Christmas Miracle Weekend Begins... [aka Week 16 & 17 Scoreboard Watching]

[itssharif]

You know to be able to wake up on the morning of our final regular season game and be able to say hey by the end of this day we could be a PLAYOFF team just feels so good to me right now. So proud of the team for today's performance. Now aside from that back to scenarios:

Week 17 - Starting 12 p (CST)

New England (10-5) @ Houston Texans (8-7)
Pittsburgh (8-7) @ Miami Dolphins (7-8)

Week 17 Starting 3:15p (CST)

Baltimore Ravens (8-7) @ Oakland Raiders (5-10)
Kansas City (3-12) @ Denver Broncos (8-7)

Week 17 Starting at 7:20 (CST)

Cincinnati Bengals (10-5) @ New York Jets (8-7)

Looking at this if the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers take care of business the pressure will be on the Baltimore Ravens and the Denver Broncos (and it pretty much already is anyway) but hopefully it will be a little more pressureful maybe so much so that hopefully it ends up being catastrophic for them. The Cincinnati Bengals by the start of their game will probably be playing out scenario after scenario over and over again based on the outcome of their game with the Jets. OUR GAME is so critical, mainly because if we don't win we're done, but also because if we can just somehow force the Bengals to have to play they may want to consider playing a team that has never been to the playoffs in us (although they probably do already know how dangerous we could be seeing as to how we have beaten them already) but also in a sense dictate what they believe would be their best way through the 2009/10 NFL Playoffs. They probably don't want anything to do with the Colts and since their affair with the San Diego Chargers ended with a valiant hard fought loss by a game winning field goal they may just believe their best shot in the NFL playoffs is by winning their initial game at home and then playing at San Diego rather than at Indy. All this being said I just hope they show up for this game and don't just pull a Jim Caldwell on us and rest their players and not care. The Jets shouldn't even deserve being in such a favorable position after not even realizing that they weren't yet eliminated from playoff contention. All this being said here's to hope guys.

[WMH]

If it is true, and sticks.....this certainly helps our miracle cause:

From PFT:

Brandon Marshall benched
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on January 1, 2010 12:34 PM ET
Brandon Marshall will sit out Denver's season finale, but it's not just because of his hamstring injury.

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels announced Friday Marshall will sit because of a coach's decision.

McDaniels reportedly said the reason was an accountability issue. According to the Twitter account of Colorado Springs Gazette reporter Frank Schwab: "McD's message is Marshall wouldn't play through some injuries that others will play with on Sunday."

Marshall was suspended by McDaniels in training camp, when Marshall also appeared to milk an injury and give less than full effort. Marshall's contract is up after the season, and he may be trying to avoid an injury that keeps him from getting paid.

Of course, an incident like this is a huge reminder that any long-term contract for Marshall will have its risks.

[HPF Bob]

If Houston wins, the Bengals will have more to play for (the #3 seed). If New England wins, the Bengals will have nothing specific to play for and the Jets may get the double gift of free wins over two division champs.

[Big Texas]

Originally Posted by WMH

If it is true, and sticks.....this certainly helps our miracle cause:

From PFT:

Brandon Marshall benched
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on January 1, 2010 12:34 PM ET
Brandon Marshall will sit out Denver's season finale, but it's not just because of his hamstring injury.

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels announced Friday Marshall will sit because of a coach's decision.

McDaniels reportedly said the reason was an accountability issue. According to the Twitter account of Colorado Springs Gazette reporter Frank Schwab: "McD's message is Marshall wouldn't play through some injuries that others will play with on Sunday."

Marshall was suspended by McDaniels in training camp, when Marshall also appeared to milk an injury and give less than full effort. Marshall's contract is up after the season, and he may be trying to avoid an injury that keeps him from getting paid.

Of course, an incident like this is a huge reminder that any long-term contract for Marshall will have its risks.

As I understand it, Royal is out as well.

[HPF Bob]

Originally Posted by Big Texas

As I understand it, Royal is out as well.

And Scheffler has been benched. Their receiving weapons on Sunday will be Stokely, Gaffney and Graham.

[bckey]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

And Scheffler has been benched. Their receiving weapons on Sunday will be Stokely, Gaffney and Graham.

Heaven knows the Texans need handouts.

[Arky]

The whole Brandon Marshall thing I believe has caused the Denver/KC spread to drop a full 3 points - now at Denver by 10.

Also, late money seems to be pouring in on NE - Texans now favored by just 7.....

So, as of early Sunday morning, Texans by 7 and the three other teams in the Texans' playoff scenario are all roughly favored by 10....

[painekiller]

Not to rain on the parade. I wanted to say a couple of things.

1st off if you told me 9-7 to start the season I would have been happy, I might have guessed that that would be shy of the playoffs, but would have been satisfied.

2nd This team is still one of the youngest teams in the league, we have virtually no veteran leadership with winning experience. The culture has changed, and it moving in the right direction.

3rd Kubiak will not be fired even if we loose tomorrow due to a $3M buy out in his contract. That is on top of his salary that Mcnair would still have to pay. Not a wise business move. Plus Bob is on record of saying he thought the players where not executing the plays the way the coaches were coaching. Kubiak has one more draft to hit a Home run in.

4th We are still shy on the talent pool, but most teams are. Most teams play inconsistent, watch them like you do the Texans, and you will notice this. Every team has fans that complain about their team, welcome to the internet.

5th Th average Houston fan is a front runner, he only goes to events, he does not know the roster and will come out of the wood work if this team makes the play offs.

Now go cheer the team to a new high in wins and expectation for next season.