It’s time.After 15 weeks of the NFL season Stitched Ty Sambrailo Jersey , it’s time to acknowledge a whole bunch of items that have become apparent.edule, and some became crystallized Sunday. Such as: – Teams get antsy and/or dumb when they play the Patriots. Looks as if the AFC road to the Super Bowl will go through Foxborough again, but not because an opponent played with fear against New England. Many do, of course. And others make ridiculous decisions with a chance to beat Tom Brady and Company; think back to the two most recent NFL championships the Patriots won, against Seattle and Atlanta. The Steelers had no fear Sunday. And they had some real bad luck once more; in the AFC title contest last January, they lost Le’Veon Bell early. This time, it was Antonio Brown. Yet they were in position to win, or at worst, force overtime. But Ben Roethlisberger gambled when he didn’t need to – and lost. ”We’re not going to look back and second-guess anything or anybody,” Roethlisberger said. ”We lost a game and I threw a pick in the end zone at the end of the game to lose it.” Just as bad, the Steelers were in control in the fourth quarter and didn’t look comfortable. Happens all the time against the Patriots, especially for Pittsburgh. – The Seahawks are out of control. Pete Carroll is one of the NFL’s best coaches; nobody gets his guys to play harder. However, what Carroll has been getting for more than a month will cost Seattle a playoff berth, ending five straight appearances. The Seahawks commit far too many penalties, lose their minds over some flags, and are as undisciplined as any team. It’s a shame, because Russell Wilson has enhanced his game so much Youth Ty Sambrailo Jersey , but has little to show for it. ”No, there is nothing to be happy about. That was a really dismal performance by us,” Carroll said after getting hammered by the Rams, 42-7. – The NFC is the place to go in the postseason. Sure, Patriots-Steelers was entertaining Sunday. Whether it will be so in a month if the teams meet again, who knows? It’s time to recognize the wide-open NFC is a can’t-miss prospect, from the wild-card round throughout. The Eagles, despite major injuries, have showed spunk to go with impressive depth. The defense needs to get stingy again, but that offense, even with Nick Foles replacing Carson Wentz, is a challenge for everyone. Minnesota has a defense to play with anyone, and like Philly, terrific coaching. The Rams have an offense to play with anyone and, like Philly and Minnesota, terrific coaching. New Orleans hasn’t looked as strong recently, but it has Drew Brees Stitched Justin Bethel Jersey , the most proven NFC QB likely to make these playoffs. For once, the Saints have a running game and an impressive D. The other NFC South members probably going to the postseason, the Panthers and Falcons, are capable of beating anyone anywhere. Or losing to anyone. For 2017, you can take the AFC. We’ll revel in the NFC. – Change must come in Ohio. The Bengals sure seem to have quit on Marvin Lewis, the second-longest tenured coach with the same team in the league. It’s time for Cincinnati to move on from the coach who is 0-7 in the playoffs and whose team has regressed in all facets. It’s even worse across the state in Cleveland. In a league where teams commonly leap from the bottom toward the top – the Eagles, Rams, Jaguars and Saints this year -the Browns remain bottom feeders. Unless they pull a repeat of 2016 by winning their 15th game after 14 straight defeats, they’ll almost certainly match Detroit’s 0-16 ignominy of 2008. Who should go? Downtrodden Cleveland fans will sum it up succinctly: ”Everyone.” – Green Bay should shut down Aaron Rodgers. The Packers quarterback is one of the best ever, headed for Canton. Watching him at Carolina on Sunday was almost as painful as the shots he was taking and the looks on his face after them. Yes, Rodgers is a courageous performer and leader, but with the Pack headed home on New Year’s Day (barring some major collapses throughout the NFC), let him fully heal for 2018. – Jimmy Garoppolo is the real deal. Hey, Niners, sign the guy this week to a long-term deal. He’ll be worth it. — ATLANTA (AP) — Pepsi is pouring it on in Coke’s house — injecting some fizz into its biggest rivalry during the buildup to the Super Bowl.While the visitors had called for a “cola truce” on social media with the NFL title game in the shadows of its competitor’s Atlanta-based headquarters, it seems to have been more of a Trojan Horse subterfuge designed to lure Coke into lowering its defenses.Billboards all around Atlanta call for Pepsi to “paint the town blue” and announce “Pepsi in Atlanta — how refreshing.”