NFL, 11 DOWN, 5 TO GO, WHO WERE THE WINNERS & LOSERS?
THE WINNERS:
Atlanta--With their 20-17 win over the Packers today, the Falcons are in the driver's seat for home field advantage thruout the playoffs. With a one-game lead on the rest of the NFC, Atlanta also has the easiest slate down the stretch. They have 2 games with 1-10 Carolina, road trips to Seattle & Tampa Bay plus a game with New Orleans in the Georgia Dome. They can effectively put the Buccaneers out of their misery this coming Sunday. Tampa has a trip to New Orleans as well. The Saints have road trips to Baltimore & Atlanta. I can see the Falcons finishing with at least 13 wins.
New York Jets & New England--Whether they win the division or not, both should be headed to playoffs. They square off next Monday night in Foxboro, the winner having the inside track for the division title. The Pats play in at Chicago & have a home date with Green Bay while the Jets travel to Pittsburgh & Chicago.
Baltimore & Pittsburgh--Just like the above pair, barring a collapse, I think both will make the playoffs. These two are also featured next weekend in a primetime game, Sunday night in Baltimore. Besides the showdown next Sunday, the Ravens have a home date with New Orleans. LT Michael Oher suffered a knee sprain today, keep an eye on that, their tackle depth is non-existent right now. The Steelers get the Jets in Pittsburgh.
Kansas City & San Diego--While the Chiefs win kept them a game up on San Diego, the Chargers victory in Indianapolis tonight made their home game with K.C. in two weeks the showdown for the division title, provided both stay clean against the remainder of their schedules. Every opponent for both currently has a losing record. It's possible one of these two could sneak in as a wildcard if one of the North teams stumble, but that's a big "if." Better just win the division. Excluding the playoffs, the Chargers have won their last 11 games played after November 1st.
New York Giants--With their comeback win over Jacksonville & Philly's loss at Chicago, the Giants appear to have an easier road to the NFC East title. The G-Men get Washington twice, at Green Bay & Chicago plus a homer vs. Philly. The Eagles have two with the rejuvenated Cowboys, Minnesota, Houston this Thursday & at the Giants. The hysteria over the Michael Vick-led Eagles was slowed today after Chicago made them look mortal, winning 31-26.
Chicago--The Bears moved one game ahead of Green Bay today, good thing, with their remaining schedule, they will be fortunate to win this division. A trip to Detroit is followed by New England, at Minnesota, the Jets & at Green Bay. Brutal. As good as QB Jay Cutler & the Bear defense played today in the win over Philly, their biggest problem is far from solved. Their offensive line cannot pass block, period. A major road block with this schedule.
THE LOSERS:
Indianapolis--The Colts' 7-year run of winning 12 or more games is officially over after losing to San Diego tonight 36-14. The injury-racked Colts looked ordinary, punchless & inept. They were held to just 24-yards rushing. They have offensive line troubles, RB Joseph Addai was sidelined again as were WR's Austin Collie & Anthony Gonzalez. TE Dallas Clark was put on injured reserve weeks ago & he was Peyton Manning's safety valve. Indy has a slightly easier schedule from here on out with Tennessee twice, Oakland, Jacksonville & the Cowboys next week. The 6-5 Colts might be hard pressed to win 10 games but Jacksonville, also 6-5, has three road games with Tennessee, Indy & Houston. The Jags might get it done if the Colts can't get some key people healthy.
Green Bay--The Pack not only lost in Atlanta today, falling a game behind Chicago in the NFC North, but once again, they failed to generate any semblance of a running game. They managed only 77-yards, but QB Aaron Rodgers had 51-yards of that total. That's the real rub. My NFC Super Bowl pick isn't going anywhere unless they can mount some sort of a running threat & soon.
The NFC West--St. Louis & Seattle are the co-leaders with a 5-6 record, pretty sad. After watching St. Louis the past three weekends, I think they can actually win the division, they're certainly playing at a higher level than the rest of this pathetic division. The Rams have 3 of the last 5 on the road, where until today, were winless outside of the Edward Jones Dome. The final game of the season might just determine the division winner, Rams at Seattle.
