counting?
With just three weeks remaining in the regular season here
are the prognoses of all 32 teams in one paragraph or less!
are the prognoses of all 32 teams in one paragraph or less!
NFC North
last road game of the year on Sunday. The road to the Super Bowl in the NFC
will go through
remaining are whether or not the Packers will go 16-0, far from guaranteed with
games against
Coach Mike McCarthy will rest Aaron Rodgers and other key players in the final
weeks.
destiny. However, after starting 5-0, winning only 3 of their next 8 is not the
kind of momentum they want to take into the playoffs, if they make it.
Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh returns this weekend at the Oakland Raiders
after a two week suspension.
seat in the Wild Card race to Tebow Mania last week, the Bears could be in much
worse shape. Two of their three remaining games are against teams with losing
records and the Bears would beat the Lions out on conference wins in a
tiebreaker. The team with the winning record? The Green Bay Packers after this
coming weekend.
worse shape. Two of their three remaining games are against teams with losing
records and the Bears would beat the Lions out on conference wins in a
tiebreaker. The team with the winning record? The Green Bay Packers after this
coming weekend.
was just one score away from the Super Bowl two years ago? “REALLY?” Yes,
really.
really.
NFC South
New Orleans Saints (10-3) – Being a lifelong Saints fan, I should know
better to count my chickens before they are hatched,
but the NFC South race is all but done, as the Saints
hold the tiebreaker over the 8-5 Atlanta Flacons. What is very much up in the
air is whether the Saints can pass theSan
Francisco
seed in the NFC Playoffs.
better to count my chickens before they are hatched,
but the NFC South race is all but done, as the Saints
hold the tiebreaker over the 8-5 Atlanta Flacons. What is very much up in the
air is whether the Saints can pass the
Francisco
seed in the NFC Playoffs.
very hard to snatch playoff elimination from the jaws of a playoff berth, but
it can be done. There is a better than 50/50 chance that the Dirty Birds will
not need much more than a win over Jacksonville tonight to get into the
playoffs. I doubt Mike Smith will rest on his laurels come Friday morning, no
matter what happens.
(4-9) – This team is on the way up, best 4-9 team in years. The same bad late
game breaks, which cost the Panthers several games this season, tend to be good
breaks a year later with some experience. It looks like the Panthers got it right with the Cam Newton pick.
value of serviceable backups. Then, ask Bucs coach Raheem Morris about the
challenges of not having them, particularly at quarterback. Yes, Josh Freeman
is in the lineup, but he isn’t “right”, and backup Josh Johnson is not the
answer.
NFC East
their four game losing streak with a win over the Cowboys last week, controlling
their own destiny in the NFC East race. Bad news: If the Giants don’t follow
through and they fail reach the playoffs, melting down in December for the
third straight year, their coach, Tom Coughlin, is getting fired!
own destiny, with a season finale against the Giants. The good news for Head
Coach Jason Garrett is that he received a vote of confidence from the owner.
The bad news is that the owner is Jerry Jones.
done. The only question is whether or not Head Coach Andy Reid will return for
a 14th season. With all of the individual talent the team has, he
might get another shot. Then again, failing to have a winning record with all of
that talent may be too inexcusable for Eagles owner Jeff Lurie.
the Redskins sure have gotten better since running former quarterback Donovan
McNabb out of town. The question is: Will owner Dan Snyder fire ANOTHER coach?
Who is going to want to coach there if he does?
AFC North
stepped his game up in the absence of future Hall of Famer Ray Lewis and kept
the Ravens middle three strong. Now there is some buzz about Suggs for MVP. If
the Ravens keep winning and take the division, he may have some ammo.
the toughest quarterbacks I have ever seen in my entire life. Unfortunately,
two of the Steelers’ three losses came against
again in January if the Steelers want to reach the Super Bowl.
bright future and their defense is one to build around. Still, the Houston
Texans, last week showed that
is still a rookie and this Bengals team is still building. They will need some
help to reach the playoffs.
question mark. At times, the potential rises to the surface. Other times, I
wonder if he’ll ever be above average. This team has problems EVERYWHERE, which
often means corrections could begin on the sideline. Watch out, Pat
Shurmur!
AFC South
division last week, sealing up a first-ever playoff berth in the 10 year
history of this franchise and its very deserving fans.
success, with the city hosting its last NFL playoff game 18 years ago. The big
treat would be a first round bye, as the Texans are tied with New England,
for the best won-loss record in the AFC. A bigger treat would be the first seed
in the AFC Playoffs, not all that far fetched. If rookie, former third-string
quarterback T.J. Yates continues to survive his trial by fire, it could happen.
would have my vote for Coach of the
Year, right now, if I had a vote.
had on and off the field issues, particularly in the offensive backfield. What
could have torpedoed many NFL teams was managed, mitigated, and handled. The
Titans’ issues at quarterback and running back seem to be under control. The
Titans don’t control their playoff destiny but, should they run the table, they
would win a 10-6, head-to-head, tiebreaker with the Broncos, Jets, and Raiders.
Cleveland Indians from the movie, “Major League”. Very good running game…good
defense. So what do the Jags do? Strong-arm former quarterback David Garrard to
avoid paying him $9 million in salary. Passing offense? Dead last in the NFL.
Recently fired Head Coach Jack Del Rio was sent with a knife to a gunfight this
season.
by not playing a single down? With him, the Colts are a playoff team every
year. Without him, they can’t win a game!
AFC East
same old Pats, but in terms of team composition, the Patriots are one Brady
injury away from becoming the Colts. Brady knows it and it is beginning to show
in his body language. A mediocre running attack and a pitiful defense,
especially in the secondary, will not be good enough to contend for Super Bowls
in the long term. Head Coach Bill Belichick, who has been draft-averse in the
past, must draft some talented young players if they Patriots run of excellence
is to continue into the 2010s.
destiny for a playoffs birth, with two of their three remaining games against
teams with losing records. Quarterback Mark Sanchez has gotten hotter as the
weather has gotten colder in the past. My gut tells me that wins over the Eagles
and Dolphins should be enough to get this team into the playoffs, for the third
straight year, at 10-6.
of potential and lost some very close games against some very good teams. They
are heading in the right direction. Draft, baby, draft!
Sporano should have gotten a gold watch as a parting gift for winning four
games with this team and being competitive in several others. Ownership made
Sporano a dead man walking, last season, when they interviewed current 49ers
coach Jim Harbaugh for his job, while he still had it (a cardinal sin in the
coaching fraternity). Throw in the fact that Sporano was stuck with Chad Henne
at quarterback (a dead man walking at his own position) and Matt Moore and it
is a miracle that the Fins have been eliminated from the “Suck for Luck”
sweepstakes. This team is a legitimate, average (let alone “good”) starting QB
away from being a real headache to the Pats and Jets in the AFC East.
AFC West
looks less “lucky” and more “strategic” by winning with Tim Tebow as his
quarterback. What cannot be disputed is that their defense and running game is
very good. A playoff berth, for which the Broncos control their destiny, will
have a lot of Tebow fans saying, “I told you so!”
other Coach of the Year consideration. Considering the Raiders’ recent history,
the fact that they are only a game out of the wild card spot/division lead in
December is remarkable.
execution and bad luck has Head Coach Norv Turner on the hot seat, yet again.
Fortunately, the Chargers appear to have stopped the funk and are traditionally
very resilient late in the regular season. The Chargers need a lot of help to
reach the postseason, not to mention three more wins in a row, and possibly
save Norv Turner’s job.
fired mid-season just a year after winning the AFC West, in spite of losing his
starting quarterback for the season. Something is dysfunctional in K.C.
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