PLAYOFF "WHAT IF" SCENARIOS & A FEW OTHER NOTES
If San Diego loses one of their two remaining games, at Detroit or at Oakland plus Denver loses at Buffalo this Saturday & the Chiefs win out vs. Oakland & Denver, Kansas City wins the AFC Western Division. Really????? Yes really. It would go to the tie-breakers & K.C. would win. It would take a lot of dominoes falling in just the right direction, but you never know right? If Denver beats K.C. the final Sunday, the Broncos win the AFC West regardless of what happens this weekend. Blowing a 13-point 4th quarter lead at home yesterday against Detroit, just about knocked Oakland out of any chance to win the West. Kansas City's chances are remote but Oakland's hopes are all but extinguished & that alone should brighten your holiday mood.
If San Francisco loses tonight, the Packers clinch home field thruout the playoffs & Pittsburgh would have a 1-game lead in the AFC North with two to play(Rams & Browns).
If the playoffs began today, the Jets would win the tie breaker over Cincinnati for the last wildcard spot. The Jets face the Giants this Saturday in essentially "the loser is out" scenario.They close the season in Miami against a division opponent who has won 5 of the last 7. After being humiliated yesterday by the Eagles, New York truly has their backs against the wall forced to play another team(Giants) with their backs to the wall. Cincinnati's chances aren't great either with games against the resurgent Arizona Cardinals & Baltimore. Good news is both games are in Cincinnati.
If the Giants win Saturday, Dallas must beat New York in the final game to win the NFC East regardless of the outcome of their game vs. Philly this week. A Dallas win & Giants loss will clinch the division for the Cowboys.
Detroit & Atlanta have 2-game leads for the wildcard spots in the NFC. The Lions face San Diego in Detroit & Green Bay at Lambeau to close the season. Atlanta travels to New Orleans next Monday night & close the season with the fading Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If Detroit loses both games, it opens up the final wildcard spot to Chicago, Dallas(if they don't clinch vs. Giants), Arizona & Seattle.
New Orleans wins the NFC South with a win over Atlanta Monday night or by beating Carolina the following week. Both games are in Louisiana.
The Philadelphia Eagles have the same scenario as the Chiefs, if everybody else in the NFC East loses twice, they win twice & they're in with the tie-breakers. Understand now?
Indy general manager Bill Polian said yesterday Peyton Manning would not play again this year. Doctors didn't clear him after a Wednesday workout wear he wore pads & a helmet & threw the ball. Polian said team doctors claimed Manning was still a few months away from being ready. Is there a possibility Peyton will never play again? Yes, but it's not likely.
New England's leading sacker, DE Andre Carter, suffered a season-ending quad injury that will require surgery. This is a major loss to a playoff team that already struggles to put pressure on the opposing passer.
If you watched the Sunday night game, you might have noticed Jared Gaither stonewalling Baltimore OLB Terrell Suggs, the Ravens leading sack artist who has 13 on the season. Suggs suffered thru his worst game of the season last night, recording just 2 tackles & no sacks. But Gaither couldn't play for Todd Haley & now he's playing with a division opponent, very nice.
Did you know Kyle Orton has never lost to the Green Bay Packers as a home quarterback? He's 4-0 vs. the Pack, pretty impressive.
Stanford's best wide receiver, Chris Owusu, will not play in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State. He suffered two concussions in three weeks back in late October & hasn't been cleared to play since. He was the lone deep threat Andrew Luck had in his arsenal.
I sat on this story for three days waiting for more information. Today, the more was brought to light on an incident at Penn State Saturday, yes another Penn State incident. Starting quarterback Matt McGloin was knocked cold after a punch from a teammate, wide receiver Curtis Drake, caused McGloin to fall & hit his head on the concrete floor in the football building. The two had a verbal tussle during practice that escalated into punches being thrown on the way to the locker room. McGloin suffered a seizure while he was unconscious. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he was also diagnosed as having a concussion. McGloin was released later Saturday night. Today he took full responsibility for the altercation saying as a team leader, it was his responsibility to walk away from confrontations like this, not to fan the flames. So where does this leave the Nittany Lions at quarterback for their January 2nd Ticket City Bowl game versus Houston? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention backup QB Rob Bolden was arrested last Friday night for pilfering a sports drink at a campus convenience store. Interim coach Tom Bradley hasn't said who would start the bowl game. The crack campus police force at Penn State is investigating the fistfight to see if any charges should be filed. In other Penn State news, former coach Joe Paterno was released from the hospital after a fall in his home caused a fracture of his pelvis. He had been hospitalized for 13-days. JoePa is also suffering from the effects of chemotherapy to combat lung cancer he was diagnosed with two days after his ouster last month.
