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The six superheroes of NFL.com's Around the League squadron gathered at the round table and installed their latest into the archives today, this time forecasting the teams that will earn the right to fill the pair of Wild Card slots later this winter.
Of the six, four predict the Baltimore Ravens to squeeze through the narrow gates of the postseason party via channel Wild Card. All but two prophesy the Steelers to finish the regular season wearing the division crown, and the rest of the writing staff feel that the Cincinnati Bengals will stay serving as throne-warmers.
Well. ...
to say that these guys are pretty off, would be terrible on my part.
Maybe we could put on their thinking caps and slide on their goggles before we jump to conclusions. Shall we?
Cincinnati Bengals (8-3-1) remaining schedule:
Steelers
Educated projections: W, W, L, L; 10-5-1
Let's say that Cincinnati split games with the Steelers, fall to Denver, and inhale the Browns.
Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5) remaining schedule:
Bengals
Educated projections: L, W, L, W; 9-7
Again the Steelers split games with the Bengals, put the Falcons in their place at the Georgia Dome before a sloppy tumble to the Chiefs in Arrowhead.
Cleveland Browns (7-5) remaining schedule:
RavensEducated projections: L, L, W, L; 8-8
The quarterback situation in Cleveland is complicated; I'm being generous handing this team the win in Carolina.
Baltimore Ravens (7-5) remaining schedule:
Educated projections: W, W, W, W; 11-5
If only Life would use more pump fakes. Haloti Ngata's suspension is a nightmare: the Ravens' secondary is struggling to click and the loss of their defensive line's linchpin will place the entire workload on the shoulders of the linebacking corps.
That, or wide receiver Marlon Brown will finally come out of the cave he's been hiding in for 13 weeks and help push the team to a 4-0 finish.
Punching a postseason ticket is in the Ravens forecast -- for now, they'll need to win the rest of their final four friendlies (British for match), and hope for the best.