If numbers get you off, chew for a minute on these stats:
The New York Jets were the best team in the league at running the football. The New York Jets were No. 2 in the league in overall defense. Twenty-seven quarterbacks in the league had a higher rating than Mark Sanchez.
Any questions about where the Jets have to step up their game if they plan to be playing beyond next weekend?
Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead.
That was the approach of Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy in Arizona last weekend, and we’ll find out in a few days whether or not playing the regulars most of the way in the meaningless regular-season game will pay dividends when the teams meet Sunday in a game that really counts.
Wade Phillips needs one more win to keep his job as HC of the DC, and no one is rooting for him more than owner Jerry Jones.
It’s an uncomplicated relationship between Phillips and Jones.
Let’s see now.
The best receiver just tore up every ligament in his left knee. The starting running back has a tendency to fumble the ball every time he touches it inside the opposing 5 yard line. The deep-threat receiver pouts when things don’t go exactly the way he wants them.
The Cincinnati Bengals what happened the last time they qualified for the playoffs. It looked like such a bright start as the Bengals looked like the perfect team to knock off the Pittsburgh Steelers…until Kimo Von Oelhoffen fell into Carson Palmer’s knee and threw the franchise off for years.
The Denver Broncos fired coach Mike Shanahan last year when the team lost its final four games, blew a division lead and missed the playoffs. Just one year later under a new coach and a new regime, the Broncos are poised to do the same.
The Seattle Seahawks have been one of the worst teams in the NFL this year and they are set to be this way for years to come. The Seahawks have been outscored 106-24 in their last three games and they have a look of a team that is ready to rebuild.
We all understand about playing the no-respect card. The Patriots used the tactic to motivate themselves to three Super Bowls.
The Ravens have employed a slightly different tack, complaining that the referees are always out to get them.
In a mega-game that everyone feels will be dominated by playmakers for both teams on both sides of the ball, will the outcome of the NFC East be determined by a substitute center?
Maybe.
Philadelphia’s offensive line has teetered between work in progress and absolute mess since the start of training camp, and now the Eagles will be forced to finish out with season without the one stabilizing force on the front five – center Jamaal Jackson, who suffered torn knee ligaments in the victory over Denver last Sunday.
