Happy Monday, Flock! While we were denied a Victory Monday for what seems like an eternity, today we have something that certainly feels like a Victory Monday to talk about, so let’s do that…
Through a ridiculous series of events, the Pittsburgh Steelers snuck into the postseason as the number seven seed, despite being…well, a terrible football team (yes, yes, that beat the Ravens twice. I know. Move on.).
Their reward was traveling to Kansas City to face the second-seeded Chiefs on Sunday night. And our reward for sitting through perhaps the most miserable Ravens season ever, which featured gut-punch after gut-punch after gut-punch, and then being denied the schadenfruede of Pittsburgh missing the dance thanks to an improbable TIE in the Raiders-Chargers game was watching yinz get absolutely boatraced – again – by Andy Reid & Co.
Roll that beautiful bean footage!
3rd & 20? NBD.
📺: #PITvsKC on NBC pic.twitter.com/zkEC0UQE9Z
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 17, 2022
Not satisfied with the usual Mahomes-to-Kelce variety of touchdown, the Chiefs cleared out the back of the playbook while throwing dirt on the Steelers’ 2021 season.
Fat guy touchdowns? We’ve got those!
Gotta love a big man touchdown 🥰
📺: #PITvsKC on NBC pic.twitter.com/cwZfuVq9Wr
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 17, 2022
How about letting Kelce be on the other end of a passing TD? Why not?!
QBKelce 😏
📺: #PITvsKC on NBC pic.twitter.com/XopfGwXyMM
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 17, 2022
LOLZ. Amazing.
Dem ‘Stillers are putting together quite the postseason resume here of late!
The Steelers have allowed 35+ points in four straight playoff games.
That is a NFL record. #Steelers
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) January 17, 2022
Steelers have now allowed 40+ points in each of their last 3 playoff games:
-2017 Divisional Playoff vs Jaguars (45)
-2020 Wild Card vs Browns (48)
-2021 Wild Card at Chiefs (42 and counting)(via @ESPNStatsInfo)
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) January 17, 2022
Since the end of the Triple Bs — Ben, Bell, and Brown — the Steelers have:
2018: missed the playoffs
2019: missed the playoffs
2020: trailed 35-7 in their only playoff game
2021: trailed 35-7 in their only playoff game— Football Perspective (@fbgchase) January 17, 2022
This loss will make it 5 straight years without a playoff win. The longest drought for the Steelers in the modern era.
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) January 17, 2022
But Ben’s still there! Out there looking like post-neck surgery Peyton Manning trying to throw in a hurricane, but there nonetheless.
big ben's passing chart is insane tonight pic.twitter.com/JRgqaPHA9V
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) January 17, 2022
The only saving grace for the Steelers is that their offense is so impotent that Big Ben can't even throw passes long enough to throw interceptions.
— Aaron Schatz 🏈 (@FO_ASchatz) January 17, 2022
I mean, you just haaaaate to see it, right? Smell ya later, Fat Ben.
That wasn’t the only fun game of Super Wild Card weekend if you were a Ravens fan though. On Saturday night, the Buffalo Bills ushered Bill Belichick and the Patriots from the postseason in even more epic fashion.
This is incredible.
Per @fbgchase, the Buffalo Bills just dropped the first ever "perfect game" by an NFL offense.
That's…
•0 punts
•0 FG
•0 turnovers (including failed 4th downs)Hadn't ever been done. Not just in the playoffs. At all. EVER.https://t.co/UolCHZ4cIT pic.twitter.com/L1dirPvPqe
— Chris Long (@ChrisLongKSTP) January 16, 2022
(let’s compare that to…)
Steelers. pic.twitter.com/FkVNYTCGhb
— 준 Jun (@Royals_Jun) January 17, 2022
Buffalo-Kansas City is going to be a fun one. Shame it isn’t the AFC Championship game, but either Ryan Tannehill or Joe Burrow will be there to get smacked around by whoever comes out on top of the good game.
Speaking of Burrow, yes, it wasn’t quite a *perfect* weekend for the Flock, as the Bengals ended a 31-year playoff drought with a win over the Raiders. Good on them. Whatever.
I can even spin that into good news: the longest playoff win drought in the AFC North now belongs to…the Pittsburgh Steelers!
And with that, I implore you to enjoy your week, Ravens flock. And to enjoy the rest of the postseason, totally stress-free!
