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Four weeks ago the Saints had a disappointing, but respectable 4-3 record. You had to figure if they could string a few wins together they might catch the Falcons and certainly would be in the driver's seats for a wild card game.
The Saints did their part. They ran off three straight wins to get to a solid 7-3 record. Unfortunately we have not been very good with "know who to pull for" category. We have not caught the Falcons nor have we separated from the wild card pack. Is not that we have been bad at knowing who to pull for. We have known who to pull for okay. Our problem has been that the teams we have been pulling for have been losing. Last week was a particularly bad week that saw the Falcons, Bucs, Packers and Bears all win. Its a mess at the top.
If the playoffs started today the Saints would be in, but only due to a tiebreak advantage over Tampa Bay. The division champs would be Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta and Seattle. The Saints, Green Bay and Tampa are tied at 7-3 (with Tampa losing the three way tiebreaker). The Giants are a game back at 6-4. Washington still has hope at 5-5. Basically you have five teams fighting for two wild card spots.
The Rams are still alive in the West at 4-6, but more so for the division crown than a wild card. I think the NFC West should be declared a non-BCS division with no automatic qualifier. As it stands now a 5-5 Seattle would get in over a 7-3 Tampa and 6-4 New York.
One small silver lining for Saints fans with the Saints not running away with the division like last year is that we have much more interest in the other games. We have a great slate of know who to pull for games this week. If some of our competition does not start losing we could have a scenario where a 10-6 and maybe even an 11-5 team misses the playoffs in the NFC. :shock:
Without further ado (or further adieu if you are a Saints fan) here are this week's games:
8-2 New England @ 2-8 Detroit - This game is not really worth talking about but since its a turkey day game I threw it in. Always pull for the AFC team in an inter-conference matchup, right? Not really. That is not the case here. I say at 2-8 the Lions are out of it. They are a team that is getting better, so pull for them to win so their first round draft choice next year is not as high. NFC,NFC,NFC.
3-7 Minnesota @ 5-5 Washington - The demise of Brad Childress as an NFL coach began last year when he sold his soul to acquire Bret Favre. What little self respect Childress had left, and perhaps more importantly what little respect he had left from his players, was lost when he had to re-beg Favre back on the team this year. The wild card race is among five teams right now. A Redskin loss would pretty much make it a four team discussion (plus the division leaders that might fall back). Pull for the Vikings.
7-3 Green Bay @ 8-2 Atlanta - This is one of those win/lose kwtpf games for the Saints. Obviously we want the Packers to win, but having the Packers lose a game helps us too. These are two very good NFL teams with solid, young quarterbacks. Green Bay made the absolute correct decision in letting Favre go. I think Aaron Rodgers when he is on is as good as any quarterback in the league. This is the game most Saints fans, and most NFL fans for that matter, will be watching Sunday. It is one of the last big hurdles for the Falcons. If Atlanta wins this game and the Saints, god forbid, lose to Dallas, the party in the NFC South for the division crown is almost over. Pull very hard for Green Bay.
1-9 Carolina @ 3-7 Cleveland - I wonder why Phillips and Childress got canned and Fox has not. It has to be a matter of time. If for whatever reason we would lose Greg Williams as our defensive coordinator, I would hire John Fox in a heart beat for that position. Pull for Carolina so they do not win the Cam Newton derby. If you suffer from insomnia, this one is must see football.
7-3 Philadelphia @ 7-3 Chicago - Did I tell you this was a great kwtpf week or what? And there is more good news. This is a 3 o'clock game so you will not have to be switching back and forth between it and the Falcons/Packers game. It is also the hardest kwtpf game of the season to pick. I think I would rather play Chicago than Philadelphia in the playoffs so I will pull for da Bears. The ball is sure bouncing their way this year. This is a really big game with lots of playoff implications.
4-6 St Louis @ 3-7 Denver - Did the Rams let us down last week or what? I suppose there is an outside shot the Rams could go on a six game win streak and threaten for a wild card spot so we need to pull for the Broncos. The NFC will be better than the AFC over the next ten years because of all the young guns moving in like Bradford, Stafford, Ryan and Rodgers. Throw in Josh Freeman and Jay Cutler along with veterans like Vick, Brees and Eli Manning and you can see why the NFC is getting better. The NFC has more quality quarterbacks and that has made this year very competitive.
