I doubt New Orleans beats Tampa Bay even tho Saints are at home.

quote:

Originally posted by Music City:
In a lot of ways, I think it will be like last year. 4 teams vying for one spot in week 17. There's a strong chance that this will happen again this year.

Which makes DET at GBP in week 17 even bigger!

ARI losing yesterday really surprised me.

The playoff picture in the NFC is a complete mess once you get past Dallas and Green Bay, although I think Seattle and Tampa are fairly safe for the most part because of their records against the NFC opponents (6-3).

In reality, that leaves 2 playoff spots remaining with the Giants looking like they've got one of them (for now anyway) and then you have literally 5 teams battling it out for the 6th spot. The games next week are critical because the winner of the DET/MN game or CHI/NYG game could have a leg up on the competition for a spot. If New Orleans manages to beat TB they are right back in the picture as well for maybe even the division.

This is a good year to be GB or Dallas because I really can't see any scenario where those two teams don't have the 1 and 2 seeds wrapped up which means at least 1 home playoff game and a 1st round bye. Traditionally in the NFC that is huge.

quote:

Originally posted by The Artist fka TD:

quote:

Originally posted by Anthony Dilweed:
my point is that it's quite silly to say the lions are done and yet the vikings, panthers, saints, and bears are still in it. the lions have a two game lead on all of those teams, and none of those teams have showed much of anything all year. would you seriously believe that the panthers have a better chance under vinny testaverde than the lions do?

Bump...hello...mcfly...again...care to gnaw on some crow with that Turkey?

so the lions are still done, even though if the playoffs started today, they'd be in?

they beat the vikings next week and they are still sitting pretty good. there are 3 very winnable games left on their schedule and if they win those three they are 9-7 and most likely in.

if they lose to the vikings, it will be a tough road from there because then they'd have to either beat dallas or win at lambeau field. but nothing says 8-8 won't get in either, especially if they finish tied with either the bears or vikings because they will win both of those tie breaks.

they aren't positioned that well in terms of conference tie breaks but right now they are still one game up on everyone else, and the teams that are chasing them are not exactly all that strong.

quote:

Originally posted by Anthony Dilweed:


i see detroit beating green bay on thanksgiving, then beating the vikings at the dome, and probably the chargers and chiefs after that. they might lose at green bay and at dallas. that would put them at 10-6 and guaranteed in. even 9-7 would probably get them in this year.

You also added this little gem. How long do you cook a 15 pound bird?

I think dilly has a soft spot for Lions

They let you down even worse than the Vikings so I guess misery loves company.

Unfortunately for me, I and other GBP fans have to actually root for Coach Major Dad and the Queens today, even though I don't think it'll matter in the big picture. Basically, the Queens can win out and GB can lose out, but GB would still win the division based on the series sweep. GB needs Detoilet to lose at least one, if not two more games depending on the Detoilet/GB result at the end of the RS. GB also needs the Barfs to lose one more time if one disregards the fact that GB will play the Barfs again.

Hopefully GB's loss Thursday will re-establish priorities properly. GB needs to win the division first, then worry about securing a top-two seed in the NFC. If HFA somehow falls into their laps, great, but at this point, just go through the advancement progression that usually occurs.

Let's hear some more about the Lions and their playoff chances. They don't get in. Period.

if the lions continue to lose, it won't matter, but they still own division tiebreakers over the bears and vikings. we may need green bay to beat them in the final game and the packers may not have anything to play for at that point. they'll probably be firmly locked into the #2 seed.

Get over it already

Just admit that the Lions suck and life will be a lot easier. They are in a complete tailspin and everybody but you is willing to acknowledge it

quote:

Originally posted by Tschmack:
Get over it already

Just admit that the Lions suck and life will be a lot easier. They are in a complete tailspin and everybody but you is willing to acknowledge it

Detroit is great and Ryan Grant sucks. Deal with it.

quote:

Originally posted by Tschmack:
I think dilly has a soft spot for Lions

They let you down even worse than the Vikings so I guess misery loves company.

