Week 15 NFL Update
The Colts showed that they are mortal and can be beaten at home as Indy's streak and the dream of an undefeated season ended on Sunday, as San Diego despite making 4 turnovers, defeated the Colts in Indianapolis 26-17.
The Chargers jumped to a 16-0 lead, amazingly holding the Colts potent offense scoreless until 6:50 remaining in the 3rd quarter. San Diego's top ranked rushing defense held the Colts to 24 yards rushing, while the Chargers 27th ranked passing defense gave up 314 yards passing.
Meanwhile, the Charger offense racked up 206 yards rushing and 453 net offensive yards against Indy's formerly top 5 rated defense. The Colts did not help their cause by committing 3 turnovers and giving up the ball once on downs inside the Charger 10 yard line.
Colts Q.B. Peyton Manning was harassed, harangued and harried all day as San Diego's defense registered 4 sacks. Prior to the game, the Colts had allowed a league low 12 sacks in 13 games.
A psychological let down may have affected the Colts as last week, they locked up the #1 seed and home field advantage throughout the playoffs, leaving them nothing to play for, except the history making undefeated season. The Chargers in a must win situation kept their slim playoff hopes alive. We think Pittsburgh will crawl in the back door rather than the Bolts or Chefs.
AFC West leading and current #2 seed Denver was not impressive in locking up a playoff spot by muddling through to defeat Buffalo 28-17 on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals kept rolling along by crushing Detroit 41-17 and clinching the AFC North title. The #3 Bengals are chasing Denver for the #2 AFC seed and a bye week, we think the Bengals will catch them.
Jacksonville with a firm grip on the #5 AFC playoff spot put forth a lackluster effort at home, barely crawling past the cadaver known as the 49ers 10-9. The loss and Houston's 30-19 victory over Arizona, lifted the Phony Niners into a tie with Houston for the leagues worst record. Mark your calendar, Jan 1st Houston at San Francisco in the Reggie Bush Bowl, where the loser will actually be a big winner in obtaining the #1 pick in the draft.
Pittsburgh kept its drive for the #6 AFC playoff slot alive by ending Minnesota's six game winning 18-3. Minnesota finally faced a decent team that did not self destruct, and the loss probably ends the Vikings slim playoff hopes as the Vikings will probably lose their season finale to Da' Bears, and 9-7 ain't gonna cut it.
The Patriots locked up the AFC East and the #4 seed, as they crushed NFC South leading Tampa Bay 28-0 on Saturday. The Patriots running game has reemerged with the return of Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk, and the defensive front seven are once again solid with Richard Seymours return.
However, Eugene Wilson is the only starter remaining in a decimated secondary. In their last three games, the Minutemen have outscored opponents 79-10, serving notice that they aren't quite as dead as we thought they were. After witnessing Indy's debacle with the Chargers, with some momentum, the Patriot's "money time" experience and a little luck, you just never know what could happen in the playoffs.
Carolina took advantage of Tampa Bays loss to jump back into first place in the NFC South by dismissing the disenfranchised Big Easy Ain'ts 27-10. Carolina is suspicious having lost at home to Chicago and last week to Tampa Bay, what good is home field advantage to a team that can't win at home? We think Tampa will win the division and with a better conference record will actually take the #3 seed from NY, with the Panthers making it as the #5 wild card.
Seattle locked up the #1 NFC seed by jumping out 14-0, then barely hanging on for a 28-24 victory over the Tennesse Tuxedos er, I mean Tit-ans. Seattles suspect defense allowed the Tit-ans 417 yards of offense and did not sack Steve McNair once. We still believe that a superior defense could take the Seahawks out in the title game.
The G-men keep getting the job done despite Eli Mannings bad decisions as the #3 New York football Giants virtually locked up the NFC East and kept pressure on #2 Da' Bears by defeating Kansas City 27-17 on Saturday. After last weeks disappointing loss in Dallas, this effectively ended the Chef's feeble playoff hopes. The G-Men will probably lose to the red hot Skins next week, they will still win the division, but the loss will drop them to the #4 seed.
Speaking of the Skin's, they put an ass whuppin on America's cartel (aka the Dallas Cokeboys) 35-7. With their 3rd straight victory the Skins jumped into the playoff picture by sweeping the season series and effectively ending Dallas playoff hopes. The 'Skins need to win out vs NY Giants and at Philly to make it as the #6 seed wild card.
Da' Bears used their ugly stick to maintain the #2 NFC seed as their #1 ranked defense squeezed the life out of Atlantas playoff hopes 16-3. Of note, in the 3rd quarter, with Chicago up 6-3; coach Lovie Smith substituted Rex Grossman at QB for rookie Kyle Orton.
Grossman had been on IR all last year with a torn ACL and this year with a broken ankle. Da Bears suddenly had steam in their stride, promptly tromping down the field to score 10 points in two drives, putting the game out of reach.
Da' Bears have allowed fewer than 10 points in each of their last 6 home games, a feat not achieved since the 1935 Packers. We warned earlier this year, that if this team found an offense, watch out. Time to watch out, because we think Da' Bears won't lose at home, and could squeeze out a win in Seattle.
