Game Previews
Three to Focus on: 49ers @ Rams, Week 17
Last year, the NFC West was embarrassed by having a team steal a playoff spot and a home playoff game by registering a 7-9 record with a Week 17 win. In 2011, their divisional champion will secure a bye week with a victory over the same opponent that lost the final game of the 2010 regular season. The division champ has once again changed, as the San Francisco 49ers finally take the mantle they were expected to walk away with last season. The team on the receiving is once again the St Louis Rams who with a loss will walk away with their third season of two wins or less in the last four. The Rams could even be picking first for the second time in three years as an injury ravaged season (all of the cornerbacks they took to training camp are on injured reserve for example) has seen them plumb the depths of the NFL. Read the rest of this entry »
Three to Focus on: Bears @ Vikings, Week 17
An NFC North encounter to round off the season features both sides finding themselves with nothing to play for. The Bears were firmly in the thick of the playoff hunt until an injury cost them their star quarterback, Jay Cutler, and since that point the injuries have only been mounting, with Matt Forte the latest major piece to go down for the year. Minnesota on the other hand was never at the races this season and languish with a 3-12 record heading into their final game.
The Vikings took themselves out of the running for the number one overall pick in the next draft last week when they beat Washington, and a final win this week could drop them to as far as the sixth overall pick, which would be little short of a disaster for a team with so many holes to fill. Losing Adrian Peterson forces them to lean on the shoulders of Toby Gerhart as their main bellcow in the run game, and their rookie quarterback Christian Ponder returns to the starting lineup this week, after being sidelined with concussion. Chicago are playing for pride and little else, but that may well be enough. Here are three matchups that will heavily influence the outcome.
Three to Focus on: Panthers @ Saints, Week 17
One last chance to watch Cam Newton as a rookie, one last chance for the New Orleans Saints to build momentum ahead of the playoffs and an outside chance of a bye week. The formula is pretty simple for both the Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints this week as the Panthers chance of playing spoiler for a second time in three weeks was thrown out of the window Monday night as the Saints clinched both the division and the single season passing record for the Saints and Drew Brees.
With the 49ers needing only a road victory over the hapless Rams, the Saints appear to be locked into the third seed so much of the intrigue in this game is gone. However if the Saints stick to Sean Payton’s claim that they will go full throttle for sixty minutes to maintain their momentum into the post-season this game still has the potential to be one of the best on the Week 17 slate. The first game between these two was a close three point victory for the Saints and a wide open Carolina offense has the chance to keep pace with, if not beat, Drew Brees and the Saints. Here are three focus points in our last chance to watch Cam Newton in a competitive game for eight months.
Three to Focus on: Titans @ Texans, Week 17
Quite incredibly after handing the Indianapolis Colts their first victory of the 2011 season just two weeks ago the Tennessee Titans are still alive in the playoff hunt. With a victory over the Houston Texans, who are locked into the third seed in the AFC, along with wins for Baltimore and the New York Jets, the Titans will steal an improbable sixth seed in the AFC and re-match in Houston next weekend. So we are left with the interesting situation, which we’ve had a couple of times in recent seasons, where a “better” team has nothing to play for against an inferior opponent with a playoff berth and potential momentum all to play for.
If Tennessee’s recent history is anything to go by watch for this game to be one of the closest of the weekend and one that could see the AFC sixth seed going down to the final minutes. Tennessee has only had one of their last six games decided by more than six points, their two touchdown defeat to the Colts, with four of those six games settled by a score of 23-17. All Houston has to play for in this game is momentum and some semblance of control over their wildcard opponent. Here are three focus points for one of three key games in deciding the sixth seed in the AFC.
Three to Focus on: Seahawks @ Cardinals, Week 17
After a late push for the playoffs, Seattle’s hopes were ended last week when they lost to the 49ers. It was a tough ask for them to find a way into the postseason but Seahawks fans can take faith from the way the team battled down the stretch.
Likewise in Arizona–despite some of the worst quarterback play in the NFL–the Cardinals found themselves in the thick of the playoff hunt until late in the game at Cincinnati. Although they didn’t make the playoffs, the Cardinals looked a much better team late in the season than they had the rest of the year.