I don't know...with Adrian Peterson and the three game winning streak...the Vikings have been getting a lot of press lately....even the lead story on the 6:00 news tonight....I'm guessing Dillweed is going to be shifting his allegiance to the Lions any second now.

quote:

Washington over Buffalo
Minnesota over Detroit
Chicago over NY Giants
New Orleans over Tampa Bay
Philadelphia over Seattle
Cleveland over Arizona
Carolina over San Francisco

Man O man... I got the Vikings right. I got Carolina right. But the Bears piss away the game in the 4th quarter, New Orleans pisses their game away on a reverse fumble when they're trying to ice the game, Washington gives the Bills 15 gift yards, turning a 51 yard game-winning attempt into a 36 yarder.

The Vikings have suddenly out-scored their last 2 opponents 83-27, and Peterson looked very good in his return...

quote:

Originally posted by Tschmack:
Get over it already

Just admit that the Lions suck and life will be a lot easier. They are in a complete tailspin and everybody but you is willing to acknowledge it

they wouldn't be the first team to get into the playoffs that way. they are in a tailspin but there are a lot of teams still "in the hunt" in worse shape than they are.

the lions do suck but so does most of the NFC.

quote:

Originally posted by Anthony Dilweed:

quote:

Originally posted by Tschmack:
Get over it already

Just admit that the Lions suck and life will be a lot easier. They are in a complete tailspin and everybody but you is willing to acknowledge it

they wouldn't be the first team to get into the playoffs that way. they are in a tailspin but there are a lot of teams still "in the hunt" in worse shape than they are.

the lions do suck but so does most of the NFC.

That's great and all but let's look at your comments earlier in the thread. Lookey there! You're wrong.

The NFC is once again finished, here what it looks like after week 13:

 
East                  W L T  Pct PF  PA  Home  Road  Div   Conf  Streak   
 x-Dallas Cowboys    11 1 0 .917 395 248 6-1-0 5-0-0 4-0-0 8-0-0 Won 6   
 New York Giants      8 4 0 .667 274 257 3-3-0 5-1-0 2-2-0 6-4-0 Won 1   
 Washington Redskins  5 7 0 .417 229 257 3-3-0 2-4-0 1-3-0 3-5-0 Lost 4   
 Philadelphia Eagles  5 7 0 .417 258 246 2-4-0 3-3-0 1-3-0 3-6-0 Lost 2   
 
 North                W L T  Pct PF  PA  Home  Road  Div   Conf  Streak   
 Green Bay Packers   10 2 0 .833 323 222 5-1-0 5-1-0 3-1-0 7-2-0 Lost 1   
 Minnesota Vikings    6 6 0 .500 278 237 4-2-0 2-4-0 2-3-0 4-5-0 Won 3   
 Detroit Lions        6 6 0 .500 267 311 4-2-0 2-4-0 3-2-0 4-6-0 Lost 4   
 Chicago Bears        5 7 0 .417 237 272 2-4-0 3-3-0 1-3-0 2-6-0 Lost 1   
 
 South                W L T  Pct PF  PA  Home  Road  Div   Conf  Streak   
 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 8 4 0 .667 241 187 5-1-0 3-3-0 4-0-0 7-2-0 Won 4   
 Carolina Panthers    5 7 0 .417 204 257 1-5-0 4-2-0 2-3-0 5-4-0 Won 1   
 New Orleans Saints   5 7 0 .417 266 279 2-4-0 3-3-0 2-3-0 4-4-0 Lost 1   
 Atlanta Falcons      3 9 0 .250 171 272 2-4-0 1-5-0 1-3-0 2-6-0 Lost 3   
 
 West                 W L T  Pct PF  PA  Home  Road  Div   Conf  Streak   
 Seattle Seahawks     8 4 0 .667 273 207 5-1-0 3-3-0 4-1-0 7-2-0 Won 4   
 Arizona Cardinals    6 6 0 .500 281 280 4-2-0 2-4-0 2-2-0 3-5-0 Won 1   
 San Francisco 49ers  3 9 0 .250 164 285 1-4-0 2-5-0 3-3-0 3-7-0 Lost 1   
 St. Louis Rams       3 9 0 .250 196 297 1-5-0 2-4-0 1-4-0 3-7-0 Won 1  
 