ESPN--Will you be watching the Monday Night football game, San Francisco at Arizona, a battle of 3-7 underachievers? I didn't think so.
Oakland & Denver--The Chargers will most likely bring down the curtain on the "Oakland Revival" next Sunday, putting the Raiders 3-games back while Denver, already hopeless at 3-8, is looking at a revenge beatdown in Arrowhead next week. The Raiders, once the 2nd best running team in the league, were held to just 16-yards on the ground today in Oakland. The worst part of this is WR Jacoby Ford had 13-yards on a reverse, the rest of the team managed just 3-yards total. Their QB situation is no better now, even without JaMarcus Russell. Bet you never thought you hear me say that. The Broncos, after starting 6-0 last season, are 5-16. Josh McDaniels looks to be in over his head & could be facing more than the $50,000 fine levied against him by the NFL. He failed to report a team employee who taped a walk-thru by San Francisco last month in London. He knew it happened & failed to come forward until a week later. he then tried throwing the Patriots under the bus by saying they had done it as well when he was their offensive coordinator. Never point to bad behavior by others to excuse your own. He might need to find himself a good college coaching position. The truly bad news for this pair is it's difficult to find many positives about either team. You know, the stuff you can build on, like NFL-type talent.
Andre Johnson & Courtland Finnegan--This pair went to war in the 4th quarter of today's 20-0 Texan win. Finnegan, a cornerback for the Titans, has a well deserved reputation for highly aggressive, sometimes dirty, play. Johnson has always been pretty much an altar boy during his career as one of the top receivers in the NFL. Johnson had about enough of Finnegan's antics midway thru the final quarter & he grabbed Courtland by the facemask, jerking his helmet off & began punching him about the face & ears. Finnegan ripped Johnson's helmet off as well, but he took the worst of it, punch count-wise. Both were ejected & could face heavy fines as well as suspensions. Houston plays Thursday night, so justice will be swift, I expect whatever punishment comes down, it will be by 2 PM Monday afternoon.
Atlanta--With their 20-17 win over the Packers today, the Falcons are in the driver's seat for home field advantage thruout the playoffs. With a one-game lead on the rest of the NFC, Atlanta also has the easiest slate down the stretch. They have 2 games with 1-10 Carolina, road trips to Seattle & Tampa Bay plus a game with New Orleans in the Georgia Dome. They can effectively put the Buccaneers out of their misery this coming Sunday. Tampa has a trip to New Orleans as well. The Saints have road trips to Baltimore & Atlanta. I can see the Falcons finishing with at least 13 wins.
New York Jets & New England--Whether they win the division or not, both should be headed to playoffs. They square off next Monday night in Foxboro, the winner having the inside track for the division title. The Pats play in at Chicago & have a home date with Green Bay while the Jets travel to Pittsburgh & Chicago.
Baltimore & Pittsburgh--Just like the above pair, barring a collapse, I think both will make the playoffs. These two are also featured next weekend in a primetime game, Sunday night in Baltimore. Besides the showdown next Sunday, the Ravens have a home date with New Orleans. LT Michael Oher suffered a knee sprain today, keep an eye on that, their tackle depth is non-existent right now. The Steelers get the Jets in Pittsburgh.
Kansas City & San Diego--While the Chiefs win kept them a game up on San Diego, the Chargers victory in Indianapolis tonight made their home game with K.C. in two weeks the showdown for the division title, provided both stay clean against the remainder of their schedules. Every opponent for both currently has a losing record. It's possible one of these two could sneak in as a wildcard if one of the North teams stumble, but that's a big "if." Better just win the division. Excluding the playoffs, the Chargers have won their last 11 games played after November 1st.
New York Giants--With their comeback win over Jacksonville & Philly's loss at Chicago, the Giants appear to have an easier road to the NFC East title. The G-Men get Washington twice, at Green Bay & Chicago plus a homer vs. Philly. The Eagles have two with the rejuvenated Cowboys, Minnesota, Houston this Thursday & at the Giants. The hysteria over the Michael Vick-led Eagles was slowed today after Chicago made them look mortal, winning 31-26.
