As yesterday’s thriller with the Giants underscored, there are fifteen mortal and highly unpredictable teams in the NFC, and then there are the Green Bay Packers.
Eli Manning’s team fell just short. Some pundits are making hay from the fact that the 38-35 loss was the same score as the Giants’ regular season loss to the undefeated New England Patriots in 2007, but laid the template for a Giants win in the Super Bowl. The 2011 Giants will have to make the playoffs first before we start recycling that storyline.
Here’s how the weekend’s games affected the NFC division races.
NFC East
Giants, Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins all lost.
The Cowboys’ loss to Arizona rates as the only shocker in this bunch. Dallas could have opened up a commanding two-game lead in the division with only four to play, but missed a massive opportunity against a scrappy Arizona team. Jason Garrett’s awful clock management — including a comical series of timeouts that managed to take the game-winning points off the scoreboard — capsized the Cowboys. And to think that Garrett is known for his offensive mind.
Meanwhile, the inconsistent Giants are very much in the hunt for this division. From Andy Furman of UltimateNYG.com:
Teams can win badly and teams can lose well. The Giants lost well last night. I know that to many, if not all of us, that that is small consolation. But you have to trust me on this- LOSING WELL IS IMPORTANT. It means you are fighting.
NFC North
Packers win. Lions, Bears, Vikings lose.
The Bears and Lions are suffering from different maladies. While Chicago’s casualties are apparent to anyone with access to an injury list, Detroit’s weaknesses seem to be mostly between the ears. They haven’t suffered any major injuries (with apologies to Jahvid Best), but seem to find ways to take themselves out of games on a repeated basis.
Both teams have 7-5 records, and are very much in the hunt for the wildcard playoff spot (currently held by Chicago), but both teams have left the door wide open for challengers.
If you want a running record of the mental state of Lions fans, Al Beaton’s fourth-quarter diary over at the Wayne Fontes Experience is a must read:
For anyone who thinks the Lions are getting short shrift from the refs, the Lions themselves are to blame. With the stunts they pull, do you think they will ever get the benefit of the doubt?
NFC South
Saints, Panthers win. Bucs, Falcons lose.
New Orleans is gearing up for a rematch with the Green Bay Packers. It just might have to wait until the last game of the NFC slate to happen. Following a shocking Week 8 loss to St Louis (inexplicable even to Rams fans), New Orleans has outscored opponents 133 to 80. And that doesn’t include the 62-7 shellacking of the Colts in late October.
And as Carolina is starting to click, the Falcons and Bucs are starting to fall apart. Raheem Morris is now squarely on the hot seat, and if expectations in Atlanta are as high as they were for the Falcons nationally, Mike White should be as well.
Nick Houlis at BucStop has no illusions toward his coach’s job security:
This column was supposed to be a 4 part series on if Raheem Morris is on the hot seat or not. That question is over, he is. When you lose 6 games in a row the way the Bucs are losing them, the owners should consider firing themselves too. Thats how serious it is.
NFC West
49ers, Cardinals and Seahawks win. Rams do what they do.
I am becoming increasingly convinced that the San Francisco 49ers are for real, and it took a bad game from them to convince me. If they can play this poorly, this disjointed on offense, and without Patrick Willis for most of the game and still win 26-0 in a cakewalk… that’s a team that refuses to play down to its competition. It’s one thing to have an opponent play well against you in one phase of the game. It’s another thing entirely to not let that opponent take you out of your gameplan, and take you away from the things that make you a dominant team.
The Seahawks and Cardinals are still playoff-eligible at 4-8. That’s shocking, not only based on how they started the season, but based on the fact that so many other teams in this conference (I’m looking at you, Atlanta, New York, Chicago and Detroit) have refused to pull away.
Meanwhile, pity the St Louis Rams. It’s just sad.
Oh god, I’m sorry, children. I didn’t mean to ruin your spontaneous dance party by telling you that. But it doesn’t get any easier from here on out. We have to watch this team in prime time in Seattle, and then they travel to Cincinnati, and then Pittsburgh, and then we get these San Francisco bullies back here to close out the season.