 
 Wildcard           Overall  Conf 
*Seattle Seahawks     8-4     7-2
 New York Giants      8-4     6-4
 Minnesota Vikings    6-6     4-5 
 Detroit Lions        6-6     4-6
 Arizona Cardinals    6-6     3-5
 Washington Redskins  5-7     3-5
 Carolina Panthers    5-7     5-4
 New Orleans Saints   5-7     4-4 
 Philadelphia Eagles  5-7     3-6
 Chicago Bears        5-7     2-6

 * Current division leader

So the logjam is still in full vigor. Seattle and Tampa have pretty much locked up their divisions, barring a total collapse. Tampa is up 3 with 4 to play plus they swept the season series over NO, so their magic # is 1. Seattle is up 2, and have a showdown next week against the 2nd place team.

The rest is ridiculous. Here are the remaining schedules for the listed teams:

SEA
ARZ
@ CAR
BAL
@ ATL
Next week's showdown at home against the Cards will decide that division. A Cards win and ARZ merely needs to tie Seattle at the end to take the division by virtue of the season sweep. A Seattle win clinches the division outright. ATL sucks, but you never know which BAL team comes to play. Plus Seattle just hasn't been that consistant. However, they are picking up steam in the final stretch, so they're a team to watch as always.

TB
@ HOU
ATL
@ SF
CAR
Tampa has a pretty easy walk to the NFC South Championship. All have struggling offenses and that has to have Tampa's D salivating. They could easily go 4-0, and 3-1 almost seems like a lock. To me they aren't as big a threat as Seattle because of their lack of firepower, but they're still winning. Their magic # for the NFCS is 1.

NYG
@ PHL
WSH
@ BUF
NE
Now the Giants have no easy row to hoe here. All 4 of these teams play solid defense, and that's all you need to get Eli winging ill-advised passes. But 3 of the 4 teams remaining also have inconsistant offenses, which could play into their hands. I would say the most likely scenario is 2-2, but 1-3 or even 0-4 is certainly possible, as inconsistant as they have been.

MN
@ SF
CHI
WSH
@ DEN
They have throttled their last two opponents, and their schedule stacks up as winnable. Both road games are winnable, and they are always better at home. They might be 2-2, but if Jackson continues to progress as he has, and the MN D continues to be opportunistic as it has on their 3 game win streak, they could get to 9 wins and that might make them a WC winner.

DET
DAL
@ SD
KC
@ GB
Many of us have been talking about the Lions falling down the stretch, and their current 4 game losing streak was against all NFC opponents. If you cannot win in the NFC, or on the road, you won't be a playoff team. It is totally possible that the Lions may not win another game, which would mean they finished the season with an 8 game losing streak. It's really possible.

ARZ
@ SEA
@ NO
ATL
STL
The Cards hold their destiny in their hands. But these two tough road games will make their journey a rough one. The last two games are at home against beatable opponents, but they have to get through their division leader and a competitor for one of the WC teams. The Cards are looking for their first playoff team in 10 years, and they have the horses to pull it off.

CAR
@ JAX
SEA
DAL
@ TB
The Panthers stayed alive by winning today, But they play 4 probable playoff teams down the road. They may not win another game, because they just cannot play against these teams with Vinny Testaverde playing QB. It's all but over for the Panthers.

NO
@ ATL
ARZ
PHL
@ CHI
The Saints will have to beat 3 teams they are fighting for a playoff spot with, and that sets up in their favor. But that's why today's give-away against the Bus was devastating. They have a chance to get within a game of the division, and a stupid play call and an inexplicable fumbled pitch derailed that. And while they have a decent shot at 8-8, they will probably need to win out to get in, and 2-2 seems like the most likely scenario.

PHL
NYG
@ DAL
@ NO
BUF
Road games against the Cowboys and Saints will be tough considering what's at stake, and they should get McNabb back next week. 2 or 3 wins here gets them to .500, but I don't think that will be enough.

