Know who to pull for: week 11

I think we win Sunday. Maybe not handily, but it won't be a lucky last-second job either.

Great work by st dude and bclemms. A few additional thoughts:

We are reaching the point in the season, in the next 2-3 weeks, where teams that are going to advance in the playoffs start putting their run together.

The two teams in the NFC that you'd figure for this would be the 5-4 Eagles and 5-4 Panthers. Unlike many, I was not denigrating the Eagles for the 4-4 start, given the close losses and big wins. I think they'll handle the Titans pretty well and start moving toward a division title. They've righted the ship, and I'm glad we played them when we did, and that they're still ahead for the Falcons and Panthers. As far as the Panthers this week, based on their last three games, they're clearly still looking for that smooth gear, and don't seem to have the defensive horses or the big back that they've relied on in past late-season situations. It's tough to build for a stretch drive winning every game ugly, because things even out after a while. Having said that, this schizo Rams team is probably our best hope for a surprise loss by the Kitties who, even though they still have to play the Eagles and Steelers, can keep a lot of pressure on us by just hanging one game behind us all season.

And, as much as it pains me, we're all 49ers fans this week. And while that's looking like a little tougher game for us than we figured, well, 49ers fans are probably feeling the same way about us right now.

The Colts are developing a great team's knack for doing just what they need to take care of the lesser teams while stepping it up for the big games. The Cowboys are a chic pick to win this week, but, obviously, let's hope not.

I have already written off the Vikings as credible threats and believe they will finish behind the Lions. I want all the of the NFC North teams to have enough of a pulse, however, for when they play the Bears in hopes that one of them can steal one for us. And I wouldn't be terribly disappointed if the Lions made a little run here, for that reason.

There's a very small part of me that doesn't want to play a desperate Falcons team that's lost three in a row next week, maybe about the size of a small cyst. Of course, the rest of me wants them to lose, but how? Rather than a temporarily satisfying 40-10 blowout in Baltimore, that might lead to some kind of players-only, soul-searching meeting and one last hurrah for a wounded, undermanned D and a beleaguered QB, they need to drop a close game, with a couple of critical mistakes at the finish. Let the finger-pointing and blame assignments begin.