My least favorite person associated with college football has decided to try a new career path. ESPN analyst Craig James is running for the U.S. Senate from Texas. Stand back, I think I'm gonna hurl. If the people of the great State of Texas elect this dirtball, I'll officially lose all hope in the election process. Surely they have better sense, at least I hope they do.
If San Francisco loses tonight, the Packers clinch home field thruout the playoffs & Pittsburgh would have a 1-game lead in the AFC North with two to play(Rams & Browns).
If the playoffs began today, the Jets would win the tie breaker over Cincinnati for the last wildcard spot. The Jets face the Giants this Saturday in essentially "the loser is out" scenario.They close the season in Miami against a division opponent who has won 5 of the last 7. After being humiliated yesterday by the Eagles, New York truly has their backs against the wall forced to play another team(Giants) with their backs to the wall. Cincinnati's chances aren't great either with games against the resurgent Arizona Cardinals & Baltimore. Good news is both games are in Cincinnati.
If the Giants win Saturday, Dallas must beat New York in the final game to win the NFC East regardless of the outcome of their game vs. Philly this week. A Dallas win & Giants loss will clinch the division for the Cowboys.
Detroit & Atlanta have 2-game leads for the wildcard spots in the NFC. The Lions face San Diego in Detroit & Green Bay at Lambeau to close the season. Atlanta travels to New Orleans next Monday night & close the season with the fading Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If Detroit loses both games, it opens up the final wildcard spot to Chicago, Dallas(if they don't clinch vs. Giants), Arizona & Seattle.
New Orleans wins the NFC South with a win over Atlanta Monday night or by beating Carolina the following week. Both games are in Louisiana.
The Philadelphia Eagles have the same scenario as the Chiefs, if everybody else in the NFC East loses twice, they win twice & they're in with the tie-breakers. Understand now?
Indy general manager Bill Polian said yesterday Peyton Manning would not play again this year. Doctors didn't clear him after a Wednesday workout wear he wore pads & a helmet & threw the ball. Polian said team doctors claimed Manning was still a few months away from being ready. Is there a possibility Peyton will never play again? Yes, but it's not likely.
New England's leading sacker, DE Andre Carter, suffered a season-ending quad injury that will require surgery. This is a major loss to a playoff team that already struggles to put pressure on the opposing passer.
If you watched the Sunday night game, you might have noticed Jared Gaither stonewalling Baltimore OLB Terrell Suggs, the Ravens leading sack artist who has 13 on the season. Suggs suffered thru his worst game of the season last night, recording just 2 tackles & no sacks. But Gaither couldn't play for Todd Haley & now he's playing with a division opponent, very nice.
Did you know Kyle Orton has never lost to the Green Bay Packers as a home quarterback? He's 4-0 vs. the Pack, pretty impressive.
Stanford's best wide receiver, Chris Owusu, will not play in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State. He suffered two concussions in three weeks back in late October & hasn't been cleared to play since. He was the lone deep threat Andrew Luck had in his arsenal.
I sat on this story for three days waiting for more information. Today, the more was brought to light on an incident at Penn State Saturday, yes another Penn State incident. Starting quarterback Matt McGloin was knocked cold after a punch from a teammate, wide receiver Curtis Drake, caused McGloin to fall & hit his head on the concrete floor in the football building. The two had a verbal tussle during practice that escalated into punches being thrown on the way to the locker room. McGloin suffered a seizure while he was unconscious. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he was also diagnosed as having a concussion. McGloin was released later Saturday night. Today he took full responsibility for the altercation saying as a team leader, it was his responsibility to walk away from confrontations like this, not to fan the flames. So where does this leave the Nittany Lions at quarterback for their January 2nd Ticket City Bowl game versus Houston? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention backup QB Rob Bolden was arrested last Friday night for pilfering a sports drink at a campus convenience store. Interim coach Tom Bradley hasn't said who would start the bowl game. The crack campus police force at Penn State is investigating the fistfight to see if any charges should be filed. In other Penn State news, former coach Joe Paterno was released from the hospital after a fall in his home caused a fracture of his pelvis. He had been hospitalized for 13-days. JoePa is also suffering from the effects of chemotherapy to combat lung cancer he was diagnosed with two days after his ouster last month.
My least favorite person associated with college football has decided to try a new career path. ESPN analyst Craig James is running for the U.S. Senate from Texas. Stand back, I think I'm gonna hurl. If the people of the great State of Texas elect this dirtball, I'll officially lose all hope in the election process. Surely they have better sense, at least I hope they do.
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