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Predict AFC Playoff teams

Pick your 6 AFC Playoff teams


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Fountain City Blues

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I think it's a borderline mortal lock the Patriots are the only AFC East team to make the postseason this year.
 

steelerssb

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1. NE
2. Pit
3. Jax
4. Lac
5. Hou
6. KC
 

FaCe-LeE-uS

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If the Steelers were a stock, I'd be telling everyone to sell right now.

No Ryan Shazier, Bell slowed down a little last year, Ben getting older, lots of tight games last year, AB played out of his mind last year, didn't win a playoff game. I think the Ravens are a much bigger threat to the division then tHoopla thinks.

I do think they have one more run in them but I dont think they're as solid going into this season as they have been the past couple of seasons.
I think the biggest problem with the Steelers is life without Shazier... The rest of your worries aren't a concern to me.

Bell... He didn't slow down. He came out the gate slow. Still finished 3rd in rushing yards & 4th in receiving yards at the RB position. We can probably expect more of the same, but that's still top flight production. And don't forget, he's basically auditioning for life after PIT. If he wants that $17mil per, then he's going to have to play lights out this year.

Ben... Age is definitely a concern coupled with his injury history. But his O-line is still amazing, and he had one of the lowest sack rates/numbers of his career last season. Barring injuries to his goon squad, no reason to expect different. Ben was the best QB in the league in December last season. He played out of his mind against JAX in that playoff loss. I'm sure we'll see the same Ben this season that is inconsistent in September & October, but goes on an MVP-like tear down the stretch. New OC in town, but the former QB coach knows Ben's strengths better than Haley did. Essentially they are handing the keys to the offense to Ben with the hiring of Fichtner. I'm honestly excited to see what this offense can do without Haley limiting them in the RZ.

Tight games... Defense is the question. They have a tendency to give up the points late and the offense carries them to a squeaker of a win. Offense should look stronger this year, but the defense remains questionable. They didn't really add anything spectacular to help them either. But I think they can get a lot of different looks with that D-Line being at full strength. Should be able to keep opponents from scoring so much.

Ravens... They are always a threat, even during down years. John Harbs is a good coach, and that defense has always been top shelf even when the stats don't back it up. But they are essentially the same as the Jags in that they don't know what to expect from their offense. If the acquisition of Lamar Jackson lights a fire under Flacco's ass then maybe we'll see them come January.

No reason to sell on the Steelers just yet. But I get it... Same old song & dance with the Tomlin bunch. Loaded with talent but nothing to show for it year after year. People are tired of them. On paper they haven't fixed their flaws. But they have made a lot of coaching changes this offseason that went under the radar that I'm hoping pay huge dividends. It's all speculation at this point, but I'm not selling any Steelers stock this year. The schedule is going to be tough, but they should still finish top 3 in the AFC.
 

Clayton

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I think the biggest problem with the Steelers is life without Shazier... The rest of your worries aren't a concern to me.

Bell... He didn't slow down. He came out the gate slow. Still finished 3rd in rushing yards & 4th in receiving yards at the RB position. We can probably expect more of the same, but that's still top flight production. And don't forget, he's basically auditioning for life after PIT.

Ben... Age is definitely a concern coupled with his injury history. But his O-line is still amazing, and he had one of the lowest sack rates/numbers of his career last season. Barring injuries to his goon squad, no reason to expect different. Ben was the best QB in the league in December last season. He played out of his mind against JAX in that playoff loss. I'm sure we'll see the same Ben this season that is inconsistent in September & October, but goes on an MVP-like tear down the stretch. New OC in town, but the former QB coach knows Ben's strengths better than Haley did. Essentially they are handing the keys to the offense to Ben with the hiring of Fichtner. I'm honestly excited to see what this offense can do without Haley limiting them in the RZ.

Tight games... Defense is the question. They have a tendency to give up the points late and the offense carries them to a squeaker of a win. Offense should look stronger this year, but the defense remains questionable. They didn't really add anything spectacular to help them either. But I think they can get a lot of different looks with that D-Line being at full strength. Should be able to keep opponents from scoring so much.

Ravens... They are always a threat, even during down years. John Harbs is a good coach, and that defense has always been top shelf even when the stats don't back it up. But they are essentially the same as the Jags in that they don't know what to expect from their offense. If the acquisition of Lamar Jackson lights a fire under Flacco's ass then maybe we'll see them come January.

