Kansas City Chiefs (11-5) vs. Indianapolis Colts (11-5)

Chiefs – 21st

Colts – 15th

Defense 

Chiefs – 24th

Colts – 20th

Kansas City was off to a fast start this season.  With some bumps in the road and a few injuries the Chiefs stumbled to only clinch a wild card spot in the AFC.  That’s probably for the best as the Chiefs don’t need any added pressure by hosting a playoff game with such an amazing turnaround from last year.  If the Chiefs are to continue on this solid season they will need a good, well maybe a great game from QB Alex Smith.  He has been solid this year, but at times his receivers and offensive line have let him down. Thankfully he has a healthy Jamaal Charles to keep the defense honest both in the running and passing game.  The Chiefs will need more than just Charles getting them scoring chances.  For the Colts their defense is among the fastest in the league, but they don’t always play at a high level.  QB Andrew Luck has had more pressure put on him this year than last, but he still managed to get the Colts to the playoffs again with a division title.  The Colts were in a close game last year with the Baltimore Ravens and this years matchup should bode similar results.  Indy’s defense will have to be better than advertised if they want to advance.

Matchup to watch for: Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles vs. Colts defense

New Orleans Saints (11-5) vs. Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)

Saints – 4th 

Eagles – 2nd

Saints – 4th

Eagles – 29th

This should be a high scoring game with two of the best offenses in the NFL this year.  With the Saints their defense has been good for most of the year, but they have shown at times that they lose interest.  That will have to change this week against a high flying Eagles offense that doesn’t take a play off.  With Saints QB Drew Brees still playing at a high level he’ll have to not turn the ball over if the Saints want to keep the Eagles offense off the field. Philadelphia has been a surprise all year long.  Ever since Nick Foles took over the quarterback position the Eagles haven’t looked back.  With RB LeSean McCoy leading the league in rushing the Eagles haven’t shown any weakness on offense. Their defense is peaking at the right time and they’ll have to play their best game of the year to beat the Saints at their own game.  

Matchup to watch for: Saints QB Drew Brees vs. Eagles defense

San Diego Chargers (9-7) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (11-5)

Chargers – 5th

Bengals – 10th

Chargers – 23rd

Bengals – 3rd

Not many people thought the Chargers would be a playoff team this year.  They were the winners of the final playoff spot in the AFC with their overtime win over the Kansas City Chiefs, who played their backups.  San Diego’s QB Phillip Rivers has had a great season leading the Chargers.  He has had his ups and downs this year, but for the most part he has been exactly what they’ve needed to be a playoff team once again.  If the Chargers defense doesn’t give up too many big plays to the Bengals then San Diego will continue their string of good luck.  Cincinnati has been bitten too many times under the Marvin Lewis era, but they believe this is their time.  They’re hosting a playoff game and haven’t lost at home this season.  It’s a good start for a team that has a solid defense and a prolific offense.  At times though QB Andy Dalton has thrown too many interceptions in crucial situations this year.  That can’t happen if the Bengals are to win a home playoff game.  

Matchup to watch for: Chargers defense vs. Bengals QB Andy Dalton

San Francisco 49ers (12-4) vs. Green Bay Packers (8-7-1)

49ers – 24th

Packers – 3rd

Defense 

49ers – 5th

Packers – 25th

You’d have to be if you’re the Green Bay Packers.  The Chicago Bears went brain dead on a play that was ruled a fumble when there was no whistle indicating the play was dead.  As a matter of fact the Packers thought the same until their sideline was screaming at them to take to the end zone.  Then on a 4th down play that had both the Packers and Bears season on the line, the Bears let Randall Cobb get past them for a wide open game winning touchdown catch.  Unbelievable considering that these two teams shouldn’t have even been in contention for the division title if the Detroit Lions didn’t give it away.  The Packers really were the favorites all year if Aaron Rodgers is healthy.  Now that he is they are a formidable team, but there defense is a huge soar spot for them.  They’ll have to fix that on the fly.

They needed a new voice and really a different quarterback. Michael Vick is a good fit for the Chip Kelly system, but if he gets a good lick on him at some point or he tries to run too much he begins to breakdown.  Nick Foles has been nearly perfect since he took over the starting job for the Eagles.  The offense has ran rather smoothly and the defense is actually playing better down the stretch.  They should have put the Dallas Cowboys away sooner in their showdown to end the season, but the Eagles win signifies that Chip Kelly is here to stay in the NFL.  Granted teams will adjust to his system rather quickly in the next few years, but for now he has a solid quarterback and enough talent on offense to keep the pace pretty close.  Eagles fans should know how good they’ve had for last decade with Andy Reid and they should be extremely grateful that Chip Kelly has proven pretty quickly that he can hang with the big boys.

