- Joined
- Feb 9, 2014
- Messages
- 20,922
- Name
- Peter
These are excerpts only from this article. To read the whole thing, click the link below. Any mention of the Rams is listed first to save you the time searching for it.
Peter King's creepy man-love for Brady and the Patriots takes a hit.
illowfight:
******************************************************************************
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/11/30/denver-broncos-new-england-patriots-week-12-nfl-cj-anderson
Broncos Are Reborn as One More Perfect Season Ends
Behind Brock Osweiler, Denver finds new life in knocking New England from the unbeaten ranks. Plus, a peek at the developing playoff picture, Adrian Peterson nears his third rushing title and more from Week 12
by Peter King
A peek into the window of the concussion-watchers
Last week, in the wake of the Case Keenum concussion debacle, the NFL granted permission for one of its unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants to speak to me about the process during a live NFL game. The NFL made available Richard Ellenbogen, the chairman of the University of Washington’s department of neurological surgery and the co-chair of the NFL’s head, neck and spine committee. Eight days ago Keenum, the Rams’ quarterback, slammed his head on the turf in Baltimore; he appeared woozy and had difficulty getting up.
The NFL has a spotter upstairs who is supposed to see such incidents and call down to the sideline to stop the game and make sure the affected player is removed and checked out. In addition, there are head-trauma specialists such as Ellenbogen on both sidelines of every NFL game. These unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants are commonly known as UNCs.
The system in Baltimore failed Keenum. The spotter upstairs saw Rams certified athletic trainer Reggie Scott hustle onto the field to examine Keenum and figured, as is the custom when a trainer comes on the field for such an exam, that he would be bringing the player back to the sideline for an analysis.
But Keenum twice told Scott he was fine (most experts say that kind of answer from a player is unreliable and should be disregarded, because most players will say anything to stay in a game), and the officials on the field did not stop the game as they should have with a trainer present. So Keenum stayed in for a couple more plays until the spotter upstairs called down. By that time the series was over and Keenum was on the sideline, and the Rams had no more offensive snaps in the game.
Ellenbogen is also the NFL official who examines every UNC’s report from every game. “In that game last week,’’ he said, “there are a lot of things a lot of people could have done better. When a trainer walks on the field to see a player, the player should walk off the field to be examined.”
Ellenbogen worked the Pittsburgh sideline Sunday in the game at Seattle. He said there were two head-trauma situations with the Steelers, including the most notable one of the weekend with two minutes left in the game. But we’ll get to Ben Roethlisberger in a moment. The first incident was with linebacker Ryan Shazier.
The spotter upstairs noticed that Shazier appeared woozy after a mid-second-quarter play. He was escorted to the sideline, and an athletic trainer took his helmet. Shazier told Ellenbogen and Steelers doctors he was OK. Ellenbogen watched the video of the play in question and saw helmet-to-helmet contact, and also saw Shazier’s head hit the ground. That was enough for both a sideline exam and a more thorough exam inside the locker room. Shazier insisted he was fine, and at one point, according to Ellenbogen, coach Mike Tomlin came over and said to Shazier: “You will listen to these doctors, and you’ll do it now.”
A Steelers physician and Ellenbogen went inside the locker room with Shazier. They examined him and asked him some questions from the NFL’s Sideline Concussion Assessment Tool. (“Where are we? What quarter is it? Who scored last?”) The assessment took between five and eight minutes. Then each doctor watched the video again, and they watched it together. Ellenbogen said the Steelers doctor, who knew Shazier from prior exams, didn’t think Shazier was completely fine although the player passed the verbal tests. So he declared Shazier out for the game and in the league’s concussion protocol this week.
Ellenbogen said that in the waning minutes of the game, Roethlisberger went to Steelers doctors and said he had a headache. He hadn’t been staggered, and there was no sign of a concussion before then. Roethlisberger, according to Ellenbogen, did exactly what the league has been asking players to do in recent years: self-report to team medics if players feel any sign of head trauma. Because the game was now at the two-minute warning and Roethlisberger was going to be taken inside to be examined the way Shazier was, the Steelers inserted Landry Jones in the game and ruled Roethlisberger out.