Playoff Six Packs in seeding order:
AFC
Indy Colts
Cincy Bengals
Denver Broncos
New England Patriots
Jacksonville Jaguars
Pittsburgh Steelers
NFC
Seattle Seahawks
Chicago Bears
Tampa Bay Bucs
NY Giants
Carolina Panthers
Washington Redskins
The Chargers jumped to a 16-0 lead, amazingly holding the Colts potent offense scoreless until 6:50 remaining in the 3rd quarter. San Diego's top ranked rushing defense held the Colts to 24 yards rushing, while the Chargers 27th ranked passing defense gave up 314 yards passing.
Meanwhile, the Charger offense racked up 206 yards rushing and 453 net offensive yards against Indy's formerly top 5 rated defense. The Colts did not help their cause by committing 3 turnovers and giving up the ball once on downs inside the Charger 10 yard line.
Colts Q.B. Peyton Manning was harassed, harangued and harried all day as San Diego's defense registered 4 sacks. Prior to the game, the Colts had allowed a league low 12 sacks in 13 games.
A psychological let down may have affected the Colts as last week, they locked up the #1 seed and home field advantage throughout the playoffs, leaving them nothing to play for, except the history making undefeated season. The Chargers in a must win situation kept their slim playoff hopes alive. We think Pittsburgh will crawl in the back door rather than the Bolts or Chefs.
AFC West leading and current #2 seed Denver was not impressive in locking up a playoff spot by muddling through to defeat Buffalo 28-17 on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals kept rolling along by crushing Detroit 41-17 and clinching the AFC North title. The #3 Bengals are chasing Denver for the #2 AFC seed and a bye week, we think the Bengals will catch them.
Jacksonville with a firm grip on the #5 AFC playoff spot put forth a lackluster effort at home, barely crawling past the cadaver known as the 49ers 10-9. The loss and Houston's 30-19 victory over Arizona, lifted the Phony Niners into a tie with Houston for the leagues worst record. Mark your calendar, Jan 1st Houston at San Francisco in the Reggie Bush Bowl, where the loser will actually be a big winner in obtaining the #1 pick in the draft.
Pittsburgh kept its drive for the #6 AFC playoff slot alive by ending Minnesota's six game winning 18-3. Minnesota finally faced a decent team that did not self destruct, and the loss probably ends the Vikings slim playoff hopes as the Vikings will probably lose their season finale to Da' Bears, and 9-7 ain't gonna cut it.
The Patriots locked up the AFC East and the #4 seed, as they crushed NFC South leading Tampa Bay 28-0 on Saturday. The Patriots running game has reemerged with the return of Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk, and the defensive front seven are once again solid with Richard Seymours return.
However, Eugene Wilson is the only starter remaining in a decimated secondary. In their last three games, the Minutemen have outscored opponents 79-10, serving notice that they aren't quite as dead as we thought they were. After witnessing Indy's debacle with the Chargers, with some momentum, the Patriot's "money time" experience and a little luck, you just never know what could happen in the playoffs.
Carolina took advantage of Tampa Bays loss to jump back into first place in the NFC South by dismissing the disenfranchised Big Easy Ain'ts 27-10. Carolina is suspicious having lost at home to Chicago and last week to Tampa Bay, what good is home field advantage to a team that can't win at home? We think Tampa will win the division and with a better conference record will actually take the #3 seed from NY, with the Panthers making it as the #5 wild card.
Seattle locked up the #1 NFC seed by jumping out 14-0, then barely hanging on for a 28-24 victory over the Tennesse Tuxedos er, I mean Tit-ans. Seattles suspect defense allowed the Tit-ans 417 yards of offense and did not sack Steve McNair once. We still believe that a superior defense could take the Seahawks out in the title game.
The G-men keep getting the job done despite Eli Mannings bad decisions as the #3 New York football Giants virtually locked up the NFC East and kept pressure on #2 Da' Bears by defeating Kansas City 27-17 on Saturday. After last weeks disappointing loss in Dallas, this effectively ended the Chef's feeble playoff hopes. The G-Men will probably lose to the red hot Skins next week, they will still win the division, but the loss will drop them to the #4 seed.
Speaking of the Skin's, they put an ass whuppin on America's cartel (aka the Dallas Cokeboys) 35-7. With their 3rd straight victory the Skins jumped into the playoff picture by sweeping the season series and effectively ending Dallas playoff hopes. The 'Skins need to win out vs NY Giants and at Philly to make it as the #6 seed wild card.
Da' Bears used their ugly stick to maintain the #2 NFC seed as their #1 ranked defense squeezed the life out of Atlantas playoff hopes 16-3. Of note, in the 3rd quarter, with Chicago up 6-3; coach Lovie Smith substituted Rex Grossman at QB for rookie Kyle Orton.
Grossman had been on IR all last year with a torn ACL and this year with a broken ankle. Da Bears suddenly had steam in their stride, promptly tromping down the field to score 10 points in two drives, putting the game out of reach.
Da' Bears have allowed fewer than 10 points in each of their last 6 home games, a feat not achieved since the 1935 Packers. We warned earlier this year, that if this team found an offense, watch out. Time to watch out, because we think Da' Bears won't lose at home, and could squeeze out a win in Seattle.
Playoff Six Packs in seeding order:
AFC
Indy Colts
Cincy Bengals
Denver Broncos
New England Patriots
Jacksonville Jaguars
Pittsburgh Steelers
NFC
Seattle Seahawks
Chicago Bears
Tampa Bay Bucs
NY Giants
Carolina Panthers
Washington Redskins
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