Week 12 — Mon, 28 Nov 2005
From: Jeff
To: mnf@doobie.com
Subject: It's Monday...
...and just in time for the holidays, some teams have started firing
their non-performers.
First on the list: Detroit Lions coach Steve Mariucci. After his
team's dreadful showing against Atlanta on Thursday (they lost 27-7, but
it should have been much worse, the way they were playing), there was
wild speculation that his job would be gone on Friday. The Lions
back-office gave him a couple extra days to think about it, and then
showed him the door this morning.
Next up might be Giants place kicker Jay Feeley, who by most accounts is
one of the best kickers in the NFL. However, yesterday afternoon
against Seattle, he missed three consecutive field goal attempts, any of
which would win the game (the first was with seconds to go in the 4th,
the second and third were in OT). Unfortunately for Jay, that's pretty
much a mortal sin in the world of kickers -- no matter how good a kicker
you usually are. Seattle won the game 24-21, and stays in the lead of
the NFC West. The Seahawks will clinch a playoff spot with another win
or another loss by St. Louis. They are the first team to be in a
position to clinch.
The other overtime game yesterday was the Redskins/Chargers matchup.
For most of the game, the Redskins controlled the momentum, and managed
to keep the lead into the fourth quarter... but sometime in the fourth,
the Washington defense, despite intercepting Drew Brees three times,
managed to forget how to stop the running game. After completely
shutting down LaDainian Tomlinson for three quarters, the Redskins let
him get into the endzone twice... once to tie the game in the 4th, and
then again to win it in overtime. With this, their third close loss in
a row, the Redskins can pretty much kiss their playoff hopes goodbye.
The Chargers, on the other hand, are still (or perhaps again) in the
playoff race.
Again this week, rather than look back on this past week, I'm going to
look forward to the playoffs, and the interesting matchups that will be
coming up in the last part of the season...
AFC
Essentially in: 10-0 Indianapolis, 9-2 Denver
Theirs to lose: 6-5 New England
Likely to be In: 8-3 Cincinnati, 7-3 Pittsburgh, 8-3 Jacksonville, 7-4
San Diego, 7-4 Kansas City
That's 8 teams, for 6 spots.
So, what games will be the ones to watch to determine which three
remaining teams won't play in January? One of them's tonight... but
I'll get to that in a minute.
Cincinnati plays at Pittsburgh next week, then hosts Cleveland, goes to
Detroit, hosts Buffalo, and closes in Kansas City. Of these, the
Steelers game next week is going to be the most important, and hardest
fought.
Jacksonville goes to Cleveland then Indianapolis, before hosting San
Francisco, going to Houston, and closing at home hosting Tennessee.
Excluding Indy, this is a fairly lightweight schedule, and it seems
unlikely that the Jags will miss the postseason.
The Chargers host Oakland then Miami before going to Indianapolis and
Kansas City, and close by hosting Denver.
Kansas City hosts Denver, goes to Dallas then NY Giants and comes home
to host San Diego then Cincinnati. The Chiefs have the hardest schedule
of any team that's still in the race (all of their opponents are still
fighting for the postseason).
Pittsburgh plays in Indy tonight, then hosts Cincinnati and Chicago,
goes to Minnesota and Cleveland, and closes at home against the Lions.
The next three games are critical to Pittsburgh, especially next week's
game with the Bengals.
AFC Games to Watch:
Mon 11/28: Pittsburgh/Indy 6:00
Sun 12/4 : Cincinnati/Pittsburgh 10:00
Sun 12/4 : Denver/KC 1:15
Sun 12/4 : San Diego/Oakland 5:30
Sun 12/11: Indy/Jacksonville 10:00
Sun 12/11: Chicago/Pittsburgh 10:00
Sun 12/11: KC/Dallas 1:15
Sun 12/18: San Diego/Indianapolis 10:00
Sat 12/24: San Diego/Kansas City 10:00
Sat 12/31: Denver/San Diego 1:30
Sun 1/1 : Cincinnati/KC 10:00
NFC
Essentially In: 9-2 Seattle, 8-3 Chicago
Likely to get In: 8-3 Carolina
Fighting out the remaining spaces: 7-4 Dallas, 7-4 NY Giants, 7-4 Tampa
Bay, 7-4 Atlanta
Fooling themselves: 6-5 Minnesota, 5-6 St. Louis, 5-6 Washington
That's 7 teams, for 6 spots.
Dallas goes to NY Giants, hosts KC, goes to Washington and Carolina, and
hosts the last game of the regular season at 5:30 pm against St. Louis.
The Giants host Dallas, go to Philly, host KC, go to Washington and
close their season on New Year's Eve in Oakland.
Tampa Bay plays the Saints in Baton Rouge, then goes to Carolina and New
England, then comes home for Atlanta and New Orleans.
Atlanta goes to Carolina, plays at home on MNF against New Orleans, goes
to Chicago and Tampa Bay, and hosts Carolina
Minnesota goes to Detroit, hosts St. Louis and Pittsburgh, goes to
Baltimore on Christmas Day, and closes at home vs. Chicago.
NFC Games to watch:
Sun 12/4 : Dallas/NY Giants 10:00
Sun 12/11: Tampa Bay/Carolina 10:00
Sun 12/11: KC/Dallas 1:15
Sun 12/18: Dallas/Washington 10:00
Sat 12/24: Atlanta/Tampa Bay 10:00
Sun 1/1 : Carolina/Atlanta 10:00
Which brings us to tonight's game.
The Game:
Tonight, the 10-0 Colts bring their undefeated bandwagon home to
Indianapolis to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers on the FieldTurf of the
RCA Dome. Formerly the Hoosier Dome, the RCA Dome is not only a
football venue, but it's been the home of the NCAA Final Four, several
supercross extravaganzas and countless conventions. There is a portable
floor that can be assembled on top of the FieldTurf, and the Dome can be
ready for a convention just 18 hours after the last Colts fan has left.
The turf was installed last year to replace the
second-worst-in-the-league Astroturf-12 surface that had been in place
since the 90s.
The big news here is the return of Steeler's QB Ben Rothlisberger,
who'll be returning for the first time since his knee surgery on
November 3rd. The Steelers have been unable to win without him, so far.
The Line:
The Colts are favored by 8. The over/under is 47.5
The Smart Money won again last week. It is now 9-11, and approaching
respectability. Tonight the Smart Money takes the over and the Steelers
+8.
The Bar:
It seems to be a post-Thanksgiving tradition -- we have the problem of
having too much beer. So... tonight, please join us at our home, and
help us overcome our supply-side problem. This year it's a bunch of
bottles, rather than a keg.
Kickoff is at 6:00.
See you Here?