- First, of course, the Panthers. Just when I think they have all of the gears moving in the right direction, they stink one up at home to the Bucs. Now, don't get me wrong; losing to the Bucs isn't an embarrassment, as they can beat anyone on any given day. But considering how well we played against them a few weeks ago, it should have been closer than what it was. The final score was 20-10, but that was after a touchdown in the final minutes.
If the Panthers are going to go to Detroit, and it's still a possibility, they need to find some kind of consistency on the offensive side of the ball. The running game has been nonexistant most of the year, Delhomme has had his most error-prone season yet, and there has got to be someone else that can get open other than Steve Smith. Smith is unbelievable; no doubt about it. But he cannot carry the whole team on his back. The boys got to put in work.
Luckily for us, we have New Orleans this week, which should all but give us a playoff birth (particularly with an Atlanta loss to Chicago this week). But Fox has to come up with something before the big game with Dallas on Christmas Eve.
- I'mma go ahead and put my two cents in right now: Indy will NOT make it to 16-0. I never thought they would to begin with, but still. They are a great team, but not invincible.
Between San Diego and Seattle, they'll lose. My money is on Seattle. More on that in a minute.
- It's something about the Colts' run that doesn't sit right with me. When UNLV was running the tables back in 91 in college basketball, you knew you were watching a great team. Every Chicago Bulls championship had that aura about it, and so did the Cowboys teams of the 90's. But I don't get that same feeling with Indy, and I believe they can be knocked off at any time.
I think it's because we were watching the Colts get hoed by the New England Patriots less than a year ago. Now several of the Patriots are hurt, or gone, and that makes it seem as if the Colts only became the toast of the NFL by default instead of beating the real Patriots. It just doesn't seem genuine to me.
- It's got to be tough being the Chiefs. They pull out a big win last Sunday in Denver and then this past Sunday they make a great 54 drive in the final seconds of the Dallas game for what was to be the game-tying field goal to send it into overtime, and the kicker shanked it wide left. And it doesn't get any easier than that, considering they have to play the Giants on Saturday. If they don't make the playoffs, they can point to that loss.
- Another team that I can't figure out is the Chargers. What the hell was that? It's one thing to lose to the Dolphins, but they beat you with offense? It's way too close to the end of the season to lose games like that, and the Chargers won't have an easier time at it than they did on Sunday. Indy on Sunday, Kansas City on Christmas Eve, and Denver on New Year's Eve.
- Ugh. If you thought that Falcons/Lions stinker was bad on Thanksgiving, check out Christmas: Chicago/Green Bay on Fox, Baltimore/Minnesota on ESPN for Sunday Night Football. Good luck not falling asleep on those two.
- Speaking of the Falcons and sleeping, Monday night's game was horrible. Seriously. John Madden started talking bout how his tie turned colors because he dropped some mustard on it. At that point, I had to laugh at how pathetic that broadcast had gotten. It's not a surprise to me that the game had the lowest rating of the season.
- I watched Sunday Night Football this week too - Packers/Lions - and that was just as bad. However, at least it did go into overtime. But that had to be some of the worst coaching and team performances I've ever seen.
- Mike Tice is a hard coach to figure out. This marks the second year where everyone thought the Vikings were dead in the water, and Tice was so fired. All of a sudden they pull a rabbit out of the hat. Everyone, including I, had given them their last rites after my Panthers put Culpepper out for a whole year. Six games later, they are right in the thick of the playoff hunt. They are in a three-way tie with Dallas and Atlanta for that last wildcard spot.
Does that mean he should keep his job? I dunno. It's hard to look back at his tenure and say he had brought stability to that franchise. They are in the playoff hunt, but many had them winning the NFC North in the first place, which won't happen unless that Chicago defense continues to sputter just like they did against Pittsburgh on Sunday. That's going to be a tough decision for Vikings owner Zigi Wilf.
- If Dallas and Washington don't make the playoffs, will Bill Parcells and Joe Gibbs retire? Joe probably won't, because Snyder seems content with letting him rebuild the franchise, but Parcells is another story. This is his third season, and he doesn't seem content to stay that much longer. He tends to get tired of football pretty quickly, at least compared to other coaches.
- My Top 10:
- Indianapolis
- Seattle
- Denver
- Cincinnati
- Pittsburgh
- Giants
- New England
- Tampa Bay
- Dallas
- Jacksonville
- Last thought: A number of sports talking heads have said the NFL, and especially the NFC, is terrible this year. C'mon. How many NFC teams would you have put into the top 10 last year? Two? Atlanta and Philadelphia, right?
Now this year you have a lot of teams that have improved greatly in both conferences. Seattle is the team I thought it would be last year. The Giants have improved on both sides of the ball. Denver is WAY better than I thought it would be. Tampa Bay has improved, Dallas picked up Bledsoe, Cincinnati's offense has EXPLODED...I don't recall a better year of football in the last, say, five seasons.
If you would have said the NFC was terrible last year, I would have agreed with you. It was pathetic even, as four of the six playoff teams had no business being there. But this year, you can't say the NFC is bad, when you have the Giants, the Cowboys, the Panthers, the Bears, and the Seahawks. All of those teams are legit Super Bowl contenders, and there's no guarantee that any of those teams, save the Seahawks, will make the playoffs. You could make an argument for or against those being one of the 10 best teams in the league (Once again, except the Seahawks. Anyone who made that argument doesn't know a thing about football.)
I'll have my picks on Friday, as there are a couple of NFL games on Saturday.