NFL 2022: The Week 18 thread

That's four human beings named after a hat.

Welp, there it is:

* BUF-CIN will officially not be completed.
* AFCG to be played at a neutral field if played by teams whose seeding could have been affected by this.
* There's a weird scenario where a hypothetical BAL v CIN wildcard game would be hosted by the winner of a coin toss.

I think it's a sensible decision given the circumstances.

EDIT: One question I have is: does this mean the Bengals have clinched the AFCN title? That part seems kinda odd but again, it's hard to find a solution where no one can feel like they got screwed somehow. It's also not possible now for the Chiefs to host the AFCCG.

Bengals Ravens is Sunday. Ravens needed Cincy to lose, then beat them and they would win tiebreaker.

But yeah now it looks like 11-4 beats 11-5 even if Ravens win

iaintgotnopants wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

If Kevin McCarthy LOSES four more Speaker votes, the Republicans get the pick.

Stetson Bennett IV

I have no idea why you think Stetson's going to have time for the NFL when he's going to be too busy making sure you get the best deal on a brand new 2023 Telluride at Stetson Bennett KIA of Waycross and Blackshear.

Prederick wrote:
iaintgotnopants wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

If Kevin McCarthy LOSES four more Speaker votes, the Republicans get the pick.

Stetson Bennett IV

I have no idea why you think Stetson's going to have time for the NFL when he's going to be too busy making sure you get the best deal on a brand new 2023 Telluride at Stetson Bennett KIA of Waycross and Blackshear.

I don't expect him to have anything resembling an NFL career but that motherf*ckers name alone screams Rep-elect from Bumf*ck, Georgia. Well, actually, it screams Texas but he's in Georgia so you have to have a little imagination.

Also, hats.

Chart of the day:

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fly2KTaX0AEHSV4?format=jpg&name=small)

To save you from counting, there are 82 dark-brown footballs in this graphic and another five light-brown balls.

The political broadcasts were the State of the Union (7), coverage of the midterm elections (24) and Jan. 6 hearings (47 and 68). The CFB national title game (the one held last January) was 34; the World Cup final was 38.

As the author of the Sportico story pointed out on the Bird App, No. 35 was the Christmas Day game featuring two 4-10 teams, with one of them (the Rams) beating the snot out of the other (the Broncos, who lost by 37). This game attracted more eyeballs "than any NBA game, any MLB game, any World Cup Game, the Oscars, or any scripted TV show."

PS: The top 5 are:
1. Rams-Bengals Super Bowl
2. NFC championship game (Rams-Niners)
3. AFC championship game (Bengals-Chiefs)
4. AFC divisional game (insta-class Bills-Chiefs)
5. T-giving day game (Giants-Cowboys because of course)

Wow, special shoutout to the Jan 6th hearings.

Had no idea they were that watched.

It looks like Jets - Dolphins will be Joe Flacco vs Skylar Thompson. This ends with the Steelers in the playoff and Mike Tomlin's streak without a losing season intact, doesn't it?

Damar Hamlin's breathing tube has come out, he's talking to family and doctors, and he FaceTime'd with the team.

Kyle Shanahan has passed Nick Sirianni for the top betting odds for Coach of the Year.

It might have something to do with Sirianni going 0-2 with his #2 QB while Shanahan has gone 5-0 with his #3 QB.

Also, Doug Pederson has surged into 4th place, with Sirianni and Brian Daboll ahead of him.

The owners have voted and decided on updated rules for handling the AFC playoffs in the wake of the Bengals/Bills game cancellation:

The new rule creates a potential neutral-site AFC Championship based on various factors, given the cancellation of Bills-Bengals. The new rule also determines home-field advantage for a Bengals-Ravens wild-card game by a coin flip, if the Ravens beat the Bengals on Sunday.

The existing rule would have determined all seeding based on winning percentage, with no neutral sites or coin flips or any other twists or tweaks.

Speaking of Shanahan, apparently he likes that Brock Purdy doesn't need a lot of back-patting, and he contrasted that with one of his old QBs, Matt Schaub:

“I remember when I used to meet Matt Schaub on the bus after we would land somewhere,” Shanahan said, “and we’d always watch the game on the plane, and I’d go sit by him and I would be like, ‘All right, man, you did play really good except for plays nine, 12 and 13.’ And he’d always go, ‘Oh, what about the plays I played good on?’ I’m like, ‘Those don’t matter. That’s what we expect.’

“But when you have guys who just want to be coached and you don’t need to tell them 10 compliments before you tell them a coaching point, then it’s a lot more fun, and I think that’s how he gets better.”

Purdy apparently is on the same page:

“I’ve always appreciated a coach who’s just real with me with what I need to get better at or what I need to do to be better,” Purdy said. “In terms of a coach telling you everything’s all good, I’m not about that.

“You can’t get better from that, so when coach is real with me about this past game or any other games that I’ve played in, I appreciate that more than telling me that I’m good and I don’t need to work on anything, so I think just all throughout my career, I’ve sort of developed that kind of mentality.”