“The system worked,” Ellenbogen said Sunday night from Seattle. “This was a very good day for culture change. The team was all-in. The coach was involved, and he was fully supportive of what the medical people were doing. He couldn’t have been more supportive. Then we had a player self-report in the middle of an intense game, which is exactly what we want. He put health and safety over the competition. Concussions sometimes can take a few minutes to appear, as in this case. Today the system worked. The humans worked.”
Now the NFL has to be vigilant to be sure a situation such as Keenum’s never happens again. It will take players who self-report, and coaches who buy in to what their medical people are saying, and not taking a player’s word for it when he says, “I’m OK.”
“During the last years of his life, Frank dedicated himself to understanding the recent revelations concerning the connection between repetitive head trauma and its associated cognitive and behavioral symptoms—which he experienced firsthand. We miss him every day, now more than ever, but find comfort in knowing that by disclosing his condition we might contribute positively to the ongoing conversation that needs to be had; that he might be an inspiration for others suffering with this disease that needs to be addressed in the present; and that we might be a small part of the solution to an urgent problem concerning anyone involved with football, at any level.”
—A statement from the family of the late Frank Gifford on Wednesday, disclosing that an examination of Gifford’s brain found evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease found in many deceased former NFL players. Gifford becomes a significant part of this story now because, unlike many of the players diagnosed after death with CTE, he may have been more famous after his career than he was during it. Gifford was a long-time Monday Night Football announcer.
----------
Michigan State denied permission to the St. Louis Rams to speak with coach Mark Dantonio in 2012 when the Rams were looking for a head coach. The Rams hired Jeff Fisher.
Why I mention this: There are going to be coaching openings at the end of the season, as there always are. College coaches are always on NFL teams’ lists. Dantonio, as usual, is doing a fabulous job at Michigan State and would be a natural to be on any team’s short list for a head coach. Barring a change of heart by the MSU administration, teams will have to look away from East Lansing.
-----------
Photo: John Grieshop/Getty Images/Nick Foles threw three interceptions as the Rams lost their fourth straight game.
Quotes of the Week
“Anyone who implies that it’s an effort issue, they can kiss my ass. Because there’s no effort problems.”
—Rams coach Jeff Fisher, irked after the loss to Cincinnati on Sunday when asked if the Rams’ recent run of poor play is due to a lack of effort. St. Louis has lost four in a row, the past three by a combined 51 points.
--------
I think this is what I didn’t like about Week 12:
Nick Foles. I mean, that is all. You can’t throw the pick-six he threw to Leon Hall. Just can’t. And the floater to George Iloka. Seventh-grade interceptions.
St. Louis cornerback Janoris Jenkins, passing off A.J. Green to no one, and Green waltzing alone into the end zone, getting the easiest touchdown of the day. Biggest coverage gaffe of the day.
I think I have seen enough of the Rams’ veteran quarterbacks—and I bet every Rams fan has too. That’s why Jeff Fisher should start third-round rookie Sean Mannion from Oregon State against Arizona at home on Sunday—and, if he’s competent, for the rest of the season. Mannion certainly can’t do any worse than Nick Foles or Case Keenum.
---------
This was toward the end of Denver quarterback Brock Osweiler’s second start in the NFL on Sunday night—his first against a 10-0 team led by the greatest quarterback in football today—as flurries swirled near the Rockies. The wind chill, 19 degrees, made even the diehards think three-and-a-half hours outside was just about enough.
Two minutes into overtime. Denver 24, New England 24. Third-and-one, Patriots’ 48-yard line.
In the huddle, Osweiler called two plays; coach and play-caller Gary Kubiak told Osweiler before the play, “You get us the best one.” Osweiler would give a signal once he saw how the Patriots aligned on defense. As the huddle broke, the quarterback told running back C.J. Anderson, “Hey man, just go. Make a play.”
Osweiler got to the line, under center, and surveyed the New England front. He was going to run C.J. Anderson to the weak side (that was his first call in the huddle) but saw something he didn’t like there—maybe an unblocked Rob Ninkovich hovering on the quarterback’s right. Whatever, he switched to a strong-side sweep to the left. “KILL! KILL! KILL!” he called, arms stretched out parallel to the ground. To the left, tight end Vernon Davis and a strong blocking wide receiver, Bennie Fowler, got ready to seal the left side for Anderson.
“It’s a wide toss,” said left guard Evan Mathis, “and if the play goes the way it’s designed, there should be one of our guys on every one of theirs, except for the deep safety. Then the back’s got to make that guy miss.”