Despite the fact that this had been highlighted as a meaningless game by many due to it not having any playoff implications, both these teams go into this game desperate for a win to end their seasons on a high as they head towards 2012 an here are three areas to focus on. Read the rest of this entry »
Three to Focus on: Steelers @ Browns, Week 17
After Week 1 their defense was too old, after Week 9 the Ravens had their number. Yet here we sit in Week 17 with the Pittsburgh Steelers, defending AFC Champions, waiting to pounce and retain the AFC North crowd should Baltimore slip up again.
This is the last chance for the Browns to show what they can do and make a big statement against a divisional rival heading into the final week of the season. Their playoff hopes ended long ago but you can bet they’d take an enormous amount of satisfaction from making sure the Steelers don’t win the AFC North, regardless of what happens in Cincinnati between the Bengals and the Ravens.
I’m a big fan of ending the season with divisional games and with the battle atop the AFC North heading into the final week it makes this one even better. So with that in mind let’s take a look at the thee areas to focus on this week.
Three to Focus on: Chiefs @ Broncos, Week 17
While the 2010 AFC West division champion Chiefs won’t be repeating the feat this year, they are in a position to help determine who will represent the division in the postseason. The Raiders, who eliminated Kansas City last week, must now rely on the Chiefs doing them a favor by beating Denver. No one will be more motivated to keep the Broncos out of the postseason than Kyle Orton, who never had the full support of the Broncos fan base from the moment he was thrown into the Jay Cutler trade.
The last time these teams met, in Week 10, was the game in which Tim Tebow threw eight passes and completed only two. The Broncos ran the ball 55 times with no pretense of a passing game and still racked up 244 yards, which along with a 56-yard touchdown to Eric Decker (-5.4) was just enough to get a win. Denver has tried to balance the offense more in recent weeks but haven’t had great results, so they might try to get back to what they do best against a team they had no problem running on before. Since the Chiefs have already experienced the Broncos’ read option attack, though, I’d expect Denver to favor a more traditional approach running the ball with some option plays mixed in.
Three to Focus on: Cowboys @ Giants, Week 17
It is not often that division rivals meet twice in the regular season on Sunday Night Football, but here we are as the 8-7 Dallas Cowboys travel to the 8-7 New York Giants for what has turned out to be a de facto playoff game with the winner taking the NFC East crown.
The Cowboys are coming off a 20-7 loss to the Eagles in a game many inaccurately labeled “meaningless” (the Cowboys could have won a wild card spot with a win and two Falcons losses) despite playing all their starters for the majority of the game except Tony Romo and Felix Jones. Meanwhile, the Giants–after being swept by the bottom-dwellers of their division, the Washington Redskins–bounced back last week with a 29-14 win over in-state rivals, the New York Jets.
These two teams’ last meeting was a classic football game for the ages, with the G-Men winning 37-34 thanks in part to a blocked field goal at the end of the game. Could this rematch possibly live up to that epic first game? Check out three factors that could determine who is still playing next weekend. Read the rest of this entry »
Three to Focus on: Lions @ Packers, Week 17
Green Bay coaches have yet to tip their hands on how they’ll approach what for them is a “glorified scrimmage” against the Lions. The guess here is they won’t be offering up many of their key starters as fodder for a hungry, and often reckless Detroit team that still has plenty to play for.
A victory for the Lions would assure them the fifth seed and keep them out of a first round visit to either New Orleans or San Francisco–teams they’ve already lost to this season.
Let’s take a look at how some Packers backups could fare in extended duty against the Lions starters.
Three to Focus On: Chargers @ Raiders, Week 17
The Chargers won’t be able to realize their ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl this season, but now that they’ve been eliminated they can take solace in spoiling a division rival’s playoff hopes. It’s a small consolation, but just enough motivation to keep the dejected Chargers competitive. There’s also a good chance it will be the team’s last time playing for Norv Tuner, which could cause the players to give their best effort in an attempt to send their head coach off right even if things didn’t go as planned during his tenure.
The Raiders obviously don’t need any extra motivation with a division title still in sight and a chance for the sixth seed wild card spot even if Denver wins. Oakland has won their last three meetings with San Diego, each by at least a seven point margin. Carson Palmer (-3.1) got his first win as a Raider against the Chargers back in Week 10 and, in a small sample size, has historically played well against San Diego. He played the Chargers twice as a Bengal since PFF began collecting data and graded well in both games, with his best grade in 2010 coming against San Diego. Now that Palmer is a Raider, will the Chargers become the division rival he always saves his best efforts for? Read the rest of this entry »
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