Boy, do I have great timing or what? I decide to write a blog about the significance of the Indianapolis Colts 0-13 start to the 2011 season, and just when I'm finishing up, they knock off the Tennessee Titans, 27-13. It's OK. I think my post works just as well with a 1-13 Colts team.
The great news if you're a Steelers fan is the loss by Tennessee clinches a spot in the playoffs for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It is the second straight trip to the postseason for the Steelers, and the fourth time in five years under head coach Mike Tomlin. It's also the second year in a row that Pittsburgh clinched a spot in the playoffs on week 14 (or is it really 15?) without actually winning a football game. A year ago on this same weekend, the Steelers officially made the playoffs despite losing to the New York Jets at Heinz Field, 22-17. Today, the Steelers players were probably sitting around at the team hotel, getting ready for their Monday Night football clash with the 49ers tomorrow night, when they official qualified for the postseason. The really funny part about today is that the Steelers, who are technically behind the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North by virtue of losing both games to their division rivals, qualified for a spot in the playoffs before the Ravens. I'm sure it has something to do with conference records or whatever.
Also, the Houston Texans looked really bad today against the Carolina Panthers, one week after winning the AFC South and punching their ticket to the postseason for the first time in franchise history. Houston fell to Cam Newton and company in front of the home folks, 28-13. I was watching some of the game, and the announcers were alluding to, perhaps, a playoff clinching hangover as the cause of Houston's lackluster effort. If you're a Texans fan, you better hope it's a hangover, and not the Texans' injury problems finally coming home to roost.
Now, if the Ravens lose to the Chargers tonight in San Diego, not only would the Steelers have a chance to jump into first place with a win in San Francisco tomorrow night, at 11-3 they would be in total control of the number 1 seed in the AFC.
First things first, and I never thought I'd lower myself to say this, but Go Philip Rivers!
And, finally, for you conspiracy theorists out there, on the same day that the Indianapolis Colts put a temporary end to their season-long hibernation, the 13-0 Green Bay Packers lost to the Chiefs in Kansas City, putting an end to their 19-game winning streak as well as their bid to go undefeated for the 2011 season. Now, the Packers can just concentrate on a second-straight Super Bowl title. The way history has judged the 2007 New England Patriots for their 18-no season, I'm thinking the Packers are probably a little relieved that they don't have to be under the same kind of pressure. I don't get to see much of ESPN these days, but I'm sure Chris Berman is cueing up the sound of the cork popping on the bottle of champaign in-honor of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the last team to finish a season undefeated.
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