Divisional Playoff Weekend Preview

Baltimore Ravens @ Tennessee Titans

Ravens Special Teams: A special teams play would be huge for either of these teams. Tom Zbikowski had a nice return last week and may be there best shot at a big return, unless the Ravens are able to put Ed Reed back for punt returns which would be a great move.

Titans Special Teams: The kick game is amongst the best in the league. Rob Bironas was perfect inside of 40 this year and hit 28 field goals overall. Craig Hentrich is a Pro Bowl Punter. Chris Carr is their best returner and he’s a pretty good one. They are not great at kick coverage.

Ravens on Offense: As I said last week, Joe Flacco is not going to beat a playoff defense. He was terrible against Miami and now has to face the markedly better Titan secondary. That means that somehow the Ravens will have to find some success against the Titans rush defense. They should use Leron McClain early and set up a possible late game home run by Willis McGahee.

Titans on Defense: With Haynesworth and Vanden Bosch both healthy the Titans defense should be able to interrupt the Raven O. McClain does his best running up the middle and he’s a big powerful runner, still it’s difficult to imagine him running through Haynesworth and that big Titans line. Tennessee does not create great pressure, though eliminating the run game is often enough to create the illusion of pressure on a QB. In the pass game Cortland Finnegan will man up with Derrick Mason and try to force Joe Flacco to find somebody else to throw the ball to.

Titans on Offense: It could read like a carbon copy of the Ravens offense. They are not going to ask Kerry Collins to carry the load here. The difference between he and Flacco is that Collins has a lot of playoff experience, including a Super Bowl Start. His best success in the pass game will come in the 10-15 yard range and especially to his tight ends. Their run game will be a polar opposite of Baltimore’s. They will use rookie Chris Johnson early and hope to catch Baltimore off guard with his explosiveness. If they can get a lead then they will use LenDale White to protect it.

Ravens on Defense: Look for Baltimore to try to exploit the absence of Pro Bowl Center Kevin Mawae by blitzing up the middle with Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. Both will also be key in the pass game. Lewis will often be assigned to cover Bo Scaife, the Titans leading receiver, and Reed will roam free and hope to get another playoff interception and hopefully touchdown. The Ravens are not going to give up big run plays easily either. They have been incredible against the run in recent weeks and are not likely to lose their focus in this one.

Summary: I could regret repeatedly going against the Ravens, but I’m going to do it again. These two teams match up so evenly on the field that you have to go to the sidelines to differentiate them. There stands Jeff Fisher with a home playoff game and I have to believe that’s going to be a difference maker here. This should be almost a mirror-image of their week 5 game. Not a lot of points or yards, but some big hits and lots of trash talking. Great January football.

Prediction: Titans 13, Ravens 10

Arizona Cardinals @ Carolina Panthers

Cardinals Special Teams: We didn’t see much out of Arizona’s Special Teams Unit last week, other than a very good performance from punter Ben Graham. The Cardinals struggled some in kick coverage.

Panthers Special Teams: John Kasay had another very good year, missing just 3 kicks. Punter Jason Baker was also consistently reliable. Not much happens in the return game when the Panthers play. They don’t have a great return game, but they are very good on coverage.

Cardinals on Offense: Arizona can only hope to run the ball as well as they did last week against Atlanta. The law of averages says it is unlikely. They face a much better, though not great, defense in Carolina this week. Look for Kurt Warner to put the ball up 38-45 times and find some success. Anquan Bolden’s status is still uncertain, but the Cardinals will still have Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston so the pass game will be fine.

Panthers on Defense: Carolina is not quite as good on defense as you might think from reputation. Julius Peppers had a resurgent season and came up with 14 sacks, but nobody else had more than six. They also don’t create a lot of turnovers. They will need to in this game. If they have success stopping the run, which they should, they have to make Warner regret airing the ball out constantly.

Panthers on Offense: There game plan will be similar to that of Atlanta last week. The difference is that Jake Delhomme is not a rookie and will not allow the Cardinals to get off the ball as quickly as they did against the Falcons.  DeAngelo Williams will have more success running the ball than Michael Turner did last week and Carolina will mix in rookie Jonathan Stewart. They had over 2,300 yards combined. Delhomme will take shots downfield for Steve Smith every chance he gets. Roddy White had 11 catches last week against Arizona, if Steve Smith does the same they are in trouble. The effect of Mushin Muhammad can not be underestimated in this game either.

Cardinals on Defense: Regardless of the snap count, the Cardinals need to hope to be as good on the line as they were last week. That opens up the opportunities for guys like Antrel Rolle and Rodgers-Cromartie to make plays in the secondary. If Carolina gets desperate Delhomme tends to try to force the ball to Steve Smith, who often bails him out. The Arizona secondary needs to try to play the ball better than Smith in those situations.

Summary: Arizona has struggled going to the East Coast all year. They don’t just lose, they’re awful. Bolden being limited isn’t going to help and neither is the fact that they are playing such a well-balanced and experienced team. The two things that surprised me last week from Arizona, the run game and the defensive line, will not be as good this week and thus neither will the Cardinals.

Prediction: Panthers 24, Cardinals 20

Philadelphia Eagles @ New York Giants

Eagles Special Teams: Kicker David Akers and punter Sav Rocca both had great weeks in Minnesota last week. It will tougher sailing this week in the swirling winds of the Meadowlands. DeSean Jackson had a 60+ yard punt return last week and could be a difference maker in this game.

Giants Special Teams: They have the league’s oldest kicking duo in Jeff Feagles and John Karney, but both had very good years. One of the consequences of the Plax issue is that the Giants have quit using Domenik Hixon on kick returns which is a shame because he is there most explosive guy on that unit. They may want to turn to him in this must win game.

Eagles on Offense: They will need a better output from this unit this week. McNabb played okay last week, but his numbers are somewhat padded by the long screen pass near the end of the game to Westbrook. Speaking of Westbrook, he goes from the frying pan into the fire. He struggled last week against the Vikings and now must go against another top 10 rush defense. He has had success against the Giants in the past. In the passing game, McNabb needs to stretch the field more. His leading receiver last week was back-up tight end Brent Celek.

Giants on Defense: Part of the problem with the Giants lately is their sudden inability to pressure the QB. Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka are great pass rushers but have not had great success against Philadelphia this year. This is an underrated defensive unit, top 10 in every category, but the offense’s fall off recently has hurt the defense. They were used to playing a very short game as the Giants offense eats up a lot of clock. When the offense is off the defense falls off. One player in particular who needs to play better in January than he did in December is linebacker Antonio Pierce.

Giants on Offense: New York will obviously benefit from the return of Brandon Jacobs, the teams leading rusher. They will also give plenty of touches to Derrick Ward who also went for 1,000 yards and averaged 5.7 yards per carry. Eli Manning will have to make some plays in this game as well. He has yet to find a number one that he trusts as much as Plax. Somebody has to step up in this game.

Eagles on Defense: The Eagles are no strangers to pressuring the QB. They do it well and in a variety of ways. It will be an interesting side note on this game to see whether Jim Johnson or Steve Spagnuolo is better at finding ways to catch a very familiar offense off guard. With no number one receiver to cover look for Asante Samuel to simply cut off a side of the field on Manning and hope that he forces one under pressure.

Summary: This should be a very competitive game as always. Neither team has a distinct advantage, because both know each other so well. I think the Eagles do more better right now than New York though. The Eagles are peaking at the right time, winning 4 of 5 and there is no intimidation going to the Meadowlands, because they do it every year. The Giants will be able to run the ball, though not as consistently as they’d like and big plays will be available downfield for McNabb and the Eagles.

Prediction: Eagles 27, Giants 17

San Diego Chargers @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Chargers Special Teams: Much has been made about Mike Scifres performance against the Colts last week and for good reason. He put all six punts inside the 20. In a game like this in Pittsburgh, a good punt game is a must. On the downside, with Darren Sproles likely to carry the ball more, he probably won’t be used in the return game.

Steelers Special Teams: Jeff Reed continues to be a very good kicker, especially considering the environment he kicks in. The same can not be said for punter Mitch Berger, who has a very strong leg but put just 19 of his 66 kicks inside the twenty. The Steelers do not have  return man who makes plays, but they make up for it with a great coverage team.

Chargers on Offense: San Diego did not fare well on offense against the Steelers earlier this year. Points will not be easy to come by this time either. Philip Rivers continues to play well, in spite of the fact that his offensive line does not do a great job protecting him. That latter fact will be a problem against Dick Lebeau’s defense. San Diego will likely start Darren Sproles at RB and while he provides the potential from a big gain at any moment, it will be hard for him to carry the load against the big hitting Steelers defense. That means Michael Bennett will get plenty of looks.

Steelers on Defense: This is where they butter their bread. Nob0dy has looked good against this defense this year. They smother your running game and give you no time to throw the ball. They are the smartest defense in football as they seem to know what you’re going to do before you do it.

Steelers on Offense: Such glowing endorsements are not due this unit. I like Big Ben, but at the end of the day he had more turnovers than touchdowns and was sacked nearly three times per game. He has been very good at the end of games and that’s good enough for the Steelers, but it might not be good enough in a playoff game. The passing game is not helped by the fact that they have struggled to run the ball. Their leading rusher went for less than 800 yards and nobody averaged better than 4.2 per carry.

Chargers on Defense: This unit has played extremely well in recent weeks. They’re getting after the quarterback and making plays. They have improved quite a bit since the first meeting between these two teams, which could be scary for Roethlisberger.

Summary: As a caveat, I don’t think the Steelers are anywhere near as good as their record. They were 3-4 against playoff teams and two of those wins were over the Ravens, the second one very questionable. I think they were exposed by the Titans a couple of weeks ago and that will happen again this week.

Prediction: Chargers 24, Steelers 13

Baltimore Ravens 9-5 @ Dallas Cowboys 9-5

Announcers: Bob Papa, Deion Sanders and Marshall Faulk a.k.a. Train Wreck

Storylines: Two teams who control their own destiny. A loss for either team would mean they would need a win and/or major help in week 17 to earn a wild-card bid. This is also the final game at Texas Stadium.

The Key to a Ravens Victory: Baltimore can’t abandon the run game. It could be tough going early against a very motivated Dallas defense, but the Ravens need to continue pounding away at them and hopefully get Willis McGahee involved late in the game to provide a possible home run threat.

The Key to a Cowboys Victory: Dallas needs to blitz Joe Flacco. He played very poorly last week against Pittsburgh, in the face of constant pressure. Baltimore can’t score a lot of points with their pedestrian run game so the key is to not let them score any through the air. If they force Flacco into another awful game, 17 points would be enough to win.

Pick: Cowboys. The emotional high of the game, a prime-time game for the final time in Texas Stadium, mixed with the experience difference in the two QB’s gives Dallas the edge. Look for the Cowboys to settle for short passes and set up a couple of deep ones later. I just haven’t seen that Flacco is able to win a “playoff caliber” game yet.

Pittsburgh Steelers (11-3) @ Tennessee Titans (12-2)

Announcers: Jim Nantz and Phil Simms

Storylines: This game will go a long way towards deciding not only the favorite in the AFC, but also home-field advantage.

The Key to a Steelers Victory: Pittsburgh needs to take advantage of Kerry Collins mistakes. They will do a good job against the run, which means Collins will have to throw the ball 25+ times. Pittsburgh needs to turn some of them into interceptions and give a suspect offense a short field to work with.

The Key to a Titans Victory: With Albert Haynesworth out, can they continue to dominate at the line? The Steelers don’t have a great O-line or run game, which is why they always have to win in the last couple of minutes. They are not able to sustain a flow on offense. The Titans can’t let them create one here.

Pick: Steelers. I’m not a huge Pittsburgh believer yet, but with Tennessee missing it’s best defensive player in a game that seems destined to be an under 24 total, you have to go with the Steel Curtain 2008.

Cincinnati Bengals (2-11-1) @ Cleveland Browns (4-10)

Announcers: Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon

Storylines: Just the pride and the chance to beat an in-state rival. Also a loss here, and Pittsburgh next week, could land the Browns in last place in a year when many thought they could make the playoffs.

