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I am a relatively easy season ticket holder to satisfy. Last years dream season was great, do not get me wrong. I do not need to be 6-0 right now to be happy. My criteria is more simple. I just want my team to stay in the playoff hunt as the season goes along so that every game they play is meaningful. How do you think it would feel to be a Carolina season ticket holder right now? Would you be fired up about your next game? We Saints fans have been there before and should not take it for granted we are not there now.
If you are 3-5 at the halfway point you are still in it, but you have to work hard to believe it and realistically may have to go 6-2 or 7-1 over the rest of the season to get a playoff spot. A team at 4-4 at the halfway point is still pretty much in the hunt. The odds are not great, but put a two game streak together and at 6-4 you are in good shape. A 5-3 team has about a 50% shot I would guess of making the playoffs. At 6-2 or better your odds are very good of reaching the playoffs.
The Saints are 4-2 after six games and in very good shape. On the plus side they have key people hurt who should be back for the stretch run and they still have a bye week left to rest. They also have a very winnable game Sunday. On the minus side they are on the road a lot in the last half of the season and they have a home loss to the Falcons. Hartley's chip shot miss was huge.
The know who to pull for (kwtpf) column becomes more relevant as time goes on. Each game still counts the same, but each game becomes more critical as teams run out of games. At 1-4 the Cowboys are almost done. I say almost because most 1-4 teams are 1-4 because they are not as good as other teams. The Cowboys have good players and would be home favorites against most NFL teams (they are three point favorites this week over the division leading Giants). To get to 9-7 and have a prayer for a wild card they need to go 8-3 over their next 11 games.
Carolina is 0-5 and almost done. They are probably the best 0-5 team in the NFC (mostly because they are the only 0-5 team in the NFC). Detroit and San Francisco are pretty much out of the hunt at 1-5. Every other team in the NFC is in the thick of it. There are no undefeated NFC teams. There are not even any one loss NFC teams. You can book it right now that at the end of this season there will be all kinds of wild kwtpf scenarios involving lots of teams. And there are a few big games this week:
3-3 Washington @ 4-2 Chicago - This is a big game for the Redskins. This is a big game for the Bears. If the Bears win they move to 5-2 and are looking good in an upside down North division. If Washington wins they stay right in the thick of it at 4-3. At 3-4 I am not sure the Redskins are good enough to go 7-2 over the rest of the season to get to 10-6 (I think 10-6 is the number that usually gets you in). Pull for the Skins.
2-3 Cincinnati @ 4-2 Atlanta - An almost must win for the Bengals. I think the Bengals are better than their record. I am not so sure Atlanta is as good as their record. The Bengals can win this game. I see these teams as being evenly matched. They are both good teams, but nothing special. That sentence might describe 75% of the teams in the league. Pull for the Bengals. Duh.
3-3 St Louis @ 3-2 Tampa Bay - Tampa got exposed last week. They got to 3-1 with some decent play and a ball that bounced their way. They are not a playoff team. I do not think St Louis is either, but Sam Bradford is the real deal and he has made that team competitive. Pull for the Rams to drop a division foe to 3-3, but watch out for the Rams. At 4-3 they would be very much in the thick of the hunt.
1-5 San Francisco @ 0-5 Carolina - First things first. Call up Sunday Ticket and ask if they can black out this game and refund your money. Then pull for the 49ers to further eliminate (can you further eliminate someone anyway?) the Panthers.
4-2 Philadelphia at 4-2 Tennessee - Riddle me this. Not considering New Orleans, who is the best team in the NFC? If you said Philadelphia, you might be right (a testament to how much parity there is more than an endorsement of the Eagles). They have been consistently good under Reid. They are balanced and getting good quarterback play from Kolb and Vick. Most importantly, no one else is that much better than the Eagles. We do not want the Eagles to win a very losable road game. Pull for the Titans to further muck up the NFC East.
3-2 Arizona @ 3-2 Seattle - I bet when I asked who was the best NFC team in the NFC no one thought Seattle or Arizona. The game the Cardinals won against the Saints is the one out of ten they would win if we played them ten times. Pull for the Cards in a ho hum game between two division leaders.
2-3 Minnesota @ 3-3 Green Bay - First of all I want to thank Bret Favre for not texting me a picture of his junk. Did he really think that would seal the deal? Has that ever worked for anyone? Back to kwtpf, who thought these teams would both struggle? I had Green Bay as the best team in the NFC. This is a mid season survival game in the North where 10-6 or 9-7 might win the division. We have our win and tiebreaker over the Vikings so pull for them.
4-2 New York Giants @ 1-4 Dallas - Did you laugh when I suggested Dallas was still kind of in it? At 1-4 it looks mighty bad. But suppose they beat the Giants, Philly loses and the Skins lose.....all very distinct possibilities. Dallas would be a game and a half out and could get back to 4-4 at the midway point. Its a must game for the Cowboys and at this point in the season we should pull for them. Wait, pull for the Cowboys to win? :throwup: How about pull for the Giants to lose.
1-5 Cleveland @ 4-2 New Orleans - The Saints better win because you will not get a much easier game in the NFL than the Cleveland Browns at your crib. I hope the Saints that went to Tampa show up, not the ones that went to Arizona. The Saints need this game bad because the second half of the season for them is mostly on the road and at some difficult venues. A win Sunday would set up a monster Halloween game with Roethlisberger and the Steelers (unless Ben texts his junk to Favres girlfriend). Get your costumes ready.