No reason to sell on the Steelers just yet. But I get it... Same old song & dance with the Tomlin bunch. Loaded with talent but nothing to show for it year after year. On paper they haven't fixed their flaws. But they have made a lot of coaching changes this offseason that went under the radar that I'm hoping pay huge dividends. It's all speculation at this point, but I'm not selling any Steelers stock this year. The schedule is going to be tough, but they should still finish top 3 in the AFC.
Bell did have a lot of production but he went from getting about 5 yards a carry to 4 yards a carry. The old adage back in the day was to watch RBs that get too many touches because they'll regress the next season but I'm not sure that applies anymore in today's NFL. You do have a point about Bell basically being in a contract year but I'm not sure he'll have a market after he is done with the Steelers which is a shame to say about one of the most impactful players in the NFL. Still, it wouldn't stun me at all if Bell was just 'above average' next year and not top 5.

Maybe they figure out how to man up in coverage to take on teams like the Patriots and they win a Super Bowl before blowing it up at the end of the season. Maybe Haley was holding them back. I don't know. They just look a lot like a 10-6 team to me and not the usual 12-13 win team I usually see at the start of the season.

Hard to bet against them, though, with there being so little proven talent in the AFC at the moment.
 

ATL96Steeler

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Same group but different order for me...

1. NE
2. PIT
3. LAC
4. JAX
5. HOU
6. OAK

I don't think Chucky will be quite the savior they hope for in OAK, but I think he'll make a difference...so I could easily switch LAC and OAK.

JAX has a couple of guys that need to repeat career type season from LY, but the core of the DEF should be good enough to get back to the playoffs. That said...if JJ and Clooney are healthy all season, I like their D a little better than JAX.
 

ATL96Steeler

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I worry a lot more about the defense than I do an otherwise stacked Andy Reid offense. If the Chiefs miss the playoffs, I would be stunned to learn the Chiefs had an even average defense.

IMO Reid has always been a bit of a pass happy coach...with a young QB and a solid 2nd yr RB, maybe that will change. I agree about the DEF...coupled with @ PIT, NE, LAR, and SEA...odds to make the playoffs this season are tough to bet on.

But the West is wide open...we shall see.
 

SteelersPride

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IMO Reid has always been a bit of a pass happy coach...with a young QB and a solid 2nd yr RB, maybe that will change. I agree about the DEF...coupled with @ PIT, NE, LAR, and SEA...odds to make the playoffs this season are tough to bet on.

But the West is wide open...we shall see.
broncos id toss some cash on
 

Fountain City Blues

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IMO Reid has always been a bit of a pass happy coach...with a young QB and a solid 2nd yr RB, maybe that will change. I agree about the DEF...coupled with @ PIT, NE, LAR, and SEA...odds to make the playoffs this season are tough to bet on.

But the West is wide open...we shall see.
I think you can manufacture safe pseudo-run plays with a system that is rapidly veering into air raid territory or some hybrid from Reid's traditional MO of a West Coast. I think there's a possibility with Mahomes strengths being predominantly post-snap that Reid may actually let the offense have a high tempo like he did in Philly. Alex is really the only Reid QB he has had a slow offense with in recent memory. I wouldn't be surprised to see a substantial bump in pass attempts from last year, actually. If Reid went back to a typical Philly-Reid pace, the Chiefs could have something closer to 580 pass attempts.

People will be surprised how many attempts Mahomes actually gets.
 

Clayton

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I think you can manufacture safe pseudo-run plays with a system that is rapidly veering into air raid territory or some hybrid from Reid's traditional MO of a West Coast. I think there's a possibility with Mahomes strengths being predominantly post-snap that Reid may actually let the offense have a high tempo like he did in Philly. Alex is really the only Reid QB he has had a slow offense with in recent memory. I wouldn't be surprised to see a substantial bump in pass attempts from last year, actually. If Reid went back to a typical Philly-Reid pace, the Chiefs could have something closer to 580 pass attempts.
But but but....our offensive coordinator was a running back.

Conventional wisdom says the Chiefs should run the ball more with a young QB mixed in with lots of screen passes. Only air it out if other teams stack the box and don't respect Watkins and Hill deep.

I'd be a little shocked if Andy Reid fell into stereotypical Andy Reid form but....he does have that track record.
 

