Baltimore/Colts/Saturday/Notes

Last night the Houston Texans, a 2002 NFL expansion team, clinched their first playoffs appearance since 2019, winning (23-17) at Indianapolis, vs the Colts.

The game’s result manifests in the Colts being eliminated from ‘offs contention and now if homestanding Tennessee, a mid sized underdog, upsets Jacksonville, the Texans would win the AFC South, be the “4” seed and host “5” seed Cleveland (Browns) next week in a wild card round game.

The (23-17) score evokes memories of not so arguably the NFL’s most important game, its first overtime game, making then commissioner Bert Bell so happy, the 1958 Baltimore Colts’ Title game win at Yankee Stadium, vs the New York Giants.

Earlier in the day, the Pittsburgh Steelers 18 for 18 (with one crown) in attaining better than break even seasons under coach Mike Tomlin, kept their ‘offs hopes alive with a (17-10) win at Baltimore vs the Ravens, who clinched the AFC top seed for just the second time last week.

The Steelers now need either a Tennessee win vs “Jax” or a Dolphins win vs the Bills to qualify for the 2023 season “NFL Tournament”/Playoffs.

“Balti” quarterback, Lamar Jackson, who did not play vs the Steelers (why would he?), will almost certainly be the league MVP for the second time.

There will be big “pressure” on him and the team, when the Ravens host a division round/”quarterfinal” playoff game either Saturday January 20th or the next day, January 21st.

In ’19 with Jackson as their quarterback, the Tennessee Titans won a Saturday night/second slot “div” game at Baltimore, eliminating the Ravens.

The city of Baltimore has won 5 NFL titles, (only Green Bay, Chicago, New York and Boston, the latter all under Bill Belichick, who might be coaching in his last Pats game, a meaningless one vs the New York Jets today), three with the Colts who now are in Indianapolis and two with the Ravens (2000 and 2012).

Both Ravens’ crowns occurred with the team playing and winning 4 ‘offs games, as each time they needed to win home wild card games in addition to the requisite three, for example they or the NFC top seed S.F. 49ers must win this year to win it all.

It was the (Baltimore) Colts, in the first year (1970) of the AFC/NFC configuration, that played, I believe the lone Saturday regular season final week game, a home victory, vs the Jets, who had “Suped” them 2 years earlier, in a game that makes the discussion as to which was pro football’s most important.

A week later, the Colts played in the first of what will 2 plus weeks hence, be 216 “slots”/”div” round games in the AFC/NFC configuration, on a Saturday, (The 2006 title winning Indianapolis Colts’ Jeff SATURDAY, an offensive center, scored a touchdown on an endzone fumble “pick up,” in Indy’s stirring comeback win vs the Patriots, in the AFC Title Game. These are notes, I cite/”tangent” the fine center, Jeff Van Note) and won in route to the ’70 crown, vs the Cincinnati Bengals.

It was a day NFL Commissioner Bert Bell thought he would never see, now 65 years and a week plus ago, that an NFL game first went into overtime, that (23-17) score in a game that eliminated the Indianapolis Colts last night and was the final tally in the Baltimore Colts’ first title game win on December 28, 1958.