The Key to a Bengals Victory: Ryan Fitzpatrick needs to be able to get the ball downfield to T.J., while avoiding a defense that is tied for first in the league in interceptions.

The Key to a Browns Victory: The Browns need to score touchdowns, something which they haven’t done in four weeks on offense. With nothing to lose they should play as aggressively as possible and take a lot of shots at the end zone.

Pick: Is there a third team to choose from? No? Then Bengals.

San Francisco 49ers (5-9) @ St. Louis Rams (2-12)

Announcers: Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan (who’d they piss off)

Storylines: The 49ers face the Rams and the Redskins the next two weeks and are winners of 3 out of the last 5. Finishing 7-9 would be good momentum going into next year. The Rams just try not to get anybody injured. They also welcome back Isaac Bruce to St. Louis.

The Key to a 49ers Victory: San Francisco needs to be much better in the red zone this week. They were very good on offense last week, until they got into scoring distance, settling for 3 field goals. They need to be better than that against a team giving up more than 4 touchdowns per game.

The Key to a Rams Victory: St. Louis needs to figure out a way to create turnovers on defense. The 49ers will give up the ball sometimes and if the Rams can give their struggling offense easier drives, they at least have a chance.

Pick: 49ers. San Fran is playing decent football lately and decent should be more than enough to beat the Rams.

San Diego Chargers (6-8) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-5)

Announcers: Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf

Storylines: Once more the Chargers are a loss away from elimination. A win leaves the door open for a possible playoff position. Tampa Bay has loss two in a row in their division, but still have a great shot to make the playoffs if they can win here.

The Key to a Charger Victory: Philip Rivers needs to continue to get the ball downfield to Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd. Tomlinson is not what he once was and teams try to take Gates out of the picture. That has often times, like last week in KC, left WR’s wide open downfield. Steve Smith and Roddy White both had good games against the Bucs defense the last two weeks.

The Key to a Bucs Victory: Tampa needs to disrupt the passing motion of Philip Rivers. Like many QB’s he is at his best once he gets into a rhythm. If they make him move or hurry his passes, he will make mistakes.

Pick: Buccaneers. I think either Garcia or Griese would be able to make throws against the San Diego defense. The Chargers have played poorly on the road this year and now must travel all the way to the East Coast.

Miami Dolphins (9-5) @ Kansas City Chiefs (2-12)

Announcers: Dick Enberg and Randy Cross

Storylines: After winning one game last year, a win in Arrowhead would put Miami one week away from a match-up with the Jets, with the AFC East Title likely being on the line.

The Key to a Dolphins Victory: Miami needs to have Ronnie Brown involved in the game plan, both running the ball and receiving. He has lost carries in recent weeks to Ricky Williams, but he is their best shot at an explosive play.

The Key to a Chiefs Victory: Kansas City had just six sacks in their first twelve games. But they had three last week against San Diego. If they can put the same kind of pressure on Chad Pennington they could get the chance to blow another late lead.

Pick: Dolphins. Chad Pennington will make the playoffs this year. Herman Edwards Will Not.

New Orleans Saints (7-7) @ Detroit Lions (0-14)

Announcers: Ron Pitts and Tony Boselli

Storylines: The Lions try to avoid becoming the first 0-15 team in NFL History. They get their last best shot at a win this year against the Captains of Mediocrity, the Saints.

The Key to a Saints Victory: Pierre Thomas needs to outnumber Reggie Bush’s carries by a 2-1 margin. He is a pure running back and is their most productive out of the backfield. Get Reggie the ball in the open field, but his chances to prove he can be a 3 down back are running out.

The Key to a Lions Victory: Take your shots at Calvin Johnson. He is the lone bright spot in a hapless season. If they can get him the ball deep early, they will have an opportunity to hand the ball off to the promising rookie, Kevin Smith.

Pick: Lions. If anybody’s going to lose to Detroit, it’s the Saints.

Arizona Cardinals (8-6) @ New England Patriots (9-5)

Announcers: Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston

Storylines: The Cardinals spot is set. The Patriots could well fall out of the playoff race with a loss.

The Key to a Cardinals Victory: Kurt Warner needs to protect the football. Arizona is 0-4 on the East Coast and a big reason for that is that Warner averages 2 interceptions per game. Opportunities will be there against a less than stellar Patriots DB group, but he needs to be patient and wait for the best shots. Until they’re there, underneath stuff to Boldin and Fitz can be just as effective.

The Key to a Patriots Victory: New England ran for 277 yards against Oakland last week and Arizona’s run defense isn’t much better. That kind of output on the ground sets up Matt Cassel to be very effective. They need to run Sammy Morris early, mix in Lamont Jordan and get Kevin Faulk touches with screens an draws.

Pick: Cardinals. Call me crazy, but I think Warner and the two Pro Bowl Receivers get it done in Foxboro.

Houston Texans (7-7) @ Oakland Raiders (3-11)

Announcers: Bill Macatee and Steve Beurlein

Storylines: The Texans look to go .500 for the second consecutive year under Gary Kubiak, and possibly better.

The Key to a Texans Victory: Get the Ball to Andre Johnson. The Raiders have a talented secondary, but have been beaten for big plays all year. Johnson is one of the most talented receivers in the game and the Texans are a much better team when the offense runs through him.

The Key to a Raiders Victory: Maybe beating the Broncos really was the Raiders Super Bowl. They haven’t played a game since then. There best chance is by finding some way to create a spark and some points. Whether that be on special teams, defense or gadget plays.

Pick: Texans. Houston is playing terrific football and though a trip to the Abyss is not easy, it should be no problem for a Mike Shanahan protege.

New York Jets (9-5) @ Seattle Seahawks (3-11)

Announcers: GUS JOHNSON! and Steve Tasker

Storylines: The Jets need to keep winning in order to win the East. That means Brett Favre needs to once again get the better of his old coach, Mike Holmgren.

The Key to a Jets Victory: The Jets need to play well on the defensive line. That unit was excelling during the Jets winning streak, but has really fell off over the past three weeks.

The Key to a Seahawks Victory: Seneca Wallace must be careful with the football. Wallace has just one pick in six games, but he has three fumbles. Stripping the ball is something the Jets excel at, see last week against Buffalo. Wallace and Seattle can not give Favre and the Jets easy points.

Pick: Seahawks. Seattle is 0-3 against East Coast teams in Qwest Field. New York is 0-3 on the West Coast. Something has to give. I have been completely underwhelmed by the Jets over the past month and think Seattle could steal this one from them.

Atlanta Falcons (9-5) @ Minnesota Vikings (8-6)

Announcers: Dick Stockton and Brian Baldinger

Storylines: Atlanta needs a win to stay alive. A Vikings win gives them the NFC North Title. Don’t expect Minnesota to call on Gary Anderson to attempt a game-winning field goal.

The Key to a Falcons Victory: Atlanta needs to be able to take advantage of the missing Pat Williams. Minnesota will still be very capable against the run, but Atlanta needs to continue to pound with Michael Turner if they are going to have a chance to win.

The Key to a Vikings Victory: They need to exploit the mobility of Tarvaris Jackson. They need to find John Abraham before the snap and roll away from him with keepers and bootlegs.

Pick: Vikings. I think Minnesota has it figured out right now and will be able to get the job done at home against what should be a very game Atlanta Team. As long as Peterson outruns Turner, they should win this game.

Philadelphia Eagles (8-5-1) @ Washington Redskins (7-7)

Announcers: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman

Storylines: An elimination game in the NFC East.

The Key to an Eagles Victory: If Donovan McNabb can avoid the mistakes he made last week, the Eagles will have an excellent chance.

The Key to a Redskins Victory: The Redskins need to show something different. They are vanilla on offense and predictable. If they could come out with a no-huddle or a spread offense, they might catch the Eagles.

Pick: Redskins. I do realize it seems kind of out there given the different directions these two teams have gone in, but I think Campbell and the Skins have a good feel for what to expect from Philadelphia and will have answers for it.

Buffalo Bills (7-7) @ Denver Broncos (8-6)

Announcers: Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots

Storyline: If the Broncos win, they’re in.

The Key to a Bills Victory: Buffalo needs to feed the ball to Marshawn Lynch and hope their defense is successful against the Broncos. If Lynch has less than 20 carries in this game, it will be a Bronco Blowout.

The Key to a Broncos Victory: Keep Jay Cutler Standing. Jay should have success against the Bills defense, as long as he’s not sacked three times, as he was last week.

Pick: Broncos. If they don’t win this game, they have no right to be in the playoffs. No matter what the Chargers do.

Carolina Panthers (11-3) @ New York Giants (11-3)

Announcers: Al Michaels and John Madden

Storyline: Winner gets home-field advantage throught the NFC playoffs.

The Key to a Panthers Victory: Carolina needs to balance their offense, running the ball enough that the Giants can’t pin their ears back, but taking enough shots downfield to give Steve Smith an opportunity to dominate.

The Key to a Giants Victory: The Giants need to ride the arm of Eli Manning. There is always debate about how good Eli really is. This is the kind of game where he needs to prove he’s elite.

Pick: Panthers. I think they’re the best team in football right now and their style is built to travel.

Green Bay Packers (5-9) @ Chicago Bears (8-6)

Announcers: Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski

Storyline: The oldest rivalry in football. A Viking win on Sunday would render this game meaningless. If they lose though, the Bears would need to win to stay alive.

The Key to a Packers Victory: Green Bay needs to play a west coast style of offense and get the ball into their wide receivers hands as quick as possible.

The Key to a Bears Victory: Chicago needs to score early and force Green Bay to become desperate.

Pick: Bears. I never pick a sweep in this series.

Looking Back at Week 15

Chicago Bears 27

New Orleans Saints 24

Bears: Chicago remains one game behind Minnesota in the NFC North. They did so despite a less than stellar performance from their defense. Special teams were a key as Daniel Manning compiled 135 return yards. That was more than the Bears had on 28 offensive plays. One concern for Chicago was that they seemed to be trying to prove they could win by throwing the ball. Matt Forte rushed just 11 times. You can’t get into a shootout mentality if you don’t have to.

Saints: While mathematically alive, the Saints probably saw their playoff hopes go up in flames with the overtime loss. Two key pass interference calls, including the one in overtime, covered over 70 yards and set up 10 Chicago points. The Saints will say they were a few plays away from being 10-3, but their inconsistency put them in their current position. They also need to stop trying to make Reggie Bush a great back and just accept that they have a very good back in Pierre Thomas.

Atlanta Falcons 13

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10

Falcons: Atlanta proved they are able to win even when their QB plays poorly. A big part of that was the 152 yards that Michael Turner had on the ground. He has become one of the two or three biggest acquisitions from last off-season. Another reason was John Abraham, who had three sacks. He now has 15.5 on the season, silencing critics who were calling him a flop in Atlanta.

Bucs:  I talked a little bit about it last week and we saw it again against Atlanta. This team’s age is showing. Garcia missed last week and may miss this one. Derrick Brooks will probably miss his first game in 13 years this Sunday. The defense looks slow against the run and Joey Galloway has been a non-factor this season. Their schedule is favorable, but there is a real chance that they could miss the playoffs.

Cincinnati Bengals 20

Washington Redskins 13

Bengals: This game wasn’t even as close as the score indicates. The Bengals dominated from the opening whistle. Ryan Fitzpatrick played easily his best game of the season, accounting for 2 touchdowns and no turnovers and mixing it up well amongst his receivers. Cedric Benson had 163 yards from scrimmage and the defense held Clinton Portis to just over 3 yards per carry.

Redskins: I said it months ago and several of our loyal readers owe me an apology. The Redskins aren’t just now blowing up, they were never that good. All it took was for the rest of the league to realize that Jason Campbell can’t beat them and they can play man on man with an 8 man box. Like the Bucs they are clearly slowing down. Might be because they are a collection of parts (Taylor, Fletcher, Hall, Springs, Carter) rather than a well coordinated team. Such is the Redskin Way.

