AFC:

AFC EAST:

1. New York Jets

2. New England Patriots

3. Miami Dolphins

4. Buffalo Bills

The Jets are the team to beat in the AFC East and their chances got progressively better with the return of Darrelle Revis from his holdout. Once again the Jets will have a championship caliber defense that can beat any team in the NFL. The real question mark is the development of Mark Sanchez. While a lot of hype surrounds him, he hasn’t really shown himself to be a capable starter, much less a “Franchise Quarterback”. It could have just been rookie jitters but those excuses won’t fly this year, with an improved offense and a whole offseason of working with two top flight wide receivers, (Edwards and Holmes). The Patriots offense could be championship caliber, but I think this could be a let down season in New England. Their passing attack is superb, but their running game seems to get weaker each season. The holdout of Logan Mankins weakens that offensive line and really hurts their depth. While the Pats offense is high powered their defense has been slacking off in recent years. The Dolphins could be an up-and-coming team, but really are a stretch as a contender. This is a big year for Chad Henne, but I am not sure if he is the right answer. The Bills unfortunately aren’t going to be much of a threat in the East as their quarterback and offensive line play leave a lot to be desired.

AFC NORTH:

1. Baltimore Ravens

2. Pittsburgh Steelers

3. Cincinnati Bengals

4. Cleveland Browns

The North will be a battle to the end, but I think the Ravens will come out on top. With Joe Flacco, Ray Rice and Derrick Mason already in place the Ravens went out and added a pair of rookie tight ends and a pair of veteran receivers. Combined with a quality offensive line (albeit one who is dealing with injuries), the Ravens now might have the best all-around offense in the AFC. The Ravens defense is still one of the best in the league and is good enough to carry this team far into the postseason. The Steelers are a bit of a surprise pick here considering they will be without their quarterback for the first 4 games, but they have the talent to go far this season. Even after trading Holmes, they have one of the better offensive units. The Steelers defense still has the makings of a great unit and I’d expect a big rebound year for them. The Bengals are a quality team and will in the playoff hunt all year. But I’m not sure if Palmer is as good as everyone believes. That defense has some game though and should keep them in the race until the end. The Browns should be improved some and could have the pieces for a nice future, but it will be another year or so before they are competitive.

AFC SOUTH:

1. Indianapolis Colts

2. Houston Texans

3. Tennesse Titans

4. Jacksonville Jaguars

The Colts should be the best team in the AFC this season. As long as they have Peyton Manning they are a Super Bowl contender. Their defense and O-line need some work, but Manning is too good to ignore. The Texans could make a serious run this season and I’d expect them to make their first postseason. The Titans are an intriguing team with Vince Young and Chris Johnson on offense, but they lack the receivers to be a serious offensive force. The Jags are a team that I think could be a huge disappointment this season and think they could end up with a top 5 pick in next April’s draft.

AFC WEST:

1. San Diego Chargers

2. Oakland Raiders

3. Denver Broncos

4. Kansas City Chiefs

The Chargers should be the only playoff team out of the West this year, and that is despite not having Vincent Jackson. They still have a top offensive unit and an impressive defense. They are far superior to any other West team, and should runaway with this division. The Raiders I think will be a very improved team this year and could even end up with a .500 record. Their offensive line will hold them back, but the Raiders could be returning as a relevant team in the West. The Broncos have some talent, but injuries have already depleted this team and could haunt them this entire season. I really see the Chiefs as another disappointing team as I’m not a big believer in Matt Cassel.

Playoffs:

1. Colts

2. Jets

3. Ravens

4. Chargers

5. Steelers

6. Texans

Colts over the Steelers in the AFC Championship game.

The New Orleans Saints made a statement yesterday, with their 31-17 victory over the Colts in Super Bowl 44.  They are for real, and the new power house in the NFC. Drew Brees was pretty much perfect after the 1st quarter yesterday, and was well deserving of the MVP award. Though two other people should have been considered for the award, and that is head coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. They both coached a brilliant game yesterday and put the Saints in a position to win.

