NFL playoff picture taking shape

We have a much better shot against Seattle. Stop Lynch and don't turn the ball over and you have a shot. Wilson is good, but he's not a world beater on a weekly basis.

Brees would butt frick us again.

Remember Peter Schibetta from 'Oz'? That's the Seahawks on the road

Bob Roberts said:

Remember Peter Schibetta from 'Oz'? That's the Seahawks on the road

Click to expand...

Remember Adabisi? That's New Orleans.

Don't know about ya'll, but I'd rather face Denver than New England.

pdom said:

Don't know about ya'll, but I'd rather face Denver than New England.

Click to expand...

Good for you. You have Dallas in the SB.

pdom said:

Don't know about ya'll, but I'd rather face Denver than New England.

Click to expand...

Don't let them kill your spirit.

Rather face NO, our crack staff of geniuses has already gotten a look at them and now know exactly how to handle them...

Bears, Packers control the NFC North, Lions need both to lose

Posted by Michael David Smith on December 17, 2013, 6:54 AM EST


For the last five weeks, since the Lions finished a season sweep of the Bears, Detroit has been in control of the NFC North. That is no longer the case.

The Lions’ Monday night loss to the Ravens puts the Bears and Packers in control: If the Packers beat the Steelers and the Bears beat the Eagles on Sunday, then the winner of the Packers-Bears Week 17 game will win the NFC North.

Detroit now needs to win both its remaining games (against the Giants and at the Vikings), plus help in the form of both teams losing. If the Bears and Packers both win on Sunday, the Lions will be eliminated before Week 17.

From the NFL’s perspective, the most exciting result would be the Bears and Packers both winning next week, and turning the Week 17 meeting into a one-game playoff for the NFC North title. Throw in a return of Aaron Rodgers for that game, and record TV ratings would ensue.
----------------------

Makes the Philadelphia/Chicago game pretty intriguing.

Makes the Philadelphia/Chicago game pretty intriguing

Click to expand...

Yep it do.

L.T. Fan said:

Yep it do.

Click to expand...

It has no impact on the Cowboys though. Win or lose, the game in the final weekend means the division title if Dallas defeats Washington.

boozeman said:

It has no impact on the Cowboys though. Win or lose, the game in the final weekend means the division title if Dallas defeats Washington.

Click to expand...

Eagles win and we lose, we're eliminated. Do eet.

pdom said:

Eagles win and we lose, we're eliminated. Do eet.

Click to expand...

I still can't wish for that.

If we are going to fail, I would prefer it to be yet another final weekend collapse...

Preferably one driven by Tony Romo again and replete with a bunch of Jason Garrett idiocy with clock management and playcalling.

boozeman said:

I still can't wish for that.

If we are going to fail, I would prefer it to be yet another final weekend collapse...

Preferably one driven by Tony Romo again and replete with a bunch of Jason Garrett idiocy with clock management and playcalling.

Click to expand...

And have a sold-out Cowboys Stadium with 100k buying $75 parking passes and $12 beer? Feh.

Give me a blacked out Week 17

pdom said:

And have a sold-out Cowboys Stadium with 100k buying $75 parking passes and $12 beer? Feh.

Give me a blacked out Week 17

Click to expand...

You make very good points.

But I think Jerry can absorb losing that one game and the damage to his beloved relevance.

If anything, Jerry made more concessions money from the Packers 2nd half comeback versus us maintaining a 20 point lead.

More people calling into Cowboys radio with a controversy, leading to more listeners, leading to higher advertising dollars, leading to Jerruh negotiating for a larger cut of that advertising revenue. "Give me 70% of advertising revenue as the official Cowboys radio station, or struggle keeping viewership without the Cowboys"

Only thing Jerruh hasn't done is a sex scandal.

NFL Playoff Picture: Clinching scenarios for teams entering Week 16

AFC East, AFC North, AFC South, AFC West, NFC East, NFC North, NFC South, NFC West, NFL Playoffs


By Chris Burke


Here’s how the AFC and NFC playoff pictures look headed into Week 16:


AFC

1. Denver Broncos (11-3): AFC West leader *
2. New England Patriots (10-4): AFC East leader
3. Cincinnati Bengals (9-5): AFC North leader
4. Indianapolis Colts (9-5): AFC South leader *
5. Kansas City Chiefs (11-3): Wild card *
6. Baltimore Ravens (8-6): Wild card

In the Hunt: Miami Dolphins (8-6), San Diego Chargers (7-7), Pittsburgh Steelers (6-8)

(* = has clinched playoff berth)

The AFC playoff scenarios for Week 16 are as follows:

• Denver clinches the AFC West and a first-round bye with a win plus a Kansas City loss. The Broncos would clinch home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with those two outcomes and a New England loss.

• New England clinches the AFC East with a win or tie, or a Miami loss or tie (a Cincinnati loss also would clinch a playoff spot for the Patriots). The Patriots clinch a first-round bye with a win, Cincinnati loss or tie and an Indianapolis loss or tie; or a tie and losses by Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

• Cincinnati clinches the AFC North with a win plus a Baltimore loss or tie, or a tie and Baltimore loss. The Bengals can secure a playoff spot with a win and a Miami loss or tie, or a tie and a Miami loss.

