NFL's Two Key Week 16 Matchups

Originally posted Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008

Once again, credit the schedule makers for a pair of big games on the Week 16 NFL schedule.

On Sunday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-3) take their 6-1 road record into Tennessee (12-2) for a showdown for the AFC's No. 1 seed. After starting the season 10-0, the Titans have now split their last four, and now are in danger of losing the conference's top seed to the red-hot Steelers.

Pittsburgh, winners of five straight, clinched its second straight AFC North title with a 13-9 come-from-behind win in Baltimore. The win over the Ravens marked the second straight week the Steelers rallied late in the fourth quarter to pull one out, as this time Santonio Holmes caught a four-yard TD pass from Ben Roethlisberger with only 43 ticks remaining.

A week earlier, the Steelers had stunned the visiting Dallas Cowboys with 17 points in the fourth quarter for a 20-13 triumph.

Meanwhile, Titans head coach Jeff Fisher will be second-guessed for his decision in the fourth quarter of Tennessee's 13-12 defeat in Houston. Down by the same score with two minutes remaining, Fisher opted to go for it on 4th-and-3 at the Houston 32-yard line instead of trying for a go-ahead field goal. QB Kerry Collins' thrown down the field went just out of Justin McCareins' reach.

So this sets up a classic Steelers-Titans tilt at LP Field in Nashville on Sunday, where things get interesting.

Click here for more.

**Not only does KP Wee write for Bleacher Report, he’s also a published author. Check out his fiction novel, “Showing Their Scales,” on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.**

The "Idiot Kicker" in the NHL

People will rip me for this article, but that’s fine.

It may or may not garner me votes for "Controversial NHL Article" awards down the road, but whatever, I’m cool with that.

Yes, I am comparing NHL players to baseball and football players, which is like comparing apples to oranges; yes I know, totally different things. But I’m going to do it anyway.

Nope. I am no Sean Avery fan; I have no rooting interest in whether or not he plays again in the NHL. I don’t really care much for Dallas Stars netminder Marty Turco either.

Turco has been called "the smartest goalie in the NHL" by Don Cherry before, so perhaps that’s gone to his head or something.

But anyway, the Avery suspension by the NHL for comments about opposing players and ex-girlfriends has been well documented.

Of course, Stars forward Mike Modano was publicly critical of Avery, saying the team had been "tarnished" by the comments, which were "unacceptable."

Fine, I can live with that. Modano, of course, was a former captain and a Cup winner with the team. In fact, Modano has been with the Stars organization his entire NHL career, so his opinions can be respected. After all, captain or not, he is one of the leaders of the Stars.

Goaltender Turco, however?

Sure, Turco has been a Star (a Dallas Star, that is, not a superstar) since the 2000-01 season, but can he really be looked upon as one of the "leaders" on the team?

Click here for more.

**Not only does KP Wee write for Bleacher Report, he’s also a published author. Check out his fiction novel, “Showing Their Scales,” on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.**

Tale of two NFL teams...

After Week 8 of the NFL season, two of the AFC’s perennial contenders were arguably the biggest disappointments of the entire league.

The Indianapolis Colts were coming off five straight AFC South titles and looked again to be the class of the division. In fact, the Super Bowl XLI champs had won at least 12 games in each of those last five campaigns, and were expected to continue that trend. Heck, didn’t they start off every year going 7-0 and challenging to go undefeated?

The San Diego Chargers had won three AFC West titles in the last four years—including a 14-2 season in 2006—and were one victory away from getting to the Super Bowl last season. Many were picking the Chargers as a Super Bowl team this season.

After Week 8 though, things were completely different from the way many had envisioned. (Let me now say that I am neither an Indy nor San Diego fan, before the Chargers fans email me to rip me for 'praising' the Colts.)

The Colts were 3-4 at the time, and were considered lucky to even have three wins.

The Chargers were 3-5 following two straight defeats heading into their bye week.

The Colts have managed to recover. The Bolts, however, couldn’t. But thanks to the sometimes-ineptness of the Denver Broncos, the Chargers are somehow still alive in the AFC West race despite a 6-8 record...

Click here for more.