Sports

[teganslaw]

Merry Christmas! The local games in my area are Washington/Chicago on FOX; Tampa/NO on FOX @4:30  and Indy/Oakland on CBS @ 4:00.  There is no early game on CBS.

The Colts/Raiders could be high scoring game. Oakland doesn't have much defense, and neither do the Colts (last week being the exception.) The downside is that if the Colts win, they could make things easier for NE. It would be interesting if the Jets beat the Patriots. No one would expect that, but anything could happen this time of the year.

The Eagles played a good game Thursday night. They could become a threat in the NFC east next season if things work out.

[gardenman]

The Eagles are probably two, maybe three years from being a legitimate Super Bowl team. They need a game breaking wide receiver. (Alshon Jeffery would be good.) A young cornerback or two. Some depth at linebacker. A running back. Maybe a young offensive guard/center. They've got the hard parts. We've got the quarterback, three offensive tackles, and a good defensive line. 

Between free agency and the draft, the Eagles should fill half those holes this year and the rest the following year. They'll be better next year and might make the playoffs with the easier schedule that comes from finishing last in the NFC East, but they likely won't be a Super Bowl team.

[gardenman]

Well, the Browns finally won a game. That's good for them.

[gardenman]

That's been a pretty entertaining day of football. A couple of bad injuries with Marcus Mariota breaking his leg and Derek Carr also breaking his leg. That's two playoff caliber starting quarterbacks who will now miss the playoffs.

The Giants and Falcons are now locked into the playoffs and can relax a bit. That Monday night game between the Lions and Cowboys is now pretty much meaningless for both teams. The Lions have to beat Green Bay next week whether they win or lose Monday night. The Cowboys have everything locked up they can lock up.

Things are interesting in Minnesota. Their defensive backs publicly admitted that they ignored their coach and played how they wanted to instead of how the coach was calling the defense. As a general rule ignoring the coach is bad for a player's career. 

The Niners won which locked the Browns into that first overall pick now no matter what. Despite their rather desperate need for a QB, rumor has it they'll use that first overall pick on a defensive lineman they have a very, very high grade on and pick up a quarterback in a later round.

[teganslaw]

The Colts are eliminated from the playoffs. Although they made a last minute effort, they just couldn't stop the Raiders. Luck and Hilton had a good game, but they couldn't do it all.

The Raiders are going to have to rely on backup, Matt McGloin, now. He played quite well, but losing Carr is still bad news. He'll be needing surgery for his broken leg.

The Vikings db's thought that they could stop Jordy Nelson without having Rhodes shadowing him. Big mistake as Nelson burned the Vikings' defense. Why did they even try something like that?

Congrats to Cleveland for their first win.

It doesn't really surprise me that Jacksonville won. They can be very competitive within their division. The Colts play Jacksonville next week. Neither team has anything to play for now, so wondering if they will use backup players in that game.

The way things have happened today, maybe the Bengals will beat the Texans.

[gardenman]

Upon further review, that Monday night game is still important for the Lions. A win will lock up a playoff spot for them giving them a 10-5 record and guaranteeing them at least a wildcard playoff spot, but not necessarily the NFC North crown, that will have to be earned against the Packers. If the Lions lose on Monday night then lose the following week they could be out of the playoffs entirely. Because of that I would expect to see the Lions playing hard on Monday night now.

Expect there to be repercussions from the VIkings DB revolt. Mike Zimmer wanted to have one cornerback shadow Jordy Nelson all game, but the DB's decided pregame they weren't going to do that through the first half. At halftime Zimmer apparently got the point home and they then shadowed Nelson holding him to just two catches for nine yards in the second half using the coach's plan. When players ignore the head coach and do what they want to do instead of following the gameplan, it's a bad thing for the team. Expect some changes in that Viking secondary as a result of this in the offseason. Coaches coach and players play. That's how the league works. DB's have to be confident and cocky, but as a football player you also have to listen to the coaches.

A couple of good games on later today. The Steelers and Ravens will likely be a war. Those two teams don't get along all that well anyway and with the playoffs still on the line, they'll be somewhat more intense. Then we've got the Chiefs and Broncos later tonight.

I hope everyone's having a wonderful Christmas!

[teganslaw]

I had to work today; since i work in a hospital, I don't get  all holidays off.  But it was a nice day, and I got paid time and  a half.  Now I'm ready to watch the Ravens-Steelers game.That should be interesting. The playoff picture is still complicated to me. There are so many factors to consider.

Is Dallas going to rest some players Monday night? But they might not want to make it easy for Detroit, either.

[JillyMarie]

WhooHoooo! Hang on Steelers!

[JillyMarie]

Keep the faith baby! Go Steelers!

[gardenman]

The playoff picture is now coming into better focus. We now know the six AFC teams in the playoffs. The Patriots, Raiders, Chiefs, Dolphins, Texans, and Steelers are the AFC teams. The Patriots will likely have the home field advantage through the playoffs. I think the Chiefs and Steelers are the only real threats to the Patriots.

On the NFC side there are still a few variables. The Cowboys, Giants, Falcons and Seahawks have locked up a playoff berth. The Packers and Vikings will be fighting it out for the NFC North title and the loser could be out of the playoffs. The Bucs and Redskins are still hanging in there, but the thread is getting a bit thinner all of the time. A win by the Lions tonight against the Cowboys will lock the Lions into a playoff spot, leaving just one spot up for grabs and three teams competing for it. The Green Bay/Detroit game next week will be getting a lot of attention from both Tampa Bay and Washington. Tampa needs Washington to lose and Green Bay to lose while they win to sneak in. Washington needs to win and have Green Bay lose to sneak in. (That tie Washington got earlier in the year comes in handy now.)

The Raiders losing their starting quarterback in Carr kind of caught a break in that they have a game they can use this coming week to get their new starter Matt McGloin some serious playing time in preparation for the playoffs. He gets a week of practice this week, then a real game to get used to game speed, before he dives into the playoffs. That's a bit of a break for the Raiders. Had the injury occurred late in their final game, they'd have less time to prep the kid. Now they've got a full week of prep, then possibly a bye in the first round of the playoffs, before he gets thrown into the fire.