Houston Texans 13

Tennessee Titans 12

Texans: Don’t the Texans wish they could replay September. This has been a very good team over the past two months, on both sides of the ball. They throw the ball well, especially to Andre Johnson, they’ve found their RB and they have some dynamic playmakers on defense. Here’s hoping they can finally turn it into something meaningful next year. Steve Slaton is one of only two running backs to go over 100 yards against the Titans and he’s done it twice.

Titans: It’s not time to jump off the bandwagon yet, but there are some problems on this team. The game plan against them has been let Collins beat us for a while now. We saw on Sunday what happens when Collins doesn’t play well. They were 2-13 on third down. The longer-term question for the Titans is which Collins shows up in the playoffs.

Jacksonville Jaguars 20

Green Bay Packers 16

Jaguars: David Garrard had his best game of the season, throwing for 238 yards and two touchdowns. Had he been able to play that well all season, the Jaguars might not be a huge disappointment.

Packers: Speaking of huge disappointments. I never totally bought into the Packers, but who could have thought they’d lose six out of seven and end up a below .500 football team?

Miami Dolphins 14

San Francisco 49ers 9

Dolphins: Does any team win uglier than the Dolphins? Of course after a 15 loss season last year, I don’t think they’re complaining. The Dolphins defense has been amazing since Thanksgiving. They haven’t given up a TD in three weeks. Chad Pennington continued to play very well and has been the most effective Dolphin QB in nearly a decade. Miami has two road games to finish the season, but winning both would likely make them a playoff team.

49ers: The 49ers dominated this game. They had the ball for 17 more minutes than Miami. But they could not turn their 60 more yards of offense into points. I think a 5-9 team can take some positives out of the fact that they had no turnovers and committed just 4 penalties, but they are clearly a couple of playmakers away.

Seattle Seahawks 23

St. Louis Rams 20

Seahawks: Seneca Wallace is a free-agent after the season. He’s played well enough in the last 3 weeks that he may get some good offers. Mike Holmgren got his 160th win, two of the three he got this year came at the expense of the Rams.

Rams: They took a 17-7 lead into halftime, but as is the case with most bad teams they couldn’t finish. They can not wait for this season to be over and should be one of the more interesting teams to watch in the off-season.

New York Jets 31

Buffalo Bills 27

Jets: Talk about an early Christmas present. Despite doing everything they possibly could to lose this game, the Bills just wouldn’t let them. For every mistake the Jets made, and there were plenty, the Bills would make 2. Culminating with a JP Losman fumble inside their own 20, on 2nd and 5, with two minutes left in the game, returned by Abram Elam for a TD.

Bills: What the hell are they doing throwing in that situation? They had run for 187 yards in the game. Losman had already thrown two interceptions. It may well end up being the play that cost Dick Jauron his job. 

Indianapolis Colts 31

Detroit Lions 21

Colts: Indianapolis did a great job of taking the Lions seriously. They formulated a game-plan to take advantage of the Lions weaknesses at linebackers, getting the ball to Dallas Clark 12 times for 142 yards. They also ran the ball 27 times, showing 0nce again they are a far more balanced team than they were earlier this year. All that said, in the seven game win streak, six of them are against teams with a losing record. Even those often weren’t very impressive. I question how they’ll do in New England, New York, Denver or even San Diego.

Lions: I don’t think they’re quitting, you have to credit Rod Marinelli for that. They have their running back of the future and Dan Orlovsky played well. I’m sure they’re looking at a QB with that number one pick, but their real deficiencies are on defense.

San Diego Chargers 22

Kansas City Chiefs 21

Chargers: Well, San Diego felt robbed after the week 2 loss to Denver, Kansas City has more than made up for it. For the second straight game against San Diego, the Chiefs snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. How do you not catch that onside kick, if you’re the team’s number one receiver. More importantly how do you give up a 40+ yard pass play on the next play? The Chargers are now VERY much alive in the playoffs. It’s still a bit of a longshot, but with the Bucs injuries San Diego can beat them and is there anybody willing to guarantee a Bronco win in Mile High against Buffalo?

Chiefs: F-ing Chiefs

 Minnesota Vikings 35

Arizona Cardinals 14

Vikings: Minnesota is that team playing their best football at the right time. They have a great defense and a great running game. If they could get Tarvaris Jackson to play for the rest of the season like he did on Sunday, they’d be a real danger. The potential loss for the season of Pat Williams is obviously a major concern.

Cardinals: We’re seeing what often happens to teams that aren’t used to the spotlight. The good news for Arizona is they have a couple more meaningless games to get used to it. They have to figure out some way to get production out of the running game and play more consistenlty on defense. Arizona ran the ball just 7 times and none of the carries belonged to Edgerrin James.

Pittsburgh Steelers 13

Baltimore Ravens 9

Steelers: First of all, I think it was a touchdown. Secondly I have no idea how they could have overturned the initial call of short of the end zone. That being said, phenomenal drive orchestrated by Ben Roethlisberger. There are still a ton of questions about the Steelers, but they are 11-3 and headed possibly for home field advantage. They are also a team that I hope Denver gets to play in the playoffs, because I think we could beat them. I’ll explain why if the situation arises.

Ravens: They looked a lot like the Ravens of the past few years. Great defense, bad quarterback and an inconsistent run game. The playoff road is much tougher for the Ravens now, the weight lies on the shoulders of Joe Flacco.

New England Patriots 49

Oakland Raiders 28

Patriots: I didn’t learn anything new about New England in this game. They’re still tied for first. They still can put up points against bad defenses and their defense is still bad enough to give up 28 points to the Raiders. If you’re a QB and your dad dies you definitely want to play the Raiders that weekend.

Raiders: Did anybody think they could actually be worse than last year?

Carolina Panthers 30

Denver Broncos 10

Panthers: Best team in football today. They’re the kind of team that could lose that title pretty easily, but they were clearly the best team on the field on Sunday. The duo at RB is as good as anybody in the league, the defense is threatening and Steve Smith is starting to dominate. Who’d want to play them right now?

Broncos: I think their was a clear effect on the Broncos when they learned that the Chiefs had blown it. They were very good at the start of the game on offense, every other drive looked flat. They were never aggressive in the second half and the team looked to already be looking forward to Buffalo. They better get it done against the Bills. If not they will lose in San Diego and it will be one of the biggest collapses in NFL History.

Dallas Cowboys 20

New York Giants 8

Cowboys: I know the attention is on the offense, but give a lot of credit to the Cowboy defense. They have really been getting it done lately, even against Pittsburgh. In this game they gave up just 218 total yards and accumulated 7 sacks against an offensive line with three pro-bowlers on it.

Giants: Something is wrong with this team. Maybe it’s the missing parts, maybe it’s distraction, I don’t know. Whatever it is, they seem to be doing the opposite of last year. They are hitting their first pitfall at exactly the wrong time.

Philadelphia Eagles 30

Cleveland Browns 10

Alright this game sucked, so let me just comment on the announce team. I thought there could be nothing worse than Kornheiser, until I met giddy Jaworski. Could he have been any more excited about how well the Eagles were playing? You could just picture him in the booth rocking in his chair, with a huge grin and rubbing his hands together. It’s pretty well known that Jaws is one of the most bias announcers around, for Philadelphia and Kansas City, thanks in large part to his relationships with Dick Vermeil and now Herman Edwards. This was disgusting though. The Eagles made some huge mistakes in this game and Jaws had an excuse every time. He refused to even acknowledge that Andy Reid may throw the ball too often and could not accept even the notion that McNabb may not be back next year.

Week 15 Preview

Don’t you love December football?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-4) @ Atlanta Falcons (8-5)

Announcers: Dick Stockton and Brian Baldinger

Storylines: Two teams in the ultra-competitive NFC South look to bounce back from divisional losses and solidify some playoff standing.

The Bucs Should Win If: Monday was a fluke instead of a sign of the times. Tampa has to play exponentially better against the run than they did on Monday. They can not let Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood repeat the Panthers success against them, especially in what will be a rowdy Georgia Dome.

The Falcons Should Win If: Roddy White is able to capitalize on a Tampa defense that may attempt to overcompensate against the run. The Buc defense will not be embarrassed twice in a row. So Atlanta will need some big plays to pull out the win.

Pick: Falcons. Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense are improving by the week. Tampa Bay on the other hand seemed to be showing signs of slowing down last week.

Washington Redskins (7-6) @ Cincinnati Bengals (1-11-1)

Announcers: Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston

Storylines: The ‘Skins hope to take advantage of the first break in their schedule in quite some time to maintain some level of relevence. It is a must win game for them.

 The Redskins Should Win If: Two guys with ties to Miami get their game going. Former Hurricane Clinton Portis needs to be the center of attention on Sunday to take some of the pressure of a struggling Jason Campbell. Former Dolphin Jason Taylor needs to give Daniel Snyder some return on his investment and start playing up to his Hall-of-Fame credentials.

The Bengals Should Win If: T.J. Houshmanzadeh gets double digit catches. The Bengals can not beat the Redskins by playing conservatively. They will have to take shots downfield at their best playmaker.

Pick: Redskins. Nobody in the league needs a win any more than the Redskins this week. Not only to maintain playoff possibilities, but for the confidence of Jim Zorn and to make Clinton Portis happy for a week.

Tennessee Titans (12-1) @ Houston Texans (6-7)

Announcers: GUS JOHNSON!!! and Steve Tasker

Storylines: The Titans can lock up home-field advantage with a win over a team that they have traditionally dominated. It may not be as easy as it looks though.

The Titans Should Win If: Chris Johnson outrushes Steve Slaton. The Titans have struggled only when they are unable to be explosive on the ground. Chris Johnson should have plenty of opportunities this week, he can’t let this be a game where he doesn’t show up.

The Texans Should Win If: Matt Schaub is able to pick apart the 3rd ranked pass-defense in the league. It isn’t an easy task, but Schaub has played well over the past month and if Houston has any run game it will make his job a lot easier.

Pick: Texans. Yeah, going for the upset here. Houston is eliminated from the playoffs, which makes this their Super Bowl. They have played well which guarantees a great crowd and we know divisional games are where anything can happen.

Green Bay Packers (5-8) @ Jacksonville Jaguars (4-9)

Announcers: Ron Pitts and Tony Boselli

Storylines: Arguably the two most disappointing teams in the league. Green Bay still has a glimmer of playoff hope, that disappears with a loss here. The Jaguars hope to finish strong and maintain some sense of dignity.

The Packers Should Win If: Aaron Rodgers throws three touchdowns. The Packers best hope appears to be that this somehow becomes a shoot-out. They have a terrible run defense and have struggled to move the ball themselves for much of the season.

The Jaguars Should Win If: They can avoid falling two scores behind. Jacksonville can’t overcome adversity with their offense. They need to be able to run the ball and not put the game on David Garrard’s shoulders. Especially with his best receiver, Matt Jones, finally being suspended.

Pick: Jaguars. Look for MJD to have a big game here and put the Pack out of their misery.

San Francisco 49ers (5-8) @ Miami Dolphins (8-5)

Announcers: Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan

Storylines: The Dolphins have been hot and can get one step closer to one of the best turnarounds in league history by knocking off the 49ers at home. The 49ers have played well in the past couple of weeks and look to add another big road victory to Mike Singletary’s resume.

The 49ers Should Win If: They keep Shaun Hill’s Jersey Clean. Hill has been very good since replacing JTO as starting QB. If given time he can make some plays against the Dolphins secondary.

The Dolphins Should Win If: Chad Pennington outplays Hill. Chad has quietly had his best season this year and if he can continue to complete 66% of his passes and avoid turnovers we may be watching the Dolphins play in January.

Pick: 49ers. Miami has been walking a tight rope for the past few weeks, eeking out victories over teams they’re supposed to be much better than. San Francisco is playing just well enough at this point to make the Dolphins regret a poor performance.

Seattle Seahawks (2-11) @ St. Louis Rams (2-11)

Announcers: Matt Vasgersian and JC Pearson

Storlines: Ummm….

The Seahawks Should Win If: Seneca Wallace and the Seattle Offense gets into a rhythm. They were there for 3 quarters last week and once they fell apart in the fourth, they were done.

