Friday, December 08, 2006

NFL Week 14 Preview and Picks

At this point, we're talking about jockeying for playoff position, either for home-field advantage or simply to get in...

Bengals over Raiders: With five 7-5 AFC teams battling for two playoff spots, Cincy gets a gift with a near-lock for an 8th win.

Vikings over Lions: Who gives a shit? Has Matt Millen been fired yet?

Chiefs over Ravens: KC is another team in that AFC 7-5 dogfight. Baltimore is a rough draw (battling Indy, SD and NE for a first-round playoff bye), but playing in KC will be the difference.

Pats over Dolphins: Isn't this New England's annual trap game? I think Miami's about ready to pack it in, and the Pats are still a game behind Indy and SD for a first-round playoff bye.

Falcons over Bucs: Meanwhile, the NFC has four 6-6 teams battling for two Wild Card spots (with another three teams at 5-7 who actually still believe they have a shot). Atlanta gets a gift here.

Eagles over Redskins: Is Jeff Garcia really going to lead this team to the playoffs? That's hilariously amazing.

Panthers over Giants: Just fire Tom Coughlin and the retiring lame-duck GM Ernie Accorsi now and give the Giants fans SOME form of victory.

Colts over Jags: Tough luck for Jax (one of the AFC's 7-5 5.) to draw the Colts, particularly with Indy coming off a rare loss.

Titans over Texans: Forget Reggie Bush; where's the outcry that Houston should have drafted Vince Young? It's coming to town.

Seahawks over Cards: Seattle coasting into the playoffs?

49ers over Packers: I keep saying "Now THAT is the final insult to Brett Favre's staggeringly embarrassing career finish." And yet he keeps finding new ways.

Jets over Bills: Simply being in playoff contention in Week 14 puts Eric Mangini in position as Coach of the Year.

Chargers over Broncos: The AFC Game of the Week. The Broncos have the urgency of being one of those 7-5 teams, but the Chargers are playing for AFC HFA.

Saints over Cowboys: NFC Game of the Week. With a win, New Orleans is in shotgun position for the NFC's No. 2 playoff seeding and a first-round bye.

Bears over Rams: The only Monday Night drama is whether we'll have a Brian Griese sighting. (Over/under on the number of camera shots of Griese: 15.)

Comments Question: What are your picks for the most intriguing plotlines and X-factors of the weekend's games?

9 comments:

RevScottDeMangeMD said...

Rich Rodriguez is staying at West Virginia.

Brian in Oxford said...

Pats won't be getting past Indy (head-to-head loss) and for SD to drop past NE, they'd have to lose either twice (likely? no) or to an AFC team (maybe KC) to drop the conference records even. The Pats beat up on the NFC north, their 3 losses are all AFC.

Is coach of the year leaguewide, or just conference? Mangini's a solid #2 to Payton. I think it's stupid that the Mike & Mike show made a song about Mangini to the tune of O Tannenbaum. That's the GM's name, dumbasses!

RevScottDeMangeMD said...

Don't get me started Jimmy. The NFL has it out for the Bengals so much it's pathetic. The Falcons game has horrid officiating also. If the Bengals don't make the playoffs this year, I don't know what loss will hurt more...the 42 points in the 2nd half to SD or the refs fucking us over in the TB/ATL game...

Anonymous said...

December 8, 2006: Dan Shanoff stops self-censoring.

Oh, sure the Bengals get a gift. But will they just throw it at our faces and then run away yelling obscenities? Can they even accept gifts in jail?

I have to give Mangini the nod over Payton, based on talent level and competition.

Sheldiz said...

its going to be a tough game for my ravens..... but they play better angry, and i'm sure they're still pretty angry about their performance last thursday. i'm optimistic.

Steve said...

I picked 11 of the 15 games differently than Dan. Come on Shanoff curse!

Kurt said...

I want Favre to keep on playing just so Dan keeps getting himself all worked up over it.

It's gotten to the point now where Favre fans don't even bother responding to Dan, because they know he's just saying it for the effect.

Jen said...

Just saw that Andy Pettitte went BACK to NY....WTF? Make up your mind, asshat.

WuzUpG said...

With the expected rain on Sunday in SF, I fully expect the over/under of 6 ints between Favre and Smith.

Smith said he idolizes Favre, which pretty much explains why he's pretty poor for a #1 overall pick.