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.

A little clarity

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.

Hard response

Former Buffalo Bills player — and current radio analyst — Eric Wood isn’t happy with Steelers fans calling the State of New York soft for moving the wild-card game from Sunday to Monday.

The amount of ignorance being spewed at me right now is next level. So for all of you that I don't have time to respond to, 47 people died last year in a blizzard in Buffalo. It's not about having a dome, it's about travel to and from the game being impossible and/ or dangerous.…

— Eric Wood (@EWood70) January 13, 2024

For the “soft” crowd out there. Come meet me at my hotel and I'll buy you some Tim Hortons. pic.twitter.com/vwKH88VuOE

— Eric Wood (@EWood70) January 14, 2024

I get Wood’s point. And I’m not bent out of shape about the decision to postpone 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.

More sports

• Steelers prefer to ignore odds, history against them as underdog No. 7 seed vs. Bills • Madden Monday: Regarding Penguins' problems — 'Geno is killing them' • Pitt and Duquesne are 'hunting' for quick conference turnarounds

Kept quiet

For the most part, the Detroit Lions kept former Pitt star Aaron Donald in check during their 24-23 playoff win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night.

The Penn Hills graduate was limited to three tackles (one solo), with no sacks. Although he did have this pressure on quarterback Jared Goff, who nearly turned it into a tragic mistake.

Jared lol pic.twitter.com/UAIzYGdVWc

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 15, 2024

Donald wasn’t alone. Penn State product Micah Parsons had just two tackles and one quarterback hit. Fellow Defensive Player of the Year candidate Myles Garrett had three tackles, no sacks and no QB hits.

So I guess T.J. Watt won’t be the only person up for DPOY who’ll be quiet this weekend.

TJ WATT, DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

DPoY candidates Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett combined in the playoffs

• ZERO sacks• ZERO tackles for loss • 1 quarterback hit• Their defenses combined gave up 72 points

????????????

(Via @StatsGuyDaniel) pic.twitter.com/bffCJDjDq2

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) January 15, 2024

And, no, before you ask, just because the Steelers game got moved back a day, that doesn’t mean Watt will be able to play against the Bills on Monday afternoon. His MCL injury isn’t going to get better that fast.

Seattle’s finest

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.

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