NFC Playoff Outlook
NFC:
1. Dallas - Dallas is cruising along at 12-1. The team has been challenged in a few games but every time but the Pats game they were able to step up and make the big plays in the clutch.
2. Green Bay - Green Bay lost to Dallas ruining a shot at home field advantage. Green Bay was a little dinged up going into that game. I would love to see a healthy Green Bay team get a shot at Dallas again.
3. Tampa Bay - The trend from here on out in the NFC are teams that capitalized off of weak schedules. Tampa Bay lost most of its games against playoff teams like Jacksonville, Indy, Seattle. However, if the team gets healthy they have a solid defense and can challenge any team if they muster up some offense.
4. Seattle - Seattle has gone under the radar for much of the year. They have only won one game against a projected playoff team and that was week 1 against Tampa Bay. The Hawks are a strong home team but will have to prove themselves on the road in the playoffs.
5. New York Giants - The Giants are fools gold at 9-4. Current and projected number of wins against playoff teams = 0. None to less they took advantage of a weak schedule and took care of business. They will be exposed in the playoffs and are a one and done team if that.
6. Minnesota - They hold a one game lead in the playoff race as of today. Washington has a brutal schedule down the stretch including a trip to Minnesota in 2 weeks, although Washington plays Dallas in week 17 and could get a break with Dallas resting some players. Arizona has a weak schedule but the key is the edge Minnesota hold in the conference record. That could be a key tie-breaker and the way Minnesota is playing I can’t see them giving up this lead.
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AFC Pick: New England - They aren’t invincible as I once thought but the opposition must be perfect to have a chance.
NFC Pick: Green Bay - Going on a hunch here. Assuming they don’t have an injury depleted secondary like the first Dallas game I think they find a way to pull it out.
AFC Darkhorse: Jacksonville - Jacksonville can run with the best of them with Taylor and Jones-Drew. They have a tough physical defense that wears opponents down. It’s a brutal conference but they have the horses to make a 2005 Steelers type run.
NFC Darkhorse: Minnesota - Of the 3-6 seeds none of them have an amazing track record. Minnesota has some impressive beatdowns of the Giants and Lions of late and pushed Dallas to the limit but have some head-scratching losses. I don’t view any of the 3-6 seeds as Super Bowl contenders but I think Minnesota has the best chance at pulling an upset in the Divisional Round with their running game and stiff run defense.
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18 Responses to “NFC Playoff Outlook”
December 12th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
If the Giants who beat the Eagles twice are “fools gold” then what is that make the Eagles? Fools Tin?
December 12th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Basically Mike D. Fools Tin is about right.
December 12th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
after this disaster of a season, do you think Philly will look to retool this offseason or continue there annual frugal off season practices?
December 12th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Visiting from The Frozen Tundra . . . Alex, I sure hope your Packer prediction plays out. GB will have a better chance if they can staff a healthy squad and Favre plays smarter (not throwing bomb after bomb like in his first appearance in Dallas). Nonetheless, Dallas is looking tougher than ever. TO is one of those throw-it-up-and-I’ll-catch-it guys, Romo is hot as can be and the combination of J. Jones and M. Barber is difficult to deal with. Not to mention J. Witten. Oh, yeah, and the solid Dallas D. Regardless, if it is a Dallas-Green Bay NFC Championship game, you can bet the ratings will be through the roof.
December 12th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
It’s funny to hear the term “fools gold” from a Phili fan…I can’t forget how excited everyone got in Philadelphia the day after A Joke Feeley almost beat the Patriots
December 12th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Currently, Tampa is the 4th seed. And honestly, other than the top 2 teams, it’s a crapshoot in the NFC.
-Seattle has a good passing game and brings good pressure on D.
-Garcia isn’t giving the ball up and the D is playing well.
-The Giants D is playing really well right now, if Jacobs can get back to good health their running game will really help the passing game.
-The Vikings can obviously run and stop the run, but the QB play of Jackson has been getting much better and that’s why this team is winning..
December 13th, 2007 at 12:52 am
What exactly does “They will be exposed in the playoffs and are a one and done team if that” mean? The Giants will get to the playoffs and be exposed… defeated in the first round… one and done… “if that”? What could the “if that” condition be that’s below “one and done”… it can’t mean they won’t make it to the playoffs, since the beginning of the ridiculous statement affirms they will be exposed in the playoffs. Makes no sense… which I guess is the most telling attribute of Whiteleather’s message.
