HR 2: Fireside Friday – Week 17

The Bears embarrassed themselves yet again as they suffered their tenth loss in a row last night against the Seahawks. We have three games on the billing on Saturday all featuring teams in the hunt for the playoffs. The Packers and Vikings face off in the 4 o'clock window and the Falcons take on the Commanders on Sunday night as the two best matchups of the week. Tom and Jacob share who they got for the Triple Play.

The Steelers had their chances against the Ravens and Chiefs the last two weeks, but game changing giveaways by Russell Wilson and clock-killing drives by the opposing offenses have left us wanting so much more from this team despite the current 10-6 record.

The Steelers came out of the biggest test of the 2024 schedule against the Eagles, Ravens, and Chiefs winless. Russell Wilson has taken a bit of a step back the last three weeks and was not able to keep up with those opposing offenses. Meanwhile the defense has allowed an average of 30 points and 400+ yards in the three-game stretch and should shoulder a big portion of the blame.

The Steelers once stood at 10-3 but have lost three in a row since, and it's hard to look back on earlier losses against the Colts, Cowboys, and Browns and not theorize that if the Steelers had taken care of those less-than teams than it would not have hurt as much losing three in a row near the end of the season. Tom and Jacob rank their top ten teams heading into the second to last week of the regular season.

Russell Wilson fumbled near the goal line and later threw a pick six right after Minkah Fitzpatrick had his first forced turnover of the season. It's hard to blame just Russell Wilson for the offense's struggles as they were once again without the best skills player, George Pickens.

The Steelers have very little time to get ready for the Chiefs on Christmas Day on a Wednesday this week. The Lions took control of the race for the #1 seed in the NFC after beating the Bears while the Eagles lost to the Commanders. Meanwhile in the AFC, the Chiefs are still trying to separate themselves from the Bills in their heated race for the #1 seed.

The Steelers will likely be without George Pickens on Saturday in Baltimore so what should we expect from the offense without their biggest star. However, TJ Watt should be good to go therefore there is legitimate reason to believe the Steelers defense will once again be the kryptonite to Lamar Jackson which could lead to a teeth and claw win for the Black and Gold.

The Chargers beat the Broncos last night in an AFC West divisional matchup and plenty of AFC playoff implications came with it. The Steelers/Ravens and Texans/Chiefs games on Saturday are two of the best matchups of the week. Tom and Jacob share who they got for the Triple Play and they pick a winner for Steelers/Ravens.