If you are 3-5 at the halfway point you are still in it, but you have to work hard to believe it and realistically may have to go 6-2 or 7-1 over the rest of the season to get a playoff spot. A team at 4-4 at the halfway point is still pretty much in the hunt. The odds are not great, but put a two game streak together and at 6-4 you are in good shape. A 5-3 team has about a 50% shot I would guess of making the playoffs. At 6-2 or better your odds are very good of reaching the playoffs.
The Saints are 4-2 after six games and in very good shape. On the plus side they have key people hurt who should be back for the stretch run and they still have a bye week left to rest. They also have a very winnable game Sunday. On the minus side they are on the road a lot in the last half of the season and they have a home loss to the Falcons. Hartley's chip shot miss was huge.
The know who to pull for (kwtpf) column becomes more relevant as time goes on. Each game still counts the same, but each game becomes more critical as teams run out of games. At 1-4 the Cowboys are almost done. I say almost because most 1-4 teams are 1-4 because they are not as good as other teams. The Cowboys have good players and would be home favorites against most NFL teams (they are three point favorites this week over the division leading Giants). To get to 9-7 and have a prayer for a wild card they need to go 8-3 over their next 11 games.
Carolina is 0-5 and almost done. They are probably the best 0-5 team in the NFC (mostly because they are the only 0-5 team in the NFC). Detroit and San Francisco are pretty much out of the hunt at 1-5. Every other team in the NFC is in the thick of it. There are no undefeated NFC teams. There are not even any one loss NFC teams. You can book it right now that at the end of this season there will be all kinds of wild kwtpf scenarios involving lots of teams. And there are a few big games this week:
3-3 Washington @ 4-2 Chicago - This is a big game for the Redskins. This is a big game for the Bears. If the Bears win they move to 5-2 and are looking good in an upside down North division. If Washington wins they stay right in the thick of it at 4-3. At 3-4 I am not sure the Redskins are good enough to go 7-2 over the rest of the season to get to 10-6 (I think 10-6 is the number that usually gets you in). Pull for the Skins.
2-3 Cincinnati @ 4-2 Atlanta - An almost must win for the Bengals. I think the Bengals are better than their record. I am not so sure Atlanta is as good as their record. The Bengals can win this game. I see these teams as being evenly matched. They are both good teams, but nothing special. That sentence might describe 75% of the teams in the league. Pull for the Bengals. Duh.
3-3 St Louis @ 3-2 Tampa Bay - Tampa got exposed last week. They got to 3-1 with some decent play and a ball that bounced their way. They are not a playoff team. I do not think St Louis is either, but Sam Bradford is the real deal and he has made that team competitive. Pull for the Rams to drop a division foe to 3-3, but watch out for the Rams. At 4-3 they would be very much in the thick of the hunt.
1-5 San Francisco @ 0-5 Carolina - First things first. Call up Sunday Ticket and ask if they can black out this game and refund your money. Then pull for the 49ers to further eliminate (can you further eliminate someone anyway?) the Panthers.
4-2 Philadelphia at 4-2 Tennessee - Riddle me this. Not considering New Orleans, who is the best team in the NFC? If you said Philadelphia, you might be right (a testament to how much parity there is more than an endorsement of the Eagles). They have been consistently good under Reid. They are balanced and getting good quarterback play from Kolb and Vick. Most importantly, no one else is that much better than the Eagles. We do not want the Eagles to win a very losable road game. Pull for the Titans to further muck up the NFC East.
3-2 Arizona @ 3-2 Seattle - I bet when I asked who was the best NFC team in the NFC no one thought Seattle or Arizona. The game the Cardinals won against the Saints is the one out of ten they would win if we played them ten times. Pull for the Cards in a ho hum game between two division leaders.
2-3 Minnesota @ 3-3 Green Bay - First of all I want to thank Bret Favre for not texting me a picture of his junk. Did he really think that would seal the deal? Has that ever worked for anyone? Back to kwtpf, who thought these teams would both struggle? I had Green Bay as the best team in the NFC. This is a mid season survival game in the North where 10-6 or 9-7 might win the division. We have our win and tiebreaker over the Vikings so pull for them.
4-2 New York Giants @ 1-4 Dallas - Did you laugh when I suggested Dallas was still kind of in it? At 1-4 it looks mighty bad. But suppose they beat the Giants, Philly loses and the Skins lose.....all very distinct possibilities. Dallas would be a game and a half out and could get back to 4-4 at the midway point. Its a must game for the Cowboys and at this point in the season we should pull for them. Wait, pull for the Cowboys to win? :throwup: How about pull for the Giants to lose.
1-5 Cleveland @ 4-2 New Orleans - The Saints better win because you will not get a much easier game in the NFL than the Cleveland Browns at your crib. I hope the Saints that went to Tampa show up, not the ones that went to Arizona. The Saints need this game bad because the second half of the season for them is mostly on the road and at some difficult venues. A win Sunday would set up a monster Halloween game with Roethlisberger and the Steelers (unless Ben texts his junk to Favres girlfriend). Get your costumes ready.
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