This kid is going to be Shanahan's new Kirk Cousins to Trey Lance's RG3, isn't he?

If it were any other division I'd be cheering the 49ers on, it's a great story. Since it's the NFC West, I have to complain about why they were gifted an all-pro RB AND have a competent 3rd string 7th round rookie QB. Truly blessed by the football gods.

Is this the year Shanahan gets the monkey off his back, or will he choke it away in the playoffs again? Should be fun to find out!

Lamar is out again this week.

This will be 2 straight seasons in which Lamar missed the entire end of the regular season.

That's going to be a contentious point of discussion in the offseason when the contract talks resume.

Minase wrote:

If it were any other division I'd be cheering the 49ers on, it's a great story. Since it's the NFC West, I have to complain about why they were gifted an all-pro RB AND have a competent 3rd string 7th round rookie QB.

Hey, that running back cost a lot of draft picks!

The real gift that the Niners have been riding high on are the compensatory draft picks for minority coaches and executives being hired away for head coach/GM jobs. They've gotten 5 extra 3rd round picks out of this so far, and with DeMeco Ryans a hot candidate this offseason, they might push that number up to 7.

I'm 100% behind the idea of incentivizing the development of minority coaches and execs, but even I will have to shake my head a little bit at the idea of 7 free 3rd round picks.

*Legion* wrote:
Minase wrote:

If it were any other division I'd be cheering the 49ers on, it's a great story. Since it's the NFC West, I have to complain about why they were gifted an all-pro RB AND have a competent 3rd string 7th round rookie QB.

Hey, that running back cost a lot of draft picks!

There's a future timeline in which Carolina returns one or more of those picks for one of SF's truly irrelevant QBs.

Enix wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
Minase wrote:

If it were any other division I'd be cheering the 49ers on, it's a great story. Since it's the NFC West, I have to complain about why they were gifted an all-pro RB AND have a competent 3rd string 7th round rookie QB.

Hey, that running back cost a lot of draft picks!

There's a future timeline in which Carolina returns one or more of those picks for one of SF's truly irrelevant QBs.

Sure, maybe like five years in the future after Darnold's massive contract extension finally runs out.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
Enix wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
Minase wrote:

If it were any other division I'd be cheering the 49ers on, it's a great story. Since it's the NFC West, I have to complain about why they were gifted an all-pro RB AND have a competent 3rd string 7th round rookie QB.

Hey, that running back cost a lot of draft picks!

There's a future timeline in which Carolina returns one or more of those picks for one of SF's truly irrelevant QBs.

Sure, maybe like five years in the future after Darnold's massive contract extension finally runs out.

There's also a timeline where BEARDEDARNOLD ends up in Tampa next season after Brady leaves. I know that teams don't like to trade players within the division, but exceptions can always be made for, ah, obvious reasons.

Tampa drafts Cameron Ward and signs Darnold as their bridge starter.

Carolina drafts Will Levis and signs Gabbert as their bridge starter.

It's absolutely possible Darnold is the best starter in the NFC South next year. It could be Andy Dalton, Desmond Ridder, Kyle Trask, and Darnold.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

It's absolutely possible Darnold is the best starter in the NFC South next year. It could be Andy Dalton, Desmond Ridder, Kyle Trask, and Darnold.

Yet somehow NFL games will be 98 of the 100 most-watched TV programs in 2023.

Well sure, there's 272 NFL regular season games. The NFC South could disappear and the league would still get those 98 games no sweat.

So there is a lot of loose talk about Seattle giving up the #3, #18, #34, and #50 in exchange for Lamar Jackson.

Steve Bischotti would take it in half a heartbeat.

I would hate to see him leave Baltimore.

If it were to happen, I would want Harbaugh and Roman gone.

I thought everyone wanted Roman gone anyway?

Stele wrote:

I thought everyone wanted Roman gone anyway?

I also want the Ravens to trade Harbaughs with the University of Michigan

I haven't taken a deep dive yet, but I don't love this QB class so far. I mean it's better than last year's, but that's saying basically nothing.

If the Ravens trade Lamar, they have to have A Plan at quarterback. And if that plan is drafting C.J. Stroud, well, good luck with that.

My prediction for the Ravens, though, remains franchise tagging Lamar for the next 2 years, and who knows beyond that.

Stele wrote:

I thought everyone wanted Roman gone anyway?

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FF8KjTmVUAY03cw?format=png&name=900x900)

*Legion* wrote:

I haven't taken a deep dive yet, but I don't love this QB class so far. I mean it's better than last year's, but that's saying basically nothing.

If the Ravens trade Lamar, they have to have A Plan at quarterback. And if that plan is drafting C.J. Stroud, well, good luck with that.

My prediction for the Ravens, though, remains franchise tagging Lamar for the next 2 years, and who knows beyond that.

Folks have been talking about Derek Carr as a placeholder until a better solution comes available

Reportedly, Ford Field declined the possibility of hosting the AFCCG because they plan to replace their much maligned turf and Indianapolis turned it down because they are hosting a volleyball tournament that weekend (LOL). More importantly, the NFL trying to move the game to a dome is a sham.