TheFunPolice

Happy birthday Burrow! Poor SOB is stuck playing for a terrible organization with no front office and bad coaching. As of Jan 29, 2026 it will have been 3 calendar years since he took a playoff snap. His last playoff game was the AFC Title Game in KC Jan 29, 2023.

if MVP means what the name says Allen is 100% the MVP Without him this is a 3-4 win team

Thank you! Every single year we have the same discussion (as football fans). Everything is set in stone, Team A is "done" Team B is going to run away with whatever. Then Will Levis, a man who adds mayonnaise to his coffee, come out of nowhere and takes down a division leader and resets the entire thing. The thing is, this happens EVERY YEAR. There are always upsets or games nobody saw coming that totally change things. Just this season: Miami led us 16-0 in the second half and eventually blew us out after firing their GM and trading players away. Cleveland beat Green Bay and made Love look horrible. The pathetic Falcons blew us out on MNF Joe Flacco threw for like 600 yards and 7 TD to beat the Steelers 97-96 (I'm exaggerating but that game was drunk) This season has some more craziness to it. Every NFL team has talent and some guys are getting an opportunity for the first time and want to live their dream and build a career for themselves. It's their Super Bowl. Oh another one: the Saints just beat the Bucs last week!

Everyone in the AFC is hoping for the Steelers bye The 5 seed is basically a 2nd bye week if PIT wins that division but becomes very tough if either BAL or CIN do. For all their issues Baltimore would be a tough out at home in the playoffs. All the talk early in the year was that Baltimore was the best team in the AFC and this was going to be Lamar's year to get it done.

I just had a crazy week 18 scenario: Chargers/Denver Chargers either win the game and the division or miss the playoff entirely Denver either wins and wins the division and is the 2 seed or if they lose they're the 5 seed In that scenario if the Chargers win all of DEN,LA and KC get in and the Colts and Texans are out. If Denver wins DEN and KC are in and the Colts replace the Texans. I also think in playing with multiple scenarios that Baltimore has a great shot at their division still.

It's going to get crazy at the end. The thing we also know is that there are always upsets nobody saw coming. I'm just picking chalk or maybe mild upsets using the playoff machine and you can get all sorts of crazy outcomes still. I've had the Bills get the #1 seed in week 18 with Miami beating NE I've had all of DEN, LA and KC get in and the Texans out I've had CIN win their division (it is not that crazy) I've had JAX the #1 seed 4 games is a lot, and a ton can still happen. Denver could lose 4 in a row with their schedule, as could LA. JAX has 2 tough games and 2 jokes, but we have seen this story before. Remember when a horrible TEN team beat MIA who was leading our division, and put us back in the driver's seat? PIT has MIA, CLE, DET, BAL. They are at 7 wins and I could easily see them slip up. Who trusts them to lock it down? Teams lose inexplicable games every season. GB lost to CLE this year. Crazy stuff can and does happen, so it'll be a lot of fun!

KC fans will be cheering for us this week. They will want Denver to have to try week 18 and not just throw the game. Denver needs to be in a spot where they have to win for the #1 seed in week 18, or else they'll lay down for the Chargers and KC will be left out even if they win out. IF NE runs away with the #1 seed Denver also has no reason to play week 18.

thank God Zach Taylor is a terrible HC or else these Bengals would be a problem in the playoffs. Luckily, they are never there. It is currently almost 3 calendar years since Burrow took a playoff snap.

3/4 of the way through the Bengals game the narrative was Allen has no weapons. Then Burrow tossed a floater right to a blitzing CB for 6 and Allen put his cape on so it's all forgotten. But it could still be true. I'm admittedly a crazy optimist who always expects they'll win. It's not an act for the boards. But I'm.also not blind. IF we win it all this year it's because Allen went nuclear in the playoffs and just became unstoppable.

Maybe but it'll all be buried because we're about to win the Super Bowl! The AFC playoffs look like a 3 week stretch in the middle of the season in between prime time games

It's been a cute story. Drake Maye for MVP! This week begins OUR march not to a midseason SNF championship, but to a SB championship! NE has been much improved, and seem to have the HC and QB figured out, so they'll be a problem. But this is the year that all the hard work, all the winning, all the getting close, all the superhuman Allen plays, finally pay off.