“OMAHA!” yelled Osweiler.
(Hey! Isn’t that Peyton Manning’s cadence-starter? Well, it was.)
“Set!”
Photo: Justin Edmonds/Getty Images
C.J. Anderson's game-winning touchdown run capped a season-high 113-yard day.
Anderson, seven yards deep in a classic tailback position, bolted left and took a pitch from Osweiler. Mathis was right. There was a hat-on-a-hat throughout the left end, right tackle Ryan Harris going out to sweep away cornerback Malcolm Butler, Davis eliminating safety Devin McCourty, and, most impressively, center Matt Paradis sprinting out after snapping the ball and cutting down linebacker Jonathan Freeny. The only player left, just as Mathis said, was safety Duron Harmon, angling to the sideline to push Anderson out at the 30-yard line.
“My job,” Anderson said from Denver near midnight, “was just run to the open space, then make the guy miss.” Hugging the sideline, Anderson did that. For the last 30 yards he was all alone, and the Patriots weren’t unbeaten anymore, and there was some mystery in the AFC.
And then there was one: Carolina, the only undefeated team left in the NFL entering December.
* * *
If you’re New England, the only worrisome thing is the condition of tight end Rob Gronkowski, who went down in agony with an apparent right knee injury late in the game. But Adam Schefter reported the injury wasn’t believed to be serious. If it isn’t, the verdict in Denver isn’t that big a loss. The Patriots (10-1) played without both top wideouts, with a makeshift offensive line, without impact linebacker Jamie Collins, and without breakout back Dion Lewis.
A crucial turnover was made by an undrafted free agent, Chris Harper, the seventh wide receiver to play for the team this year; he dropped a punt, and Denver recovered and later scored. The Patriots don’t play a team better than 6-5 in the last five games, while the 9-2 Bengals and 9-2 Broncos play each other Dec. 28. Denver also is at Pittsburgh in three weeks. So New England is still very much in control of home field throughout the AFC playoffs.
But Denver has to feel reborn this morning. With Manning playing so unreliably—14 interceptions in his last six games—Osweiler’s efficiency in his two starts and his 2-0 record should ensure he’ll keep the job as long as he continues to play low-error football.
Every year the NFL produces a story or two or three as good as this one. The Osweiler story will be told a lot in the coming weeks … a 6-foot-8 Montana kid who turned down a basketball offer from Gonzaga to play quarterback at Arizona State. He caught the eye of Denver football czar John Elway before the 2012 draft and got picked late in the second round to learn the pro craft behind Manning. It was Manning who sat upstairs Sunday to watch the New England defensive tendencies and came down to the locker room at halftime to spend a few minutes spilling what he’d seen to Osweiler.
Osweiler is quite sure of himself. He threw a few 95-mph fastballs Sunday through the snowflakes, and you can see that the moment is not too big for him. He does have to learn to throw the ball away instead of taking big sacks; one of those cost Denver a possible field goal Sunday night.
Photo: Andy Cross/Getty Images
Brock Osweiler is 2-0 since taking over for an injured Peyton Manning.
“Even when he wasn’t starting,” Mathis said from Denver on Sunday night, “he was getting a lot of reps this year. Great command of the huddle. Prepares exactly like he was going to play. Growing so much behind the scenes. When he steps in, nothing’s different about his approach, or how he is in the huddle, or how he carries himself at practice. He doesn’t let anything on the outside get to him.”
He’ll need that at Heinz Field in three weeks—presuming coach Gary Kubiak keeps handing him the reins—and in the playoffs, if he plays. And though never is heard a discouraging word between Manning and Osweiler and the coaching staff and the brass about the odd quarterback situation, it won’t be easy for a healthy Peyton Manning to sit out games for the first time in his 18-year career.
Osweiler is the X factor as the AFC playoff picture takes shape. New England, as the one seed, and either Denver or Cincinnati as the two seed (their Dec. 28 game is in Denver) should lead the pack. The fourth seed, likely to be 6-5 Houston or 6-5 Indianapolis, could be the toughest spot to be. Kansas City (6-5) won its fifth straight Sunday and would be in line for a shot at the five seed. Pittsburgh (6-5) would be dangerous too as a five or six seed. The 6-5 Jets and the loser of the Indy-Houston showdown for the South will be formidable challengers for the last two AFC spots.
