Steelers head to Superdome still in playoff hunt
While Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan stressed that New Orleans doesn’t fear going on the road in the playoffs, he readily acknowledged the advantages of staying in the Superdome.
New Orleans (12-2) can lock up the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs with a victory over visiting Pittsburgh (8-5-1) on Sunday.
“That would be huge,” said Jordan, referencing what he calls “dome-field advantage.”
The Saints did fine on the road this season, going 7-1. They won’t finish any better in the Superdome, where they are 5-1 with two regular-season home games left. But New Orleans’ offense generally has been better at home, where Drew Brees’ pre-snap instructions — and center Max Unger’s line calls — are easier for teammates to hear. The Saints have averaged about 38 points at home, but their road scoring average dipped about nine points below that after three straight road games in which they were held to 28 or less in each game and to 12 or fewer points twice.
In reality, the Saints don’t have that much riding on Sunday’s game — certainly not as much as the Steelers, who could still win the AFC North but haven’t clinched a playoff berth yet. New Orleans already has won a second straight NFC South crown and will finish as a top seed even if it splits its next two games.
The Steelers can’t worry about rest — not even after improving their postseason outlook with a victory over New England last week.
JaySam’s journey
Steelers rookie running back Jaylen Samuels will start his third straight game in place of injured Pro Bowler James Conner, who is hobbled by a sprained left ankle.
Samuels, a fifth-round pick, lit up New England for 172 total yards. Not bad for a player who was asked to work out as a tight end at the NFL combine. The going could get considerably tougher against New Orleans, which leads the league in rush defense (79.1 yards per game).
Giants at Colts
Andrew Luck has a one-track mind.
With two regular-season games left, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback insists he’s paying no attention to playoff possibilities, scoreboards or other teams’ schedules. Instead, he’s focused on the only thing he considers important this weekend — beating the New York Giants on Sunday.
“I’ve been a part of teams where you sit and say, ‘We need this to happen with this.’ It doesn’t work like that,” Luck said. “You’ve got to handle your own business.”
Few teams can match what the Colts (8-6) have done lately. They’ve rebounded from a 1-5 start to win seven of eight and put themselves back in the postseason hunt. After losing their first two home games, they’ve won five straight at Lucas Oil Stadium, and if they can beat the Giants (5-9), they could control their own playoff path.
Coach Frank Reich doesn’t do business that way, though.
The former NFL quarterback simply asks his players to do their jobs: keep two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning and Offensive Rookie of the Year contender Saquon Barkley in check; prepare for the possible return of Pro Bowl receiver Odell Beckham Jr.; and expose the holes in New York’s defense.
New York, meanwhile, hopes it can continue a strong second half after starting 1-7. While winning two of three and four of six, the Giants already have knocked off NFC North champion Chicago and playoff hopeful Washington. They will be playing spoiler at Indianapolis. It won’t be easy.
Indy pitched its first shutout in four years while rushing for 178 yards against Dallas’ No. 3-ranked run defense last week. Luck is playing the best football of his career and the defense looks as stout as it has in almost a decade.
Sack happy
It’s been feast or famine when it comes to sacks for the Giants. They had 14 in the first 11 games, and then picked up five each in the next two weeks against Chicago and Washington.
The added pressure resulted in four interceptions, including touchdown returns by linebacker Alec Ogletree against the Bears and Curtis Riley against the Redskins. Things got back to the norm in last week’s shutout loss to Tennessee when New York had one sack and no interceptions.
Facing the Colts might not help. Indy has allowed just 16 sacks this season, tied for fewest in the league.
Barkley rebounds
Pro Bowl running back Barkley was held to 31 yards on 14 carries in the loss to the Titans, his second-lowest total this season. The rookie ran for just 28 yards against Dallas in Week 2.
The second pick overall in the draft, out of Whitehall High and Penn State, also had 56 yards from scrimmage last week, marking the second time in 14 games he’s been held below 100.
Despite the bad game, Barkley is third in the league in rushing with 1,155 yards and he is not looking for a break even though the Giants have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Packers at Jets
Sam Darnold has been a fan of Aaron Rodgers for years and wouldn’t mind following in his footsteps on the field.
And, on the small screen.
The New York Jets rookie quarterback watched film of NFL stars while he was developing his own skills as a signal caller in high school, in college at USC and even now as a pro himself. One of the most frequently viewed players in Darnold’s studies has been Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers’ two-time MVP.
“Just the way he’s able to see the field so fast,” Darnold said. “It’s almost like he knows what the defense is going to do before the snap. For him, it looks so easy and so effortless. He has probably the best arm talent that I’ve ever seen, debatably, in NFL history.”
The Jets (4-10) host Rodgers and the Packers (5-8-1) today at MetLife Stadium in game that has no playoff implications with both teams out of the postseason picture. Rodgers still expects to play despite dealing with a sore groin that very well could have had the 35-year-old star decide to pack it in for the season.