching a 10-yard touchdown pass from Giants quarterback Daniel Jones late in the second quarter.Dallas stayed in the game with two more Zuerlein field goals in the first half, but the Giants continued to attack, building a 20-6 lead on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Jones, who completed 17 of 25 passes for 229 yards, to Pettis.Trailing by 11 points at halftime, the Cowboys climbed back into the game when Giants tight end Evan Engram, who was recently selected for the Pro Bowl, failed to catch an accurate Jones pass over the middle early in the third quarter. Engram’s misplay was more than a drop since he deflected the football backward where it was intercepted by Dallas safety Donovan Wilson. Ten plays after the interception, Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott bulled into the end zone with a 1-yard touchdown that trimmed the Giants’ lead to 20-16.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More