December 22, 200817 yr So, what are the playoff scenarios? NFC Already In NY Giants - Clinched #1 seed Carolina Panthers - Can clinch division and #2 seed with win (@ New Orleans) or Falcons loss Atlanta Falcons - Can win division and #2 seed with win (vs. St. Louis) and Panthers loss Arizona Cardinals - Clinched AFC West Control Their Own Destiny Dallas Cowboys - Can clinch Wild Card with win @ Philly Minnesota Vikings - Can clinch division with win (vs. NY Giants) or Bears loss tonight (vs. Green Bay) Need Help Philadelphia Eagles - Can clinch Wild Card with win (vs. Dallas) combined with Tampa Bay and Chicago losses Chicago Bears - Can win division with 2 wins and Minnesota loss; can clinch Wild Card with 2 wins and losses by Dallas and Tampa Bay Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Can clinch Wild Card with win (vs. Okland) combined with Dallas loss I'm pretty sure that covers the NFC.
December 22, 200817 yr Author AFC Already In Tennessee Titans - Clinched top seed Indianapolis Colts - Clinched Wild Card (#5 seed) Pittsburgh Steelers - Clinch #2 seed Control Their Own Destiny Miami Dolphins - Clinch AFC East with win (@ NY Jets); also clinch wild card if New England and Baltimore loses (I think) Baltimore Ravens - Clinch Wild Card with win (vs. Jacksonville) San Diego Chargers vs. Denver Broncos - Winner determines AFC West Champion and playoff berth Need Help New England Patriots - Can clinch AFC East with win (@ Buffalo) and Miami loss; can clinch Wild Card with win and Baltimore loss New York Jets - Can clinch AFC East with win (vs. Miami) and New England loss; can clinch Wild Card with win and Baltimore loss
December 22, 200817 yr I really want to put Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl, but I can't because of #7...
December 22, 200817 yr There is a lot of parity in the NFL this year. Preseason, the favorites were the Jags, Chargers, Cowboys, Patriots, and Giants. Of those, only the Giants are in, the Jags are out and others are struggling. Atlanta goes from being a disaster to a contender. Miami goes from 1-15 to a potential AFC East champ. San Francisco was supposed to win the NFC West and lays an egg. Cleveland was expected to contend. The Jets emerge from the ashes. Carolina was not mentioned in the preseason picture, because New Orleans was the favorite. It truly has been an interesting season. Can anyone find a common thread for being good this year in the NFL?
December 22, 200817 yr There is a lot of parity in the NFL this year. Preseason, the favorites were the Jags, Chargers, Cowboys, Patriots, and Giants. Of those, only the Giants are in, the Jags are out and others are struggling. Atlanta goes from being a disaster to a contender. Miami goes from 1-15 to a potential AFC East champ. San Francisco was supposed to win the NFC West and lays an egg. Cleveland was expected to contend. The Jets emerge from the ashes. Carolina was not mentioned in the preseason picture, because New Orleans was the favorite. It truly has been an interesting season. Can anyone find a common thread for being good this year in the NFL? Solid OL play. Defensive pass rush. Ability to run the ball. Consistent QB play. Limit injuries. Of all the teams you listed, you can easily identify what area they are lacking which knocks them from the ranks of the elite teams. An article was done not to long ago that looked at recent Superbowl winners, and they attributed health (i.e. lack of injuries) as the constant theme with each team.
December 22, 200817 yr Carolina's loss last night cost them from hosting every playoff game to the possibility of playing 3 on the road. Wow! That was a big game last night.
December 22, 200817 yr ^ If Atlanta wins next week and Carolina gets beat then the Falcons get the first round bye.
December 22, 200817 yr Author ^ If Atlanta wins next week and Carolina gets beat then the Falcons get the first round bye. But, the Panthers still control their own fate when it comes to a first round bye... Win @ New Orleans and they get a week off.