December 13th, 2007 at 3:16 am
Joe I just think the Giants will be either a first round loser or no doubt out in the 2nd round. They’ve been horrible in any game against top NFC competition. I didn’t phrase it very well but they will make the playoffs but just aren’t a threat to go very far.
December 13th, 2007 at 9:05 am
Unfortunatly for the Giants there wont be any creampuffs like the Eagles for them to beat up on in the Playoffs. Although i do think they will beat Tampa Bay in the first round, as they are the worst division leader in the NFL and would be no better than 3rd or 4th if they played in our division(NFC EAST)
December 13th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Alex, I like your pick of Jacksonville as a possible darkhorse playoff team….Just as I see the Cleveland Browns (in my creepy nightmare) as a darkhorse playoff team in the AFC. Imagine, a Bizarro-World SuperBowl matching: Jacksonville vs. Cleveland.
Mike D, Boltar and Joe in S.D.— Forgive Alex and myself for being a bit dismissive of the Giants—part of it is we’re just jealous of your schedule, your good luck and your Plaxico this year. Remember, we Giants and Eagles fans go a long way back together (Sonny Jurgensen, Y.A. Tittle, Chuck Bednarik, Sam Huff, Timmy Brown, Frank Gifford), so there’s always gonna be some jealousy in the family.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
At first I took offense to your dismissive comments about the Giants playoff hopes but then I realized that you don’t seem to
understand how NFL scheduling works. All the NFC East teams play 14 games against the same opponents. Its just the two remaining games that determine strength of schedule.
Yes, the Giants had pushover teams in these two games: the Atlanta Falcons and San Fransisco 49ers.
The Eagles had harder teams, yes, but not that much harder. They hosted Seattle, which by your own admission is a weak road team. They also play New Orleans in the penultimate week of the season - but haven’t played them yet.
So the Giants have played 2 bad teams and the Eagles have played one moderately good NFC team. That is the only difference in their schedules to date. And yet, the Giants are 9-4 and the Eagles are 5-8. Pretty big gap. I think you should find something other than the scheduling to blame for your teams fortunes in comparison to the “fools gold” Giants.
December 13th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Yo Sid, the Eagles also got New England on their schedule this year, which would have been a guaranteed “L” for the Giants…..
December 13th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Giant fan, I understand exactly how the NFL scheduling works. All I’m saying is the Giants have failed to rise to the occasion against the top flight NFC teams. They have done their share with the schedule that was given to them and that is enough to get them in the playoffs. All I’m saying is I don’t see them as a legit threat where the 9-4 record might have people thinking otherwise.
Yes I’m an Eagles fan but I’m not throwing away the Giants because of my dislike of them. I hate the Patriots more than any team but I’m giving them all the respect in the world because you can’t argue with the body of work.
December 13th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Yo Carl, go look at the Giants schedule and you’ll see that the Giants also have New England coming up.. every NFC team does.
Alex - I agree the Giants have faltered badly against the good NFC teams: Cowboys x2, Packers, Vikings. However, they have also looked impressive at other times. Winning on the road at Detroit and Chicago I think were the strongest indicators of how good they can be. And winning in Philly and DC isn’t easy either - the NFC East has more parity than nearly any other division in my opinion.
But they will certainly have to play a lot better than they did even in those games when they play any of the NFC playoff teams.
December 13th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Every NFC East team plays AFC East this season is what I meant.
December 14th, 2007 at 4:14 am
Fools Gold? I think i hear HATERS!!!! When we make the playoffs we play Tampa who frankly sucks. They get to play carliona, atlanta, and, not sure who your gonna get New Orleans twice (yes i know they havent played ATL and CAR twice yet). There record wouldn’t be what it is if they weren’t in that division. So we wont be “One and Done”, dont hate on us cause you have an aging qb and no receivers to even throw to, if McNabb doesn’t throw it at their shoelaces.
December 14th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
I guess the forth Giants fan who calls me a hater just doesn’t understand I’m not being biased in this. I think the 3-6 seed in the NFC would all not make the playoffs in the AFC or being a 6 seed at best. I don’t see any of the 3-6 seeds in the NFC Title game meaning they would beat Dallas or Green Bay on the road. Any Giants fans want to lay a guarentee or say with confidence that they will beat Green Bay or Dallas on the road cause I want to hear it?
December 14th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
No way any Giants fan can guarantee a victory at any point of the rest of this season or the Playoffs…if the Giants win, it will be because of the other team playing badly….but a win’s a win, who cares how you get it, it wouldn’t surpise me if the Giants could steal a game or two when it really counts.
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