FaCe-LeE-uS

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I don't think Chucky will be quite the savior they hope for in OAK, but I think he'll make a difference...so I could easily switch LAC and OAK.

JAX has a couple of guys that need to repeat career type season from LY, but the core of the DEF should be good enough to get back to the playoffs. That said...if JJ and Clooney are healthy all season, I like their D a little better than JAX.
I agree. My belief in OAK resides more with Derek Carr than it does with Gruden. I think the pieces they put around Carr will make a big difference. And their defense has nowhere to go but up, right? Rock bottom en sech. lol
 

Across The Field

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we know who the one browns vote is for
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SteelersPride

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I agree. My belief in OAK resides more with Derek Carr than it does with Gruden. I think the pieces they put around Carr will make a big difference. And their defense has nowhere to go but up, right? Rock bottom en sech. lol
i dunno that i believe in carr
 

FaCe-LeE-uS

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Bell did have a lot of production but he went from getting about 5 yards a carry to 4 yards a carry. The old adage back in the day was to watch RBs that get too many touches because they'll regress the next season but I'm not sure that applies anymore in today's NFL. You do have a point about Bell basically being in a contract year but I'm not sure he'll have a market after he is done with the Steelers which is a shame to say about one of the most impactful players in the NFL. Still, it wouldn't stun me at all if Bell was just 'above average' next year and not top 5.

Maybe they figure out how to man up in coverage to take on teams like the Patriots and they win a Super Bowl before blowing it up at the end of the season. Maybe Haley was holding them back. I don't know. They just look a lot like a 10-6 team to me and not the usual 12-13 win team I usually see at the start of the season.

Hard to bet against them, though, with there being so little proven talent in the AFC at the moment.
FWIW I have them at 11-5 but know full well that could easily turn into 9-10 wins if nothing changes. The schedule is much tougher this year.
 

Clayton

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FWIW I have them at 11-5 but know full well that could easily turn into 9-10 wins if nothing changes. The schedule is much tougher this year.
It looks like the Steelers will probably be big favorites in their first 3 games (Browns, Chiefs, Bucs) but after that it does look like a fairly tough schedule.
 

FaCe-LeE-uS

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i dunno that i believe in carr
I think promoting Todd Downing in 2017 to OC was a bad move. On the heels of a phenomenal 2016 campaign the Raiders opted to switch OC's in a very bizarre move. With Bill Musgrave at OC the Raiders ranked No. 6 in the league in 2016, averaging 373.3 yards per game. They ranked seventh in scoring with an average of 26 points per game.

Fast forward to 2018, Jon Gruden hires Greg Olson to be the new OC. Mixed reviews on Olson. He used to be the OAK OC back in '13 & '14 when the likes of Matt McGloin & Terrelle Pryor were their QBs. Easy to see why they went 7-25 through those 2 years. But who knows what Olson will bring to the Raiders for his 2nd stint. He was the QBs coach last year when Jared Goff went ham.

I like their O-line, and I think the offensive skill talent has vastly improved. Gruden is very much a fundamentals type coach, so he should give Carr a solid foundation to work with this season. I think OAK will be right back in the mix this year.
 

Fountain City Blues

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At this point I am pretty much ready to rock and roll with the Chiefs offense at this point. Blitzkriegs tend to fail if they outrun their supply lines... we will see if that ends up being the case
 

SteelersPride

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I think promoting Todd Downing in 2017 to OC was a bad move. On the heels of a phenomenal 2016 campaign the Raiders opted to switch OC's in a very bizarre move. With Bill Musgrave at OC the Raiders ranked No. 6 in the league in 2016, averaging 373.3 yards per game. They ranked seventh in scoring with an average of 26 points per game.

Fast forward to 2018, Jon Gruden hires Greg Olson to be the new OC. Mixed reviews on Olson. He used to be the OAK OC back in '13 & '14 when the likes of Matt McGloin & Terrelle Pryor were their QBs. Easy to see why they went 7-25 through those 2 years. But who knows what Olson will bring to the Raiders for his 2nd stint. He was the QBs coach last year when Jared Goff went ham.

I like their O-line, and I think the offensive skill talent has vastly improved. Gruden is very much a fundamentals type coach, so he should give Carr a solid foundation to work with this season. I think OAK will be right back in the mix this year.
i agree, i dunno we'll see
 
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