Five head coaches were fired after the last game of the season.  If you count the Houston Texans head coaching position, which was open a few weeks before the season ended that makes six spots. Houston looks to be in line to get Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien.  He was a hot commodity when he was the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots before taking the job at Penn State.  It seems to be a good fit considering the talent Houston does have, but they do need to find a new quarterback. Tampa Bay has also found a replacement for Greg Schiano in former Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith.  He does have some history in Tampa as an assistant under former Bucs coach Tony Dungy.  The players should respond to Lovie’s low key approach.  Expect a nice turnaround in Tampa Bay.  That leaves Washington, Cleveland and Minnesota as the only vacant spots so far.  Oakland and Tennessee might have openings too, but we’ll have to wait and see.  I don’t think anyone wants to coach the Browns right now with the apparent disfunction in the front office. Not a healthy atmosphere.  The same could be said for Washington, but they need to clean house of some of the players that have become a nuisance.  Robert Griffin is their quarterback and he is a good one.  He needs the right motivator and if there are players that can’t see that, they need to move on.  Minnesota is an interesting job with Adrian Peterson and a good corps of receivers, but no solid quarterback.  The defense is going to need some work, but with a new stadium next year if the Vikings get a good quarterback they will be an interesting position.

It’s amazing to think that only Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have been the only two quarterbacks to break Dan Marino’s passing touchdown record for a season.  Manning has done it twice now with the Broncos win over the Houston Texans.  There is no doubt that the NFL has curbed its rules in the last decade to help guys like Brady and Manning break records or be in line to break them. However, you still have to be a great player to do it.  They both are masters at reading defenses and exposing their weakness.  I’ve said it before that it doesn’t matter which one you take you will succeed.  I would choose Manning simply because his in-game adjustments put his receivers, backs and linemen in the best possible positions to succeed.  He has made the quarterback position the most important in football and possibly all of sports. Breaking a touchdown record twice is one thing, but doing with two different teams is quite another.

It seems to be the on-going theme in the NFC East the last few years.  The division winner is crowned during the final game of the season.  The Dallas Cowboys will play host to the Philadelphia Eagles in the last regular season game.  However, the Cowboys will be without their starting quarterback Tony Romo who has to have surgery on his back.  What followed after the Cowboys victory in Washington against the Redskins was a bunch of hoopla, pardon my french.  ESPN was all over the fact that Romo was most likely done and that they were scouring the waiver wire looking for another quarterback.  They already have Kyle Orton who will take over the starting spot, but the Cowboys went ahead and brought back Jon Kitna who is over 40 years old now to be the backup to Orton.  The funny thing was it seemed the Cowboys were trying to discredit the reports of Romo’s injury with the way they were releasing official statements about his condition.  Regardless of the stupid back and forth the fact remains that the Cowboys will be thought of as a miracle if they win without Romo and will be doomed if they lose without him.  All eyes will be on the Cowboys this weekend whether they deserve it or not.

I’m not a big fan of drama, but when it involves a good football game I can make it work.  The San Francisco 49ers ended their stay at Candlestick Park in dramatic fashion with a pick that was returned for the game sealing touchdown by LB NaVarro Bowman. The Atlanta Falcons were in a prime position to actually tie or win the game with an onside recovery with about 2 minutes left in the game and only down by a field goal.  The 49ers caught a break so to speak and ended on a high note at Candlestick.  So many great memories that this storied franchise had in that park as they move to their new billion dollar stadium in Santa Clara next year.  It’s possible that their could be a playoff game at Candlestick this year depending on what happens in the final week of the season, but they can expect it will be a tough road to repeat as NFC champions.  Lets what it else is in store for them.

He was eating a turducken after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers at home Thanksgiving and gave a shout out to fantasy football players who had him on their roster after kicking a game winning 61 yard field goal against the Detroit Lions.  That’s how you win the hearts and minds of America.  This guy is pretty damn good.  He was 30-33 last season, his rookie year and is 35-37 so far this season with two games to go.  Baltimore as of right now control their own destiny.  They win their final two games against the New England Patriots and the Cincinnati Bengals they win the AFC North.  Pretty amazing considering how up and down their season has been.  You have to know that if the game is close against any opponent they won’t be afraid to let Justin Tucker kick a big field goal.  The only question for Baltimore is why their offense has become so stagnant this year?  Scoring all of your points by way of your kicker is rare. Your next two opponents aren’t the Detroit Lions.

