Week Ten -- A Look Ahead

Week Ten began on Thursday Night, and the game happened to be of interest to us, and it happened to go our way -- the 49ers beat the Bears.

Now we turn our attention to the regular slate of games on Sunday and Monday.

Come early Sunday afternoon, the Vikings will host the Lions. Seeing as how I have emotionally conceded the Division to Minnesota, I won't grieve too much the fact that the Vikings are almost certain to win this game. Oh well.

Late on Sunday afternoon, meanwhile, is when the Packers will kick off. The Cowboys are coming to town, and they are playing better football than the Packers have been of late. If Week Ten is simply a continuation of Weeks 8 and 9, Green Bay will lose. On the other hand, Week 10 doesn't have to be a simple extrapolation of what has come before.

My chief concern -- predictably -- is that we won't be able to protect Aaron Rodgers. But if we were able to get our act together in that one, fundamental part of the game, I believe it would make a HUGE difference. Our passing game would become the explosive and productive force that it could be, which would open up our running game. And if our running and passing game were functioning properly, we'd rack up points and we'd keep the opponent's offense off the field. And if the offense were putting up points the way they're capable of, then our defense could play downhill, which I think is what they do best. So, it's that simple: protect Rodgers and Green Bay wins.

Elsewhere...

I will be mildly rooting for the visiting, underdog Seahawks to beat the Cardinals. It's not essential for the Packers' purposes, but it would be useful.

The Eagles travel to San Diego. The two teams are in identical positions in their Divisions, though on balance Philly is playing better football. As we jockey for an NFC wild card berth, we'll be rooting for the Chargers. Happily, the Eagles have to travel cross-country to play this one.

Falcons head to Carolina, and we will root, root, root for the home team in this one, as well. Atlanta is currently ahead of us in the wild card race, and so we'd like to see them knocked down a peg.

The Saints play at St. Louis, so you can expect them to remain undefeated for yet another week.

Finally, how ugly is the inequity of prime time scheduling? The Sunday Night Football gang gets to broadcast the Patriots-Colts game. The next night, meanwhile, the Monday Night crew has to cover the Ravens-Browns game. Wow!

The Sunday Night folks get to cover the marquee game of the week -- the perennial grudge match of AFC powers, featuring two of the most popular, most talented, most recognizeable QBs in the game.

Monday Night Football, on the other hand, is saddled with broadcasting the accident by the side of the road. The Browns are an absolute mess. The Cleveland fans are in revolt. And the visiting Ravens, of course, represent the real Browns that were stolen from Cleveland back in the early 90s. It's a recipe for ugly on MNF.

Bottom line? Vikings win. Saints stay undefeated. Colts get knocked off their perfect record perch. And the Packers...? WIN! -- thus reviving the fading hopes of Packer fans everywhere and reestablishing our place in the playoff race.