The Rams Should Win If: Marc Bulger takes advantage of the worst pass defense in the league and actually, you know, connects on some plays downfield.

Pick: Rams. They’re at home.

Buffalo Bills (6-7) @ New York Jets (8-5)

Announcers: Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf

Storylines: Both teams have hurt their chances with their recent slides, the Bills worse than the Jets. Both teams should play this one as an elimination game.

The Bills Should Win If: Somehow they’re able to get the ball deep to Lee Evans. The Jets have given up nearly 300 yards passing per game over the past month. The Bills will have to stretch the field, not just accept the underneath stuff and settle for a field goal on the scoreboard.

The Jets Should Win If: Brett Favre plays like he was prior to the Denver game. He hasn’t thrown a touchdown in two weeks and the offense has become anemic. They may not need many big plays to win the game, but they will to get back into a flow headed towards the playoffs.

Pick: Jets. Aside from the loss to Denver, the Jets defense has played well in the past two months. I don’t think the Bills offense will be able to score enough points to beat a Brett Favre who is backed into a corner.

San Diego Chargers (5-8) @ Kansas City Chiefs (2-10)

Announcers: Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots

Storylines: You know the refrain by now. A Chargers loss means they’re done, a win may keep their slim hopes alive. Just ask the Talking Heads, they’ll tell you all the reasons the Chargers are still the favorites to win the West.

The Chargers Should Win If: LaDainian Tomlinson rushes for 100 yards. I know they’ve won games without LT coming up big, but not many of them. He only had 78 yards in their win earlier this season over KC, but many argue that was a game they were lucky to win.

The Chiefs Should Win If: Tyler Thigpen is able to make throws to Dwayne Bowe and Tony Gonzales. The Chargers are susceptible in the pass game and KC has had success when these two guys are focus points of the offense.

Pick: Chargers. I really want to go the other way and a Chief win wouldn’t shock me, because I actually don’t think the Chargers are much better than them right now. San Diego played motivated last week and had 10 days to get ready for the Chiefs.

Detroit Lions (0-13) @ Indianapolis Colts (9-4)

Announcers: Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick

Storylines: The Colts look to hold off their wild-card competition. The Lions are still looking for that elusive win.

The Lions Should Win If: {crickets}… alright, if the Lions QB can avoid turnovers and Kevin Smith is able to dominate the game, they have a puncher’s chance.

The Colts Should Win If: Hell is Hot. It will be even easier if their talented defensive ends are able to force Orlovsky or Stanton into 3 or 4 interceptions.

Pick: Colts. The Colt defense has been playing really well recently. The offense is still off a step, but that shouldn’t matter much in this game. They are also way too smart to overlook anybody.

Minnesota Vikings (8-5) @ Arizona Cardinals (8-5)

Announcers: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman

Storylines: The only meeting of the week between two division leaders. The Cardinals spot is secure, the same can not be said for the Vikings thanks to Chicago’s win on Thursday.

The Vikings Should Win If: They are able to hit Kurt Warner early. With little hope of getting a first-round bye, the Cardinals have little to play for. Fear of losing their franchise QB could turn them conservative in a hurry.

The Cardinals Should Win If: They are able to force Tarvaris Jackson to attempt more passes than Kurt Warner.

Pick: Vikings. Adrian Peterson should have a good game against the Cardinals defense and be able to protect the young QB. I know the Cards will play hard, I just think teams have a tendency to play too vanilla when they know they have more important games down the line.

New England Patriots (8-5) @ Oakland Raiders (3-10)

Announcers: Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon

Storylines: The Patriots have been on the West Coast all weekend to avoid having to make the trip on consecutive weeks. They didn’t play all that well in Seattle last week, so we’ll see how this strategy works out. They would not make the playoffs as of now, a loss obviously can only hurt their chances.

The Patriots Should Win If: Their potpourri of linebackers plays well. They have young guys (Jerod Mayo and Pierre Woods) and not so young (Mike Vrabel and Junior Seau) starting. They looked confused last week and hope to have worked out all the kinks during the week.

The Raiders Should Win If: Zach Miller has a big day. He is the player most apt to take advantage of the previously mentioned linebacker problems. John Carlson had a nice week for Seattle in their near win, the Raiders should target him no less than 10 times.

Pick: Patriots. There are obvious traps here, but with Oakland running such a generic offense, the Patriots defense should actually find it fairly easy to adapt to.

Pittsburgh Steelers (10-3) @ Baltimore Ravens (9-4)

Announcers: Jim Nantz and Phil Simms

Storylines: The two best defenses in football, for first place in the AFC North. A loss could take the Ravens out of the current playoff picture.

The Steelers Should Win If: They are able to get to Joe Flacco. This will be the biggest game of his career and he is playing the best pass-rushing linebackers in the league in Harrison and Woodley. He will need to accept the occasional sack and not make a poor decision.

The Ravens Should Win If: Ed Reed is the safety making plays instead of Troy Polomalu. The Ravens are certainly scoring more than they have in recent weeks, but that has as much to do with their defense as offense. They will have to find ways to give Flacco and maybe Matt Stover, as short of fields as possible.

Pick: Ravens. The biggest game in Baltimore in years and a team that defensively, feeds off that fire better than any.  I think they will force more mistakes and win a very good game.

Denver Broncos (8-5) @ Carolina Panthers (10-3)

Announcers: Dick Enberg and Randy Cross

Storylines: The Panthers can clinch a playoff spot with a win and some help. They can at least create some real seperation with the Saints already losing and the Bucs and Falcons playing each other. The Broncos clinch the AFC West with a win and if the Ravens beat the Steelers, the Broncos join the conversation for a bye.

The Panthers Should Win If: They are able to do what everybody thinks they will do. Run for 200 yards on one of the worst defenses in the league.

The Broncos Should Win If: The Panthers don’t turn all of those yards into touchdowns. Jay Cutler has been playing very well and will put up points on any defense. The Panthers can’t just outgain the Broncos, they have to outscore them.

Pick: Broncos. They have been very good on the road this year and the Panthers are just the kind of team to have a letdown after a great week. We saw on Monday that their are shots to be had downfield against Carolina and Cutler and Marshall, Royal are more equipped to exploit it than even Garcia and Bryant were.

NewYork Giants (11-2) @ Dallas Cowboys (8-5)

Announcers: Al Michaels and John Madden

Storylines: A bunch of off-field crap and what should be a great game with playoff implications for both teams.

The Cowboys Should Win If: They are able to get at Manning consistently. The Passing game was off last week and one of the keys for Dallas is to keep them out of rhythm. Especially since Brandon Jacobs isn’t playing, the Giants will be much easier to make one-dimensional.

The Giants Should Win If: Their receivers step up and play much better than last week. They can’t drop balls and run poor routes. They play a much softer secondary this week and they all, especially Hixon, need to take advantage of that.

Pick: Cowboys. I think Jacobs not playing is huge. They don’t have the power back in short yardage situations that they need which could result in a much less relaxed offensive unit.

Cleveland Browns (4-9) @ Philadelphia Eagles (7-6-1)

Announcers: Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski

The Browns Should Win If: They are able to find ways to get the ball in Josh Cribbs hands. He is the player most capable of an explosive play right now on the Browns roster.

The Eagles Should Win If: They stick to last week’s game plan and get the ball into Brian Westbrook’s hands 30 times.

Pick: Eagles. I don’t know if Andy Reid can keep running the ball, but it might not matter against the Browns.

Looking Back at Week 14

San Diego Chargers 34                                

Oakland Raiders 7

Chargers: The Chargers keep hopes of a playoff berth alive with this win. All it took was a win over the Raiders for every talking head to jump back on the bandwagon again. The Raiders were able to make plays downfield and take advantage of Raiders mistakes. Their linebackers played very well. The Chargers have won 11 in a row in December. The last team to beat them? The Broncos.

Raiders: The Raiders fall to 2-7 under interim head coach Tom Cable, all but assuring he will not be back with the team next year. The Raiders were able to score wins over the Jets and Broncos, both of which might be ploayoff teams, but were never able to build any consistency.

Chicago Bears 23

Jacksonville Jaguars 10

Bears: The Bears got good QB play from Kyle Orton and big plays from Greg Olsen and Devin Hester. That combined with the fact that Matt Forte had his sixth straight 100+ yard game from scrimmage offer a glimpse of what the Bears wish their offense could be every week. The D and Special Teams are not as dominant as they once were, but they still make big plays and create points. The Bears remain just one out of first and still have a great shot at the division title.

Jaguars: Jacksonville suffers it’s fourth consecutive loss and things are getting worse. I think Jack Del Rio is safe because of all of the offensive line injuries, but their will have to be some changes made in the off-season to get this once promising franchise back on the right page.

Minnesota Vikings 20

Detroit Lions 16

Vikings: The Vikings were certainly lucky to maintain the Williams Wall this week as they came very close to doing the impossible, losing to the Lions. On offense, the team actually got better when Gus Frerotte went down and Travaris Jackson came in. The much-maligned Jackson went 8-10 and threw a touchdown. He was also very good at handing the ball off to Adrian Peterson, who finished with 105 rushing yards.

Lions: Time is running out for Detroit. They’re down to three games to avoid history and none of them look winnable. On one hand I love Marinelli going for it on fourth down for the entire first half as they had nothing to lose. On the other hand, why run it right at the Williams’ both times? Daunte Culpepper got hurt at the end of the game and now the Lions may have to try to get that win with Dan Orlovsky at QB.

Houston Texans 24

Green Bay Packers 21

Texans: At some point, if the Texans are ever going to be competitive they are going to have to get more consistent. They won their third in a row but still look to finish the season under .500. They look going into next season as they have terrific playmakers on both sides of the ball. But, we thought that this year didn’t we?

Packers: Green Bay can not figure out a way to win close games. They are 0-5 in games decided by four points or less. Thus is probably the biggest difference between last year’s Packers and this year’s version. Unlucky? Inexperienced? Hard to say, but whatever it is the Packers will have to figure out a way to fix it in the off-season as it looks over this year.

Indianapolis Colts 35

Cincinnati Bengals 3

Colts: There is no hotter team in the league right now than the Colts. They have won six straight and are playing well on both sides of the ball. They still haven’t even hit their stride. What’s going to happen if they ever get it going full tilt? They could be the most dangerous team in the playoffs.

Bengals: Cincinnati is a really bad team. They are 0-7 on the road and are unsure whether to play Ryan Fitzpatrick or Jordan Palmer at QB. That is not a decision you want to make. Is Carson Palmer getting healthy really all it’s going to take?

New Orleans Saints 29

Atlanta Falcons 25

Saints: New Orleans maintains a little hope, moving to 7-6. Drew Brees completed his first fourth quarter comeback as a Saint, of course it was only from one point down. New Orleans actually plays okay defense and they have a ton of offensive weapons. Which makes you wonder, is Sean Payton any good? Well, he can be. Though if the Saints had failed on their fourth-down attempt in the red-zone late in the game I think most would answer in the negative.

Falcons: I don’t think you would take much negative out of this game when it comes to the Falcons. Unfortunately, it might have really hurt their playoff chances. Because it was a divisional loss they went fromthe sixth-seed to out of the playoffs. The future is still bright however, as the defense is improving and on offense they can both run and throw.

Philadelphia Eagles 20

New York Giants 14

Eagles: What do the Eagles look like when Brian Westbrook gets almost 40 touches? Like a team that can beat the Conference’s best in their own house. Too bad it took so long for Andy Reid to figure it all out. The Eagles are still mathematically alive in the playoffs, but as has been their trend the past couple of years they digged a deep hole that will be hard to get out of.

Giants: New York lost in the Meadowlands for the first time this season and looked terrible in doing so. For the entire week leading up to the game, every talking head told us that the Giants were too mature and well-led to be distracted by the Plax Situation. So of course right afterwards the same “experts” told us that was why they lost. I don’t know if that’s the case or not, but they better shake off whatever it was because their year is not going to get any easier.

