Monday’s “First Call” shows us that the Indianapolis Colts aren’t handling their loss against the Steelers particularly well.
The Ravens may be back to Heinz Field soon. Baker Mayfield is blaming himself for the Cleveland Browns’ humbling loss.
And a slap-in-the-face reality check about the Pirates’ trade of Josh Bell.
Blame the refs!
Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard is mad at the NFL officials in the wake of his team’s 28-24 loss at Heinz Field.
Darius Leonard on the DPI on Kenny Moore (replay showed the ball was tipped): "That was a terrible call, I don’t care, that was awful … and the one against TJ (Carrie), that was a great play by TJ. If you're gonna call the one on TJ, you gotta call the one against TY."
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) December 27, 2020
He’s got a point. A lot of those pass interference calls — and non-calls — were 50-50. They were made in favor of the Steelers. And they definitely impacted the game.
But I would humbly submit the egregious missed holding calls by Colts offensive linemen against T.J. Watt as evidence that the poor officiating was a two-way street.
Yup. That sums it up
Baker Mayfield only took one question during his postgame Zoom press conference.
And he answered it by saying he “failed this team.”
That’s how the Cleveland Browns quarterback summed up his club’s humiliating 23-16 loss to the New York Jets (2-13).
Baker Mayfield took only one question during his postgame Zoom call. Completely owning the loss — “I failed this team” — this is what else he had to say: #Browns pic.twitter.com/PxSjbLglID
— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) December 27, 2020
Mayfield tried 53 passes, threw 25 incompletions, took four sacks, and fumbled three times (losing two of them).
The 10-5 Browns can still make the playoffs if they beat the Steelers Sunday in Cleveland. The Steelers may have very little to play for depending on the Buffalo Bills’ result tonight versus New England and on how seriously head coach Mike Tomlin takes the difference between the two seed and the three seed.
But here is what needs to happen for the Browns to make the playoffs. They need to beat the Steelers, and they are in. Or they need the Colts to lose to the 1-14 Jacksonville Jaguars. Or they need the Tennessee Titans to lose to the Houston Texans, in addition to victories by the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins.
Got all that? No?
That’s fine. Just understand this: The Browns lost to the Jets.
Wow! Doesn’t that somehow make a loss to the Bengals last week sting just a little bit less?
Anyway, about Baltimore…
Meanwhile, no such mockery can be found for the Baltimore Ravens. They are firmly back on track, handling the New York Giants 27-13 Sunday.
After losing the “Covid Bowl” to the Steelers on Dec. 2, the Ravens have won their last four games.
Granted, those victories have mainly been against bad teams in the Cowboys, Browns, Jaguars and Giants. Cleveland is the only team with a record above .500 in that group.
According to ESPN, Baltimore has a 92% chance of making the playoffs.
Ravens' playoff clinching scenarios for Week 17:
Win in Cincinnati
Or Browns lose at home to Steelers
Or Colts lose at home to Jaguars
So, Ravens don't necessarily have to win to get in but they probably don't want to rely on the Browns or Colts losing.
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) December 28, 2020
As of now, the Ravens are sitting in the No. 6 slot in the AFC playoff bracket. That aligns pretty well for a trip back to Heinz Field for the first round of the AFC playoffs, since the Steelers are likely to be the third seed.
The Steelers (12-3) can’t fall to the fourth seed, since either Indianapolis or Tennessee will win the division with 11 wins. And the Steelers can only climb to the second seed if they finish with a better record than the Buffalo Bills (11-3). Buffalo plays New England tonight. The Bills hold a tie-break advantage by virtue of their head-to-head victory over the Steelers earlier this month.
Keep in mind, though, the Ravens could still jump into the fifth spot and play the AFC South champion.
What Watt wants
Two-thirds of the Watt-brother trio had a good week.
T.J. and Derek got to celebrate an AFC North championship with the Steelers thanks to the club’s win over Indianapolis on Sunday.
Kings of The North! #DivisionChamps pic.twitter.com/cV70tSEXBj
— Derek Watt (@DerekWatt34) December 27, 2020
J.J. Watt’s Houston Texans weren’t so lucky, though. They lost their fourth straight game and dropped to 4-11 on the season. That’s after a 37-31 defeat against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The eldest Watt brother is demanding his fellow Texans players finish off the 2020 campaign against the Tennessee Titans next week with professional motivation.
JJ Watt speaking the truth. Please watch.
( @joeagleason)pic.twitter.com/jdSqldxH1s
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) December 27, 2020
Watt is probably personally frustrated as well. He has just five sacks on the season and one in the last seven weeks.
A matter of perspective
The Pirates traded former All-Star Josh Bell to the Washington Nationals on Thursday.
How about this view of the transaction from ESPN.com’s Buster Olney?
“…even though Bell is likely to make about $6 million in 2021, not much higher than the sport’s average salary, he was among Pittsburgh’s most expensive players. The Pirates do not have a single contractual commitment for the 2022 season, other than option-year buyouts, and seem well on their way to having the lowest outlay of salaries in the sport — by a sizable margin, perhaps.
“In fact, when one rival official heard that Bell had been traded, his first question was: ‘Did the Pirates kick in any salary?’”
Ha! The Pirates? Kick in salary? That’s a good one, “rival official.” I don’t know who you are. But if you know baseball front office maneuvering like you know humor, you are going to win the World Series.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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