Peter King's creepy man-love for Brady and the Patriots takes a hit.
illowfight:******************************************************************************
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/11/30/denver-broncos-new-england-patriots-week-12-nfl-cj-anderson
Broncos Are Reborn as One More Perfect Season Ends
Behind Brock Osweiler, Denver finds new life in knocking New England from the unbeaten ranks. Plus, a peek at the developing playoff picture, Adrian Peterson nears his third rushing title and more from Week 12
by Peter King
A peek into the window of the concussion-watchers
Last week, in the wake of the Case Keenum concussion debacle, the NFL granted permission for one of its unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants to speak to me about the process during a live NFL game. The NFL made available Richard Ellenbogen, the chairman of the University of Washington’s department of neurological surgery and the co-chair of the NFL’s head, neck and spine committee. Eight days ago Keenum, the Rams’ quarterback, slammed his head on the turf in Baltimore; he appeared woozy and had difficulty getting up.
The NFL has a spotter upstairs who is supposed to see such incidents and call down to the sideline to stop the game and make sure the affected player is removed and checked out. In addition, there are head-trauma specialists such as Ellenbogen on both sidelines of every NFL game. These unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants are commonly known as UNCs.
The system in Baltimore failed Keenum. The spotter upstairs saw Rams certified athletic trainer Reggie Scott hustle onto the field to examine Keenum and figured, as is the custom when a trainer comes on the field for such an exam, that he would be bringing the player back to the sideline for an analysis.
But Keenum twice told Scott he was fine (most experts say that kind of answer from a player is unreliable and should be disregarded, because most players will say anything to stay in a game), and the officials on the field did not stop the game as they should have with a trainer present. So Keenum stayed in for a couple more plays until the spotter upstairs called down. By that time the series was over and Keenum was on the sideline, and the Rams had no more offensive snaps in the game.
Ellenbogen is also the NFL official who examines every UNC’s report from every game. “In that game last week,’’ he said, “there are a lot of things a lot of people could have done better. When a trainer walks on the field to see a player, the player should walk off the field to be examined.”
Ellenbogen worked the Pittsburgh sideline Sunday in the game at Seattle. He said there were two head-trauma situations with the Steelers, including the most notable one of the weekend with two minutes left in the game. But we’ll get to Ben Roethlisberger in a moment. The first incident was with linebacker Ryan Shazier.
The spotter upstairs noticed that Shazier appeared woozy after a mid-second-quarter play. He was escorted to the sideline, and an athletic trainer took his helmet. Shazier told Ellenbogen and Steelers doctors he was OK. Ellenbogen watched the video of the play in question and saw helmet-to-helmet contact, and also saw Shazier’s head hit the ground. That was enough for both a sideline exam and a more thorough exam inside the locker room. Shazier insisted he was fine, and at one point, according to Ellenbogen, coach Mike Tomlin came over and said to Shazier: “You will listen to these doctors, and you’ll do it now.”
A Steelers physician and Ellenbogen went inside the locker room with Shazier. They examined him and asked him some questions from the NFL’s Sideline Concussion Assessment Tool. (“Where are we? What quarter is it? Who scored last?”) The assessment took between five and eight minutes. Then each doctor watched the video again, and they watched it together. Ellenbogen said the Steelers doctor, who knew Shazier from prior exams, didn’t think Shazier was completely fine although the player passed the verbal tests. So he declared Shazier out for the game and in the league’s concussion protocol this week.
Ellenbogen said that in the waning minutes of the game, Roethlisberger went to Steelers doctors and said he had a headache. He hadn’t been staggered, and there was no sign of a concussion before then. Roethlisberger, according to Ellenbogen, did exactly what the league has been asking players to do in recent years: self-report to team medics if players feel any sign of head trauma. Because the game was now at the two-minute warning and Roethlisberger was going to be taken inside to be examined the way Shazier was, the Steelers inserted Landry Jones in the game and ruled Roethlisberger out.
“The system worked,” Ellenbogen said Sunday night from Seattle. “This was a very good day for culture change. The team was all-in. The coach was involved, and he was fully supportive of what the medical people were doing. He couldn’t have been more supportive. Then we had a player self-report in the middle of an intense game, which is exactly what we want. He put health and safety over the competition. Concussions sometimes can take a few minutes to appear, as in this case. Today the system worked. The humans worked.”
