Well, here in the first weekend of 2011, we have finally arrived at the climax of the 2010 NFL campaign. And a remarkable number of things remain to be decided, which makes for interesting viewing.
In the AFC, all the participants are decided except for one slot -- the Colts and Jaguars are vying for the one remaining position, with Indy having the inside track. A Colts’ win against the flaming out Titans will guarantee them the AFC South title and the final AFC spot. A Colts’ loss plus a Jacksonville win in Houston would send the perennial playoff Colts home and usher the Jags into the postseason.
In the NFC, there are more teams involved in contested playoff berths. The Packers cement their spot as sixth seed by beating the Bears at Lambeau. Or, alternately, we could afford a loss to Chicago if both the Giants and Buccaneers lose today. We’ll know the outcome of the Bucs-Saints game by the time our game commences, but the Giants and Redskins play in the late slot with us.
The Giants are in with a win and a Green Bay loss. They, no doubt, are kicking themselves for their disastrous past two weeks.
The Buccaneers, meanwhile, have the slightest of chances. Not only do they need to beat the Saints, who are still in contention for the NFC South title; they also need both the Giants and Packers to lose. I would consider it astonishing if Tampa Bay makes it.
Surprisingly, the Sunday Night Game between the Rams and Seahawks turns out to be the best contest of the day. Not in sheer football terms, of course, for both teams are rather inferior. But their game enjoys the greatest drama as the winner takes the NFC West while the loser watches the playoffs on TV.
Finally, the other matter of some interest to us as Packer fans are the results of the Saints and Falcons games, both of which will be over as we kick off. If both teams happen to lose -- and what are the odds? -- then the Bears would be in line to capture the #1 overall seed in the NFC. Selfishly, we don’t want them to have that motivation at 3:15 Central Time. Apart from that potentiality, they don’t stand to gain anything by beating the Packers this afternoon.
Conventional wisdom, of course, is that a team wants momentum going into the postseason, they want to be playing their best ball, and they want to play every games as professionals who have pride in their performance. On top of that, the feeling is that the Bears would love to knock the Packers out of the playoffs. Still, I love the way we’re playing, and I believe we’ll win this one by a couple of scores.
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