December 22, 200817 yr Author There is a lot of parity in the NFL this year. Preseason, the favorites were the Jags, Chargers, Cowboys, Patriots, and Giants. Of those, only the Giants are in, the Jags are out and others are struggling. Atlanta goes from being a disaster to a contender. Miami goes from 1-15 to a potential AFC East champ. San Francisco was supposed to win the NFC West and lays an egg. Cleveland was expected to contend. The Jets emerge from the ashes. Carolina was not mentioned in the preseason picture, because New Orleans was the favorite. It truly has been an interesting season. Can anyone find a common thread for being good this year in the NFL? I don't know...let's take a look... Tennessee - Perhaps the best combined offensive and defensive line play in the league. No weakness on defense...DL, LB, DB...all three units are among the best in the league. Great RB duo leads the offense. Solid, reliable, veteran play and leadership at QB. Pretty good TE's and solid WR's. Good special teams. Pretty healthy...Vanden Bosch has struggled with a groin injury and Haynesworth went down last week, but both are projected to return. Pittsburgh - Dominant, suffocating defense...best in the league. Solid line, elite LB's and good secondary lead by a great player in Polamalu. Solid rushing attack. Feast or famine passing game...suspect pass blocking combined with suspect play calling and decision making at QB leads to a lot of sacks and TO's. The offense also has big play ability and a knack for producing at crunch time to win games that the defense has kept them in. Good special teams. They've been banged up with injuries to Ben, Parker, and a few others, but fairly healthy right now. Indianapolis - Struggling o-line that has improved. Sub-par running game that has improved. WR's who haven't been as good as expected. Weak run defense. Solid pass defense. All held together by one of the best QB's to ever play. The team is playing better now than earlier, but they still don't have anyone that scares you besides #18. Bob Sanders helps the defense. Decent special teams. Injuries hurt them early on but they've come around and are getting healthy at the right time. New England - Solid o-line. Great D-line. Young QB that has developed into a pretty good player. Very good WR's. Solid, complementary RB trio. Good LB's but old. Suspect secondary that has played better. Solid special teams. Injuries? Do we need to go there? NY Jets - A lot of new pieces have meshed, but they're still inconsistent. Favre at QB can be great or not. Strong ground game when they commit to it. Decent WR's. Better than expected D. Jenkins at NT is the key. Miami - Solid, veteran QB play and leadership. Strong running game duo. Average pass catchers. Solid line. Hard nosed, overachieving defense. Baltimore - Dominant defense. Strong, physical running game. Rookie QB and average WR's. Any common threads there? Edited December 22, 200817 yr by 5wide
December 22, 200817 yr Author NY Giants - Clutch, experienced QB. Great o-line and powerful running game with an excellent trio of backs who complement each other. Average pass catchers without Plaxico Burress. Great defense lead by a great D-line, good LB's and an improved secondary that was a weakness at times last year. Not anymore. Great, all-around TEAM. Very resilient and battle tested. Dallas - Tons of talent. Tons of ego. Grams of heart? :DA feast or famine offense/QB...big plays or turnovers. When healthy, they have a very good o-line and a strong running game. At their best when they commit to the run. A talented defense on paper that had actually started to live up to the hype before a major meltdown against Baltimore. A hard team to figure. Just when they start to look like they've put it together, it falls apart again. Injuries have hurt them this year...Romo missed time. Felix Jones out. Barber has missed time. Philly - Up and down QB and team. Great all-purpose back. Decent group of WR's. Solid o-line. Good defense that is solid, not spectacular, across the board. Minnesota - Suspect QB play. Good o-line and great RB. Decent WR's. Great d-line. Dominant run defense with one good pass rusher. Carolina - Balance. Veteran QB who scares me...he can make plays or mistakes. Great line play. Excellent RB duo and good WR's with the elite Steve Smith. Very good defense that seems to have improved as the season progressed...lead by elite DE Peppers and MLB Beason. Atlanta - Biggest surprise of the season. Rookie QB who plays like a clutch, seasoned veteran. Great RB who they signed as a FA. Big time WR. Still can't believe they made the playoffs. Tampa Bay - Veteran, play making QB who makes the most of average offensive weapons. Great defense that gets the most of its talent. Hard nosed, physical team. Arizona - Great passing attack. Running game has vanished. Decent o-line. Defense that plays good at times and looks horrible at others.
December 22, 200817 yr IMO, the biggest offseason pickup was Michael Turner in Atlanta. If you can run the ball and stop the run, most times you can win (with the exception of Indianapolis). Turner's running has allowed Ryan to make plays with his arm.
December 22, 200817 yr Even though the odds are against the Bears, especially now that the Giants have nothing to play for, I just want them to win tonight and at least make Sunday meaningful. It would be frustrating to watch Chicago finish 10-6 and NOT get in, but they had their chance and they got beat in Green Bay and in Minnesota by a combined score of 400-10. :lol:
December 22, 200817 yr Solid OL play. Defensive pass rush. Ability to run the ball. Consistent QB play. Limit injuries. Of all the teams you listed, you can easily identify what area they are lacking which knocks them from the ranks of the elite teams. An article was done not to long ago that looked at recent Superbowl winners, and they attributed health (i.e. lack of injuries) as the constant theme with each team. Well, the Steelers have managed one of those five qualifiers, so I'm not sure how they're getting it done …
December 22, 200817 yr Well, the Steelers have managed one of those five qualifiers, so I'm not sure how they're getting it done … Is it just rushing the passer? If so, by being able to do that, your entire defense is elivated. That is one third of the game. While Roethlisberger has not been all-world, he has delivered many times this season in the clutch and is an above average QB. Numbers do not always tell the story on QBs. Big Ben, for all his faults, has a lot of winning intagibles that many QBs, with better numbers, do not possess. Compared to most NFL teams, how do they stack up injury wise?
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.