Chicago--The Bears moved one game ahead of Green Bay today, good thing, with their remaining schedule, they will be fortunate to win this division. A trip to Detroit is followed by New England, at Minnesota, the Jets & at Green Bay. Brutal. As good as QB Jay Cutler & the Bear defense played today in the win over Philly, their biggest problem is far from solved. Their offensive line cannot pass block, period. A major road block with this schedule.
THE LOSERS:
Indianapolis--The Colts' 7-year run of winning 12 or more games is officially over after losing to San Diego tonight 36-14. The injury-racked Colts looked ordinary, punchless & inept. They were held to just 24-yards rushing. They have offensive line troubles, RB Joseph Addai was sidelined again as were WR's Austin Collie & Anthony Gonzalez. TE Dallas Clark was put on injured reserve weeks ago & he was Peyton Manning's safety valve. Indy has a slightly easier schedule from here on out with Tennessee twice, Oakland, Jacksonville & the Cowboys next week. The 6-5 Colts might be hard pressed to win 10 games but Jacksonville, also 6-5, has three road games with Tennessee, Indy & Houston. The Jags might get it done if the Colts can't get some key people healthy.
Green Bay--The Pack not only lost in Atlanta today, falling a game behind Chicago in the NFC North, but once again, they failed to generate any semblance of a running game. They managed only 77-yards, but QB Aaron Rodgers had 51-yards of that total. That's the real rub. My NFC Super Bowl pick isn't going anywhere unless they can mount some sort of a running threat & soon.
The NFC West--St. Louis & Seattle are the co-leaders with a 5-6 record, pretty sad. After watching St. Louis the past three weekends, I think they can actually win the division, they're certainly playing at a higher level than the rest of this pathetic division. The Rams have 3 of the last 5 on the road, where until today, were winless outside of the Edward Jones Dome. The final game of the season might just determine the division winner, Rams at Seattle.
ESPN--Will you be watching the Monday Night football game, San Francisco at Arizona, a battle of 3-7 underachievers? I didn't think so.
Oakland & Denver--The Chargers will most likely bring down the curtain on the "Oakland Revival" next Sunday, putting the Raiders 3-games back while Denver, already hopeless at 3-8, is looking at a revenge beatdown in Arrowhead next week. The Raiders, once the 2nd best running team in the league, were held to just 16-yards on the ground today in Oakland. The worst part of this is WR Jacoby Ford had 13-yards on a reverse, the rest of the team managed just 3-yards total. Their QB situation is no better now, even without JaMarcus Russell. Bet you never thought you hear me say that. The Broncos, after starting 6-0 last season, are 5-16. Josh McDaniels looks to be in over his head & could be facing more than the $50,000 fine levied against him by the NFL. He failed to report a team employee who taped a walk-thru by San Francisco last month in London. He knew it happened & failed to come forward until a week later. he then tried throwing the Patriots under the bus by saying they had done it as well when he was their offensive coordinator. Never point to bad behavior by others to excuse your own. He might need to find himself a good college coaching position. The truly bad news for this pair is it's difficult to find many positives about either team. You know, the stuff you can build on, like NFL-type talent.
Andre Johnson & Courtland Finnegan--This pair went to war in the 4th quarter of today's 20-0 Texan win. Finnegan, a cornerback for the Titans, has a well deserved reputation for highly aggressive, sometimes dirty, play. Johnson has always been pretty much an altar boy during his career as one of the top receivers in the NFL. Johnson had about enough of Finnegan's antics midway thru the final quarter & he grabbed Courtland by the facemask, jerking his helmet off & began punching him about the face & ears. Finnegan ripped Johnson's helmet off as well, but he took the worst of it, punch count-wise. Both were ejected & could face heavy fines as well as suspensions. Houston plays Thursday night, so justice will be swift, I expect whatever punishment comes down, it will be by 2 PM Monday afternoon.
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