“I’d say Pepsi’s had a great heritage of being a challenger brand,” Todd Kaplan Youth Justin Bethel Jersey , Pepsi’s vice president of marketing, said Thursday. “The Pepsi-Coke rivalry has been going on for years. As a marketer, it’s been a fun, friendly kind of a thing. As a challenger brand, it’s really embracing the role to show everybody we’re the official NFL sponsor. Do it in a fun way with a competitor that we respect.”But while Pepsi has been intent on having fun at Coke’s expense, Coke will be tapping into its home-field advantage: Because it owns the “pouring rights” at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Coke products will be for sale at the fountains during the game between the Patriots and Rams. But the drinks will be served in NFL-themed Super Bowl cups.That hasn’t deterred Pepsi. The company, based in Purchase, New York, wheeled a life-sized statue of its founder, Caleb Bradham, in broad daylight to toast a soda with none other than the statue of Coca-Cola founder John Pemberton. The meeting came just outside the World of Coke museum in downtown Atlanta.And it didn’t last long.Pepsi was asked to leave a few minutes after setting up on the Coke property that’s located just a couple of blocks from the stadium.But Coke believes it has home-field advantage and has gone out of its way to stay above the fray.“I think certainly they came and they used Atlanta as an opportunity to have an Atlanta-focused message, and what I would say is that we have a message that is uniquely Coca-Cola,” said Brynn Bardacke, vice president of content and creative excellence for Coca-Cola North America. “I think we’re going to leave the rumbling to the football.“We’re going to use our advertising to talk about what’s important to the brand.”The latest chapter in the decades-long rivalry between Coke, the longtime leader in worldwide soda sales, and its not-quite-as-massive rival has been entertaining.Ask almost anyone around Atlanta — anywhere Stitched Jack Crawford Jersey , really — and they have very strong opinions about the soda giants.Mark Meek, a Carolina Panthers fan from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, wasted no time choosing a side.“I like being the little guy, fighting for his place in the world,” he said. “I like it because it’s from my home state and we’ve got a little rivalry thing going with Georgia anyway. I like Lowe’s more than Home Depot. I like Pepsi more than I like Coke. I like the Panthers more than I like the Falcons. I like Bojangles more than I like Chick-Fil-A.”His friend Keith Priest, also Panthers fan from Winston-Salem, is a Coke man all the way.“Pepsi’s too sweet, way too sweet,” he said. “The carbonation seems better in a Coke. Every now and then I’ll get Cherry Coke, but other than that, it’s always just Coke.”Lest anyone forget that, Coke has bought the time slot right before the national anthem to roll out its big Super Bowl ad, “A Coke is a Coke,” a strategic move it would’ve made regardless of Pepsi being in his hometown.“Well, we are here to welcome everybody to the city, Pepsi included Youth Jack Crawford Jersey ,” Bardacke said. “Our effort is really focused on what our brand is and means to people and really what we offer. The message at a high level is that Coke is for everyone.”Maybe so, but not for Kaplan. Pepsi knows where it stands in pecking order, and has launched a marketing campaign that Pepsi is “more than OK.”“Every day there’s a cultural truth that people get asked this question when they’re in a restaurant.” Kaplan said. “Sometimes they will order our competitor’s beverage and they’ll be asked the question, ‘Is Pepsi OK?’ That’s a question that, for years, people get asked, and we wanted to take that truth and flip it on its head. Absolutely, Pepsi is more than OK.”But not for Atlanta resident Jack Jessen.“You’ve got to go with the hometown teams,” he said. “Coke and Falcons.”For Houston resident Zephra Belle, there’s no way she’s drinking Coke.“I’m Team Pepsi all the way,” she said. “It’s sweeter. It makes me feel better. I haven’t adjusted to Coke. I don’t understand the Coke people.”