Tennessee Titans 28

Cleveland Browns 9

Titans: Tennessee clinched the AFC South for the first time in six years and did it in typical Titan-fashion. Businesslike. Chris Johnson ran for 136 yards and LenDale White ran for 99. The Titans defense was also terrific giving up just 185 yards of offense. They’re not sexy and nobody will pick them, but they are the clear favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

Browns: Cleveland has lost five of their last six games and have not scored a TD in six weeks. Rumors swirled right after the game that Romeo Crennel would be fired at the end of the year and the Browns would attempt to get Marty Schottenheimer back. Also, look for Bernie Kosar to be the new backup, Earnest Byner to replace Jamal Lewis and Webster Slaughter to catch way more balls next year than Braylon Edwards.

Miami Dolphins 16

Buffalo Bills 3

Dolphins: The Dolphins have won six out of seven and this one was just as ugly as most of them. But a win is a win and eight wins is seven more than they had last year. Chad Pennington may be the biggest reason for the turnaround as his efficiency fits a “Parcells” offense perfectly. He has thrown for more yards this season than Brett Favre. Miami is a serious playoff contender with a great defense and an offense that doesn’t beat itself.

Bills: J.P. Losman did not provide the spark that the Bills were hoping for. I don’t know what happened to this team’s offense, but Trent Edwards went from MVP Candidate to being very unsure whether he’ll be the starting QB next season.

San Francisco 49ers 24

New York Jets 14

49ers: This game should be enough to earn Mike Singletary a permanent position. They not only beat a pretty good Jets team, they dominated them. If they have their coach and Shaun Hill is as good as he’s looked in limited action we can all go into next year pretending they’re going to be better again.

Jets: IF the Jets make the playoffs, they better hope they don’t have to head west to say Denver. They’ve been horrible out west, losing to San Diego, Oakland and now the Niners. Don’t count the Jets out though. They do still have a hall of fame QB, a sometimes solid defense and a good run game. What they are missing is something intangible. It’s up to Coach Mangini to figure that out.

New England Patriots 24

Seattle Seahawks 21

Patriots: The game was a microcosm for the New England Season. They weren’t great, but in the end they figured it out and came out on top. They also lost a couple more key players in Vince Wilfork and Tedy Bruschi. The Patriots may have to win their last three in order to make the playoffs. They are all winnable games, but with their injuries it’s easy to imagine them slipping as they almost did here.

Seahawks: Seattle has lost six straight and five in a row at home. Not how they wanted to send Mike Holmgren out of Seattle. They have already lost more games than they ever did in the Holmgren Era and will struggle to win another this year.

Arizona Cardinals 34

St. Louis Rams 10

Cardinals: Arizona wins a division title for the first time in 33 years and will make their first playoff appearance in a decade. They will host their first playoff game in 61 years.  They certainly have the offense to contend once they get there and if their defense can contribute 14 points as it did here they could be very dangerous.

Rams: St. Louis will not have Jim Haslett back next year. Torry Holt has already said he’s not interested in playing there next year.  Marc Bulger figures to be expendable. Who else will be gone? Ladies and Gentlemen, Meet the Mid-West Raiders. Super Bowl to joke in less than a decade.

Pittsburgh Steelers 20

Dallas Cowboys 13

Steelers: How good is the Steelers defense? They haven’t given up 300 yards of offense all year, the 88 yards Tashard Choice had on Sunday was the most they’ve given up on the ground all year, they’ve given up 50 points in their last four games and they are beating good teams with no offense at all. They had 3 sacks and forced 4 turnovers. I don’t know if they can win in the playoffs without an offense, but they’ll get there.

Cowboys: They had it. Romo had a big win in December. They had a game won in freezing temperatures. They were going to live up to the hype. Then reality punched them in the face and returned a third Tony Romo pick for a game-winning touchdown. Jerry Jones may or may not question Marion Barber’s toughness, but I question the toughness of the whole team.

Denver Broncos 24

Kansas City Chiefs 17

Broncos: I saw in the most recent Power Rankings that the Broncos were ranked behind Dallas, the Jets, Atlanta and Tampa Bay. This is a team that is going to shock people in the playoffs. When Cutler is on I really don’t believe there is a defense in the league that can stop him. He made passes on Sunday that were incredible and only he could make. Yeah, he threw a pick-six, but that’s what you get with a gunslinger. We’ll get a stronger sense of just how good the Broncos can be this Sunday against Carolina, but their upside is extraordinary. They will of course have to go forward with their sixth different starting Half-Back this week.

Chiefs: The Chiefs didn’t play bad, they’re just not talented enough to win. Herman Edwars is likely safe for the next two years at least, but when are they going to get better.

Baltimore Ravens 24

Washington Redskins 10

Ravens: They looked a lot like the Ravens of old. Stifling defense, an okay run game and not much out of the QB. I thought Flacco played poorly, but the defense and Ed Reed in particular certainly were able to hide him. The Ravens have the Steelers and Cowboys in the next two weeks and have to win at least one to stay in the hunt.

Redskins: Anybody still want to argue with me about the Redskins being a bit of a farce? They are unable to make plays downfield and Jason Campbell is very inconsistent. Teams began putting eight in the box on them about a month into the season and we’ve seen the impact of that on Portis and the team as a whole.

Carolina Panthers 38

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23

Panthers: Probably the most impressive win of the week. Did anybody think Carolina would put up over 200 yards rushing on the Bucs? As long as they can move the ball like that on the ground they are going to dominate. Some flaws were also exposed. Jake Delhomme has taken a big step back in the past month and is making horrible decisions. His only success in the passing game comes from chucking up prayer balls to Steve Smith. They are also vulnerable on pass defense as evidenced by Antonio Bryant’s success.

Buccaneers: I think some of the age was showing on Tampa in this game, especially on defense. They are often called a young team and maybe that’s true as a whole, but they are aged at some key spots. QB, RB, WR, DL, LB, CB…they’re all pretty old. They looked much slower than Carolina in this game.

Week 14 Preview

I will not be adding fantasy notes anymore as your season is in the last weeks and your team is pretty much set. I will be slightly changing the format of the previews as well.

Oakland Raiders (3-9) @ San Diego Chargers (4-8)

Announcers: Bob Papa and Cris Collinsworth

Storylines: A rivalry game on Prime Time. The Chargers are running out of last chances and a loss here would go a long way to taking them officially out of the playoff picture. The Raiders look to avenge a 28-18 loss to the Chargers earlier this year, in which they blew a 15 point lead.

How the Raiders Will Win: The Raiders need to run the ball at least 35 times on Thursday in order to win. They should take a page from the Giants on how to use a three-tiered run attack. Fargas gets the bulk, Michael Bush in short yardage, McFadden on pass plays and late in the game when the defense is prone to give up big plays.

How the Chargers Will Win: The Chargers need to ride the arm of Philip Rivers and get the ball into the hands of Gates and LT. The wide receivers have had nice seasons, but Nnamdi and Chris Johnson have played well as a unit. Rivers will have opportunities to use his two most reliable targets and could get some big plays out of them.

Pick: Raiders. The Chargers barely got by the Raiders earlier this season, a deceiving 10 point spread, and have only gotten worse as the season went on. They give up too many sacks and the big plays will be hard to come by against the Raiders. San Diego wins this game if they find some heart, but I haven’t seen that yet this year.

Jacksonville Jaguars (4-8) @ Chicago Bears (6-6)

Announcers: Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf

Storylines: Not much from a Jacksonville standpoint as they begin a month of playing for no apparent reason. Guys are clearly playing for their jobs and possibly Coach Del Rio’s. The Bears are only a game out of first and the suspensions coming down for Kevin and Pat Williams have to make them more confident than they were a few days ago.

How the Jaguars Will Win: Jacksonville needs to get the ball into Fred Taylor’s hands early in this one. In the previous couple of games the Jags have fallen behind early and abandoned the run game much earlier than they would like. Even if they do get done by a score or even two in this game they need to allow Taylor to punish the Bears early and hopefully open some holes for MJD.

How the Bears Will Win: The Bears will win if Kyle Orton can shake off his poor play from last week and keep his thoughts moving forward. They should also be able to have success throwing the ball to Matt Forte out of the backfield. Receiving backs have been something that has hurt the Jaguars this season.

Pick: Bears. Orton has always played well at Soldier Field and the Jaguars don’t seem to have their head in the game any longer. Jacksonville will also line up without Rashean Mathis, which could open up big plays for Devin Hester.

Minnesota Vikings (7-5) @ Detroit Lions (0-12)

Announcers: Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan

Storylines: The Vikings have a one game lead in the North and will have both of the Williams’ this week in a must win game, as the Vikings have no cushion. It’s a must win game in another way for the Lions who attempt to avoid becoming the first winless team in nearly three decades. Daunte Culpepper starts against his former team for only the second time.

How the Vikings Will Win: Minnesota will feed Adrian Peterson the ball All Day. It is as no-brain a game plan as their is in the league this week. Chester Taylor could contribute 50-75 rushing yards as well. The Lions give up almost 180 rushing yards per game.

How the Lions Will Win: It would have been easier if their was not an injunction handed down to stay the suspension of the Williams Wall. The Lions need to pull out every trick in the world to get this division win at home and give their fans something to cheer about this year. Don’t Punt, unless you have to. Don’t kick Field Goals and use every trick you know.

Pick: Vikings. I was ready to pick Detroit when it looked like they might be able to run the ball. I don’t see it now. As long as Gus Frerotte doesn’t turn the ball over three times (which he shouldn’t as he should only be asked to throw it about 10-15 times) I don’t see how the Lions win.

Cincinnati Bengals (1-10-1) @ Indianapolis Colts (8-4)

Announcers: Ian Eagle and Solomon Wilcots

Storylines: The Colts nearly slipped last week against the Browns, something which they can not afford to do. Their road into the playoffs is not a difficult one as long as they get the easy ones done.

Howthe Bengals Will Win: Silly though it may sound against Peyton Manning, the Bengals should put 8 in the box and take away the Colt Run Game. Look at how bad the Colts looked early in the season before Joseph Addai got healthy. Peyton is going to get his, don’t let Addai add to the hurt.

How the Colts Will Win: As long as Manning rebounds from a sorry week against the Browns it shouldn’t be hard to beat the one-win Bengals.

Pick: Colts. I almost went the other way here, and if Palmer were coming back I would. The Colts are decimated on defense and their offense is still not really clicking, but the Bengals just don’t have the talent to take advantage of either of those facts.

Philadelphia Eagles (6-5-1) @ New York Giants (11-1)

Announcers: Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston

Storylines: The Giants attempt to continue to overcome the off-field issues and clinch the NFC East, much earlier than anybody could have expected. They can actually clinch a first-round bye with a win this week. The Eagles try to get back into the hunt by going on the kind of late season run they had last year.

How the Eagles Will Win: If Donovan McNabb continues to be positively motivated by his short-term benching a couple of weeks ago and takes his act on the road then the Eagles could very easily win this game.

How the Giants Will Win: First of all by keeping their heads in the game, which shouldn’t be a problem with Tom Coughlin as their head coach. They also need to dominate the line of scrimmage. The Eagles have a very good defensive line, but they play overly aggressive at times which if exploited properly could open up some big runs.

Pick: Giants. The Giants have plenty of receivers to cover for Plax, as I’ve said all season, and their run game will have success against Philadelphia. The Eagles beat a Cardinal team who struggles to run the ball and has an average defense. They are not so fortunate this week.

Cleveland Browns (4-8) @ Tennessee Titans (11-1)

Announcers: Don Criqui and Dan Fouts

Storylines: The Titans can clinch the AFC South for the first time since 2002 by beating a Cleveland team starting their third string QB.

How the Browns Will Win: Well, if Ken Dorsey shocks the world and lights up the field they got a chance.

How the Titans Will Win: They get Kyle Vanden Bosch back this week so look for the Titans to simply dominate the line of scrimmage with a four man rush and pressure Ken Dorsey into turning the ball over a half dozen times or so.

Pick: Titans. Yeah.

