Week Eleven -- A Look Ahead

Once again, the NFL weekend began on Thursday Night, as the Panthers hosted the undermanned Dolphins. In our jockeying for wild card position, our hearts were with the Dolphins, though I honestly didn't have much hope for this one. Surprisingly, however, Miami pulled it off, knocking one of our many mid-level NFL competitors down a peg for us.

The rest of the action of interest to us, meanwhile, is slated for Sunday afternoon and evening.

First, there is our own game. The 49ers come to Lambeau this Sunday. San Francisco got off to a very hot start this season, including giving Minnesota more of a run for its money than the Packers managed to do in either of their opportunities. But then the wheels came off a bit, and now they're wallowing at 4-5, two games behind the Division-leading Cardinals. This is a very important game for them. They still have playoff hopes, but it's hard to imagine those hopes remaining alive if they dropped to 4-6.

If this game were being played on the West Coast, I'd be more worried. As it is, I'm pretty hopeful about the Packers building on the momentum from last Sunday and getting the job done again this week at home.

Elsewhere, we'll be Redskin fans -- an unhappy assignment this season -- as they visit the Cowboys. It's not essential that Dallas lose, since they are the NFC East Division leaders. Still, having beaten them head-to-head, and given the tightness of that 3-way race, I'd prefer to see Dallas in the wild card race and either the Giants or Eagles (whom we do not play) win the Division. So, go Hawgs!

The Seahawks will travel to Minnesota, where they will lose. Whatever.

The Saints will try to stay perfect in Tampa Bay, which I expect they'll manage to do.

The Falcons play the Giants in New York this Sunday. It is in the Packers' best wild card interests for both of these teams to lose. That can't happen this week, of course. But the good news is that at least one of the teams that we need to have lose is certain to!

Meanwhile, it's not essential to us that the Arizona Cardinals lose, and that's a good thing, because they're playing St. Louis this weekend. The fact is that we don't need any of the other NFC Division leaders to lose -- so long as they stay the Division leaders, that is. So it's okay with us if the Cardinals win, as long as the 49ers lose and remain the NFC West team that is against us in the wild card race. Happily, the 49ers' fate is in our hands this weekend.

Also, looking a little further down the road, not only do we want the 49ers to lose, but it would be nice if Arizona kept winning and San Fran kept losing so that the Cardinals could lock up their Division and have little or nothing to play for when we meet them in Arizona at the end of the regular season.

A couple of good match-ups are on tap in the AFC...

The Chargers are playing in Denver with the AFC West lead at stake. These are two teams going in opposite directions. The Broncos are lucky to be playing at home -- perhaps they can fix whatever has been wrong these past three weeks. Doesn't matter to me: I don't have a dog in this fight.

Another interesting AFC game is the Jets-Patriots match-up. The Jets won their first game, but they've been falling apart recently. The Patriots, meanwhile, are looking much stronger, and they have to be mad as hornets after blowing the big lead in Indianapolis last Sunday Night.

This Sunday Night, meanwhile, is another good one as the Eagles travel to Chicago. Both teams need this game. The Bears need it more, but the Eagles are better. If Philly comes into Chicago and wins, it may be the final nail in the Bears' very disappointing coffin. Given the relative records, I'll bite the lemon and cheer for Chicago in this one.

Finally, did you see that the Browns are playing the Lions this weekend? Wow -- what a contest! It seems to me that the FCC ought to step in and take some sort of preemptive action, for this one is just too ugly to broadcast.