The playoff plot continues to thicken and there are a handful of week 11 games that will impact who makes it past the regular season. The NFC contenders look like this right now:
Chicago 8-1
Saints 6-3
Giants 6-3
Seattle 6-3
Dallas 5-4
Philly 5-4
Carolina 5-4
Atlanta 5-4
Rams 4-5
Vikings 4-5
San Fran 4-5
Green Bay 4-5
All I can say is wow. The bears look to be the only lock to make the playoffs. Seattle is probably the next best bet in the relatively weak NFC west. The NFC east and NFC south are up for grabs with three teams from each division in the thick of it.
I had to put the 4-5 teams in the mix because its looking more and more likely that a 9-7 team make make the playoffs. They are all kind of long shots but still have to be in the conversation.
And its not too early to start talking about the Saints-Panthers match in December in the Dome. That game is "looming large" as the cliche goes. There is a good chance the Falcons lose at Baltimore this week and its almost even money right now that the December match up between the saints and panthers will decide the division or, at the very least, decide a wild card spot. Get your tickets now. Jake better start working on his silent count now as the dome could be even noisier than the monday night home opener for that game.
5-4 Atlanta at 7-2 Baltimore - You have to love it when a big division rival has a difficult game on the road. It hurt us when Carolina beat the ravens in Baltimore and this is certainly a game the Falcons can win. But the ravens are playing very well right now and are favored to win. If the ravens play anything like they did against us in the dome they should win going away. You just never know what games Vick shows up for. When he does show up, the falcons can play with anyone. On paper you have to like the ravens to knock Atlanta to 5-5 which will put them in a bind.
8-1 Chicago at 5-4 N.Y. Jets - I am not quite ready to concede home field advantage in the playoffs to the bears as most everyone else seems ready to do. This is a must game for the jets who looked pretty good knocking off the Pats last week. If the bears lose, which they well might, and the saints win, which they well might, then we are but one game behind the bears in the home field fight. Go Jets.
4-5 Minnesota at 2-7 Miami - This looks to be almost an elimination game for the Vikings who have to play the resurgent dolphins. You never know in the NFL and the best example of parity was the dolphins beating Chicago easily two weeks ago in the windy city. We want Miami to win. If they do, it doesnt look like the NFC central will produce a wild card team.
4-5 St. Louis at 5-4 Carolina - This game looks to be an elimination game for the Rams. It doesnt look like a wild card team is coming from the NFC west either. But if the rams can drop the panthers to 5-5 and get to 5-5 themselves, the wild car race opens up. If the Panthers win you have to figure the two wild card teams to be coming out of the east and south divisions. Haslett knows Carolina very well, maybe he can get his defense going. The panthers have a short week to get ready. How huge would it be if the panthers and falcons both lose this week. It is not outside the realm of possibility.
2-7 Tennessee at 5-4 Philadelphia - I think the NFL east will be the most exciting division in either conference down the stretch. The Giants could have separated from the field with a win over the bears, but they lost and looked bad doing it. Our home win over Philly was so very big in that it gices us a valuable tiebreaker over a team we might well be tied with. I dont see Philly losing this game but it would be nice if they did.
3-6 Washington at 2-7 Tampa Bay - Yawn. I guess we pull for Tampa in the unlikely event a strength of schedule tiebreaker comes into play. It will also eliminate the virtually eliminated redskins. These are the two most disappointing teams in the NFC.
2-7 Detroit at 1-8 Arizona - Double yawn. I guess the odds would say pull for Arizona in case Detroit were to win 7 in a row and get to 9-7. I dont think the ratings will be very high for this turkey of a game.
6-3 Seattle at 4-5 San Francisco - This game is surprisingly interesting and maybe the hardest of the know who to pull for games. The niners are a very quiet 4-5 and a win over the not so solid seahawks would be huge for them. It would also make the niners a wild card contender. So do you want Seattle to win to knock the niners out? Or do you risk getting the niners in the wild card hunt to improve odds of getting home field advantage over the seahawks? The smart know who to pull for move would probably be to pull for Seattle, but I am feeling good about the saints winning their division so I will pull for the 49ers. This will be a fun game to watch. Its a really big game for San Fran and its been a while since they have had a big game. A san Fran win alos makes the NFC west a bit more interesting.
8-0 Indianapolis at 5-4 Dallas - There are just a bunch of big know who to pull for games this week and this is one of them. The Saints have to go to Dallas later this year where they will likely be underdogs. If we lose to Dallas we also lose the tiebreaker with them. If Indy can drop the Cowboys to 5-5, then 10 - 6 would be hard for them to get to. We need to get two games ahead of the cowboys so a loss at Dallas wont drop us into a tie with them. This will be a fun game to watch.
6-3 N.Y. Giants at 5-4 Jacksonville - No problem knowing who to pull for in this game. We would love to have the jags hang a loss on the giants in what is a must game for Jacksonville. Jacksonville looks like a mash unit, they have more players on the injury roster than off of it it looks like. Still, you have to figure they will play hard on Monday night with their backs against the wall. Go jags.
4-5 Cincinnati at 6-3 New Orleans - I am not going to say this is a must game for N.O. because its not. The saints have lost two games that hurt them the least, one to Pitt and one to Baltimore. Losing to Cincy would be way better than losing to the giants, cowboys, falcons or panthers. That being said, winning this game would be a big step to getting in the playoffs for the saints. Winning this game and having the falcons lose would be better, adding a panthers loss would make it a dream weekend.
All in all its a great week to have Sunday ticket.