The Next Game Matters More than the Last Until it Doesn't

It’s been said there’s no such thing as a meaningless game to those playing the game.

Well, until midway through the second quarter and you’re down by 21 points and you remember you’re 4-10 and so far away from the playoffs you can’t even see its tail lights.

 

Seven of eight divisions have been clinched but there are still playoff seeding and wild card spots up for grabs so that should keep things interesting…

NO at DAL – Desperation is usually enough when it comes to calling NFL games and the Cowboys clearly need this game more than the Saints who are playing for pride, which is generally satisfied by a close, competitive loss. I generally don’t have a lot of confidence in Tony Romo specifically or the Cowboys in general but the New Orleans defense is awful, terrible and really not good at all.

Cowboys 30, Saints 27

SD at NYJ – Okay, not a lot at stake here, playoffs or otherwise. Both teams are out of the playoffs and stumbling into an off-season of cleaning house and reframing the broken promises of the recent past as a recommitment to the glory days of the not as recent past. After their win over the Steelers, which retained its “inexplicable” status thanks to the abysmal performance at home in the 31-7 loss to the Panthers, I thought the Chargers might close out their season with a four game winning streak, finish 8-8-0, and leave ownership confused enough to retain Norv Turner. (I’m gonna miss him!) Last Monday night’s game was almost enough to make me feel sorry for Jets’ fans. Okay, not really. Last Monday night was hilarious. I think death threats are a bit much but if you are going to go there, shouldn’t you be threatening GM Mike Tannenbaum like all right-minded Jets’ fans? (And no, I never thought I would use “right-minded” and “Jets’ fans” in the same sentence.) I’ll given HC Rex Ryan credit for consistency. Throughout the year he maintained that Sanchez gave the Jets their best chance to win and stuck with his star-crossed signal-caller right up to the point where winning no longer mattered.

The NYJ are benching Sanchez but they aren’t starting Tim Tebow, instead opting for their nominal 3^rd string QB, Greg McElroy. I suppose this makes some kind of twisted sense. The worst thing that could happen to the Jets’ brain trust would be to have Tebow, whom they stubbornly refused to play throughout this train wreck of a season, lead Gang Green to wins in the final two weeks of the season. It’s in Tannenbaum’s and Ryan’s best interests that the Jets look even worse without Sanchez than they did with him. (I’m looking at you, Greg McElroy!) With the news the Jets will explore trade options for both Sanchez and Tebow; we can start wondering which franchise would see Mark Sanchez as an upgrade over their current starter.

Let’s take Jacksonville off the list if the NYJ are serious about moving Tebow as I can’t imagine him going anywhere else.

That leaves Arizona. Maybe Kansas City.

That’s the list.

As for Tebow, I’d be happy to see the Patriots pick him up. As I wrote when the Broncos first made him available, I saw Tebow as Paul Hornung 2.0. With the extra weight he’s put on he might be better thought of as a mash up of Hornung and John Riggins. Put him in the shotgun next to Brady. The direct snap/play action permutations are almost endless. Run him out of the power-I formation and run him off tackle. Toss in the occasional halfback option pass. Plus, with the assumption Josh McDaniels could make this thing work and Tebow becomes a legitimate force on offense, Jets’ fans brains would simply explode. That would make for some messy fun.

Chargers 31, Jets 13

WAS at PHI – Washington, with or without RG III, is starting to look like that team nobody wants to play.  Philly, on the other hand, has been the team everyone wants to play all season long. Okay, not as much as they want to play Kansas City. Anyway, the math is pretty simple here. If the Skins win out, they get a home playoff game. My understanding is there’s a cash prize involved. If the Eagles win out, they’ll avoid an 11^th loss. I’m trying to imagine being motivated by that and it’s just not working for me.

Skins 37, Shirts 10

CIN at PIT – The Bengals have been losing games to the Steelers for a lot longer than Andy Dalton has been their quarterback who has certainly done nothing to change things. Pittsburgh is riding a two-game losing streak and the prospect of the Steelers losing three in a row is inconceivable (and yes, I do know what that word means).

Steelers 27, Bengals 16

MIN at HOU – I doubted Adrian Peterson last week. As George W. Bush once said, “Fool me once, shame on… shame on you. But fool me can’t be fooled again!” I’ve got the Texans losing their last two – the Vikes this Sunday and the Colts in Indianapolis next week – and the second seed in the playoffs on the tiebreaker to the Patriots. Wishful thinking on my part? Yeah, okay. Improbable? Not at all.

Vikings 24, Texans 20

CLE at DEN – The Browns have no shot. Zero. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Bupkis. With the Texans closing out with two losses, the Broncos will take the number one seed in the AFC bracket with home games against Cleveland and Kansas City. Really, it writes itself.

Broncos 56, Browns 0

NYG at BAL – How do you score 50+ one week and get shut out the next? The Giants are not having another December to remember in 2012 (though it may be one that’s hard to forget). Both of these teams are staggering. I’ll have to go with the team that needs it more.

Giants 47, Ravens 23

SF at SEA – I’m going with the classic emotional letdown for the 49ers following the big win over the Patriots and the fact the Seahawks cannot lose at home. Russell Wilson’s ability to escape San Fran’s pass rush and keep plays alive won’t hurt, either.

Seahawks 24, 49ers 16

NE at JAC – This will be a long afternoon for the Jacksonville faithful. There may be more Patriots’ fans in the stands than Jaguars’ fans for one thing; not that it’s been much of a winter so far but a winter weekend in sunny Jacksonville sounds like a great Christmas present for that hard to please Patriots’ fan in the family. Tom Brady will be wearing his angry eyes. Bill Belichick will grant no quarter, more concerned with the lessons he must teach his young team than for the bruised feelings of Jags’ HC Mike Mularkey or the delicate sensibilities of the pigskin cognoscenti. I am so looking forward to those running up the score stories on Monday.

Patriots 55, Jaguars 9