While the Saints offensive line had no trouble keeping Brees upright, Payton did a great job of ensuring Brees had plenty of short and dump off targets to keep the chains moving. Brees and Payton more or less neutralized the Colts pass rush by staying out of 3rd and long passing situations. And Payton had the call of the year, by onsiding the 2nd half kickoff. What made the call even bolder was the fact that the earlier bold call, of going for it on 4th and goal didn’t go his way. That onside kick changed the course of the game, not only was the Colts defense unprepared to stop Brees, but I think it finally allowed the Saints to believe they could win the game.

The other coach that deserves a lot of credit is Williams, whose defense was the first to beat Peyton Manning this season. While overall the Saints had a great game plan, and much will be made about the interception return, three drives in particular epitomized the Saints performance yesterday. The first was the Colts first drive of the game. Manning was moving the Colts down the field, and it looked like a given that they would be putting 7 points on the board. Instead the Saints defense tightened up and held them to a field goal. The next key drive of the game, was early in the 4th quarter after the Saints cut the Colts lead to 17-16, and Peyton Manning converted a 4th and 2 to the Saints 32. Again it seemed as though Peyton was about to score and make it an 8 point lead. At the very least, the Colts needed about 3-5 yards to attempt a fairly makable field goal, instead the Saints forced them to lose 3 yards and Indianapolis missed a 51-yard field goal (which also gave the Saints offense great field position). The last defensive drive of the game, really showed the Saints tenacity. Manning drove the Colts down to the Saints 13 with just under two minutes remaining and a pair of timeouts. Sure the Colts would have needed to score and get the onside kick, but it looked like the Colts were about to make it a one score game, yet they never found the endzone. All-in-all it was a tremendous performance by the Saints defense to bend, but not break to the Colts offense.

The real MVP of the game of course was the field general, Drew Brees. After the first quarter Brees went 29 of 32 and just left the Colts guessing. He did a fantastic job of executing Sean Payton’s game plan, and constantly kept the chains and the clock moving. Brees’ performance was even more impressive given the fact that the Saints running game completely disappeared last night, managing just 51 yards and 2.8 yards per carry. Despite being one dimensional, the Saints passing attack was incredibly effective. Hopefully with the Super Bowl win and MVP award, Brees will start being thought of among the elite quarterbacks in the league (in all honesty outside of Peyton, who can you say is better than Brees?). It shouldn’t be to much of a debate though since I don’t see the Saints going anywhere as long as Brees is behind center.

New Orleans Saints:

Why They Can Win:  The Saints had the league’s best offense this season, led by one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks, Drew Brees. While Brees has his favorite targets in receivers Marques Colston and Devery Henderson, he does a great job of distributing the ball to all his backs, receivers, and tight ends. Brees has one of the league’s top pass blocking offensive lines, giving him the time to get the ball downfield. Though the Saints o-line are top notch pass protectors their specialty is run blocking. The Saints had the 6th best rushing attack this season, which is impressive considering their passing attack and the lack of a true feature back. Instead of one workhorse, the Saints have a three-headed monster in the backfield with Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell, and Reggie Bush. The Saints defense isn’t nearly as good as their offensive counterparts, but they do have one major strength, turnovers. Be it luck or skill, the Saints are always around the ball forcing turnovers and creating points or scoring opportunities.

Why They Can’t Win: The Saints defense collapsed at the end of the season. First, they almost lost to both the Washington Redskins and Atlanta Falcons (without Matt Ryan), before losing their last three games against the Cowboys, Buccaneers and Panthers (The Carolina game was against many 2nd stringers). Major holes were exposed in pass coverage, and the Saints front seven couldn’t stop any rushing attacks. While its easy to point to their playoff wins against the Cardinals and Vikings and proclaim that those problems are behind them, that may be a bit premature. For one thing both of those games were at home, an advantage they won’t have tonight. Secondly, the Arizona game could easily be an aberration, since they injured Kurt Warner severely limiting the Cardinals ability to produce offensively. Lastly, the defense wasn’t the cause for beating the Vikings, as Minnesota handed them the game with their fumbling issues. Favre and Peterson torched the Saints defense that day (though Peterson coughed up the game later), and the Saints caught plenty of lucky breaks with questionable officiating calls (If they try to go low on Manning you can bet there will be a penalty). So basically for the last two months the only time the Saints were able to slow down an opposing offense is when they injured a quarterback (and that didn’t even work against Favre).

