NFL Playoff Race Heating Up

The playoffs are getting very close, and as always happens at this time of the year, teams are fighting for position, and even for their playoff lives. There were a lot of showdowns this week with enormous playoff implications, and perhaps no single game meant more to both teams than the division rivalry game between the Steelers and Bengals.

Cincinnati managed to pull off a big victory in the steel city, as Big Ben Roethlisberger threw a costly interception at a very inopportune time. It was a decision that people will be second guessing for a long, long time. Deep in their own territory, he threw an interception with very little time remaining in a tied game, handing the Bengals a golden opportunity to steal a win and clinch a playoff berth. An early Christmas gift, and Cincinnati obliged with a field goal to secure the win. It marks only the second time in franchise history that the Bengals qualified for the playoffs in consecutive seasons, and the first time that they have managed the feat in thirty years.

All six teams in the AFC are known, but otherwise, there is still a lot of uncertainty about positioning. The Houston Texans, who seemed to virtually own the top spot in the AFC all season, have been shaky suddenly these last few weeks. They lost today, to the Minnesota Vikings, in a game that had playoff ramifications for both conferences, and just like that, they are tied with the Denver Broncos at 12-3, with one weekend to go. For Houston to clinch the top seed, it is simple: all they have to do is win. But they will be at Indianapolis, and victory if far from certain. In the meantime, the Broncos are hosting the Kansas City Chiefs, one of the worst teams in the league. Not only that, but if Houston loses, and if the New England Patriots win at home against Miami, the Texans could find themselves dropped all the way down to the number 3 seed. That would be a considerable fall for a team that seemed to enjoy virtual impunity from any serious challenges to their top notch status in the AFC. The Colts want to secure the number 5 seed that currently is theirs, which will likely earn them a date with the Ravens, although Baltimore could become the third seed with a win and a New England loss next weekend. Baltimore will go to Cincinnati, who also would like to win to see if they could steal the number 5 seed from the Colts, provided they lose to the Texans.

Whew! That's a lot of potential scenarios, isn't it?

Yet, it's nowhere near as complicated as the NFC, where only four teams have clinched playoff spots. The Seattle Seahawks became that fourth team yesterday night, with a huge, blowout win over the 49ers, 42-13. San Francisco had been trying to wrap up the NFC West. Instead, they now will have to win next week against Arizona, or hope the Seattle Seahawks will lose when they host the Rams. The 49ers also lost their position as the number 2 seed in the NFC with the loss, as red hot Green Bay moved ahead with a better record. But the Packers play at Minnesota, and both teams have a lot riding on that game. So, nothing is a gimme at this point. No one in either conference has locked in their playoff position, except for the Atlanta Falcons, who clinched the top spot with a win at Detroit on Saturday.

Chicago also remained alive at Arizona to keep their flickering hopes for the playoffs alive. But they would need the Vikings to lose, and would also need to win at Detroit.

In the NFC East, the situation remains cloudy, as well. The red hot Redskins won at Philadelphia, pushing their record to 9-6, and placing them alone atop the NFC East for the first time. It helped a bit, perhaps, that the Dallas Cowboys also lost in overtime to the New Orleans Saints, but only a little bit, really, since those two teams will meet next weekend at Washington, in a winner take all game. Whoever wins clinches the division, and whoever loses will likely go home.

So, Dallas's loss really only helped Washington out a little, given the big, upcoming showdown with Dallas. What helped both the Redskins and Cowboys out a lot was the loss by the team that Dallas lost last year's big NFC East showdown season finale to last year: the New York Giants. The G-Men's loss to Baltimore, who clinched the AFC North with the win, put the Giants in a very precarious position. They still have playoff hopes, but they are slim to none. They would need first of all to win when they host the Eagles, and then need Dallas to lose, as well as Chicago and Minnesota. That's a pretty tall order, and it may, or may not, be realistic. One way or the other, the Giants squandered many opportunities in the last two weeks. They went from controlling their own destiny for the division, to now being on the outside, looking in at the playoff picture.

I think the Giants, who are and long have been my favorite team, must be the weirdest football team in history. Here is a team that looked like world beaters not once, but twice in recent playoff runs that saw them being crowned as champions at the end of each. They went 10-6 in 2007, but it was a loss to the undefeated New England Patriots in the season finale that actually triggered their championship run, where they won on the road at Tampa Bay, then Dallas, and then Green Bay to qualify for the Super Bowl, where they pulled off one of the biggest and most memorable upsets in sports history in beating the undefeated Patriots, who were enjoying a dream season, and had many believing that they were the greatest team in NFL history. Then last season, the Giants looked compromised at 7-7, only to enjoy another historical run. I believe they became the first team in NFL history to play what amounted to six consecutive playoff games, where they faced elimination games for both teams for six games in a row. First, they eliminated the Jets, for all intents and purposes, "on the road" at the Jets. Then, they dominated Dallas in a huge, winner take all showdown for the NFC East title. That earned them a home game in the Wild Card, where they knocked off Atlanta. Then, they took on the 15-1 defending champion Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, who at one point were seriously flirting with an undefeated season themselves, and absolutely dominated them. That got them to the NFC Championship at San Francisco, where they edged the 49ers in overtime, and finally, the Super Bowl, where they once again held off the Patriots, 21-17, for their second Super Bowl title in five seasons.