7-3 Tampa @ 7-3 Baltimore - The last regular season game for the Saints is at home against Tampa and it could well be for a playoff spot for one team or the other. I wrote Tampa off after the Saints ran over them and figured the Bucs had just been on a run of good luck. And while I still think that is true to a certain extent, there can be no question that Tampa is one of the most improved teams in the league. If Tampa beats the Ravens in Baltimore, it proves they can beat anyone. This is another big game. The Saints need a little breathing room and some margin for error. Tampa is a legitimate threat to our playoff hopes. While Tampa is improved, I will be very surprised (and disappointed) if they beat Baltimore.
3-7 San Francisco @ 3-7 Arizona - Now this is one big Monday night football game or what? More proof that the NFC West is a non BCS division. Pull for the 49ers since we beat them, and then maybe start working on learning that foreign language you always wanted to learn instead of watching this game. Donde es la biblioteca?
6-4 Jacksonville @ 6-4 New York Giants - A couple of weeks ago some were crowning the Giants as the best team in the NFC. Now they are just another team in a dogfight for a playoff spot. They still have a chance for the division title and can make up ground if they win and Philly loses. If the Giants lose and fall to 6-5 they could be on the outside looking in. The Giants are definitely a threat to the Saints if we end up in a wild card fight. A Jaguar win here with a saints win over Dallas could give us some real breathing room.
6-4 Kansas City @ 5-5 Seattle - Seattle is essentially three games back of the Saints by virtue of our tiebreak advantage over them. We still want them to lose. The leading team in the NFC West would have then a losing record. I think a 6-10 team has a decent chance to win the West.
7-3 New Orleans @ 3-7 Dallas - You look up and down the Dallas roster and it's hard to understand how things went so wrong for this team. They have a lot of good players. Last year I thought Dallas was the one team that physically dominated the Saints. Kitna is a competent veteran with some very good receivers. Like most everyone else, this game scares me. There will be lots of Saints fans there and that will help. This game is on the big stage, folks on both coasts will be unbuttoning their pants from eating too much turkey and tuning in to watch America's team win. The Saints.
The Saints did their part. They ran off three straight wins to get to a solid 7-3 record. Unfortunately we have not been very good with "know who to pull for" category. We have not caught the Falcons nor have we separated from the wild card pack. Is not that we have been bad at knowing who to pull for. We have known who to pull for okay. Our problem has been that the teams we have been pulling for have been losing. Last week was a particularly bad week that saw the Falcons, Bucs, Packers and Bears all win. Its a mess at the top.
If the playoffs started today the Saints would be in, but only due to a tiebreak advantage over Tampa Bay. The division champs would be Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta and Seattle. The Saints, Green Bay and Tampa are tied at 7-3 (with Tampa losing the three way tiebreaker). The Giants are a game back at 6-4. Washington still has hope at 5-5. Basically you have five teams fighting for two wild card spots.
The Rams are still alive in the West at 4-6, but more so for the division crown than a wild card. I think the NFC West should be declared a non-BCS division with no automatic qualifier. As it stands now a 5-5 Seattle would get in over a 7-3 Tampa and 6-4 New York.
One small silver lining for Saints fans with the Saints not running away with the division like last year is that we have much more interest in the other games. We have a great slate of know who to pull for games this week. If some of our competition does not start losing we could have a scenario where a 10-6 and maybe even an 11-5 team misses the playoffs in the NFC. :shock:
Without further ado (or further adieu if you are a Saints fan) here are this week's games:
8-2 New England @ 2-8 Detroit - This game is not really worth talking about but since its a turkey day game I threw it in. Always pull for the AFC team in an inter-conference matchup, right? Not really. That is not the case here. I say at 2-8 the Lions are out of it. They are a team that is getting better, so pull for them to win so their first round draft choice next year is not as high. NFC,NFC,NFC.
3-7 Minnesota @ 5-5 Washington - The demise of Brad Childress as an NFL coach began last year when he sold his soul to acquire Bret Favre. What little self respect Childress had left, and perhaps more importantly what little respect he had left from his players, was lost when he had to re-beg Favre back on the team this year. The wild card race is among five teams right now. A Redskin loss would pretty much make it a four team discussion (plus the division leaders that might fall back). Pull for the Vikings.