Indianapolis Colts:

Why They Can Win: While it seems simplistic to boil this game down to Peyton Manning vs the Saints defense, he really is the biggest difference maker on the field. Drew Brees is one of the best quarterbacks in the league and is in the prime of a Hall of Fame career, Manning is the best quarterback in the league, and is in the midst of becoming the best quarterback ever. There is no definitive way to stop him, or slow him down. Earlier this season in a game against the Miami Dolphins (a game which was held at Sunlife Stadium), the Dolphins held the ball for more than 45 minutes, yet Manning was able to throw for 300 yards and lead the Colts to 27 points. One of the long standing truths in football is if you have the ball for 3/4ths of the game you will win. In the Championship game against the Jets, New York blitzed Manning and took away his top two receivers, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark. Yet Manning was unfazed, throwing for over 370 yards and 3 touchdowns. Whats most impressive is that Manning is able to do what he does, despite not having a balanced attack. The Colts rushing game finished dead last in the league, even though they have two former 1st round picks in the backfield, and an offensive line that allowed the fewest sacks in the league. Now partly that is due to the fact the offensive line is fairly overrated. They might have allowed the fewest sacks, but much of that has to do with Manning himself. No quarterback is better at reading pre-snap blitzes, allowing him to change the play and/or tell the offensive line who to block. In addition Manning is one of best quarterbacks at feeling the pressure and getting the ball away. Now Manning doesn’t do it solely alone, he does have his share of weapons on offense. In addition to Wayne and Clark (who both had 100 catches this season), Austin Collie, Pierre Garcon and Joseph Addai all have a big role in the passing attack. It’s not nearly as diverse as the Saints, but effective nonetheless. The Colts defense sometimes is misaligned as not being very good, but that is a mistake to count them out. They are notorious for giving up big yards, but then clamping down in the Red Zone. While its not always pretty, they always come up big in major games or situations.

Why They Can’t Win: The Colts defense is good, but they are not without weaknesses. They usually do better against one-dimensional teams, something the Saints are not. Their rushing defense has had major holes this season, and could be something the Saints can exploit. The Colts pass defense relies on the pressure generated by their front four, which is problematic against the Saints top notch offensive line, and Drew Brees quick release. That problem is even more of an issue if DE Dwight Freeney’s ankle prevents him from being 100% today. The injuries to Freeney and Wayne are going to be key today. While both should play, they will need to be at the top of their game for the Colts to win.

Outcome: Both teams have plenty going for them, and weaknesses that can be their downfall. In the end I think the Colts win behind Manning. I don’t think the Saints can get to Peyton enough to disrupt the offense, and if they aren’t getting to him then that means receivers will be open. On the flip side I believe the Colts defense will do enough to slow down Brees and company enough to walk away with the Lombardi Trophy. Colts win 34-23.

Just How Good is Peyton Manning?:  When the Colts were down by 11, I think the Jets and their fans thought they could be Super Bowl bound, but they forgot about Manning. He absolutely went off on the number 1 ranked defense yesterday. And it didn’t seem to bother him that Darrelle Revis took away half the field, because Manning dominated the other half. For all we hear about Manning’s weapons of Wayne and Clark (a pair of former 1st round picks), it was Pierre Garcon (6th round 2008, Mount Union) and Austin Collie (4th round 2009, BYU) that dominated the Jets defense. It was just an all-around incredible performance by Manning yesterday, and showed why he is the best quarterback in the league.

Future Looking Brighter for Sanchez:  Mark Sanchez has had a tough rookie year and has been the weakest quarterback in the playoffs so far. He had shown flashes of being a good quarterback, but that was mostly against weaker competition and had also cost the Jets a few games this season. Of late though he’d been fairly mistake free, not because of major improvement in his game, but rather because of a much simpler passing attack. Sanchez was pretty much regulated to ‘safe’ intermediate and short throws so far in the playoffs. Yesterday though Sanchez had his best game of the playoffs (and his young career), he showed much better decision making and poise in the pocket. He didn’t try to force the ball in to coverage, and really showed something against a big team in the biggest game of his career. Now Sanchez has some things to work on, accuracy being the primary concern, but in 2-3 years Sanchez could become a pretty good starting quarterback.

