Monday’s “First Call” is laying out the playoff schedule for the Pittsburgh Steelers if they survive Monday’s rescheduled wild-card game in Buffalo. A former Bills player is mad at Steelers fans for criticizing the decision to delay the game.
Some NFL defensive standouts with local ties had a weekend they’d like to forget.
And we look at a red-hot team coming to Pittsburgh to play at PPG Paints Arena against the Penguins.
For as many guessing games as we have had to wait through regarding when the Steelers-Bills playoff game will be played, we at least know the date, time and location of the Steelers’ next game.
That’s if they stay alive by beating Buffalo on Monday (presumably) at 4:30 p.m.
Should the Steelers pull off that upset, they will have to travel to Baltimore to play the Ravens next week in the AFC Divisional round at 6:30 p.m. Sunday night. That’s because the Steelers qualified as the last seed in the seven-team playoff bracket. The Ravens were the top team in the AFC with a 13-4 record.
So Baltimore will be coming off a bye, and they get home-field advantage against the lowest remaining seed each round. In this case, it would be the Steelers. That game in Baltimore would be on CBS, and the Houston Texans would play in Kansas City on Saturday (4:30 p.m., ESPN) in the other half of the AFC bracket.
The Steelers beat the Ravens in both regular season matchups this year.
The NFL has already designated that Houston will be playing in that early game Saturday, preceding Green Bay at San Francisco (8:15 p.m., Fox) in the NFC.
So that means, if the Bills win, Buffalo would host Kansas City in the 6:30 p.m. game Sunday, and the Ravens would host Houston on Saturday.
I get Wood’s point. And I’m not bent out of shape about the decision to cancel the game. Hey, if the Bills win, they’ll be playing on a short week next Sunday, just like the Steelers will have to do if they pull off the upset.
However, you have to scratch your head at the inconsistencies of keeping that Sabres game going on as scheduled Saturday afternoon and the fact that the Steelers’ plane landed in Buffalo while the game would’ve been played Sunday.
But, I’m not going to make a federal case out of it. My guess is that, regardless of what day the game is (or was) going to be played, the Bills walk away with an ugly low-scoring victory.
Either way, I never got any chocolate Timbits and coffee from Wood’s hotel. That’s the real disappointment here.
The Penguins moved up their game time against the Seattle Kraken on Monday to 1 p.m. in order to avoid a conflict with the Steelers’ rescheduled playoff game in Buffalo.
I’m sure the Pens’ opponent won’t mind. At the rate the Kraken are playing, why wouldn’t they want to get on the ice as soon as possible?
Seattle has won nine consecutive games (47 points). That has put them in a virtual tie for the final wild-card spot with the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton is currently slated in the eighth spot because their 47 points have only come in 39 games. The Kraken have played 42.
The Kraken’s biggest problem in trying to track down the Oilers is that Edmonton has won 10 games in a row. And Pacific Division-leading Vancouver has won five straight.
However, the Los Angeles Kings (48 points) are plummeting back to the pack in the Pacific. They are in third place with 48 points after having lost eight in a row.
Seattle goalie Joey Daccord has been a major catalyst for their recent success. His goals against average is 2.29, fourth best in the NHL. His .923 save percentage is fifth best. Since Dec. 12, Daccord is 9-0-2 with two shutouts.
Defenseman Vince Dunn has 35 points to lead the Kraken. Ex-Penguin Jared McCann is their top goal scorer with 16.