Atlanta Falcons (8-4) @ New Orleans Saints (6-6)

Announcers: Dick Stockton, Brian Baldinger and Brian Billick

Storylines: The Falcons have won back to back games to become a strong Wild-Card candidate. A third straight win will have people talking division. The Saints are desperate and a loss here eliminates them from playoff contention.

How the Falcons Will Win: This game could become a shoot-out which puts the onus on Matt Ryan. He needs to be able to find his receivers downfield and come up with big plays against a Saints team that will likely play without their two best pass rushers.

How the Saints Will Win: They need Reggie Bush to put in the kind of performance that he was drafted for. He was lackluster last week and that hurt the entire offense, he needs to create plays in order to beat a better Atlanta Team.

Pick: Falcons. The suspensions of Will Smith and Charles Grant are the clincher here. The Falcons were already going to be able to run. Now the door is open for Ryan to connect on big pass plays to a very talented group of receivers especially Roddy White and the emerging Harry Douglas.

Houston Texans (5-7) @ Green Bay Packers (5-7)

Announcers: GUS JOHNSON!!! and Steve Tasker

Storylines: Who would have thought in September that these two teams would have the same record in December? The Packers face a must-win situation at home against a Houston Team that isn’t playing for much but still appear to be playing hard.

How the Texans Will Win: Steve Slaton needs to go over 1,000 yards. Not in the game, though that would be incredible. 96 rushing yards will get him over the plateau and give the Texans their best chance to win.

How the Packers Will Win: The Packers need to treat this game like a playoff Sunday in Lambeau. They need to establish a run game and put pressure on the QB. Two things that they have not always done well this season.

Pick: Packers. Aaron Rodgers has been great at Lambeau and asking a Houston team to travel to Wisconsin in December is asking a lot.

Miami Dolphins (7-5) @ Buffalo Bills (6-6)

Announcers: Kevin Harlan and Rich Gannon

Storylines: Playoff Football between two AFC East Rivals. It doesn’t get much better than that for a fan who came up in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Except that the damn game is being played in Canada. A Dolphin Win puts them right in the thick of things for the wild-card and maybe even division. A Bills loss eliminates them from the conversation.

How the Dolphins Will Win: Chad Pennington needs to get the ball out of his hands early and into the hands of his playmakers. Ronnie Brown, Ted Ginn and Daevon Bess are all capable of turning quick hits into big plays and the Bills defense has been prone to giving up some big plays in the past two months.

How the Bills Will Win: Screen Passes to Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson. Miami likes to get after the QB and they play a very aggressive form of defense. You don’t have to be a football genius to know that screens are the counter to that.

Pick: Dolphins. I don’t care what they say, the Bills lose the home-field advantage by travelling north of the border. Their are probably as many Dolphins fans in Canada as Bills. Buffalo is really struggling to consistently move the football, so look for Miami to win another hard-fought game.

New York Jets (8-4) @ San Francisco 49ers (4-8)

Announcers: Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. Look for no further evidence of how far up Brett Favre’s ass the NFL and it’s partners are than the fact that CBS top Broadcast duo is doing this game instead of Buffalo vs. Miami.

Storylines: The Jets look to shake off not only the loss to Denver last week, but their poor performances against San Diego and Oakland the last two times they had to head west. The 49ers have players playing for jobs next year, not the least of which is Shaun Hill who for the second straight season has played well when his number was called.

How the Jets Will Win: The 49ers have the 28th ranked pass defense in the league, which bodes well for Brett who is 7-0 against them in his career in the regular season. Look for them to avoid the gadget plays and produce a quick and efficient pass attack against the Niners.

How the 49ers Will Win: Hill is 4-1 as a starter on a team that has been horrible otherwise. If he protects the football and makes some plays the Niners actually have a really good chance to win this game.

Pick: Jets. I think New York does enough to get it done, though I think it might be a lot closer than some may expect.

New England Patriots (7-5) @ Seattle Seahawks (2-10)

Announcers: Dick Enberg and Randy Cross

Storylines: The Patriots and all of their fans (looking at you Goodell) are salivating as their last four games look winnable and they expect to have a fairly easy road into the playoffs. The Seahawks and their crowd hope to spoil that party.

How the Patriots Will Win: The Patriots try to overcome the coast-to-coast troubles as well and their best plan to travel is by ground. They need to focus the run attack on Sammy Morris who is their most consistent runner. The Hawks don’t do much well, but they can attack the passer. The Patriots need to run to set up the pass this week.

How the Seahawks Will Win: Hasselbeck needs to protect the football and get it out of his hand quickly. The Patriots linebackers are not built to cover in the 10-15 yard range which should leave some things open over the middle.

Pick: Patriots. Possible upset alert here. In the end, I just think the Patriots are still too good to lose this game. I think they probably do win out and could still very easily win the East.

St. Louis Rams (2-10) @ Arizona Cardinals (7-5)

Announcers: Matt Vasgersian and JC Pearson

Storylines: The Cardinals can clinch the division with a win, of course that’s been the case for a couple of week and they haven’t pulled it off yet. They get their best chance this week against the Rams.

How the Rams Will Win: They need to get Steven Jackson 27-30 touches and hope for the best. He has been beat up all year, but still gives them their best chance to win.

How the Cardinals Will Win: They need to balance their offense better. Tim Hightower had just 7 carries last week. He needs to be more around 22 which he got against the Rams in Week 7 and went for 109 yards.

Pick: Cardinals. Arizona finally clinches their first division title in my lifetime.

Kansas City Chiefs (2-10) @ Denver Broncos (7-5)

Announcers: Bill Macatee and Steve Beurlein

Storylines: The Broncos try to snap a three-game home losing streak and avenge an embarrassing loss to the Chiefs earlier this year. If the Raiders pull off the upset on Thursday, the Broncos could also be in line to clinch the division with a win.

How the Chiefs Will Win: Larry Johnson had 198 rushing yards in the week 4 win over Denver and Tony Gonzales had a touchdown. The Chiefs will have to go with their two old warriors to pull out the upset in Mile High.

How the Broncos Will Win: Jay Cutler obviously needs to play better than he did in September, but the key is showing a continued dedication to running the ball. Peyton Hillis had his first 100 yard game last week and while he’s not a home run threat, giving him 18-24 carries a game keeps the Chiefs honest and opens up the bootleg for Cutler.

Pick: Broncos. Call me a sucker, but I”m buying into Denver again. Not as a Super Bowl Contender, but at least as a team that can beat the Chiefs at home.

Dallas Cowboys (8-4) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (10-2)

Announcers: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman

Storylines: A possible Super Bowl Preview and a match-up between two of the most celebrated franchises in the history of the league.

How the Cowboys Will Win: DeMarcus Ware needs to be in Ben’s face all day. The Steelers still have problems on their O-line and Dallas at times has been very good at pressuring the QB. Maybe they can even make him throw a pick to the returning Pac Man Jones.

How the Steelers Will Win: Steelers Football. They need to pound the ball using either Parker or Moore and pick up the tough yards on third and short or goal to go situations.

Pick: Cowboys. I don’t love the Cowboys, but I think PIttsburgh is due for a slight letdown. I think Roethlisberger does make some mistakes in this game and the Cowboys do just enough to take advantage of their opportunities.

Washington Redskins (7-5) @ Baltimore Ravens (8-4)

Announcers: Al Michaels and John Madden

Storylines: A playoff caliber game as the Redskins need to win here to stay in the hunt and the Ravens can not afford to lose a home game with their tough schedule down the stretch if they hope to get in.

How the Redskins Will Win: The Redskins need to find a way to create points in this one. The best way may be through special teams, which is Baltimore’s weakest unit.

How the Ravens Will Win: The Ravens also need to be creative on both sides of the ball. They need to find ways to get into Jason Campbell’s head and continue to find ways into the end zone.

Pick: Ravens. With Clinton Portis nursing so many injuries I don’t see the Redskins hanging in there too long. Their offense is nearly non-existant since Portis starting slowing down.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-3) @ Carolina Panthers (9-3)

Announcers: Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski

Storylines: Game of the Week. For First place in the NFC South.

How the Bucs Will Win: They need to establish their own one-two punch which they started last week. Cadillac and Warrick Dunn compliment each other well and Atlanta had great success against Carolina by spelling their backs at the right time.

How the Panthers Will Win: Jake Delhomme needs to play better. He needs to protect the football and make more plays. The run game might struggle against a very good TB defense, which means Delhomme will have to lead them to victory.

Pick: Panthers. I think this will be a heck of a game. In the end I just think Carolina has the more potential for an explosive play to put the game away.

Power Rankings: Week 13

NFC

1. GIANTS (1) The Clear Cut Favorite in the NFC, though maybe not by as much as people think.

2. BUCCANEERS (2) Very consistent. Do you think the Browns and Lions would love to have Garcia?

3. FALCONS (5)  Not intimidated by anybody and a steadily improving team.

4. PANTHERS (4) Some questions about Delhomme recently, but great defense and great run game.

5. COWBOYS (6) Romo makes all of the difference in the world.

6. VIKINGS (11) Easy favorites to win the North and have won 6 out of 8 now.

7. CARDINALS (3) Can this team win a road game? If not, they are fairly meaningless in the playoffs.

8. REDSKINS (7) Still very much in the hunt, but offensive woes are becoming more obvious.

9. EAGLES (12) Stayed alive, but very unlikely to make it.

10. SAINTS (9) A threat to win on any week, but not a threat in the playoff race.

11. BEARS (8) Could still make a late run, but it’s getting tougher.

12. PACKERS (10) Is there still a question about whether the Packers did the right thing?

13. 49ers (13) Of the Bottom Four in the NFC, they seem to have the most upside.

14. SEAHAWKS (14) Next year, they try again, without one of the best coaches of our generation.

15. RAMS (15) I actually think they’re the worst team in the NFC, but they have two wins

16. LIONS (16) I still think they could steal one from Minnesota or New Orleans

AFC

1. TITANS (2) Yeah it was the Lions, but the win was impressive enough to get back the top spot.

2. STEELERS (3) Incredible Defense.

3. RAVENS (4) Still a very good chance that this team wins the North.

4. JETS (1) Needed to get that win on Sunday to be an elite team

5. COLTS (6) There’s questions here, but they are very good at finding ways to win.

6. BRONCOS (7) Will win the West. If they can play at home like they have on the road, could be scary. 

7. PATRIOTS (5) Very easy schedule down the stretch, they’ll make the playoffs.

8. DOLPHINS (9) Easy Schedule, but they won’t make the playoffs.

9. BILLS (8) 2-6 in the past 8, wha’ happened?

10. CHARGERS (10) Only this high because they’re technically still alive in the West.

11. TEXANS (13) As has been the case the past couple of years, they’ll be optimistic next year.

12. JAGUARS (11) A lot of people thought they’d go to the Super Bowl. Oops.

13. BROWNS (12) What a waste of a season. Can’t even get Quinn ready for next year.

14. CHIEFS (16) Who Cares?

15. RAIDERS (14) Yep, the Raiders still suck. My post-season article on them is going to be sweet.

16. BENGALS (15) As bad as the Lions, Rams or anybody Else.

MVP

1. KURT WARNER (1) In a year without a clear-cut winner, it will go to the stat monster.

2. JAY CUTLER (3) Take Cutler off the Broncos, they have 2 wins.

3. PEYTON MANNING (4) Bad week, but he’s a media darling.

4. TONY ROMO (9) If the Cowboys make the playoffs, it will be because of him.

5. ELI MANNING (6) Doesn’t have huge numbers, but he’s proven to be a winner.

6. MICHAEL TURNER (8) A bigger reason for the turnaround than Ryan, who will be ROTY.

7. THOMAS JONES (-) Why is this guy on his fourth team?

8. BRETT FAVRE (7) Will likely get some votes from the heart.

9. MATT CASSEL (5) Can’t deny the impressiveness of what he’s done.

10. DEANGELO WILLIAMS (-) Any regrets about using that first pick on a RB?

Top 50 Quarterbacks of the Past 25 Years: Number 5

Tom Brady- New England Patriots

Tom Brady was the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. Due to an injury to starter Drew Bledsoe in week 2 of the 2001 season, Tom Brady was thrust into the spotlight in New England. After a rough start, Brady led the patriots to an 11-3 record in his starts. Brady completed 63% of his passes for over 2,900 yards and threw 18 touchdowns. Brady was invited to the Pro Bowl in his first season as a starter. Brady threw for over 300 yards in the snow against the Raiders in the playoffs and thanks in large part to a little known “tuck” rule, defeated Oakland. After missing most of the AFC Title Game, which New England won, Brady would start for the Patriots against the heavily favored St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. With the game tied late in the fourth quarter, Brady led the Patriots down the field and set up the game-winning field goal with 7 seconds remaining. Despite unspectacular stats, 143 yards and a touchdown, Brady was named the game’s MVP.

