NFC Playoff Picture

By Brett | Permalink | 1 comment | November 30th, 2006 | Trackback

We enjoy the fact that current NFL flavor of the month Tony Romo kind of looks like a filthy drunk in this photo. Can’t really think of a decent segueway from that into our pseudo-analysis of the NFC playoff race, so we’re just going to jump right in.

NFC West

• Who’s going? Seattle . This team is 7-4, plays in a weak division, and is just starting to hit it’s stride. Credit Mike Holmgren for holding this thing together while Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander were hurt. The Seahawks are going to be dangerous in the playoffs.
• Who’s got a shot? St. Louis, just barely. They’re 5-6, and their passing game has been sputtering the last few weeks. They’ve been soft defensively all season. However, they have a pretty weak schedule from here on out, with Arizona, Oakland, and Washington still left to play. If they win those three, they just might sneak in with an 8-8 record. God, the NFC is horrible this year.
• Who’s the spoiler? San Francisco. The 49ers have really been playing some good ball the last few weeks, and would have the inside track on a wild card spot if they had held on last week against the Rams. Mike Nolan has this team pointed in the right direction. They just don’t have quite enough talent to make a serious run this year.
• Who should be going, but won’t? Arizona. The Cards were a chic pre-season pick to make the playoffs, and they’ve got talent at the skill positions and on defense. Frankly, we’re not surprised that they’re not going to the playoffs, because, hey…they’re still the Cards, and they always find a way to disappoint. We think it’s safe to say that they are who we thought they are.

  NFC South

• Who’s going? New Orleans. A lot of people have said that the Saints would fiail late in the season, because their schedule down the stretch is a killer. They’ve got San Fran, Dallas, Washington, NYG, and Carolina. With the exception of Dallas, New Orleans is playing better than all of those teams right now. 2-3 should be good enough to get them into the playoffs.
• Who’s got a shot? Carolina. Everyone’s preseason Super Bowl pick from the NFC is only 6-5, and hasn’t played with any kind of consistency this year. They don’t have much of a running game, their secondary has been suspect at times, the still relie way too much on Steve Smith, and Jake Delhomme has been struggling lately. Which means, of course, that they’re one of the best teams in the NFC. We’d be surprised if Carolina tanks over the next month.
• Who’s the spoiler? Tampa Bay would be the choice, given that, by definition, a spoiler has to be a team that isn’t very good. They also have to, you know, actually be able to win a game here and there, and therein lies the rub with calling the Bucs a spoiler.
• Who should be going, but won’t? Atlanta. We had hoped that this would be the year that Mike Vick would put it all together, and for a second there, it looked like he would. I don’t get what’s going on in Atlanta. The owner loves Vick, but the coach has him playing in a system that is just a terrible fit for his skill set. We think there’s a good chance that either Vick or Jim Mora Jr. could be somewhere else next season, because whatever they’re doing in Atlanta just isn’t working.
  
  NFC North

• Who’s going? Chicago. The Bears are 9-2. The next best team, Minnesota, is 5-6. It’s not a question of if the Bears will win this division, but when.
• Who’s got a shot? Minnesota. Despite losing four of their last five, the Vikings are still right in the thick of the NFC playoff hunt. They’d go a long way toward securing a spot by beating Chicago this weekend. After that, they’ve got NYJ, Detroit, Green Bay, and St. Louis, all of which are winnable games. It’s not out of the question that the Vikes could finish 9-7.
• Who’s the spoiler? Green Bay. The Packers are actually playing decent ball these days. Not great, but good enough to beat a team that doesn’t come to play. Brett Favre still has a good arm, and a couple good receivers. The defense has some playmakers.
• Who’s should be going, but won’t? There’s not really a team in the division that fits this description. The Vikings have been about as good as most people expected, and the Packers and Lions were bad teams to begin with. Except, of course, in the minds of those jack-offs that pick Detroit as the chic sleeper pick every single year (we’re looking at you, Peter King).

  NFC East

• Who’s going? Dallas. They’re playing better than anyone in the NFC right now, including Chicago. This team has the right combination of players and scheme on both sides of the ball to beat the Bears in Chicago in January. If they can keep the momentum going, Dallas could represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
• Who’s got a shot? The Giants. They’ve fallen to 6-5, are seriously banged up on defense, and have a QB that can’t stop throwing the ball to the other team. That’s not what concerns us, though. The bigger concern with this team is that they just don’t seem to like each other very much. They started out 6-2. We think they’re going to finish up 2-6, and even out at 8-8. That might cut it, but we’re not holding our breath for this club.
• Who’s the spoiler? Philadelphia. It’s amazing that this team was within a few plays of being 7-0 at one point in the season. Now they’re 5-6 and have no shot at doing anything. But we wouldn’t be surprised to see them jump up and bite some unsuspecting team –say, the Giants, for example– in the ass.
• Who should be going, but won’t? Washington. What a disappointing season it’s been for the ‘Skins. They went to the playoffs last year, spent a buttload of money on free agents and high profile coaches, and don’t have damn thing to show for it. As long as Dan Snyder is running the show in Washington, we’re not sure this team is ever going to do much, no matter how much talent they acquire in the off-season.

  So, with a month left to go in the regular season, here’s who we’ve got going to the playoffs in the JV league known as the NFC: Seattle, New Orleans, Chicago, and Dallas as the division winners, and Carolina and Minnesota as the wild cards.

  Have a different take? Feel free to chime in and let us know what you think.

  
  
  Tags: Tony Romo, NFL playoffs, NFC, Chicago Bears, Seattle Seahawks, Steve Smith, Michael Vick, NFL News, Tag Index
  
  

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