Now the NFL has to be vigilant to be sure a situation such as Keenum’s never happens again. It will take players who self-report, and coaches who buy in to what their medical people are saying, and not taking a player’s word for it when he says, “I’m OK.”
“During the last years of his life, Frank dedicated himself to understanding the recent revelations concerning the connection between repetitive head trauma and its associated cognitive and behavioral symptoms—which he experienced firsthand. We miss him every day, now more than ever, but find comfort in knowing that by disclosing his condition we might contribute positively to the ongoing conversation that needs to be had; that he might be an inspiration for others suffering with this disease that needs to be addressed in the present; and that we might be a small part of the solution to an urgent problem concerning anyone involved with football, at any level.”
—A statement from the family of the late Frank Gifford on Wednesday, disclosing that an examination of Gifford’s brain found evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease found in many deceased former NFL players. Gifford becomes a significant part of this story now because, unlike many of the players diagnosed after death with CTE, he may have been more famous after his career than he was during it. Gifford was a long-time Monday Night Football announcer.
----------
Michigan State denied permission to the St. Louis Rams to speak with coach Mark Dantonio in 2012 when the Rams were looking for a head coach. The Rams hired Jeff Fisher.
Why I mention this: There are going to be coaching openings at the end of the season, as there always are. College coaches are always on NFL teams’ lists. Dantonio, as usual, is doing a fabulous job at Michigan State and would be a natural to be on any team’s short list for a head coach. Barring a change of heart by the MSU administration, teams will have to look away from East Lansing.
-----------
Photo: John Grieshop/Getty Images/Nick Foles threw three interceptions as the Rams lost their fourth straight game.
Quotes of the Week
“Anyone who implies that it’s an effort issue, they can kiss my ass. Because there’s no effort problems.”
—Rams coach Jeff Fisher, irked after the loss to Cincinnati on Sunday when asked if the Rams’ recent run of poor play is due to a lack of effort. St. Louis has lost four in a row, the past three by a combined 51 points.
--------
I think this is what I didn’t like about Week 12:
Nick Foles. I mean, that is all. You can’t throw the pick-six he threw to Leon Hall. Just can’t. And the floater to George Iloka. Seventh-grade interceptions.
St. Louis cornerback Janoris Jenkins, passing off A.J. Green to no one, and Green waltzing alone into the end zone, getting the easiest touchdown of the day. Biggest coverage gaffe of the day.
I think I have seen enough of the Rams’ veteran quarterbacks—and I bet every Rams fan has too. That’s why Jeff Fisher should start third-round rookie Sean Mannion from Oregon State against Arizona at home on Sunday—and, if he’s competent, for the rest of the season. Mannion certainly can’t do any worse than Nick Foles or Case Keenum.
---------
This was toward the end of Denver quarterback Brock Osweiler’s second start in the NFL on Sunday night—his first against a 10-0 team led by the greatest quarterback in football today—as flurries swirled near the Rockies. The wind chill, 19 degrees, made even the diehards think three-and-a-half hours outside was just about enough.
Two minutes into overtime. Denver 24, New England 24. Third-and-one, Patriots’ 48-yard line.
In the huddle, Osweiler called two plays; coach and play-caller Gary Kubiak told Osweiler before the play, “You get us the best one.” Osweiler would give a signal once he saw how the Patriots aligned on defense. As the huddle broke, the quarterback told running back C.J. Anderson, “Hey man, just go. Make a play.”
Osweiler got to the line, under center, and surveyed the New England front. He was going to run C.J. Anderson to the weak side (that was his first call in the huddle) but saw something he didn’t like there—maybe an unblocked Rob Ninkovich hovering on the quarterback’s right. Whatever, he switched to a strong-side sweep to the left. “KILL! KILL! KILL!” he called, arms stretched out parallel to the ground. To the left, tight end Vernon Davis and a strong blocking wide receiver, Bennie Fowler, got ready to seal the left side for Anderson.
“It’s a wide toss,” said left guard Evan Mathis, “and if the play goes the way it’s designed, there should be one of our guys on every one of theirs, except for the deep safety. Then the back’s got to make that guy miss.”
