Mark Madden: All meaningful Week 17 NFL games should kick off at same time

Take down the Christmas decorations and put up refreshing sports notes! I got a lot of problems with you people, and you’re going to hear about it!

• New Year’s Eve is JuJu Smith-Schuster’s favorite holiday: party for six hours, then drop a ball at midnight. (That joke was stolen from Twitter.)

• Every game that has bearing on the NFL postseason should kick off at the same time Sunday. That way no team could rest players based on its playoff situation being clinched by an earlier result, which Houston might do against Tennessee at 4:25 p.m. based on Kansas City winning at 1 p.m. to cement the Texans’ spot as the NFC’s No. 4 seed. Credibility should supersede TV. No one should get an edge.

• The Steelers are favored by two against Baltimore’s second string. Take the points. Ravens backup QB Robert Griffin III mostly has been a bust since being drafted second overall in 2012, but he’s 10 times the quarterback “Duck” Hodges is. The Steelers started the season with Ben Roethlisberger and Mason Rudolph at quarterback. They finish with Hodges and Paxton Lynch. (Taking under 37 points is a safer bet.)

• Last season, the Steelers had the NFL’s best red-zone offense. This season, they have the worst. Randy Fichtner was the offensive coordinator both seasons. Fichtner is not without flaw, but he’s not to blame for the Steelers’ offensive woes. As a wise man once said: no Ben, no chance. But Fichtner is seen as Roethlisberger’s hand-picked bobo, so blaming Fichtner is a way to blame Roethlisberger even though he’s hurt.

• Roethlisberger’s critics love to talk about his recent record: 2-6 in his last eight starts. In Roethlisberger’s eight losses dating back to the start of last season, the Steelers allowed an average of 31 points and never conceded less than 24. The defense might be real good now, but it was a stink sandwich not long ago.

• Almost nothing about the Steelers’ offense has been good. Tight end Vance McDonald has done so little, I thought he was hurt more than he was. But McDonald has played 13 games. His yards per game is less than half what it was last year. Whatever happened to the “Vanimal?”

• Also lifted from Twitter: Mike Tomlin likes a good story, and coaches accordingly. The James Conner story. Let’s get all three Edmunds brothers on the field. The “Duck” story. Veteran respect for Ramon Foster, who should have been replaced by B.J. Finney weeks ago. Tomlin has done a good job this year. He’s done some damage, too.

• T.J. Watt was an obvious choice for Steelers MVP. The only thing controversial would be if the vote wasn’t unanimous. Minkah Fitzpatrick had a chance, but he’s only got one takeaway in the past six games. That doesn’t change the fact Fitzpatrick is the catalyst that made the defense elite. But his impact has undeniably faded.

• If the Steelers finish 9-7 or 8-8 and miss the playoffs, how should their season be remembered: for perseverance and staying relevant despite starting 1-4 and losing Roethlisberger? Or for being locked into a playoff berth late in the year, then blowing it? (That’s two seasons in a row for the latter, don’t forget.)

• As soon as Antonio Brown signed his waiver to work out with New Orleans, he posted it on social media. If that doesn’t trigger an alarm with the Saints, it should. Brown reportedly brought a camera crew and entourage with him. He just doesn’t get it.

• The confidence Pitt has in football coach Pat Narduzzi is absurd. The Panthers finished another mediocre year by barely beating a 6-7 MAC school in a bowl with zero prestige. Pitt has hit double digits in wins just once since 1981. That was 2009 when the Panthers went 10-3 under Dave Wannstedt, a true Pitt man who had a realistic view of the program. Pitt football has a ceiling. Refusing to realize that and settle for it is what gets Pitt in trouble.

• Pitt is a women’s volleyball and men’s soccer school. If she can find a way to monetize those, Heather Lyke will be the NCAA’s Athletic Director of the Year.

• The injury-riddled Penguins have relied on ham-and-eggers to stay afloat. None deserves more credit than defenseman Chad Ruhwedel, who didn’t dress for a game until Nov. 21. He since has played 14 of 16, going plus-2 with two goals and three assists. Ruhwedel often looks beat, but at the last instant gets stick on puck and/or a little piece of his opponent. (The Penguins still need a depth defenseman.)