Saints Go Marching On:  Who would have thought it would have been the Saints defense and special teams that sent them to the Super Bowl? While their defense got torched with yards and penalties, they came up with enough big plays to win yesterday. And how huge was the Peterson fumble right before half after the Bush muffed punt? That Saints defense all season has just been relentless in getting takeaways, and showed it again last night. Gregg Williams and company deserve most of the credit for that victory, because Favre had a great game yesterday. Think of what he would have done if he actually had time in the pocket? The Saints pass rush completely dominated the Vikings offensive line and had Favre on the ground quite a bit. The Saints defense was the key to the game, and is why they will be making their first Super Bowl appearance.

Just How Tough is Brett Favre?:  Now I realize all the talk now is about that last interception, and on whether or not it was Favre’s last game (again). But really we need to acknowledge that yesterday’s loss was on two things:  the offensive line play, and lack of ball control. Not only did the Saints recover a fumble inside the Vikings 20 yard line, but Minnesota coughed it up twice when they were at the Saints 10 yard line! And the offensive line, which had begun to collapse at the end of the season, looked awful yesterday. They couldn’t handle the stunts and blitz packages New Orleans was throwing at them, and Favre paid the price. Not only was he getting hit hard (and sometimes illegally), but he was injured and in obvious pain. Favre played well enough to win that game by a couple of touchdowns, but his 0-line and the fumbles cost them dearly.

Colts Heading to the Big Game:

Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets have been the underdog team throughout this year’s postseason. Now their road to the Super Bowl goes through (ends) in the place where in many ways it started. After a tough Week 15 loss to the Falcons, the Jets playoff hopes were all but over. They had to win their next game, which just so happened to be at Indianapolis. At the time the Colts were 14-0, and seemed likely to keep up the intensity for at least one more week (at least that is what I believed building my fantasy roster that week). Instead with a 5-point lead in the 3rd quarter, the Colts pulled their starters, and the Jets responded, winning 29-15.

That victory propelled the Jets on their unbelievable playoff run (pretty sure the Bengals and Chargers have taken the Colts off their Christmas card list) that will now come full circle. The Jets have won with defense, running the ball, and a little bit of luck, and will need all three factors in place today if they hope to overcome their playoff benefactor. This time though the Jets will have to contain Peyton Manning and company for 60 minutes, and that is a task that no one has been able to accomplish this season.

The Jets defense is great and one of the best we’ve seen, but so is the Manning and the Colts offense. New York will get after Manning and try to disrupt his timing, but he is so smart back there I don’t think they have a chance. While Darrelle Revis will probably take away Reggie Wayne for most of the game, the Colts have too many other weapons. In fact the best defense against the Colts scoring attack is the Jets own offense.

As long as the Jets offense is on the field, Manning is not and their defense can stay rested. Time of possession usually is something that is unimportant to the Colts (they won a game earlier this season with having the ball less than 15 minutes), but against the Jets that could be an exception. The Jets defense is good enough to slow down Colts to the point where they will need all the possessions they can get. The problem with the Jets is their offense won’t be able to control the clock, with long time consuming drives. While they are an excellent running team, they lack the passing attack to be complete. So far they’ve relied on big break-away runs, which are nice and worth 6 points like any touchdown, but not the sustained drives that they need. Putting up points is always good, but taking minutes off the clock is just as important.

In the end Manning will be too much for the Jets defense to handle. And while the Jets’ ground game may find some success, their lack of a passing attack will end up being the key today. Colts win 21-10 and begin packing for Miami.

By Fanspeak Contributing Writer Geoff Nelowet:

The New Orleans Saints Will Earn their First Super Bowl Birth:

The Minnesota Vikings have not made it to the Super Bowl since 1976, and the New Orleans Saints have not sniffed the Super Bowl in their franchise’s history. In 2007 the Saints played in their first NFC Championship – a game in which the Chicago Bears handled them with ease by the score of 39-14. In short, both franchises are overdue for a Super Bowl appearance. Unfortunately, one team has to be sent home on Sunday.

