Well kids, it's been a few days, so we've got a lot to talk about. One of the things we won't be discussing today is Sunday's Giants-Eagles "game." That's still a little too painful. And I completely blame that loss on my sister and my mother. My sister's baby shower was on Sunday, so I met up with my brother-in-law and we went to a bar to watch the game during the shower. She called him about midway through the third quarter to tell him that the shower was over and she wanted to go home, so we had to get up from where we were. The Giants were winning 24-3 at the time.
Since my mom was at the shower, she DVR'd the game. My parents have a combined record of about 2-30 all-time when they record a game involving either the Giants, Yankees or Rangers (thanks to YES showing about four replays of every Yankee game, they fortunately don't record those anymore). So, the combined forces of my being made to move from where I was and my mom deciding to DVR the game turned a nice, easy win into one of the most miserable football viewing experiences of my life. In my complete shock, I just kept repeating "How do you lose that game?", which is a sentiment I continue to hold. Then later on Sunday, I found out that my oldest sister hates Peyton Manning, only to then be told (by me) that he's my favorite player. I'm no longer sure that we're related.
After the Giants "game" we watched Jets-Steelers, and I'm not exactly sure how Pittsburgh lost but still clinched a playoff spot. Seeing as the Steelers were going to make the playoffs anyway, that's not really a concern, though. What is a concern is the position the Giants have now put themselves in. Fortunately for them, everybody else in the NFC wild card race lost on Sunday, too, so they actually still control their own destiny. The Saints will be the first NFC wild card. The winner of Sunday's Giants-Packers game at Lambeau will probably be the other. The Giants are 9-5 and the Packers are 8-6, so I Giants win obviously eliminates Green Bay. If the Packers win, the Giants then need to beat the Redskins in Washington and have the Packers lose to the Bears in the last game in order to get in. (Side note, the six seed plays the Eagles in Philly in the wild card game. Giants-Eagles III. That'll be fun.)
The ridiculous thing about the NFC is that the NFC West winner could end up 7-9, yet host the defending champion Saints in the wild card game. I'm hoping that the Seahawks and Rams both win this week, which means that one of them will have to be 8-8 since they play each other in Week 17. I still have no problem with the playoff system, but a 7-9 division winner does just seem wrong. Things are so crazy that the 5-9 49ers can still win the division if they beat the Rams and Cardinals. And will the 8-8/7-9 Rams/Seahawks have any chance against the 13-3/12-4 Saints? The answer is "No."
Over in the AFC, I can't wait for the Patriots to get their asses kicked in the playoffs! Since the Super Bowl's on FOX, I realize they'll probably be in it (the Patriots have played in four of the five Super Bowls that have been on FOX), but it's going to be so awesome to see the NFC champion knock Pretty Boy Brady into the Cowboys Stadium turf. (In case you haven't already realized, I hate all things Boston, mainly because of the Red Sux and Patriots.) Although, the Ravens and/or Steelers certainly have a good chance of making sure I won't have to deal with the Patriots and their annoying fans in the Super Bowl anyway. And as I said a couple of weeks ago, we already know all six AFC playoff teams, and I don't think anybody doubts it now that Peyton and the Colts are going to get it done. Somehow San Diego is still mathematically eligible to be a wild card, but the Jets and Ravens both clinch playoff spots with a win in one of their last two games.
My prediction is that the Rams beat the 49ers and Seahawks to win the NFC West, which sets up wild card weekend like this:
Saturday: Saints-Rams at 4:30, Ravens-Colts at 8
Sunday: Jets-Chiefs at 1, Giants-Eagles at 4:30
You're welcome for giving you the Wild Card Weekend matchups and schedule three weeks ahead of time. You can make your picks accordingly.
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