End of the Third Quarter
Three quarters of the way into the pro football season and where do we stand?
The Garbage
First off, the reports of the Raiduhs’ resurgence have been greatly exaggerated. They just lost their eleventh game of the season to go to 1 and 11. The score was 52 to nothing, in favor of the Rams. The game was not as close as the score indicated.
The Jags won their second game of the year over the “nearly as incompetent as they are” NY Giants. Other teams nearly as incompetent (meaning teams that are practically guaranteed top ten draft picks due to their lousy records), including the Titans, the Red Skins, the Carolina Panthers, and the Tampa Bay Bucs, all lost again.
Some teams that are in the bottom half of the league’s hierarchy actually won games this weekend, including the Rams and the Vikes. It is too bad that they aren’t playing in the NFC South division, because if they were, they would be leading it. (that league’s co-leaders, the Falcons and the Aints, both won games this weekend, moving their records to 5 and 7) But they are in the “they ain’t going anywhere” category, because this year, it’s probably going to take at least a 10 and 6 record to make the playoffs in both leagues. lite
The Elite
These teams are elite teams and will likely be strong contenders to be there in the Super Bowl at the very end. The Pack (who beat the Patriots in a close game this afternoon), the Pats, the Eagles, the Denver Donks, I say the Seattle Seahawks will be there, and the Indy Colts all have either 9 wins or 8 but are playing like teams that seriously think they are going to win the Super Bowl.
The Contenders – AFC
The Bengals, who started off strong, are now 8-3-1 and a game ahead of their three AFC Central teams the Steelers, the Ravens and the Browns. Any of those teams could still get hot and make the playoffs, and or, get in as a wild card. This division still has all the teams with records of 7-5 or better. That is impressive.
The surprising Bills and Dolphins are still in the wild card hunt at 7-5 (that’s giving the Dolphins a win over the Jets tomorrow night). There are teams that consider a winning season a GREAT season, and the Bills and Browns are in that category. Houston won today to go 6-6 and would have to run the table to get in, but they at least are sniffing it.
The Chargers and the Chiefs are also in that “maybe they could make the wild card” category. They are definitely good enough to get there and maybe even knock somebody off, but I don’t know if they’ve got the goods to win it all.
The Contenders – NFC
There are some very good teams in the NFC that are going to be fighting for playoff spots and a few might even get beaten out for those playoffs. The Lions and Cowboys are good teams that are 8-4 and could cause a lot of teams a lot of problems, but could also not even make it. It’s going to take at least ten wins to get in.
The Arizona Cardinals started off 9-1 and are now 9-3, with a pretty tough schedule remaining. They SHOULD make the playoffs, but could also lose a lot of games down the stretch and not make it, especially playing those games with a backup quarterback. Either way, they likely WON’T be playing in a Super Bowl on their home field.
The 49ers have been in the conference finals the last three years and are still a really good team. But they are in deep danger at 7-5 of not making the playoffs. It’s a real shame that teams could go 10-6 and NOT make the playoffs, while a team with a losing record could emerge from the NFC South.
The bottom line is that there will be a champion that emerges from these teams. If an AFC team is in the Super Bowl that is not the Donks or the Pats, I will be surprised.
The NFC is more convoluted. Some teams have match up problems against others and it kind of depends on who plays whom. Maybe a Packer – Seattle NFC final?
It doesn’t matter what I say or think. They will settle this on the football field and I will be watching.
