NFL Week 14 Recap

It's been a long time but a lot of thinking brings me back to the blog.  As the end of the NFL season approaches, playoffs are just around the corner so here's my take on teams right now.

Right now, the AFC playoff picture is starting to be more clear and somewhat structured.  Houston is the top seed, playing at New England tonight, who is looking to control their own destiny for the #2 seed in the AFC.  The Patriots do hold the advantage, beating Denver (the #3 seed with a Pats win) back in October.  The Texans have had a strong defense all season, and the offense keeps getting better.  Arian Foster & Andre Johnson have done a great job all year, but a tough stretch to end the year will determine if the team has what it takes in the playoffs.  Yes, Houston has a playoff spot, but they have to play a re-surging Indianapolis team that is now 9-4, after going 2-14 last year.

The Colts have had inspiration all season, after Head Coach Chuck Pagano's absence due to leukemia, and Andrew Luck a possible Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate, and his strong, surprising offense, has made the Colts a great team and a team can be dominant for the next 10-12 years.  Indianapolis has also had a easy schedule, but can win the AFC South division outright if they beat Houston both times. 

The Former Colts QB, Peyton Manning, now with Denver (already clinched a very weak AFC West division), is also having a re-surging career after missing 2011 with neck injuries.  Manning, who is expected to win Comeback Player of the Year (and possible MVP), has improved the Broncos offense, going 10-3 so far, faces a tough road test at Baltimore next week.  The Ravens have been great all season but have lost the last 2 games including a Pittsburgh field-goal win and an OT loss yesterday to Washington.  Now Joe Flacco and the Ravens need to get on the right path to win the AFC North, also pulling for a Pittsburgh loss at Dallas. 

Pittsburgh has their own problems with Ben Roethlisberger's injury.  Big Ben missed 3 games, then returned to the field yesterday, losing to San Diego 34-24.  The Steelers have a great defense, and next week's contest against the Cowboys will be important for both teams to think playoffs.  Also next Sunday's game will be important to see if Roethlisberger is healthy or he continues to struggle like he did yesterday, even though he threw for 3 TDs and under 300 yards.  More on Dallas later.

As far as teams still in the hunt for the AFC Playoffs, Cincinnati had a bad 20-19 loss yesterday to Dallas, and their season will get together as they play PIT & BAL to end the year, both teams ahead of the Bengals in the standings.  Cincy gets a break this Thursday as they travel to face the 4-9 Eagles.  The Jets are also in the hunt, and this team is awful to watch.  New York activated Tim Tebow for the contest against Jacksonville, but was not used.  Mark Sanchez wasn't even a factor in the win, but it was the running game of Bilal Powell & Shonn Greene, who combined for over 200 rushing yards and 2 TDs to beat the Jaguars 17-10.  If the Jets win out and either Pittsburgh or Baltimore loses 2 or more games, they might be playing in January, especially with all the QB controversy in East Rutherford.

The NFC Playoff Picture is wide-open.  At this point, even though Atlanta had a bad loss to Carolina 30-20, they still won the NFC South divison and could lock up a 1st round bye next week against the Giants at home.  The Falcons have been great on the passing game all season and Matt Ryan has been clutch.  Next week's game is huge for their opponent, the Giants, who have a 1 game lead in the NFC East division over Dallas & Washington.  The Giants had a huge 52-27 win over New Orleans yesterday which showed Eli Manning having thrown 4 TD passes and rookie RB David Wilson having 327 all-purpose yards against a Saints team going nowhere in January.  Drew Brees threw 7 INTs in the last 2 games and offense has completely dropped the ball.  The Giants have a tough road schedule that sends them to Baltimore and the next 2 games will determine if they hold on to win the division or a tiebreaker with the Cowboys & Redskins, who both could win out and possibly the division.

Dallas has had a tough season, but are clutch and find ways to win games against Tampa, Cleveland, NY Giants and now Cincinnati, but also have had bad losses to Washington, Seattle & Chicago (last 2 lead NFC Wildcard) and those losses could hurt the Cowboys for playoff chances.  Hence, in my opinion the best shot to make the playoffs is win out against Pittsburgh, New Orleans & Washington.  The Redskins go to Cleveland next Sunday after their 31-28 OT win versus the Ravens.  The Browns are not going to the playoffs, but the rookie trio of QB Brandon Weeden, RB Trent Richardson & WR Josh Gordon could be an impact in the seasons to come.  The Redskins could also win out, but has to hope RGIII is healthy after the injury sustained in yesterday's game and they play Philly & Dallas after next week.

San Francisco right now is the #2 seed, but has a tough road trip, both Sunday Night NBC games at New England and at Seattle next 2 weeks.  The 49ers had a big win over Miami 27-13 and Colin Kaepernick is continued to be favored as starter over Alex Smith.  Regardless of what happens, if the 49ers lose against the Patriots and Seattle beats Buffalo, the Week 16 matchup will determine who wins the NFC West division, and both teams will make the playoffs.  The Seahawks have continued to impress, going 6-0 so far at home and Marshawn Lynch having a terrific season, while QB Russell Wilson also impressing in his rookie season.  Seattle can easily beat Buffalo next week.

In the NFC North, Green Bay came behind to beat Detroit 27-20, who keeps finding ways to lose games all season long in their trend.  The Packers did enough in the snow to win, but Rodgers has had issues all season.  Plus Green Bay has had injury issues, but can run the table on the division, going to Chicago next week, and a Bears loss next week can be trouble for a wildcard spot.  The Bears have done well all season, but Jay Cutler has been injured this year including yesterday with his neck.  If Cutler is healthy, the Bears can be strong.  Chicago lost to the Vikings yesterday 21-14 and even Minnesota can have a resurgence.  AP is stronger than ever and may even contend for a wildcard spot.

After next weeks games, we'll see how the playoff picture turns out, but surely in the NFC it will come down to Week 17.