• Baltimore clinches a playoff spot with a win plus a Miami loss and a San Diego loss or tie.

• Miami clinches a playoff spot with a win plus losses by Baltimore and Cincinnati.

At least one of the AFC’s spots will be up for grabs headed to Week 17, regardless of what goes on this Sunday and Monday. But all four division titles could be sewn up by that point, as the Broncos, Patriots and Bengals all have scenarios that would allow them to clinch this week.

The Steelers need a long list of circumstances to fall their direction to even stay alive beyond this week. The Chargers could fall by the wayside too, if they lose or both the Ravens and Dolphins win — either scenario would bounce San Diego from contention.

Two games that loom very large: New England at Baltimore and Indianapolis at Kansas City. The latter could be a wild-card round preview, but the Chiefs still have their eyes on the No. 1-overall seed. Indianapolis still could secure a first-round bye as well, with a little help. And while the Patriots need a win to clinch the AFC East, the Ravens not only still have a shot at a wild card but also control their own destiny in the AFC North race.

NFC

1. Seattle Seahawks (12-2): NFC West leader *
2. New Orleans Saints (10-4): NFC South leader
3. Philadelphia Eagles (8-6): NFC East leader
4. Chicago Bears (8-6): NFC North leader
5. Carolina Panthers (10-4): Wild card
6. San Francisco 49ers (10-4): Wild card

In the Hunt: Arizona Cardinals (9-5), Green Bay Packers (7-6-1), Detroit Lions (7-7), Dallas Cowboys (7-7)

The NFC playoff scenarios for Week 16 are as follows:

• Seattle clinches the NFC West and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs with a win or tie, or a San Francisco loss or tie.

• New Orleans clinches the NFC South and a first-round bye with a win. The Saints also could clinch a playoff spot by virtue of a tie plus an Arizona loss; a tie plus a San Francisco loss or tie; a tie plus an Arizona tie; or a San Francisco loss and Arizona tie.

• Carolina clinches a playoff spot with a win, or a tie and a loss by either Arizona or San Francisco, or losses by both Arizona and San Francisco.

• San Francisco clinches a playoff spot with a win or an Arizona loss, or ties by both teams.

• Philadelphia clinches the NFC East with a win plus a Dallas loss or tie, or a tie and Dallas loss.

• Chicago clinches the NFC North with a win plus a Green Bay loss and a Detroit loss or tie.

The game that stands out on the NFC schedule for Week 16 is New Orleans’ trip to Carolina. A win there by the Saints coupled with a Seattle victory over Arizona would set in stone the top two seeds for this conference. Carolina could leapfrog New Orleans into the No. 2 spot with a win, though, which might force the Saints to win in Week 17 or risk missing the playoffs entirely.

The pressure’s on the Cowboys (at Washington), Packers (vs. Pittsburgh) and Lions (vs. the Giants) to stay alive, but the North-East crossover game between Chicago and Philadelphia on Sunday night looms as one of the most important of this entire NFL season. The loser there would face a do-or-die game in Week 17 — and the winner might, too.

Arizona is the only team listed as “In the Hunt” that could steal a wild-card spot. It’s division title or bust for Green Bay, Detroit and Dallas.

pdom said:

Only thing Jerruh hasn't done is a sex scandal.

Click to expand...

Marc Trestman open to resting Chicago Bears starters
By Gregg Rosenthal
Around The League Editor
Published: Dec. 19, 2013 at 05:12 p.m. Updated: Dec. 19, 2013 at 06:56 p.m.
It's the time of year for crazy playoff scenarios and teams potentially resting their starters. There is one surprising team to keep an eye on possibly sitting some stars in Week 16: the Chicago Bears.
Despite being locked in a wild three-team race in the NFC North, there's a chance that the Bears could have very little to play for Sunday night in Philadelphia.

If the Detroit Lions lose Sunday to the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago couldn't particularly help its playoff chances with a win. In that scenario, the Bears and Packers would decide the NFC North in Week 17 regardless of whether the Bears win Sunday night.

It's not a likely scenario, but coach Marc Trestman sounds fully aware of it.

"Winning does take us to a different place in terms of potential seeding, which is critically important," Trestman said. "That's enough to reason out how we would play the game. Now could that change? Certainly. But right now we're focused on winning a game.
"There's really nothing else to discuss at this time," Trestman added. "At 7 p.m. ET Sunday night, if this situation needs to be re-evaluated again, it's open for discussion. But for right now, logically, not a minute has gone where we've thought about that. The only thing we're thinking about is finding one more way to beat the Eagles and put our team in the best position to have success on Sunday night."

Translation: The Bears are open to resting some players, but Trestman knows it's probably not a decision he will have to make. The Bears likely will need to win in Philadelphia to stay ahead of Detroit. If the Lions and Packers both lose early, the Bears will be playing for an NFC North title in Philadelphia.

Win that game, and Trestman might wind up resting his starters in Week 17.

Play em starters coach.