Coming into focus
by M. Stewart
This has been an interesting penultimate long holiday weekend in the 2010 NFL season. Football and Christmas go together well.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Singletary was fired after another on-camera fight with one of his quarterbacks. You know things are pretty bad on the emotional front when the coach gets fired with one game left in the season, even if the 49ers are 5-10 on the year.
If the Niners could have beaten the St. Louis Rams, they would have remained alive for the NFC West division title with a 6-9 record. As it stands, if the Seattle Seahawks beat the Rams next weekend, the division title will go to a 7-9 team. Pitiful.
Elsewhere in the NFC, the Green Bay Packers trounced the New York Giants in a must-win game for both teams. Aaron Rodgers threw for 404 yards and put up 45 points against a Giants defense that looked clueless all day. Giants quarterback Eli Manning was terrible, throwing four interceptions in the biggest game of the year. Put together with last week's collapse against the Eagles, the loss shows that the Giants don't belong in the playoffs.
The Baltimore Ravens beat the Cleveland Browns easily in a game that I thought Cleveland might win. Oh ye of too much faith. Browns quarterback Colt McCoy looked good on the opening drive, but that's all he brought. The turning point in the game came at the opening of the second half. Down just 13-10, Cleveland botched an onside kick attempt, giving the Ravens a first down at the Browns 38. Baltimore wasted no time converting the mistake to a touchdown, ending the day's scoring. I lost interest in the second half once it became clear that Baltimore's defense was in control.
The Ravens win sets up a very meaningful final weekend for the Pittsburgh Steelers. At 11-4, both the Ravens and Steelers have earned playoff invitations, but the final week will determine each team's seed. For the Steelers, a win in Cleveland means a division title and a bye, so there is plenty of incentive. I don't think the Browns can pull off the upset, but anything can happen. They beat Pittsburgh last year with a worse team.
The Ravens may have a little more on their hands with the Cincinnati Bengals, who are feeling good about knocking the San Diego Chargers out of the playoffs. Even though the Bengals are a dangerous team, I don't see them getting it done against the Ravens in Baltimore.
The Steelers find themselves in what amounts to a pack of evenly matched AFC playoff teams, excluding the New England Patriots, who are in a class of their own. Tom Brady is close to establishing himself as the greatest quarterback of all time, and his team in steamrolling its way into the playoffs. In the AFC, the road to the Super Bowl goes through Foxborough, and I don't know if there is a team left standing who can beat Brady and Belichick anywhere, let alone at home.
This has been an interesting penultimate long holiday weekend in the 2010 NFL season. Football and Christmas go together well.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Singletary was fired after another on-camera fight with one of his quarterbacks. You know things are pretty bad on the emotional front when the coach gets fired with one game left in the season, even if the 49ers are 5-10 on the year.
If the Niners could have beaten the St. Louis Rams, they would have remained alive for the NFC West division title with a 6-9 record. As it stands, if the Seattle Seahawks beat the Rams next weekend, the division title will go to a 7-9 team. Pitiful.
Elsewhere in the NFC, the Green Bay Packers trounced the New York Giants in a must-win game for both teams. Aaron Rodgers threw for 404 yards and put up 45 points against a Giants defense that looked clueless all day. Giants quarterback Eli Manning was terrible, throwing four interceptions in the biggest game of the year. Put together with last week's collapse against the Eagles, the loss shows that the Giants don't belong in the playoffs.
The Baltimore Ravens beat the Cleveland Browns easily in a game that I thought Cleveland might win. Oh ye of too much faith. Browns quarterback Colt McCoy looked good on the opening drive, but that's all he brought. The turning point in the game came at the opening of the second half. Down just 13-10, Cleveland botched an onside kick attempt, giving the Ravens a first down at the Browns 38. Baltimore wasted no time converting the mistake to a touchdown, ending the day's scoring. I lost interest in the second half once it became clear that Baltimore's defense was in control.
The Ravens win sets up a very meaningful final weekend for the Pittsburgh Steelers. At 11-4, both the Ravens and Steelers have earned playoff invitations, but the final week will determine each team's seed. For the Steelers, a win in Cleveland means a division title and a bye, so there is plenty of incentive. I don't think the Browns can pull off the upset, but anything can happen. They beat Pittsburgh last year with a worse team.
The Ravens may have a little more on their hands with the Cincinnati Bengals, who are feeling good about knocking the San Diego Chargers out of the playoffs. Even though the Bengals are a dangerous team, I don't see them getting it done against the Ravens in Baltimore.
The Steelers find themselves in what amounts to a pack of evenly matched AFC playoff teams, excluding the New England Patriots, who are in a class of their own. Tom Brady is close to establishing himself as the greatest quarterback of all time, and his team in steamrolling its way into the playoffs. In the AFC, the road to the Super Bowl goes through Foxborough, and I don't know if there is a team left standing who can beat Brady and Belichick anywhere, let alone at home.
posted by M. | 10:46 AM
2 Comments:
The NFL should prohibit a team's entering the playoffs with a record under .500. Why should a division "championship" have that kind of clout, when good teams are left out at 10-6 or 9-7?
I'm often surprised at playoff outcomes (Cardinals and Jets recently, for example), but I agree with you about the Patriots--I cannot imagine anybody knocking them off if Brady and some other key players stay healthy.
Banjo--
I've heard some talk from broadcasters that the league needs to change the playoff qualification rules, but I haven't heard anything from the league.
As for the Steelers, if they should end up playing the Patriots for the AFC championship, it would be a great game and one the Steelers could win. If Dick LeBeau could find a way to take Brady out of his game, anything is possible. Still, the Patriots would be the money favorite, and rightly so.
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