7-3 Green Bay @ 8-2 Atlanta - This is one of those win/lose kwtpf games for the Saints. Obviously we want the Packers to win, but having the Packers lose a game helps us too. These are two very good NFL teams with solid, young quarterbacks. Green Bay made the absolute correct decision in letting Favre go. I think Aaron Rodgers when he is on is as good as any quarterback in the league. This is the game most Saints fans, and most NFL fans for that matter, will be watching Sunday. It is one of the last big hurdles for the Falcons. If Atlanta wins this game and the Saints, god forbid, lose to Dallas, the party in the NFC South for the division crown is almost over. Pull very hard for Green Bay.
1-9 Carolina @ 3-7 Cleveland - I wonder why Phillips and Childress got canned and Fox has not. It has to be a matter of time. If for whatever reason we would lose Greg Williams as our defensive coordinator, I would hire John Fox in a heart beat for that position. Pull for Carolina so they do not win the Cam Newton derby. If you suffer from insomnia, this one is must see football.
7-3 Philadelphia @ 7-3 Chicago - Did I tell you this was a great kwtpf week or what? And there is more good news. This is a 3 o'clock game so you will not have to be switching back and forth between it and the Falcons/Packers game. It is also the hardest kwtpf game of the season to pick. I think I would rather play Chicago than Philadelphia in the playoffs so I will pull for da Bears. The ball is sure bouncing their way this year. This is a really big game with lots of playoff implications.
4-6 St Louis @ 3-7 Denver - Did the Rams let us down last week or what? I suppose there is an outside shot the Rams could go on a six game win streak and threaten for a wild card spot so we need to pull for the Broncos. The NFC will be better than the AFC over the next ten years because of all the young guns moving in like Bradford, Stafford, Ryan and Rodgers. Throw in Josh Freeman and Jay Cutler along with veterans like Vick, Brees and Eli Manning and you can see why the NFC is getting better. The NFC has more quality quarterbacks and that has made this year very competitive.
7-3 Tampa @ 7-3 Baltimore - The last regular season game for the Saints is at home against Tampa and it could well be for a playoff spot for one team or the other. I wrote Tampa off after the Saints ran over them and figured the Bucs had just been on a run of good luck. And while I still think that is true to a certain extent, there can be no question that Tampa is one of the most improved teams in the league. If Tampa beats the Ravens in Baltimore, it proves they can beat anyone. This is another big game. The Saints need a little breathing room and some margin for error. Tampa is a legitimate threat to our playoff hopes. While Tampa is improved, I will be very surprised (and disappointed) if they beat Baltimore.
3-7 San Francisco @ 3-7 Arizona - Now this is one big Monday night football game or what? More proof that the NFC West is a non BCS division. Pull for the 49ers since we beat them, and then maybe start working on learning that foreign language you always wanted to learn instead of watching this game. Donde es la biblioteca?
6-4 Jacksonville @ 6-4 New York Giants - A couple of weeks ago some were crowning the Giants as the best team in the NFC. Now they are just another team in a dogfight for a playoff spot. They still have a chance for the division title and can make up ground if they win and Philly loses. If the Giants lose and fall to 6-5 they could be on the outside looking in. The Giants are definitely a threat to the Saints if we end up in a wild card fight. A Jaguar win here with a saints win over Dallas could give us some real breathing room.
6-4 Kansas City @ 5-5 Seattle - Seattle is essentially three games back of the Saints by virtue of our tiebreak advantage over them. We still want them to lose. The leading team in the NFC West would have then a losing record. I think a 6-10 team has a decent chance to win the West.
7-3 New Orleans @ 3-7 Dallas - You look up and down the Dallas roster and it's hard to understand how things went so wrong for this team. They have a lot of good players. Last year I thought Dallas was the one team that physically dominated the Saints. Kitna is a competent veteran with some very good receivers. Like most everyone else, this game scares me. There will be lots of Saints fans there and that will help. This game is on the big stage, folks on both coasts will be unbuttoning their pants from eating too much turkey and tuning in to watch America's team win. The Saints.
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