Monday morning NFL recap - week #15

Steelers: I had a chance to watch the Steelers game at my buddy's house, but he is so negative lately that I didn't think I could handle it. Plus, I had plans to watch Christmas movies with my friend, a holiday tradition beforehand. So I watched alone at home with the dog.

• Ryan Shazier - Many of the players had no idea #50 would be in the house, but when CBS went to the owner's box to show him leading off the Terrible Towel twirl the crowd went wild and the team was fired up. His smile always makes me feel like I've been touched by an angel. Tears.
• Antonio Brown - First player EVER in the NFL to have 100 catches in his first five seasons. Big celebration. Then several minutes later he got hurt in the end zone, was helped off the field,taken to the hospital, and suddenly we had another big name down and out. Welcome to football...Steelers football.
• The Patriots players were getting a little frustrated by the third quarter and after a Le"Veon Bell run near the five yard line Ricky Jean Francois did a little pushing of Steelers Darius Heyward-Bey. Another Steelers player stopped it from going any further, hugging Francois, but what I really liked was Heyward-Bey coming back to Francois and the two punched helmets in an apology. That's more like it.
• Ugh. Ugly ending. Steelers get into the end zone on a pass by Big Ben to Jesse James, but it was overturned after a review. Not a complete pass. Whart? I say this all of the time. Had that ball touched the pylon it would have been a touchdown even if the ball flew out of his hands. Because he was a receiver and "bobbled" it, not a TD. Had he been a running back that would have been a touchdown. The rules are just plain crazy in the NFL. 
• Not sure why the Steelers felt the need to force that last throw into the end zone, but it was tipped and intercepted and the Patriots once again clinch their division and move into the number one spot. The Steelers move to number two and must win on Christmas Day. Oh, and we lost Antonio Brown to some calf injury. Ah, football. Why you do this to me?
• I liked Mike Tomlin in the post game interview. When asked why the Steelers didn't settle for a tie he responded with, "We play and we play to win. That's what we do." Uh, yes! There was .34 seconds on the clock. A field goal to tie? Leaving Tom Brady with .28 seconds? Please. When asked about the overturned touchdown, Tomlin responded with, "We're not going to cry over spilled milk." Nope. Moving on.

Other:

• Word came down early that Bengals coach Marvin Lewis would retire at the end of the year. He has spent fifteen years in Cincinnati, and while the word was that he would be gone in two weeks, I didn't see retirement coming.
• The other big news prior to game time has been the "misconduct in the work place" of the Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson. All very cryptic, but jeez, my guess is he sent some filthy pictures of himself naked to a female employee... And, a few hours later sure enough sexual harassment and racial slurs, and Richardson will now sell the team. Apparently the Panthers have already settled quietly with at least four former employees. And we wonder why the NFL is the way it is...
• The NFL finally allows celebrations after touchdowns and now players are planning out their celebrations ahead of time. I mean, they are practicing this nonsense. Has anyone heard of toning it down? To me, it's all ridiculous, of course. It's their job. Score. Move on. Sometimes, like winning with a few seconds on the board deserves some fist pumping and maybe some dancing, but all this other stuff? Hate it.
• Another helmet to helmet hit came in the Packers/Carolina game when Panthers Thomas Davis, one of the good guys in the NFL, hit Packers Davante Adams (my fantasy WR) on an illegal block. Adams never saw it coming and Davis hit head to head. As Adams lay on the ground with the trainers surrounding him, Davis was visibly shaken on the sidelines with his head in his hands and angst on his face. Listen, most of the times these guys really don't mean to hurt one another and Davis' emotion rang true to that. Now, let's see if he is suspended a game this week too. Uh, huh.
• Now women are coming forward to accuse the NFL men of groping, etc. Not surprising there. Well, maybe if I found out Howie Long was accused. Everyone else? Pfft. But really, these egos. Videos of yourself? Come on, guys. You're not that special. You just aren't. Do your job, collect your paycheck, act your age, and keep your hands and other body parts to yourself.