The Saints have been the team to beat over the course of the regular season, and they are the top playoff seed. Drew Brees has led one of the most prolific offenses in football, and the fast-paced aerial attack will be a different animal for the Vikings’ defense. Brees has been connecting with an assortment of talented receivers this season, and Marques Colston, Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem have combined for nearly 3,000 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns. Along with their production, Reggie Bush has been a major spark on both offense and special teams, and last week against the Cardinals, Bush looked dominant with 217 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. Bush is the quintessential X-factor for the Saints.

The Vikings are coming off a dominant win over the Dallas Cowboys. In their 34-3 win, they proved that not only can they beat a good team, but they can dominate a good team on both sides of the ball. Their defense shut down a stellar offense, and Brett Favre led the Vikings down the field with ease against what looked like the best defense in the playoffs. The Vikings stumbled down the stretch of the regular season, but they bounced back resoundingly.

The Saints and Vikings are clearly the two best teams in the NFC, and Sunday’s match-up will be a narrowly decided game. The key to Minnesota winning comes down to how much pressure they can get on Brees. Last week, Jared Allen led the defensive line with an unyielding amount of pressure on Tony Romo, and if he can replicate his performance against the Saints, the Vikings will win. The Saints, though, have a better offensive line, and Brees delivers the ball much quicker than Romo, so it will be exponentially more difficult for the Vikings to shut down the Saints’ offense. Furthermore, Reggie Bush looked dominant last week, and when he is healthy, he adds yet another dimension to the Saints’ attack. Minnesota will not find the same success on defense this week, and the Saints will win at home for their first Super Bowl birth. Final Score: New Orleans 33 Minnesota 28.

Colts Begin Road to Miami?

Simple answer to that question is an emphatic YES! The Indianapolis Colts I think are the best team in the NFL, and have been all season. While they will now have to prove it against the Ravens vaunted defense, I don’t think anything can stop Manning and the Colts right now.

I realize the Ravens are a good team, that runs the ball REALLY well, and plays good defense, but I think Manning and the Colts will be too much for them this week. As good as Baltimore’s defense has been this season, they’ve had their share of lapses. And the Colts are one team they can’t give an inch to. Manning and the Colts have too many weapons for the Ravens to cover, and Baltimore’s pass defense is their one area of weakness. I think the Ravens may have some success on offense, but it won’t be enough. The Colts are notorious for giving up a lot of yards, but keeping teams off the scoreboard. Most of the yards the Colts give up are, garbage yards at the end of the game. They are susceptible to the run, but generate a ton of pressure that allows them to stop good passing attacks.

Now I think there are some concerns for the Colts, not the least of which being, how do they come out after not playing for three weeks. I’m normally not a fan of taking it easy at the end of the season, but I don’t see it affecting the Colts. Manning and company are too professional, and have the experience to overcome the rust from the layoff. While there are holes in their defense, I think the Colts will do enough to slow down the Ravens and their running game. I think Manning and the home crowd will be enough to overcome Baltimore, 31-17.

Last night the Colts did not look like a team that was going to let up and had nothing to play for, as pundits had been saying all week. Yes they might have the number 1 seed locked up, but they are taking nothing for granted. Last night’s game marked the 7th time this season the Colts have come from behind in the 4th quarter to win the game. While it might not be their number one goal, a perfect season seems to be reason enough to not rest their stars, and I tend to agree with them.

Perfect season or not, I always think its a mix bag to rest your stars and starters so much at the end of the regular season (and not just because of fantasy reasons). Teams that do so, already have a bye lined up in the first round, so you are talking about giving them two or more weeks off compared to the usual one bye week. A number of times in recent memory, those teams then subsequently get beat at home in their first playoff game. The Giants last season, and the Cowboys and Colts the year before, were 1st or 2nd seeds that rested their players for at least a half of their final regular season game, only to lose in the divisional round (those are only the most recent examples). What’s even more troubling is all three of these teams lost their final regular season game as well. Its not as though they were resting players because they were up by a couple of touchdowns. By resting a few star players (especially your quarterback) on offense, I think it screws up the timing and crispness of the of the offensive attack. It just doesn’t seem to make any sense to me when you are a team that has won 12 or more games, why would you want to concede a win at the end of the season? I think that can take away the fire and drive of team, and resting for two weeks only compounds that.