WSH
CHI
@ NYG
@ MN
DAL
The Redskins had a tough loss today. It's possible that the 51 yarder would have been good, but the 36 yarder as a result of the penalty was a pretty bad blunder by a formerly great coach. That might be the straw that broke the camel's back, there. They have lost 4 straight, and the death of Taylor this past week will probably be a burden too great to spurn them to a miraculous finish. But the hope they have is that they are playing the teams that they need to have lose in order to get to the playoffs.

CHI
@ WSH
@ MN
GB
NO
The Bears have road games the next two weeks that will decide their fate. It would be great to see the Packers end their playoff dreams by beating them at Soldier field in a couple weeks. Today's 4th quarter collapse may signal the end, but they can still win 3 more games and make it interesting. I don't think 8-8 will get a WC berth, especially with this many teams in the hunt, but who knows? The Bears are the Bears, after all. They always get lucky when it comes down to it.

It's going to be an amazing last month. So many of these teams play each other, you have to think that the team that has the best chance to emerge is the Vikings. They don't play more than 1 of the WC opponents, while many of the others play 3 or 4 playoff contender teams in the final 4 weeks. It seems to me that the Giants and Vikings have the inside track at this point. But who would have thought that 4 weeks ago? The Vikings were all but out of it, and coming off a lambasting at the hands of the Packers. Now they're sitting in the catbird's seat for the final WC.

To me it seems like Minnesota and Arizona have the best chance of securing that final playoff spot. With their win yesterday I don't think the Giants at 8-4 will salt away one of those spots so in reality that leaves 1 team left to get that final playoff spot.

The big game next week will be Seattle and Arizona. If Arizona wins they will be in the drivers seat because they finish with STL and ATL at home.

New Orleans and Detroit really blew golden opportunities yesterday

quote:

Originally posted by Anthony Dilweed:
if the lions continue to lose, it won't matter, but they still own division tiebreakers over the bears and vikings. we may need green bay to beat them in the final game and the packers may not have anything to play for at that point. they'll probably be firmly locked into the #2 seed.

Caw caw caw....How those apples doing? Lions are firmly secure? Yeah just like your psychiatrist said when your restraints were on ya.

MC, I await your expert analysis when the day's games are done, especially as far as the top seed and first week bye goes...

Good to see the Lions take the gaspipe for like the 10th week in a row

Frauds

they lost by one point to the best team in the NFC. right now the vikings are looking strong and likely to get that last spot but i can't say that i trust them to nail it down in the last 3 weeks. one more loss and the lions are done. but the bears, eagles, and panthers are already there and the people on this thread were adamant that the lions were in worse shape than any of those teams.

even as things stand today you can't count the lions out. they hold a divisional tie break with the vikings so if they finish even, they'll win the tie break. plus all the significant teams below them lost with the exception of the redskins, and potentially the saints.

by the time week 14 is over, the teams somewhat realistically in the mix for the last playoff spot are:

minnesota
detroit
arizona
washington
new orleans

when arizona plays new orleans next week, one of those teams will fall off the list, and washington is in a similar tailspin as detroit, and lost their starting qb for the season.

basically minnesota is the only team that is not playing like absolute garbage and unless they fall on their face (which is definitely possible) they are clearly in the drivers seat for that last spot.

arizona has to be the #2 team in that list because their schedule is pretty weak the rest of the way.

detroit has to be #3 because if the injury situations and finishing schedule of the other two teams. new orleans is without reggie bush, plus they suck, and washington is without campbell, plus they suck. at least the lions showed some life nearly pulling off an upset of dallas.

i don't give any of the 5-8 teams a chance in hell, for one thing, two of them already have 7 conference losses and the other is carolina, and they are a mess.

quote:

Originally posted by Anthony Dilweed:
even as things stand today you can't count the lions out. they hold a divisional tie break with the vikings so if they finish even, they'll win the tie break.

The Lions are not winning more than 8 games (we keep telling you this) and they will not be winning any tie breakers with an 8-8 record. As things stand today, they probably won't finish better than 7-9. They are done. Admit it.