Brady’s stats were impressive in 2002. He threw for 3700 yards and led the league with 28 touchdowns. But the Patriots finished just 9-7 and missed the playoffs. After starting the season shaky in 2003, Brady would lead the Patriots to 12 straight victories to close the season with a 14-2 record. Brady threw for 3,600 yards and 23 touchdowns. Brady played well in playoff wins over the Titans and Colts and would lead the Patriots back to the Super Bowl. In Super Bowl XXXVIII the Patriots would face off with the Carolina Panthers. Brady threw for 354 yards and 3 touchdowns and once again led a game-winning drive in the 4th quarter. He was awarded his second Super Bowl MVP Trophy.

The Patriots would once again go 14-2 in 2004, tying the 98 Broncos for best record for a defending champion. Brady threw for 3,600 yards and 28 touchdowns, earning his second Pro Bowl nomination. In playoff games against the Colts and Steelers, Brady would complete 66% of his passes in leading the Patriots to a 3rd Super Bowl appearance in 4 years. In Super Bowl XXXIX against the Philadelphia Eagles, Brady threw for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns and led the Patriots to their third Super Bowl Title. In 2005 the Patriots relied on the pass much more and it led to a very good statistical year for Brady. He led the league with 4,110 yards and threw 26 touchdowns. He also tied his career high with 14 interceptions. The new high-powered passing attack led to a third pro-bowl appearance, but not to a fourth title. The Patriots were knocked off in the divisional round by the Denver Broncos.

In 2006 Brady completed only 14 less passes, but it was for over 500 less yards as the Patriots returned to their screen and quick hit roots. Brady threw 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The team was eliminated in the AFC Championship Game by their rivals, the Indianapolis Colts.

Tom Brady would have the single greatest statistical season of any quarterback in 2007. Brady led the NFL with an amazing 68.9% completion rate. He led the league with 4,806 yards passing. He set the NFL single-season record with 50 touchdown passes. Brady also led the Patriots to a perfect 16-0 regular season record. The Patriots beat the Jaguars and the Chargers in the playoffs and looked to be heading for their fourth Super Bowl Title. That is before they got beat by the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. After an amazing statistical season and an outstanding performance in the win over the Jaguars, Brady struggled against San Diego and was far from terrific in the Super Bowl.

Brady is a four-time Pro Bowler, a three time Super Bowl Champion, twice the MVP of that game and a one-time NFL MVP. He holds the NFL record’s for most touchdowns in a season, largest touchdown to interception difference in a season, most consecutive wins by a QB and most consecutive post-season wins. He is one of the most accurate QB’s in the history of the league and one of the winningest.

So why number 5? Before his terrific 2007 season the passing stats for Tom Brady were very similar to those of Matt Hasselbeck, Drew Brees and Daunte Culpepper. The three Super Bowl wins were not necessarily a product of a terrific QB, but rather one who just doesn’t make many mistakes. Tom Brady for 6 years was the game’s best manager. But, that’s all he was. He threw high-percentage passes and handed the ball off. He played with an offensive line that never let him get hit and a defense that often allowed him to play on short fields. Yes, he won three Super Bowls, but Terry Bradshaw won 4 and you never hear him mentioned as one of the greats. Like Bradshaw, Brady was lucky to land in the situation he got. Yes he was great in 2007 after the addition of legitimate receiving threats in Randy Moss and Wes Welker, he had one great season. Would he have continued to be great? We don’t know right now because of the injury. Obviously, one or two more seasons like that and he’s number 1,2 or 3 on this list.

Ask yourself this question. If you put Tom Brady on the Detroit Lions, is he a great QB? The guys who I have listed above Brady on this list would be. I’m not so sure about Tom. Which in no way is meant as a shot at Tom Brady. I think he is one of the all-time greats and a sure-fire first ballot hall-of-famer. I just think they won 3 Super Bowls far more because of a great defense than because of a great manager.

Looking Back at Week 8

Baltimore Ravens 29

Oakland Raiders 10

Why the Ravens Won: Ball Control. The Ravens converted over 50% of their third downs and held the ball for 13 more minutes than the Raiders.

Why the Raiders Lost: Inconsistency. The Raiders have a good running game and a questionable pass game. So, they threw it twice as much as they ran. Russell looked good at times, stretching the ball more than he has to this point. He completed less than 50% of his passes though and led to far too many three and outs.

MVP: Rookie Ray Rice had 138 total yards.

What It All Means: The Ravens continue to be very good at home and are just one game out of first and still get the Steelers at home. This year is not a total waste for the Raiders, Russell is getting experience and they’ll get another top 10 pick.

Carolina Panthers 27

Arizona Cardinals 23

Why the Panthers Won: Efficiency. Delhomme was 20-28 for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns. DeAngelo Williams turned in a 100 yard performance and they committed only 3 penalties.

Why the Cardinals Lost: Inability to Finish. The Cardinals had a lead going into the 4th quarter, but turned it over twice in the period which led to 10 Carolina points.

MVP: Steve Smith had 5 catches for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Talking Heads aren’t saying it but Smith clearly stepped out of bounds on the 65 yard score, which was the winning touchdown. Will we have to  hear about that every week like the “ed Hoculi” Call? Probably not.

What It All Means: The Panthers are set as the greatest threat to the Giants. The Cardinals still can’t beat a good team on the road.

Dallas Cowboys 13

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9

Why the Cowboys Won: Protection. Of the Quarterback and the Ball. Against an aggressive Buc Defense the Cowboys gave up just one sack and committed no turnovers.

Why the Bucs Lost: Finishing. Jeff Garcia threw for over 220 yards and the Bucs made three red-zone appearances, but they settled for a field goal each time.

MVP: Zack Thomas had 8 tackles and was all over the field.

What It All Means: An important win for Dallas who looked like they could lose 4 or 5 in a row. Possibly the end of Brad Johnson’s career, as the Cowboys are prepping Brooks Bollinger to possibly start next week. The Bucs are starting to show their age on offense, they have not surpassed 20 points in over a month.

Washington Redskins 25

Detroit Lions 17

Why the Redskins Won: Offensive Stars. Jason Campbell went over 300 yards, 140 of them to Santana Moss. Clinton Portis ran for 120 yards in his fifth straight game.

Why the Lions Lost: Second half missteps. The Lions were in this game for a while. Then they punted on 4 straight possessions to start the second half.

MVP: Campbell was 23-28 for 283 yards and a touchdown. He has still not thrown an interception this year.

What It All Means: The Redskins look like last year’s Jaguars. That is good news for them, as they may finally win a playoff game. The Lions will almost certainly get a top 3 pick and their choice of a very talented QB Class. They look like they will sign Daunte Culpepper this week.

Miami Dolphins 25

Buffalo Bills 16

Why the Dolphins Won: With Buffalo eliminating the running game, Chad Pennington played his best game in years, throwing for 328 yards.

Why the Bills Lost: Fourth Quarter Mistakes. Trent Edwards and the Bills have made their hay in the fourth quarter this year. Against Miami they threw an interception, fumbled twice and gave up a sack in the end zone for a safety.

MVP: Ted Ginn Jr. had the best game of his career. Ginn had 7 catches for 175 yards.

What It All Means: The Dolphins remain a contender and a threat to beat anybody. The Bills have lost 2 of 3 and are starting to show some chinks.

New England Patriots 23

St. Louis Rams 16

Why the Patriots Won: Discipline. The Patriots were not called for a single penalty. St. Louis will argue it was actually officiating. They have sent, ironically, a videotape of several plays they claim are obvious penalties that were not called on the official. Of course, since Roger Goodell is Robert Kraft’s Bitch, it likely won’t matter.

Why the Rams Lost: No Steven Jackson. Won’t usually blame injuries, but missing their best weapon and getting no help from the officials they still nearly won in New England.

MVP: Veteran Kevin Faulk saw a lot of action due to injuries to New England Backs. He had 107 total yards and a receiving touchdown.

What It All Means: With the Cardinals losing and the Rams looking pretty good for a third straight week, they could actually still be in contention. The Patriots are back in first place and their schedule is about to start getting even easier. I still don’t think they’re a championship team, but getting much closer to being a lock for the playoffs.

New Orleans Saints 37

San Diego Chargers 32

Why the Saints Won: Drew Brees was not sacked all game and was barely pressured. That’s bad news for any opposing defense. He threw for 339 yards, his twelfth straight game over 200 yards.

Why the Chargers Lost: Live by Philip…With The Other LT being largely a non-factor this season the Chargers have placed all hope in Philip Rivers. He has played very well for the most part, but for the second straight week he throws a terrible interception on what could be a game-winning drive, by staring down Antonio Gates.

MVP: Brees. If the Saints make the playoffs, he is a lock for MVP.

What It All Means: Saints looked good, but with the depth of the NFC and the pending suspensions to their defensive line, they probably still can not compete. I’ve said before, you judge a coach in his second season. This is what you get with Norv Turner. The QB playing really well, but no defense.

New York Jets 28

Kansas City Chiefs 24

Why the Jets Won: In spite of Brett Favre. Number 4 was booed at home after throwing 3 interceptions and has now thrown 7 in his last three games to lead the league on the year. Brett looks far more like the struggling shell of a couple of seasons ago than Jets fans expected.

Why the Chiefs Lost: They started Tyler Thigpen at QB, Kolby Smith at RB and Mark Bradley at WR…how could they win?

MVP: Leon Washington had 274 total yards and 2 touchdowns.

What It All Means: Why did Brett Favre come back? It wasn’t to win a Super Bowl. The Jets weren’t contenders. He already has records. He came back to have fun. Therefore in his head he can justify constantly chucking balls up into double coverage. He’s a gunslinger after all. He’s hurting the Jets and has to start managing the game better. The Chiefs will be bad for the next 5 years. Minimum.

Philadelphia Eagles 27

Atlanta Falcons 14

Why the Eagles Won: Turnovers. The Eagles won that battle 3-1. One of their interceptions was in the End Zone and helped to solidify a hard fought victory.

Why the Falcons Lost: The Falcons forgot who they were. They threw the ball twice as much as they ran it. Michael Turner had 4 yards per carry and does better in second halves. They should have committed more to it as this was a close game throughout.

MVP: Brian Westbrook returned to the tune of 167 yards and two touchdowns.

What It All Means: As predicted, The Eagles are very impressive with Westbrook. If he stays healthy, the Eagles will end up a playoff team. The Falcons still can’t win big Road games, but played well.

Cleveland Browns 23

Jacksonville Jaguars 17

Why the Browns Won: Cleveland committed just one penalty in the game. They were also able to take advantage of a Jacksonville fumble in the fourth quarter to score the icing field goal. That was big as Jacksonville was able to drive late, but needed a touchdown and couldn’t get it.

Why the Jaguars Lost: They can’t get last years running game back. Drew and Taylor combined for just 53 rushing yards.

MVP: Shaun Rogers is starting to live up to the hype. He had nine tackles, a sack and a blocked field goal.

What It All Means: Cleveland has won 3 out of 4 to at least get back into the playoff conversation. Jacksonville is also 3-4, but has gotten no consistency going.

Houston Texans 35

Cincinnati Bengals 6

Why the Texans Won: Red Zone Defense. The Texans allowed just two field goals, and a fumble, in Cincinnati’s three red zone trips. Houston was the worst red-zone defense in the league coming in.