Now I know what proponents for resting players say, about avoiding injury and keeping players fresh, and I get that. If you have everything wrapped up, I wouldn’t send out a player who’s not 100% to play in a game. But outside of that, I fail to see how you are avoiding injury. We see players get injured every year by doing non-football related activities or in practice, are we going to put these players in protective bubbles? Players could also get injured on the first play of their first playoff game, there is no predictive factor on when someone is getting injured. Yes, I understand that by resting them, players aren’t taking hits that could cause an injury. But remember if a running back or any ball carrier goes a couple of weeks without taking a major hit in a game, then he could be more likely to fumble the first time he is hit in the playoffs.

I think what’s more intriguing than the injury issue, is that proponents of  resting players will say there is no real evidence that resting players in week 17 causes them to lose in the playoffs. Now I get that there is some truth to that, obviously in the playoffs the competition is tougher so its easier for a 13-3 or 14-2 team to falter, because they are playing another quality team. And there are also cases of teams who do rest players in the regular season, who do go far into the postseason. While both of those points are true, they completely ignore the one or more teams each season who do fall victim to the time off. What’s more is this experience isn’t just a football phenomenon. While the circumstances may be different, we see in every sport teams that have a large amount of time off between playoff series come out completely flat and lose the next series. Now in other sports its not by choice, but rather they sweep their earlier opponents, but it seems to be a chronic issue. I think its pretty well a given that in football the one sport where you can avoid too long of a layover, you should.

I thought what the Colts did last night was the right way to play it. They rested some of their defensive stars for the majority of the game. And were extremely cautious with anyone who has a nagging injury. In the end though their big time offensive stars played the whole game and looked really good. Manning was more or less perfect, and Wayne and Clark were unstoppable when they needed to be. Right now this is a team that is running on all cylinders, and I hope they stay that way. I don’t see why you mess with a good thing. And as the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

1. New Orleans Saints
2. Indianapolis Colts
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. Cincinnati Bengals
5. Arizona Cardinals
6. Dallas Cowboys
7. San Diego Chargers
8. New England Patriots
9. Pittsburgh Steelers
10. Philadelphia Eagles
11. Baltimore Ravens
12. Denver Broncos
13. Green Bay Packers
14. New York Giants
15. Jacksonville Jaguars
16. Atlanta Falcons
17. Houston Texans
18. Miami Dolphins
19. Tennessee Titans
20. San Francisco 49ers
21. New York Jets
22. Chicago Bears
23. Carolina Panthers
24. Seattle Seahawks
25. Buffalo Bills
26. Kansas City Chiefs
27. Oakland Raiders
28. Washington Redskins
29. Detroit Lions
30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
31. St. Louis Rams
32. Cleveland Browns

Top Ten:

After Monday Night’s drubbing of the New England Patriots, the Saints have finally passed the Colts in the Power Rankings department. That was an impressive win, that showed the Saints are for real and can beat any team. The Colts have had to come from behind these last few weeks, but they still have Peyton Manning and an 11-0 record. Brett Favre is playing some of the best football of his career, and the Vikings are another top contender with a 10-1 record. The Bengals are tops in the AFC North, which is good enough for 4th place in the Power Rankings. To stay up in the 4th spot the Bengals will need to get healthy, with upcoming road games against the Vikings and Chargers. The Cardinals might not have as many wins as a few of the other teams on this list, but their last loss was a heartbreaker at the end, and they played without Kurt Warner. Come playoff time Arizona is not a matchup I would want to have. The Cowboys have been a streaky team this season, so their Power Ranking is hard to determine, until you know which team will show up on Sunday. It could be the team that managed just two TD’s (combined) in consecutive weeks against the Packers and Redskins. Or the team that blew out the Raiders on Thanksgiving, and beat the Eagles in Philadelphia a few weeks ago. The Chargers seem to be in firm control of the AFC West now, but their running game is still non-existent. I can’t see them going to far this postseason if they can’t move the ball on the ground. The Patriots will win the AFC East so they have a playoff spot, but this does not look like a playoff team right now. They can’t stop teams through the air, which doesn’t bode well this season. And Brady is facing more pressure than he has ever faced, and its starting to show some weaknesses.

