In Week 15, the 13-0 team lost and the 0-13 team won. There was a certain symmetry in that, I suppose, as the NFL returned from its two extremes to a greater normalcy. Let’s hope that the symmetry ends there, however, for the 1-13 Colts have already won in Week 16.
It’s an unusual football weekend, with a full slate of games being played on Christmas Eve day. Then, tomorrow, the Packers host the Bears on Christmas night -- how obnoxious would that be if you were a Bear? -- followed by a more normal feeling Monday Night Football game on the 26th.
With just two weeks to go, no one has everything locked up yet, and so there is a lot of meaningful football to be played. Lots of fascinating jockeying for position, including a couple of entire divisions that are still wide open (most notably the NFC East and the AFC West). Great stuff!
As a Packer fan, I suppose the bottom line is pretty simple. We want to lock up home field advantage through the playoffs. That simply requires one Packer win in the next two games or one 49er loss in the next two games.
The only other real issue for us is the “down the road” question: namely, what other teams would we prefer to face or not to face in the postseason?
For example, conventional wisdom was that we were rooting for the Steelers to win in San Francisco last week so that Green Bay would get that #1 seed. Not me. I’m pretty confident we’re going to get that seed anyway, and so I was taking the longer view: namely, I would rather have the 49ers get the #2 seed than the Saints. Accordingly, I’m rooting for (gulp) San Francisco these next two weeks, while pulling against New Orleans. Why? Because the Saints scare me. (And they annoy me a little, too.)
Elsewhere…. It’s possible that the Lions could miss the playoffs. Does that sound appealing? They’ve got two very tough games remaining: against the viable and recently-hot Chargers this weekend, followed by the much-ballyhooed visit to Lambeau in Week 17. Shall I root against them? I’d like to. But if they do lose today, they’ll really be necessarily playing to win when they face us next week. Not sure I’m liking that prospect.
How about the NFC East? Who do you want to have emerge from that division? Personally, I’m pulling for the Cowboys. The Giants have really been struggling, but still they scare me. And the prospect of the Eagles making it into this year’s playoffs is absolutely intolerable. Go, Cowboys!
Meanwhile, if the Bears played the Packers today, they’d still have some modicum of playoff hope for which to play. On the other hand, if a bunch of their closest competitors in the wild card race win today, they’ll have no motivation left but hate when they take to the Frozen Tundra on Christmas night. Accordingly, I may be rooting for the Lions today -- as well as the Giants, Cowboys, Seahawks, and Cardinals.
And no matter what happens on Saturday and Sunday, I am definitely a Falcon fan on Monday.
A lot of hype surrounding that game. It’s a good prime time match-up. And even more talk surrounding the Cowboys-Eagles, 49ers-Seahawks, and Giants-Jets. All of those games are really compelling Week 16 contests. Should be a great football weekend!
Finally, in the most important game, FOX Sports reports that the Bears may be without Devin Hester and Marion Barber. Wow! And without Cutler and Forte already, and with a QB who hasn’t thrown an NFL pass since half-past forever, I’m really liking Green Bay’s chances of a big rebound game.
On the other hand, if the Seahawks beat San Francisco on Saturday, Green Bay will technically have nothing to play for on Sunday. Except winning. No more perfection to be achieved… what would you do?
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1 comment:
I just got the call. I'm the starting running back for the Bears this week. Ugh. Like I need more to do right now.
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