JetNation Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 1. Atlanta Falcons The Monday night game against New Orleans is must-see-TV, but regardless of the outcome, the NFC playoffs will run through Atlanta where the dirty birds are 6-0 this season. 2. New England Patriots The Pats cruised a bit too much Sunday night with the Packers in town, but they are also cruising into home-field advantage for the playoffs. 3. Philadelphia Eagles The Eagles can set their sights on the NFC’s number two seed after pulling off another miracle at the Meadowlands. Nobody wants this team on their playoff schedule. 4. Baltimore Ravens The Ravens got the ground game in high gear Sunday. They need to sustain that through January to compete for the AFC Championship. 5. New Orleans Saints The Saints got ripped on the ground Sunday and have to travel to Atlanta and face an even better running team on Monday night. 6. New York Jets The Jets came up huge in a huge spot on Sunday. It was the kind of win on which a team can start a long playoff run. Sunday’s trip to Chicago is another big test for a team hoping to keep its momentum and, more importantly, its confidence growing. 7. Pittsburgh Steelers The Steelers were the second most desperate team on the field Sunday. The loss probably will not hurt them as they have the edge in the division and the AFC’s second seed in their control with very winnable games on the schedule. 8. Chicago Bears The Bears have a division crown in hand and look now towards securing the NFC’s second seed. The Jets come to town Sunday in less than a giving mood. The last AFC East team to visit wasn’t a very good guest (New England). 9. New York Giants Sunday was a horrific loss and the type of setback that can send a team off a cliff to close the season. The Giants have to find a way to put it behind them and get back to work. They are in a fight for the playoffs with two road games left to play. 10. San Diego Chargers The Bolts got Vincent Jackson back and appeared more than ready to play. The loss of Antonio Gates will be costly against the better defenses. View the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Banned Posted December 24, 2010 Share Posted December 24, 2010 With all due respect to the Falcons, I'm having a hard time understanding why some are putting them at the top. The Patriots have an identical record and are 5-1 vs teams currently ranked within the Top 10 while Atlanta is only 2-2 against that field. And then there's the eyeball test. The Patriots have completely dominated some of those teams while the Falcons have not. Additionally the Falcons division has benefited from playing four games vs the NFC West so there is the whole difficulty of schedule working against Atlanta as well. The only rational argument for putting Atlanta ahead of New England is the presence of an obvious bias against the Patriots. ESPN and the NFL Network have put together segments on their networks focused on "How to beat the Patriots" yet no such segment has been created for the Falcons or any other team for that matter. No franchise in sports reveals the pettiness of others as effectively as the Patriots. It's actually quite humorous. It'll be interesting to see what impact this bias will play on the MVP vote. If our backup had lit up the scoreboard and led our team to a beatdown of the Falcons as Kolb did in Vick's absence, we would never hear the end of it. Yet somehow that detail has been completely forgotten. I also wonder if all those Manning supporters will allow Brady to gain ground on career MVP's. While I may find the bias somewhat humorous as applied to the Patriots, it does bother me that individual players are also undermined. Devin McCourty is another. DM has made far more impact plays this year than Suh but he's hardly a blip on the ROTY radar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoping4ASuperBowl Posted December 24, 2010 Share Posted December 24, 2010 With all due respect to the Falcons, I'm having a hard time understanding why some are putting them at the top. The Patriots have an identical record and are 5-1 vs teams currently ranked within the Top 10 while Atlanta is only 2-2 against that field. And then there's the eyeball test. The Patriots have completely dominated some of those teams while the Falcons have not. Additionally the Falcons division has benefited from playing four games vs the NFC West so there is the whole difficulty of schedule working against Atlanta as well. The only rational argument for putting Atlanta ahead of New England is the presence of an obvious bias against the Patriots. ESPN and the NFL Network have put together segments on their networks focused on "How to beat the Patriots" yet no such segment has been created for the Falcons or any other team for that matter. No franchise in sports reveals the pettiness of others as effectively as the Patriots. It's actually quite humorous. It'll be interesting to see what impact this bias will play on the MVP vote. If our backup had lit up the scoreboard and led our team to a beatdown of the Falcons as Kolb did in Vick's absence, we would never hear the end of it. Yet somehow that detail has been completely forgotten. I also wonder if all those Manning supporters will allow Brady to gain ground on career MVP's. While I may find the bias somewhat humorous as applied to the Patriots, it does bother me that individual players are also undermined. Devin McCourty is another. DM has made far more impact plays this year than Suh but he's hardly a blip on the ROTY radar. Most of NFL networks analysts have the pats listed as #1, just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greeniemeanie Posted December 24, 2010 Share Posted December 24, 2010 With all due respect to the Falcons, I'm having a hard time understanding why some are putting them at the top. The Patriots have an identical record and are 5-1 vs teams currently ranked within the Top 10 while Atlanta is only 2-2 against that field. And then there's the eyeball test. The Patriots have completely dominated some of those teams while the Falcons have not. Additionally the Falcons division has benefited from playing four games vs the NFC West so there is the whole difficulty of schedule working against Atlanta as well. The only rational argument for putting Atlanta ahead of New England is the presence of an obvious bias against the Patriots. ESPN and the NFL Network have put together segments on their networks focused on "How to beat the Patriots" yet no such segment has been created for the Falcons or any other team for that matter. No franchise in sports reveals the pettiness of others as effectively as the Patriots. It's actually quite humorous. It'll be interesting to see what impact this bias will play on the MVP vote. If our backup had lit up the scoreboard and led our team to a beatdown of the Falcons as Kolb did in Vick's absence, we would never hear the end of it. Yet somehow that detail has been completely forgotten. I also wonder if all those Manning supporters will allow Brady to gain ground on career MVP's. While I may find the bias somewhat humorous as applied to the Patriots, it does bother me that individual players are also undermined. Devin McCourty is another. DM has made far more impact plays this year than Suh but he's hardly a blip on the ROTY radar. Much to my chagrin, I must concur. Damn Patriots! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted December 25, 2010 Share Posted December 25, 2010 Most of NFL networks analysts have the pats listed as #1, just saying. Most of the NFL Network analysts have been blowing the Pats for years. Just saying. These rankings are too generous to the Jets and Giants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoping4ASuperBowl Posted December 25, 2010 Share Posted December 25, 2010 Most of the NFL Network analysts have been blowing the Pats for years. Just saying. These rankings are too generous to the Jets and Giants. True. But I was really just arguing with The Banned saying theirs a bias against the Pats. Yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxman Posted December 25, 2010 Share Posted December 25, 2010 I will say it again. The Patriots have Danny Woodhead. They will not and can not be stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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