The byes are over and the NFL starts playing on Thursday nights now through Week 16. This week’s NFL Network special featured the Raiders in San Diego, marking the end of a brutal stretch for the Chargers. It was brutal on paper before it began, and it turned out to be brutal for them in fact, as well.
My apologies to the AFC West for not thinking to write in advance of their big prime time game. But, alas, we turn our attention to Sunday. And Monday!
Now that the Dolphins finally broke through and got a much-deserved win, the Colts are the lone winless team in the league. Perhaps they’ll get that elusive victory this week at home against the lousy Jaguars. If they don’t, then the same team that was threatening to be perfect just two years ago will be seriously flirting with a different sort of unblemished record this year.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins will go for two-in-a-row this Sunday, and they may get it. They’re playing at home, and they get to play the underachieving Redskins.
Lots of fascinating divisional games on tap this week…
The Broncos head to Kansas City in an important AFC West contest -- the next chapter in the never-ending referendum on Tim Tebow.
Meanwhile, the AFC North features a truly fascinating match-up as the Steelers visit the Bengals. The whole division is all knotted up (well, the Browns aren’t really tied into that knot, I’m afraid), and so the winner of this game takes the lead. The Steelers are coming off their home-field, prime-time disappointment against the rival Ravens. The Bengals, meanwhile, are waiting to prove that they’re as good as their record. And they’ll have plenty of opportunity in the next several weeks, including a trip to Baltimore and two games against Pittsburgh.
And a great AFC East battle enjoys the spotlight of Sunday Night Football. It’s the Patriots at the Jets. They are both tied with the Bills at 5-3, and New England seeks to regain its equilibrium after two consecutive losses. Tough venue in which to do it, though.
On the NFC side of the ledger, the NFC South features a major face-off this Sunday as the Saints go to Atlanta. The Falcons are just a game behind New Orleans, and I can imagine them taking advantage of the home game to even the score.
Meanwhile, in one of the most interesting and important games of the weekend, the Giants are in San Francisco. No, not the baseball team. The 49ers host the New York Giants this Sunday afternoon in a game with terrific playoff implications. San Francisco is not feeling any pressure within their own division, while the Giants are in more of a battle for NFC East supremacy. On the other hand, the 49ers surely have their eyes on a first-round bye, and perhaps even home-field advantage throughout, should the Packers stumble.
This game is an important one to the Packers, though it’s not entirely clear which way we should root. In the short term, the on-paper answer is to cheer for the 49ers to lose. But we have to go to New York to play the Giants, and if we happen to lose to them, then we’d be glad if the 49ers had notched an extra loss in New York’s record.
Of course, as long as we just keep winning, it really doesn’t matter what the rest of these guys do.
Finally, we come to the all-important NFC North.
I am really curious to see the Lions in Chicago. The Bears looked so good in Philadelphia the other night, but Detroit beat them rather handily earlier in the season. I’m definitely a Bears fan again this week, and I’m pretty hopeful about their chances there in Soldier Field.
And Week 10 plays its finale at Lambeau Field on Monday Night Football. Christian Ponder made a reasonably impressive debut against us a few weeks ago, and he has since led his team to a win in Carolina. The Vikings are coming off their bye, they are 4th in the league in rushing offense, and everyone can pass against the Packers. Honestly, I’m a little bit worried.
I don’t have any doubt that we’re the better team, mind you. I just wonder whether one of these days our offense won’t be able to keep up with the points our defense is giving up. Or whether that defense won’t get the pivotal end-of-the-game stop that has characterized so many of their efforts in this long winning streak.
Still, for all of that, the Packers are in a zone right now. They’re as cool, as professional, and as versatile as the quarterback who leads them. Plus, I think McCarthy is a fixer, and I think Capers is a genius. I expect us to get better, not worse. So I’m looking for another “W,” a 9-0 record, and still more talk about the possibility of a perfect season.
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