Pick your poison.  Would you rather have Tony Romo or Matthew Stafford as your quarterback?  Most would probably choose neither. After this past weekend even more would rather take a pass, pardon the pun.  Romo and Stafford are capable and have put up incredible numbers in their careers.  They both have a lot of talent around them and yet their teams under perform.  There are many factors involved, but a big theme has been the decision making. They seem to make poor decisions at critical times in a game.  For example, Romo was throwing the football with a lead late in the game against the Green Bay Packers.  It was a short yardage situation and the Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray had well over 100 yards rushing at the time.  Stafford was under pressure with a lead against Baltimore and decided to throw a side arm pass over the middle where the ratio of Ravens to Lions players was in Baltimore’s advantage.  Result was an interception.  Going forward both of these teams are stuck with their $100 million dollar investments and their isn’t going to be an easy fix.  New head coaches might help, but those bad decisions are killing these teams.  Winning is everything and it isn’t happening on a consistent basis.

I figured that the Patriots would struggle in their first game after losing TE Rob Gronkowski to an ACL tear last week.  They sure didn’t look like they would with a halftime lead against the Miami Dolphins, but Patriots QB Tom Brady was actually outplayed by Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill who had a game winning drive with 1:21 left in the game.  Brady was still his usual self leading the Patriots inside the redzone needing a touchdown.  But it was then that I noticed where they would feel the loss of not having Gronkowski.  His height is hard for any defender to overcome and the Patriots didn’t have that advantage anymore.  Going forward there isn’t any danger of the Patriots missing the playoffs, but they could get knocked out of clinching the second seed and getting a first round bye.  They’ll need that bye and they have another tough task going to Baltimore and finishing the season at home against Buffalo.

Come to find out a lot of people actually like watching football in blizzard like conditions.  The powers that be having been freaking out for the last year knowing that it could possibly happen in New York (it’s really in New Jersey) for the upcoming Super Bowl.  Oh those poor people will have to bundle up at the first sign of snowflakes.  If I remember correctly one of the most iconic games in NFL history happened at the ‘Frozen Tundra’ otherwise known as Lambeau Field between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys in the late 60s.  Why would it hurt the NFL if there’s some inclement weather?  Peyton Manning’s only Super Bowl win was in Miami and it was raining throughout most of that game.  Were folks complaining then?  Maybe, but that was my first Super Bowl where I was watching it on a HD television.  Seeing the raindrops coming off the helmets in slow motion was amazing.  Anyway if there is snow at this seasons Super Bowl so what?  Millions will still watch and maybe millions more with pictures like the kind we saw this past weekend.

Finally a game that lived up to its billing.  Just because I’m a fan of one of the teams doesn’t diminish the fact that when you watch the Seahawks and 49ers playing each other, there’s bound to be some interesting moments.  You start with the head coaches who just don’t like each other.  They don’t show it, but Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has had a problem with 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh going back to their days at USC and Stanford respectively.  It’s even better now because they get to play each other twice a year instead of once.  The players for both teams keep it respectful and put all their talk on the field and not with reporters.  It would be nice to see them go at it again in the playoffs, but we’ll have to wait and see on that.  The 49ers close win means that they keep the Seahawks from clinching the division for another week.  If Seattle does end up losing their lead in the division they’ll be looking back at this game as one they shouldn’t have taken lightly.

The Carolina Panthers had an eight game winning streak going into New Orleans this past weekend.  Now after their loss to their division rival some think that this is exactly what Carolina needed. Say the Panthers beat the Saints in the Superdome.  They would be expected to win the division at that point with their next meeting against the Saints coming in North Carolina.  If that were the case the Panthers could be in a position to be the second seed in the NFC and be a contender for the Super Bowl.  Now that the hypothetical scenario is out of the way, with the Panthers loss they now have a chance to get right and learn from their mistakes. There were plenty of them.  Their defense was exposed and couldn’t get a consistent pass rush.  Their offense was stagnant and didn’t have a killer instinct.  This could go badly for them, but the Panthers are still in a good position to clinch a playoff spot. They’re a dangerous team only if they play like it.