I know having the Pittsburgh Steelers ranked in the top ten will ruffle a few feathers, especially fans of teams that have a better record (Eagles), or that just beat Pittsburgh on Sunday night (Ravens), but I don’t know how you can leave them out of the top 10. Pittsburgh lost on Sunday, but it was in overtime, on the road, and with their 3rd string quarterback. Yes they have had some tough losses, but those have come without Troy Polumalu. With Rothelisberger and Polumalu coming back for the postseason run, you have to keep your eye on Pittsburgh down the stretch. The Eagles are a good football team, but their luck has helped them more than their talent level. They barely squeaked by the Bears and Redskins these past two weeks, and now face a Falcons team without Matt Ryan.

Next 10:

The Ravens and Broncos are fighting for one playoff spot if Pittsburgh rebounds. The Broncos were impressive Thursday night against the Giants, but I’m still waiting for that other shoe to drop. While they do face the Colts and Eagles in their remaining five games, they also have the Chiefs twice and the Raiders, so 10 wins is attainable. The Ravens also have three easy games remaining (Lions, Bears, Raiders) but that only gets them to 9 wins. They will have to beat the Packers or Steelers on the road if they want to secure themselves a playoff spot. The Packers and Giants are really the only teams that can get the last playoff spot in the NFC. Green Bay has played better of late, but that offensive line is still a big concern for me. If they can’t keep Rodgers upright, then they have no shot of winning. They also have a tough remaining schedule coming up with the Ravens, Steelers and Cards. The Giants also face a tough road ahead of them, facing the Cowboys, Eagles, and Vikings. The only good news for the Giants is the Cowboys and Eagles games are at home for them (also they should have easy wins against the Redskins and Panthers). As for the rest of the 11-20 teams, I don’t see any of them making a serious playoff run. The Jags have turned their season around, but I still don’t trust Garrard at QB, and their defense has been pretty bad this season. The Texans and Titans have been exciting of late, but I don’t think they have the staying power now. I would have said the Falcons could make a run, but that was before Matt Ryan went down with injury. Even if he only is out this week, another loss will put the Falcons pretty much out of it (if the Packers and Giants win). If the Dolphins had Pennington and Ronnie Brown healthy, they could have maybe made a run (especially since the Pats appear to be vulnerable), but without them, their playoff hopes are over. The 49ers could be an impressive team, but they desperately need consistent play from their quarterback to be competitive.

The Rest:

Its been an ugly year this season. If not for the fact that so many of these weaker teams played one another, I would have said that 2-3 teams could have gone winless this year. The only thing these teams have to look forward to is the offseason and next April’s draft. Its gonna be an ugly remaining 5 weeks for the majority of these teams.

Ten games in and we still have two undefeated teams, the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. The Colts had a bit of a scare yesterday in Baltimore, but in the end their record remained unblemished. The Saints on the other hand had a cake walk yesterday as they improved to 10-0 in Tampa. With only six games remaining, now is the time we begin to wonder, can either team have a perfect regular season? Or could the unthinkable happen and they both go undefeated?

The easy answer to both of those questions is simply no. The odds are stacked against you to be perfect for 16 weeks. Also both teams have already had their share of close calls, including some against some pretty weak teams. Both teams still have a couple of tough opponents that they need to face that could easily give them their first loss. That all being said, while I don’t think it will happen, I definitely think it can happen.If you take a look at both of their remaining schedules they are set up pretty well in favor for the Colts and the Saints.

The Colts have the Texans, Titans, Broncos, Jaguars, Jets and Bills remaining. The Texans, Broncos and Jaguars are all in the playoff hunt, but only the Texans should really worry the Colts. The Broncos once looked like the Colts toughest game, but after four straight humiliating losses they no longer seem like a threat (if the Redskins can score 27 on them, what will the Colts put up?). The Jaguars are 6-4 right now, but they are still pretenders and not contenders for me. Yes they beat the Texans, but their other five wins were against the Titans, Rams, Chiefs, Jets and Bills. Of those games only the Titans were they able to beat by more than 3 points. The Texans game is the Colts toughest matchup mainly because its on the road and the Texans do have the offense to challenge the Colts in a shootout. In the first game between these two, the Colts needed a last second field miss by the Texans to avoid overtime. And while they dominated the game on the stat sheet they couldn’t put the Texans away.