Why the Bengals Lost: After two okay starts, we are reminded that Ryan Fitzpatrick is Ryan Fitzpatrick. He averaged just 7 yards per completion and threw two interceptions.

MVP: Andre Johnson had 11 catches for 143 yards. He had 40 catches and over 500 yards in October.

What It All Means: Houston wins three in a row, but the teams they beat have 3 combined wins. Their schedule starts to get hard again now. The Bengals can’t get anything going and really have nothing to hang their helmets on.

New York Giants 21

Pittsburgh Steelers 14

Why the Giants Won: Pressure. Not only did the Giants have 5 sacks, but they pressured Ben into throwing 4 interceptions.

Why the Steelers Lost: No Control. There were the sacks, the turnovers and the fact that they were 1 for 10 on third down and 0 for 4 on fourth down.

MVP: No Osi. That’s Okay, they’ve got Mathias Kiwanuka. He had 3 sacks and a forced fumble.

What It All Means: The Giants continue to roll as the best team in the NFL, winning every kind of game they come across. I don’t want to say the Steelers are a fraud, but they have played two good teams and been beated at home both times, and looked terrible on offense in both games.

Seattle Seahawks 34

San Francisco 49ers 13

Why the Seahawks Won: The Seahawks got their best QB performance of the year from Seneca Wallace. He threw for over 220 yards and two touchdowns.

Why the 49ers Lost: No Consistency. The 49ers would drive a little and then punt. Or put together a good drive and settle for a field goal. Or just turn the ball over. The QB got benched, the TE got benched and the defense, which is supposed to be this team’s strong suit, gave up 34 points to a Seneca Wallace led offense.

MVP: Fullback Leonard Weaver had 116 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The fullback…great D Niners.

What It All Means: Nothing. Both of these teams stink.

Tennessee Titans 31

Indianapolis Colts 21

Why the Titans Won: 4th Quarter. The Titans scored 17 points in the final frame to pull away from the Colts in what was once a game highly in doubt.

Why the Colts Lost: Penalties. The Colts committed just 5, but 4 of them came on third down and gave the Titans a first down. That’s way too many second chances to give a good team.

MVP: Kerry Collins may have only thrown for 193 yards, but most of them came in the fourth quarter and when he was let loose finally, he made the most of it.

What It All Means: Many are calling this a statement game for Tennessee. These are the pundits who can’t see that the Colts just aren’t very good. The Titans could wrap this division up by Thanksgiving. Wasn’t it funny to hear Tony Kornheiser talk for 3 quarters about how the Titans were a fraud because of their schedule and the Colts were on their way back, just to see the Titans come storming back and win in convincing fashion? Pardon the Interruption Tony, But You Suck!

Top 50 Quarterbacks of the Past 25 Years: 45-41

45.

Steve DeBerg- 49ers, Broncos, Buccaneers, Chiefs and Falcons

DeBerg was the first quarterback to play in Bill Walsh’s true west coast offense. In 1979, his second year starting in the league, he set the NFL records for pass attempts and completions. But Walsh did not see DeBerg as the quarterback for the team and instead turned to Joe Montana. Showing why people call Bill Walsh a genius. Being replaced by quarterbacks who will rank higher than him on this list would become a trend during DeBerg’s career.

DeBerg left San Francisco and became the back-up quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He was brought in with the intent to be the starter down the line. He started the last five games in 1982 and the first five in ’83. He had the Broncos off to a 4-1 start but Dan Reeves decided it was time to turn to rookie QB John Elway. His success as a backup in Denver opened the door for him to seek a starting job in the league and he found one in Tampa Bay.

DeBerg’s two seasons in Tampa were up and down as both years he threw 19 TD’s and 18 Interceptions. He was once again replaced by a young phenom, this time in the person of Vinny Testeverde. DeBerg left Tampa and finally got his chance for a long term job in Kansas City where he was the starter for four seasons. DeBerg enjoyed his greatest success in 1990 when he threw 23 TD’s and only 4 interceptions. DeBerg’s career as a starting QB ended after the 1991 season when he was ironically once again replaced by Joe Montana. DeBerg spent a couple of more years as a backup in both Tampa and Miami, but never enjoyed more than spot starter status. In 1998 his former coach Dan Reeves brought him out of retirement to be the backup QB on the Atlanta Falcons. DeBerg became the oldest player ever to be on a Super Bowl roster at the end of that season.

DeBerg deserves his spot on this list for throwing for 35,000 yards and 196 TD’s in the NFL. He is so low because he had more interceptions than TD’s and was never a consistent winner in the NFL. Certainly DeBerg’s greatest claim to fame may be that he was the man who handed jobs over to both Joe Montana and John Elway.

44.

Jim Harbaugh- Bears, Colts, Ravens and Chargers

Highly touted coming out of Michigan Jim Harbaugh was the first round pick of the Chicago Bears and the chosen replacement for oft injured Jim McMahon. Harbaugh didn’t start a game in his rookie season and only played sparingly in the next two. In 1990 the Bears parted ways with McMahon and Harbaugh was named the starting quarterback. Harbaugh would remain the starter in Chicago for the next four seasons. In an offense completely centered around the run and with no true threat at wide receiver, Harbaugh never topped 15 TD passes or 3,200 yards as a Bear.

In 1994 Harbaugh signed with the Indianapolis Colts. After missing much of the ’94 season with injury Harbaugh bounced back big in 1995 having the best year of his career. Harbaugh had a passer rating of over 100 that year and was voted to the Pro Bowl. Harbaugh also won NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors and was the runner-up to the MVP. Perhaps more importantly Harbaugh led the Colts to the AFC Championship Game. Harbaugh had two more good years with the Colts and during his four years there averaged just one interception in every fifty passes thrown. In 1997 Harbaugh threw ten touchdowns and only four interceptions, but the team was horrible and that almost always comes back to the coach and the quarterback. Both were replaced. Harbaugh by number one pick Peyton Manning. Harbaugh was traded to the former home of the Colts Baltimore to play for the Ravens.

Harbaugh was okay in Baltimore but did not supply the consistency they were looking for in the quarterback position. Of course, they still  haven’t found that. Harbaugh went to San Diego in 1999 and improved the struggling Chargers to an 8-8 football team. Nevertheless, the Chargers decided to go with Ryan Leaf in the 2000 season, though Harbaugh far outplayed him in his limited starts. In 2001 Harbaugh would be on the rosters of both the Lions and Panthers, but saw no playing time.

Harbaugh makes the list based almost entirely on one season. But one great season is more than the guys behind him had. At this point, Harbaugh’s greatest claim to fame is probably leading Stanford to a win over USC last year. At one time though, he was one of the league’s most accurate trigger-men.

43.

Aaron Brooks- Saints and Raiders

Aaron Brooks was the fourth round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 1999. He was traded to the Saints in 2000. In week 11 of that season he came into the game to replace an injured Jeff Blake. Brooks played well enough over the next five games to win the starting job for the next 5 seasons. Brooks helped the Saints sew up a playoff appearance just one year after going 3-13. Not only that but in the wild card round he would throw four touchdowns en route to upsetting the defending Super Bowl Champion Rams.

In 2001 though the Saints struggled Aaron Brooks threw for 3800 yards and a franchise record, at the time, 26 TD’s. In 2002 he would top himself by throwing 27 TD’s. Despite his great play that season Saints fans would berate him late in the season and ask for him to be replaced. Another example of the woes of an entire team being placed on one man’s shoulders. In ’03 Brooks would have maybe his best season throwing 24 TD’s and only 8 interceptions. Again though, the Saints missed the playoffs and pressure was growing on Brooks. In his six years as a starter for the Saints only Tom Brady would lead more 4th quarter comebacks. Still, in 2005 Aaron Brooks was benched near the end of the season.

After one very poor year in the Abyss that is the Raiders, Aaron Brooks career would inexplicably come to an end. Despite five extremely productive years in New Orleans Aaron Brooks was not given another chance after his stint in Oakland. Despite workouts in Pittsburgh and Green Bay Aaron Brooks was never offered another job in the league. With the elevated number of sub-par QB’s in the league, Brooks who averaged over 3000 yards and 20 TD’s in his six years as a Saint was forced to retire due to lack of interest. I know it ended bad but we should try to remember how good Aaron Brooks really was.

42.

Steve Beuerlein- Panthers, Cardinals, Cowboys, Broncos, Raiders and Jaguars

Beuerlein was a fourth round pick of the Raiders in 1987 and would be their part time starter in both ’88 and ’89. During that time he posted a winning record, yet the Raiders would never turn to him to be their franchise Quarterback, instead letting him leave in 1991 to join the Dallas Cowboys. Beuerlein saw starting duty for an injured Troy Aikman in 1991 and was a perfect 4-0 during his starting stretch and played a major role in the Cowboys return to the playoffs. He also started against the Bears in the playoffs and threw his only career playoff TD pass en route to a win.

In 1993 Beuerlein wold leave Dallas to take a starting job in Phoenix. Beurlein would struggle in his first shot as a starter throwing more interceptions than TD’s during his two year stint with the Cards. In 1995 the Jacksonville Jaguars would take Beuerlein with their first pick in the expansion draft. Beuerlein was brought in only to groom Mark Brunell to be the long term starter and he did that, and then was released at the end of the season. He signed with the Carolina Panthers. After two years as a very productive back up for the Panthers Steve Beuerlein was named the starting quarterback prior to the 1998 season. Beuerlein played very well completing 63% of his passes. In 1999 at 34 years old, Beuerlein would have the best year of his career. He threw for almost 4500 yards and 36 TD’s. He would make his only Pro Bowl that year. His numbers dipped dramatically the next year and Beuerlein was released at the end of the season. Beuerlein finished his career as a back up for the Denver Broncos.

Beuerlein’s story is one of perseverance. It took him 10 years to become the guy, but when given that chance he made the most of it. He is still the record holder in most categories for the Panthers and had great back-up stints for the Cowboys and Raiders.

41.

Doug Flutie- Patriots, Bills and Chargers

After a stellar career at Boston College Doug Flutie won the Heisman Trophy. Still he was undrafted due to his 5’9″ height. Flutie seized an opportunity presented to him by Donald Trump and the USFL. He played two seasons for the New Jersey Generals. When the USFL folded in 1986 Flutie went to play for the Chicago Bears. Flutie would start just one  game for the Bears and was traded to the New England Patriots during the 1987 season. Flutie would win the starting job in New England, however injuries would mar the two years he spent there. With a lack of opportunities pending in the NFL Flutie went north of the border and began a career in the CFL.

During 8 years playing for the BC Lions and Toronto Argonauts Flutie threw for over 40,000 yards and 270 TD’s. He also won the Grey Cup on three occasions and was the league MVP three times. In 2006 Doug Flutie was named the greatest Canadian Football Player of all-time by TSN.

In 1998 Doug Flutie returned to the NFL and became the starting quarterback of the Buffalo Bills. Flutie led the Bills to the playoffs that year and was named to the Pro Bowl. Flutie would lead Buffalo back to the playoffs the final season, but owner Ralph Wilson insisted that young Rob Johnson replace Flutie for the playoff game. Which they lost. In 2000 Rob Johnson was given the starting job and went 4-7 as a starter. In contrast Flutie was 4-1 in relief of an injured Johnson late in the season. Still the franchise was determined to make things work with Johnson, so instead of having a QB controversy going in to the 2001 season, the Bills released Doug Flutie.

Flutie signed with a bad Chargers team after the ’01 season. He was very productive at times but struggled much of the season behind a really bad offensive line. The next year Doug Flutie became Drew Brees’ back-up. In 2003 he replaced a struggling Brees late in the season. He played well and was in fact named AFC player of the week after he ran for two TD’s. In 2004 Doug Flutie signed with the New England Patriots and ended his career as Tom Brady’s back-up.

Doug Flutie is not on this list because of any numbers. Rather he makes the list for defying the odds time and again and being one of the most popular players in the history of the league. It was hard not to like Flutie even if he was playing opposite your team. He was the purveyor of Flutie Magic, from the Hail Mary on.