“OMAHA!” yelled Osweiler.
(Hey! Isn’t that Peyton Manning’s cadence-starter? Well, it was.)
“Set!”
Photo: Justin Edmonds/Getty Images
C.J. Anderson's game-winning touchdown run capped a season-high 113-yard day.
Anderson, seven yards deep in a classic tailback position, bolted left and took a pitch from Osweiler. Mathis was right. There was a hat-on-a-hat throughout the left end, right tackle Ryan Harris going out to sweep away cornerback Malcolm Butler, Davis eliminating safety Devin McCourty, and, most impressively, center Matt Paradis sprinting out after snapping the ball and cutting down linebacker Jonathan Freeny. The only player left, just as Mathis said, was safety Duron Harmon, angling to the sideline to push Anderson out at the 30-yard line.
“My job,” Anderson said from Denver near midnight, “was just run to the open space, then make the guy miss.” Hugging the sideline, Anderson did that. For the last 30 yards he was all alone, and the Patriots weren’t unbeaten anymore, and there was some mystery in the AFC.
And then there was one: Carolina, the only undefeated team left in the NFL entering December.
* * *
If you’re New England, the only worrisome thing is the condition of tight end Rob Gronkowski, who went down in agony with an apparent right knee injury late in the game. But Adam Schefter reported the injury wasn’t believed to be serious. If it isn’t, the verdict in Denver isn’t that big a loss. The Patriots (10-1) played without both top wideouts, with a makeshift offensive line, without impact linebacker Jamie Collins, and without breakout back Dion Lewis.
A crucial turnover was made by an undrafted free agent, Chris Harper, the seventh wide receiver to play for the team this year; he dropped a punt, and Denver recovered and later scored. The Patriots don’t play a team better than 6-5 in the last five games, while the 9-2 Bengals and 9-2 Broncos play each other Dec. 28. Denver also is at Pittsburgh in three weeks. So New England is still very much in control of home field throughout the AFC playoffs.
But Denver has to feel reborn this morning. With Manning playing so unreliably—14 interceptions in his last six games—Osweiler’s efficiency in his two starts and his 2-0 record should ensure he’ll keep the job as long as he continues to play low-error football.
Every year the NFL produces a story or two or three as good as this one. The Osweiler story will be told a lot in the coming weeks … a 6-foot-8 Montana kid who turned down a basketball offer from Gonzaga to play quarterback at Arizona State. He caught the eye of Denver football czar John Elway before the 2012 draft and got picked late in the second round to learn the pro craft behind Manning. It was Manning who sat upstairs Sunday to watch the New England defensive tendencies and came down to the locker room at halftime to spend a few minutes spilling what he’d seen to Osweiler.
Osweiler is quite sure of himself. He threw a few 95-mph fastballs Sunday through the snowflakes, and you can see that the moment is not too big for him. He does have to learn to throw the ball away instead of taking big sacks; one of those cost Denver a possible field goal Sunday night.
Photo: Andy Cross/Getty Images
Brock Osweiler is 2-0 since taking over for an injured Peyton Manning.
“Even when he wasn’t starting,” Mathis said from Denver on Sunday night, “he was getting a lot of reps this year. Great command of the huddle. Prepares exactly like he was going to play. Growing so much behind the scenes. When he steps in, nothing’s different about his approach, or how he is in the huddle, or how he carries himself at practice. He doesn’t let anything on the outside get to him.”
He’ll need that at Heinz Field in three weeks—presuming coach Gary Kubiak keeps handing him the reins—and in the playoffs, if he plays. And though never is heard a discouraging word between Manning and Osweiler and the coaching staff and the brass about the odd quarterback situation, it won’t be easy for a healthy Peyton Manning to sit out games for the first time in his 18-year career.
Osweiler is the X factor as the AFC playoff picture takes shape. New England, as the one seed, and either Denver or Cincinnati as the two seed (their Dec. 28 game is in Denver) should lead the pack. The fourth seed, likely to be 6-5 Houston or 6-5 Indianapolis, could be the toughest spot to be. Kansas City (6-5) won its fifth straight Sunday and would be in line for a shot at the five seed. Pittsburgh (6-5) would be dangerous too as a five or six seed. The 6-5 Jets and the loser of the Indy-Houston showdown for the South will be formidable challengers for the last two AFC spots.