Also, those same Giants started off the 2008 season looking like they were destined to repeat, racing out to an 11-1 start, and seeming Yet, that same team dropped fur of their last five games, including their first playoff game against Philadelphia. Then, the next season, they dropped to 8-8, in a strange, up and down season. They started off looking like one of the elite teams, with a 5-0 record. But they got completely dismantled by the Saints in a battle of unbeatens, and from that point onwards, their season spiraled out of control. The next year was yet another up and down season, but finished up with a decent 10-6 record. Yet, that was not good enough for the playoffs, and they missed out for a second consecutive season.

There are times when the Giants still show glimpses of greatness. This season, they will have beaten three playoff teams. They beat both Dallas and Washington, so whoever clinches the division, the Giants will have won at least a game against. They also completely dominated the Packers and he 49ers earlier this season, and the 49ers was at San Francisco - the only home loss for the 49ers so far this season! Just two weekends ago, they scored 52 points, the most since the 1986 season - twenty six years ago! But after such offensive production one weekend, they turn around and get shut out at Atlanta - a team not exactly known for defense. Not only did they lay an egg in that 34-0 embarrassment, but it was probably the most lopsided defeat of any defending Super Bowl champion in history (I think - and it certainly has to rank up there, at least). They follow that up with an embarrassment at Baltimore this weekend. Both games were must wins. They also got blown out at Cincinnati last month. This season alone, they showed signs of why they are the defending champions, and almost seemed ready to make another run at the title at midseason, when they stood at 6-2, with a comfortable lead in the division. Yet, here they are, having lost five of their last seven games, and still they have an outside chance at the playoffs! I love them, but what a weird team!

Speaking of weird teams, how about those Jets? I've seen teams struggle with quarterback controversies before. The Giants had a big one back in the early nineties, when they became the first ever team to have two Super Bowl winning quarterbacks on their roster, with Simms and Hostetler. At that same time, there was also a quarterback controversy brewing in San Francisco, between legendary quarterback Joe Montana and Steve Young. More recently, there was the quarterback controversy in Chicago between Orton and Grossman that ended once the Bears acquired Cutler. In Cleveland, there was a quarterback controversy between Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson. Those are the main controversies that I can think of, at least off the top of my head, anyway. Probably, there are quite a few more that I am forgetting about.

But the Jets are taking quarterback controversy to a new level. Some years ago, they acquired stud quarterback Mark Sanchez, and for the first two seasons, during which time they enjoyed some considerable success, with two AFC Championship Game appearances in a row. Being sixty minutes away from the Super Bowl had the team and their fans dreaming of glory. But that glory never materialized, despite the coach making bold predictions about it. So, during the offseason, the Jets made more headlines than their crosstown rival, and Super Bowl champion, New York Giants. Particularly,  their move in acquiring Tim Tebow made a lot of noise and was cause for a lot of headlines.  Tebow had, of course, led the Broncos to the division title last season, and even won a playoff game for them against Pittsburgh, throwing the game winning touchdown pass in overtime. People wondered what the Jets were doing, bringing him in.

They are still wondering, especially since both Sanchez and Tebow appear on their way out. I have heard talk that Tebow is heading to Jacksonville, while Sanchez might be a good fit as Rodger's backup in Green Bay. It took a long time, but the Jets finally did what every Jets fan seems to have been clamoring for - to give someone else a shot. In this case, McElroy. But McElroy had a very hard first NFL start yesterday, as the Chargers sacked him 11 times! The Jets seemed comfortably in charge going into the half, but they imploded once again in the second half, and inexplicably lost a home game to the Chargers, who really are not that good themselves. The Jets had already been eliminated from the playoff picture last weekend, in losing to the Titans- who got crushed by the Packers, 55-7, by the way.  I wonder what's with all of these huge, record style blowouts of late, anyway?

Of course, the Jets have always been a weird team. They are the type of team that fans might be tempted to believe are cursed. Sometimes, they show really glimpses of promise. But other times, like yesterday, they completely fall flat on their face. This season, to be sure, they have consistently fallen flat on their face, with embarrassing losses, particularly at home, for whatever reason (perhaps pressure from home fans?). But the 44 year drought of championships for the green and white is still very much intact, and counting. Hugely disappointing season for them, but it will mercifully come to an end next weekend. Can't help but wonder what the offseason will look like for them.

Otherwise, in the few games with zero playoff implications, the Carolina Panthers got past the Raiders. while St. Louis handed Tampa Bay their fifth straight defeat. Finally, the Dolphins beat the Bills in Miami.

Should be an interesting and wild weekend of football coming up!