I was thinking the same: start Rypien, but dress Rivers as backup. Colts could still get in with 6 losses, so maybe this week is a write off.

ironically, KC fans will want the Bills to win this week, because they need to get NE and DEN both to 4 losses so that DEN tries in week 18. IF either they have #1 seed wrapped up or cannot clinch it then they will rest everyone and LA will win. KC wish list this week: KC over LA Bills over NE GB over DEN if those things happen, the only other help would be: Week 16: Ravens over NE (or NE to lose any other 1 game along the way but this is most realistic) Week 18: DEN over LA 1 more loss for LA somewhere

somewhere Drew Brees is posting videos of him hitting the sleds again

If you're good for long enough, things will eventually fall your way. That's true in life and football. McDermott knows that you can almost always count on the other team doing something stupid or making a mistake. So you keep it tight, capitalize, and win. There's so much bad football and poor situational awareness in this league. Now look: it's likely that the AFC road to the Super Bowl involves no Burroughs, no Mahomes, and no Jackson

I've also seen the script, and unfortunately it is titled "The Lady With a Notebook: An Impossible Championship" I just don't want to see Diggs catch the slant, and then just stand up with that stupid "intense" look on his face for 5 seconds before going to the huddle

There will be in about 6 weeks when he's sporting a SB ring

KC fans would want Denver to lose enough that they need to care week 18 and play, but not too much that NE or BUF overtakes them for the #1 seed before week 18 kicks off. IMO the most likely outcome is KC wins out but DEN throws the week 18 game to keep them out. This all shows how thin the margin is in the NFL and the importance of every game and every snap. During the Bills/Bengals game the talk was "they're wasting Allen!" but then Benford's pick 6 swung things. Instead of it being 35-25 a handful of plays later with something like 2:50 left to play it's an epic comeback for the Bills and Beane was right all along because they are going to go on and win the Super Bowl this year. It's crazy to think that if Burrow just ate the sack on that play we might be on the outside looking in right now for the playoffs.

Rivers coming off the couch at age 44 after being retired for 5 seasons and winning the SB would be incredibly ridiculous, crazy, and in some ways the perfect ending to this insanity of a season. Of course I am obviously not rooting for this, I am just saying. It tracks.

they don't really play defense anyway...

Colts just became must watch football. I assume this means he is going to start this week, otherwise what is the point of signing a 44 year old QB who retired 5 years ago? More to the point, why would Rivers come back just to practice with the team for a few weeks and watch some of the worst QB play imaginable close up?

IMO the most likely scenario is this: Chiefs win out to finish 10-7 Broncos rest everyone in week 18, lose to LA and LA gets in over the Chiefs. Much whining ensues in national sports media about the "better team" being left out. Last night's Eagles/Chargers game was enormous. Had LA lost with that battering Herbert took and their upcoming schedule I would have put it better than 50/50 the Chiefs get in. Now I would put it less than 10%. Almost all because the Chargers will be playing a Broncos team that can tank that game to keep KC out. KC fans should hope Denver loses a game or two so that they need to play to win week 18.

IMO that would have made the Bengals path a bit easier... everyone can roll their eyes now but the Bengals are very much alive in that division because BAL and PIT have enough losses to make it viable. All the wins are concentrated in the AFC West and East and at the top of the South. Ravens are about done with a brutal closing schedule. IF Baltimore makes it it means they are playing at the top of their game going into the tournament and I would be wary of them. I'm not saying it's likely to happen, just that I have seen crazier things happen with teams getting in that nobody thought was possible. PIT could lose to the Dolphins and Lions and beat the Browns in this scenario. PLUS, week 18 all of the Ravens, Bengals and Steelers would be alive in the race and all would play in this scenario, because CIN could lose week 18 and make BAL/PIT for the title.

I can more easily find a way for the Bengals to get in than the Chiefs. Bengals need to clear the Ravens and Steelers. To clear the Ravens (6-7 currently) CIN needs to beat them this week. then Ravens lose 1 game out of GB, NE (BAL needs to beat PIT specifically for this road to work, unless PIT totally collapses) CIN then passes the Ravens. To clear the Steelers (7-6 currently) PIT needs to lose to 2 out of Dolphins, Lions and Browns AND PIT needs to lose to BAL in week 18. I would say CIN's chances of clearing Baltimore are not bad, but PIT will be tougher. Still, IMO it's easier than KC getting in. LA has too good of a defense and a coach to collapse down the stretch.

Denver and LA have brutal closing schedules. This season is just crazy enough for an 8-9 Bengals team to make the playoffs as division winners