The Saints remaining schedule is similar to the Colts in overall difficulty, with the Patriots, Redskins, Falcons, Cowboys, Buccaneers and Panthers. The Redskins, Buccaneers and Panthers should all be fairly easy wins for the Saints (they won their first games against the Bucs and Panthers a combined 68-27). The Saints do luck out that their two toughest games, the Patriots and Cowboys, are at home in the Super Dome. As for their other tough game at Atlanta, I think the Saints will have no problem dominating the Falcons again. In the first meeting the Falcons made it a game on the score sheet, but Drew Brees and the Saints controlled that game from start to finish. Next week’s New England game will be the Saints toughest matchup, but I think home field really will come into the Saints favor. New England isn’t as dominate as they once were, and proved pretty susceptible to the pass against the Colts two weeks ago. I also like the Saints defense against New England’s offense. Their secondary is playing exceptionally well, and their defensive front seven are putting a ton of pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Tom Brady has never done well under pressure, and could really struggle against the Saints.

The toughest test for both of these teams to go undefeated will come this week. If the Saints and Colts survive this weekend, then perfection is definitely an option for either team. And maybe, just maybe we will have a Super Bowl matchup of a pair of 18-0 teams, though I wouldn’t bet on it. What do you think…can either team or both go through the season unscathed?

Last night with the Patriots vs. Colts Sunday Night Football matchup, we expected a battle between two powerhouses, and we weren’t disappointed. But for 56 minutes of this game the Patriots and Bill Belichick were in complete control with a 34-21 lead. Then Peyton Manning, showed that he is Peyton Manning. He drove the Colts 79 yards in 6 plays in just a 1:49, to cut the score to 34-28. The Colts defense came up with a big stop, leaving the Patriots 4th and 2 on their own 28 with 2:08 remaining on the clock.

Belichick elected to punt the ball to give as much distance between the endzone and future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning to go for it to run out the clock. Now, I like aggressive and bold play calling more than most people, but that is something you do playing Madden NFL 10, not on the road playing a game that will have playoff seeding implications. What was Belichick thinking? The first rule of football coaching is “You do not give Peyton Manning the ball on your own 29-yard line”, the second rule of football coaching is “You do not give Peyton Manning the ball on your own 29-yard line”.

Yeah I get it, Belichick supporters will point out that Manning drove 79 yards in a 1:49 seconds earlier, and the Colts still had one timeout remaining. And those people are right–2 minutes with one timeout is an eternity for Manning (that’s like 8 minutes with 3 timeouts for the Washington Redskins). But you have to have some faith in your defense to stop Peyton Manning with the game on the line. I mean its not as though this was the Browns or Lions defense. New England has a top 10 defense, overall and against the pass. They shut down Manning and co. for a good part of the game, forcing the Colts to punt 6 times in the first half (I think months have come and gone without the Colts punting 6 times). Maybe they wouldn’t have been able to shut down Manning, but at least you would have given them a fighting chance. The field was so short that the Colts were literally wasting time between plays, to make sure they didn’t score too quickly.

In the end, Belichick should have danced with the girl that brought him, his defense. Now I know everyone loves Tom Brady and the Patriots offense, and thinks they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. But they aren’t the reason the Patriots have three super bowl trophies. Don’t get me wrong the Patriots offense has been good during their Super Bowl runs, and in 2007 it was downright exceptional, but their defense has been the key to their success. Without their dominating defense they would have never been in a position to go to four Super Bowls (many times going through the Colts on their way).

Belichick needed to put the game in their hands and let the chips fall where they may. If they hold them, then you are a genius and the Patriots could be looking at home-field advantage in the playoffs. If the defense faltered, then it was a tough loss on the road against a great quarterback, and you wouldn’t be questioned about it ever again. Now Belichick will be second guessed for the rest of the season (and rightly so), home-field advantage in the playoffs is pipe dream right now, and there is a real possibility that New England will miss out on a bye. Last night’s decision was a major mistake, one that he will regret for the rest of the season. But that’s my opinion…what do you think and why?