It kicks off today with Chargers at Texans and Steelers at Ravens.
Just two super-black teams made the playoffs this year per CF's annual demographic breakdown of every team, with the Texans being one of them, but they're no longer being viewed as a team on the rise. In fact, it's fair to say Houston is viewed as the weakest AFC playoff team, the one the others would most prefer to play.
C. J. Stroud was the Jayden Daniels of 2023, receiving non-stop media acclaim, but he declined noticeably in his sophomore season. His passing yards dropped from 4,108 in '23 to 3,727 this year, his TD passes declined from 23 to 20, while his interceptions went up from just 5 as a rookie to 12 this year. His passer rating was 100.8 in '23, 87.0 this year. Stroud isn't a runner (233 rushing yards and 0 TDs this year), so he needs to be accurate and able to read defenses well to thrive and his ability in both of those areas is now questionable. Houston is also committed to having a sumo o-line every year, which doesn't bode well for Stroud's future. Looking at history, it's more likely that Houston will fall back to the pack and maybe even become a bottom feeder again than they'll remain a regular playoffs participant and be viewed as a Super Bowl contender.
The Chargers snuck into the "cream of the crop" demographic category in Jim Harbaugh's first year back in the NFL. They have a great QB in Justin Herbert, and WR Ladd McConkey was drafted at the beginning of the second round and immediately inserted into the starting lineup, no racial apprenticeship for Ladd, who had an outstanding rookie year. They also drafted tackle Joe Alt in the first round, have a very rare (for them) White TE in Will Dissly, and a couple overachievers on defense in Joey Bosa and Morgan Fox (it doesn't take much to please CFers used to all-black defenses). So the Chargers are the easy choice to root for in this matchup.
The evening game is very interesting to watch in terms of "legacies." Pittsburgh is a big underdog, once again collapsing down the stretch and come into the game not having won a playoff game since 2016, one of the longest stretches of failure in the league. If they lose again as expected, Mike Tomlin's reputation will continue to shift from "he's never had a losing season" to "he can't win a playoff game." Locally he's been subject to much deserved criticism for years as his early success came mostly from inheriting Bill Cowher's personnel and then riding an all-time great QB in Big Ben, one of the most under-rated quarterbacks ever, who carried the team for a long time. But another failure will make it more difficult for the national media to continue treating the coaching treeless Tomlin as a great coach who would be hired "in seconds" if he's ever fired by the Rooney plantation masters.
The Steelers also have serious question marks surrounding whether to keep Russell Wilson as their starting QB next year after he faded big-time down the stretch. Their only WR of note, George Pickens, is also under a lot of scrutiny after playing terribly in the season finale and other games, to the point that there have been calls to bench him for tonight's game. He has talent but is also a low-IQ, very selfish prima donna who regularly is seen carrying on on the sidelines, even yelling at and seemingly wanting to fight some DWFs last week who were taunting him. Next year is the final year of his rookie contract so his future with the Steelers is on the line to some degree in this game.
While the Steelers can now no longer make the playoffs or are eliminated right away when they do, the Ravens are an annual powerhouse who can't get over the hump despite Lamar Jackson's individual success. Jackson is just 2-4 in playoff games, with no AFC conference championships. They are a favorite to make it to the AFC championship again this year, so a first round upset to the Steelers would certainly reflect very badly on Jackson, especially with the great Derrick Henry on the team this year. And an upset is possible though very unlikely as the Ravens' record in games against Pittsburgh with Jackson starting is just 2-4. The Steelers have been able to throttle Jackson at times though if asked how, Tomlin likely wouldn't be able to answer, engaging instead in his usual word salads.
Just two super-black teams made the playoffs this year per CF's annual demographic breakdown of every team, with the Texans being one of them, but they're no longer being viewed as a team on the rise. In fact, it's fair to say Houston is viewed as the weakest AFC playoff team, the one the others would most prefer to play.
C. J. Stroud was the Jayden Daniels of 2023, receiving non-stop media acclaim, but he declined noticeably in his sophomore season. His passing yards dropped from 4,108 in '23 to 3,727 this year, his TD passes declined from 23 to 20, while his interceptions went up from just 5 as a rookie to 12 this year. His passer rating was 100.8 in '23, 87.0 this year. Stroud isn't a runner (233 rushing yards and 0 TDs this year), so he needs to be accurate and able to read defenses well to thrive and his ability in both of those areas is now questionable. Houston is also committed to having a sumo o-line every year, which doesn't bode well for Stroud's future. Looking at history, it's more likely that Houston will fall back to the pack and maybe even become a bottom feeder again than they'll remain a regular playoffs participant and be viewed as a Super Bowl contender.
The Chargers snuck into the "cream of the crop" demographic category in Jim Harbaugh's first year back in the NFL. They have a great QB in Justin Herbert, and WR Ladd McConkey was drafted at the beginning of the second round and immediately inserted into the starting lineup, no racial apprenticeship for Ladd, who had an outstanding rookie year. They also drafted tackle Joe Alt in the first round, have a very rare (for them) White TE in Will Dissly, and a couple overachievers on defense in Joey Bosa and Morgan Fox (it doesn't take much to please CFers used to all-black defenses). So the Chargers are the easy choice to root for in this matchup.
The evening game is very interesting to watch in terms of "legacies." Pittsburgh is a big underdog, once again collapsing down the stretch and come into the game not having won a playoff game since 2016, one of the longest stretches of failure in the league. If they lose again as expected, Mike Tomlin's reputation will continue to shift from "he's never had a losing season" to "he can't win a playoff game." Locally he's been subject to much deserved criticism for years as his early success came mostly from inheriting Bill Cowher's personnel and then riding an all-time great QB in Big Ben, one of the most under-rated quarterbacks ever, who carried the team for a long time. But another failure will make it more difficult for the national media to continue treating the coaching treeless Tomlin as a great coach who would be hired "in seconds" if he's ever fired by the Rooney plantation masters.
The Steelers also have serious question marks surrounding whether to keep Russell Wilson as their starting QB next year after he faded big-time down the stretch. Their only WR of note, George Pickens, is also under a lot of scrutiny after playing terribly in the season finale and other games, to the point that there have been calls to bench him for tonight's game. He has talent but is also a low-IQ, very selfish prima donna who regularly is seen carrying on on the sidelines, even yelling at and seemingly wanting to fight some DWFs last week who were taunting him. Next year is the final year of his rookie contract so his future with the Steelers is on the line to some degree in this game.
While the Steelers can now no longer make the playoffs or are eliminated right away when they do, the Ravens are an annual powerhouse who can't get over the hump despite Lamar Jackson's individual success. Jackson is just 2-4 in playoff games, with no AFC conference championships. They are a favorite to make it to the AFC championship again this year, so a first round upset to the Steelers would certainly reflect very badly on Jackson, especially with the great Derrick Henry on the team this year. And an upset is possible though very unlikely as the Ravens' record in games against Pittsburgh with Jackson starting is just 2-4. The Steelers have been able to throttle Jackson at times though if asked how, Tomlin likely wouldn't be able to answer, engaging instead in his usual word salads.
