Good... Grief!
San Fran loses with Refball at home. Green Bay gets some apparent Refball (though I do think the punt returner was declared defenseless -- so the 15 was right, the call was wrong).
And where do we stand NOW...
AFC is fairly cut and dry.
1. Baltimore (#1 seed, WON AFC NORTH, 12-2, Magic Number to clinch #1 seed is one)
One of the rare cases where the apparent shoot and the apparent work in a conference are the same team. Spygate III has probably done in the Patriots. The Chiefs are not ready for prime time, and God only knows what comes out of the AFC South.
2. New England (#2 seed, IN PLAYOFFS, 11-3, beat Buffalo on Saturday to win the AFC East and secure a first-round bye)
... almost by default. I would not, at all, be shocked if they are knocked off in the Divisional round, however.
3. Kansas City (#3 seed, WON AFC WEST, 10-4)
I think it began with another bad round of suspensions and the like. Maybe holding Mahomes off a year or two.
4. Houston (#4 seed, 9-5)
5. Buffalo (#5 seed, IN PLAYOFFS, 10-4)
Could go a long way up the ladder if they can beat New England this weekend.
6. Pittsburgh (#6 seed, 8-6)
But now tied with Tennessee.
NFC, by contrast, got messy as HELL!
Four teams 11-3 and a fifth is 10-4!
1. San Francisco (#5 seed since Seattle won the first matchup, 11-3, IN PLAYOFFS)
Seattle and San Fran play Week 17.
The problem with picking a #1 in the NFC is that all of the other choices have a significant poison pill...
2. Green Bay (#2 seed, IN PLAYOFFS, 11-3)
Two wins gets them a first-round bye at minimum. Problem is two-fold: Too small a town, and they aren't THAT good. Name one real blowout they've had all year!
3. New Orleans (#3 seed, WON NFC SOUTH, 11-3)
A lot of people have believed the Super Bowl XXXVII Make Up Call Game would be implied here, at least in the NFC. But New Orleans sued the fuck out of the league, and I can't see the league taking kindly to that, chips down.
4. Minnesota (#6 seed, 10-4)
Magic number for the playoffs is one.
5. Seattle (#1 seed, IN PLAYOFFS, 11-3)
The problem here is simple: How many more suspensions until they're in the doghouse, Jerry Jones style?
6. Dallas (#4 seed, 7-7)
And speaking of Jerry Jones...
And they could not let, with all the beef in the NFC, a 6-10 team make the playoffs, or even 7-9 now.
If the two best teams were to meet in the Super Bowl it would be Baltimore and Seattle. But whom does FOX television want in the game as they are broadcasting it.What better way for good old #12 to retire than to go out a champion.And against what opponent? I still think Green Bay can play this role as it is the 100th anniversary of the NFL and they are one of the oldest teams. Maybe the league fools us all and gives us Buffalo/Minnesota as someone has to win.
ReplyDeleteNever thought of the 100th Anniversary angle. Good catch!!
DeleteNot sure on New England because there's only speculation Brady is leaving -- and the New Spygate situation is really muddying waters over there.
Let's see if I can figure this out...
Seattle wins the 1 seed and the NFC West, Green Bay the 2 and the NFC North.
New Orleans and San Fran win the wildcard weekend, you get SEA/SF and GB/NO to lead to SEA/GB...
Yeah, I can see it, but that's a House of Horrors for GB fans.