Know who to pull for: week 11 (1 Viewer)

[Loose Cannon]

Atlanta: I have been saying this for years. Vick is NOT an NFL QB. He'll look great one or two games, then looks like a Rookie in others. He is just like Randall Cunningham was - a glorified RB who happens to play QB. Randall at least learned how to be a pocket passer towards the end of his career. Atlanta's defense has also been beat up all year. We dominated them in our 1st matchup, and I believe we will again.

Vick has been farther in the playoffs than Brees

New York: This team is on the verge of falling apart. The loss of Amani Toomer has demoralized Eli Manning. The defense is almost all hurt, and their secondary has not been very good all year long. Very beatable.

The secondary is dead middle of the pack. 15th in the league. How has the loss of a mediocre receiver demoralized Eli Manning? The guy who replaced him, David Tyree, had 38 yards in his first start ever. Toomer averaged 45 yards a game this year.

Big dropoff

The team that is on the verge of falling apart is 5-1 in their last 6. Their margin of victory in those five wins was 12.1. That smells like a collapse to me

 

[ndcc]

If this is "ok" I'd hate to see what "pretty good" is. Interesting gradation scale you're using.

It's really hard to single out the BEST thing I appreciate about SSF.

But one on my list has to be "intelligent dialogue" from knowledgeable fans. For example: The quote (above).

I, for one, have put a few "bonehead" posts/threads on this board. But if it's off, someone will catch it. They may even be a little cynical and sarcastic, but nothing mean-spirited.

Sigh! ...if only the folks on Airline Hwy would get their act together at the "official Saints' website."

 

[Jazzbo]

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.

...and we'll want to pull for New England over Green Bay, right?


Ribbing aside, great post, I look forward to them every week. Thanks, st dude.

 

[SaintJ]

It's really hard to single out the BEST thing I appreciate about SSF.

But one on my list has to be "intelligent dialogue" from knowledgeable fans. For example: The quote (above).

I, for one, have put a few "bonehead" posts/threads on this board. But if it's off, someone will catch it. They may even be a little cynical and sarcastic, but nothing mean-spirited.

Sigh! ...if only the folks on Airline Hwy would get their act together at the "official Saints' website."

Just PM me the address. Check should be there in about a week.

 

[st dude]

...and we'll want to pull for New England over Green Bay, right?


Ribbing aside, great post, I look forward to them every week. Thanks, st dude.

Duh me jazzbo, I sure did miss the GB game. The pack could find themselves right back in the race and right now are wishing they had beat the saints. We would both be 5-4 and they would have the tiebreaker. Beating GB was a big game for the saints and it might be a key loss for them which keeps them out. We definitely want the Pats to win and its pretty much a must win for the Pack.

It is another big game on Sunday(the pats coming off two losses playing at lambeau) which along with the other games makes this Sunday perhaps the most overall enjoyable weekend of pro football so far this year.

 

[Great Dane]

Great thread. Although one can claim this week is not a must win I see it differently. It is about momentum and keeping a distance to our other NFC South foes. If they start smelling blood they will get even more pumped up. So we NEED this win to deflate that and to get momentum back. I don't want another "down to the last game" situation. We tend to lose out on those....

 

[st dude]

Great thread. Although one can claim this week is not a must win I see it differently. ...

I hear you great dane, and I knew some would disagree when I said this isnt a must win, but its a relative term and I try to keep each game in its place. It would be easy for me each week to say this game is huge, but comparatively speaking some games are bigger.

We have a one game lead and we are playing an AFC opponent. Sure, all games are big at this time of the season. But must win?

The 4-5 NFC teams playing Sunday are all in pretty much must win situations. Carolina and Atlanta are close to being in must win situations as a loss drops them to 5-5. Carolina more so than Atlanta because Carolina plays an NFC team at home.

Our bigger games are coming. We have Dallas, NY and Atlanta on the road. We get SF, Washington and Carolina at home. These are all bigger games than Cincy, even Washington since one factor in the tiebreaker is your in conference record. Put another way, if you are going to lose four games each year and could pick the games to lose, pick the games against your AFC foes.

So I dont say its not a "must win" in the sense that losing is okay, or that the team doesnt have to worry or that a win here wouldnt be big for us in the standings.

I say its not a must win because its just not. Its not nearly as big a game as our key upcoming nfc games.

I actually hope we dont have any true must win games until the playoffs. Somehow i think that wont be the case.

 

[David Robbins]

Actually, dude this is a must win. Every game we play from here on out is a must win. Not because we need the in-conference or out of conference games, but because of records. I feel that Chicago will probably lose 2 more games. If we win out, and they indeed lose 2 more, we could have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Wouldn't that be great? Also, improving from 3-13 to 13-3 would tie us for the best turnaround ever, and I want that!

 

[Jhoniten]

I am trying to look at this week in very simple terms. Basically put, we win out we have the #2 seed wrapped up, period, not a thing anyone can do to change it. Chicago drops 2 games and we have a shot at home field advantage. They drop 2 conference games and we get #1. If they lose 2 but only lose 1 conference game it has to be to either the Buccaneers or the Packers. And then we will be down to strength of victory and that worries me a lot since they blew out several teams early in the year.

Oh yeah, I did say simple, didn't I? Saints win out we have a bye. Giants and Seahawks lose a game and we have one to play with. But that could bring the Cowboys, Eagles, Falcons and Panthers all right back in it. Imagine that for a second, 7 teams could be at 6-4 after this weekend and fighting for the #2 seed. I aint even going to try to figure out the tiebreakers on that one.

Oh well, so much for simple. SAINTS WIN, SAINTS WIN, SAINTS WIN. music to my ears. course I be pulling for 7 other teams to win also, and they all just happen to be playing the ones I mentioned above.

 

[longtime lurker]

"New Orleans, Seattle and the Giants are tied at 6-3. The Saints win the three-way tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed because they have the best conference record (5-1 vs. 5-2 for Seattle and the Giants). Seattle then wins the tiebreaker for the third seed based on its 42-30 victory over the Giants."
http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/seahawks/?title=the_fix_is_in_hawks_third&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

AFC & NFC Conference seeding:
http://www.nfl.com/standings/conference

 

[Loose Cannon]

Actually, dude this is a must win. Every game we play from here on out is a must win. Not because we need the in-conference or out of conference games, but because of records. I feel that Chicago will probably lose 2 more games. If we win out, and they indeed lose 2 more, we could have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Wouldn't that be great? Also, improving from 3-13 to 13-3 would tie us for the best turnaround ever, and I want that!

Anything but 13-3 is a failure!