The Arizona Cardinals have a division title on the line when they head to San Francisco on Monday night, but there is a little extra incentive that they aren’t being so vocal about.
In Week 1, the Cardinals hosted the San Francisco 49ers and they eventually lost that game because of a shoddy overall team effort.
There will be more than just some good old-fashioned divisional hatred on the line when the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants meet up on Sunday night. The Eagles currently hold the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoff picture while the New York Giants are the No. 7 seed – just one game behind.
The New Orleans Saints are just one of two teams in the NFL that has yet to lose this season and as they head out on the road as a 10-point favorite in Atlanta, the odds makers don’t believe that this is the week that their perfection will end.
So what’s the trick to beating the Indianapolis Colts?
Control the ball for large chunks of time? A lot of good that did the Dolphins.
Put a ton of points on the board? That helps, but the Patriots did that and still took an L.
Never, ever it is a good sign when an NFL owner talks on or off the record about the status of his head coach, but it’s Wade Phillips’s lot in life that Jerry Jones has never met a microphone that he didn’t like.
If you take a look at the Baltimore Ravens stats, you wouldn’t think that much has changed from last year’s daunting defense. While they are still the third best scoring defense, there has been a noticeable diminishing.
For example: Last week on Sunday night football, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who lost to Oakland this week with starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the lineup, nearly won on the road in Baltimore with third string starter Dennis Dixon.
The Arizona Cardinals may be without starting quarterback Kurt Warner this week, which would really hamper a matchup of two ageless quarterbacks in the NFC.
Warner led the Cardinals to the Super Bowl last year and Brett Favre is hoping to do the same for the Vikings this year.
The Atlanta Falcons will be very shorthanded this weekend as the Philadelphia Eagles visit. They’ll be without their starting quarterback and starting running back, which is already more starters than they missed all of last year.
Last season, the Falcons only missed one starter for any games as left tackle Sam Baker missed 11 starts. This year has been a very different story as the Falcons, who are already without Harry Douglas, William Moore, Brian Williams and Michael Schneck for the season, and have missed Ovie Mughelli, Jerious Norwood, Michael Turner and Brian Finneran for multiple games, will now be without Turner and Matt Ryan for this week.
For those of us concerned that the undefeated Colts would just kick back for the rest of the season and make wagering on them the mother of all uncertain sciences, rest assured that Indy will keep the pedal to the meal for at least the next few weeks.
Here is what the 6-5 Giants will be sending out onto the field Sunday against the Cowboys in what is basically a playoff elimination game:
The New Orleans Saints may be one of two undefeated teams in the NFL this year but you can rest assured that they will be measuring themselves against the New England Patriots, who are the barometer of success in the NFL.
The Saints have been impressive this year on both sides of the ball, which very well may be the difference in this game. Not only is the Saints offense dominating, the defense has been making plays as well as the additions of coordinator Gregg Williams and safety Darren Sharper have had a huge impact.
Time: 8:30 ET
Venue: Louisiana Superdome
Pats vs. Saints Monday Night Football Lines
MoneyLine: Currently OFF
Spread: Saints -1.5
Over/Under: 56.5
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens renew their rivalry this weekend and while we’ve seen some very physical, intense contests between the two teams in recent years, this week’s contest has the potential to be one-sided.
Time: 8:20 ET
Venue: M&T Bank Stadium
Steelers vs. Ravens Sunday Football Lines
MoneyLine: Steelers +300 / Ravens -170
Spread: Ravens -7.5
Over/Under: 34
The Houston Texans have done some growing in their fourth year under head coach Gary Kubiak. After finishing 8-8 in the previous two seasons, they have made a reason push for the playoffs. Unfortunately, some fourth quarter failures have left the Texans at their typical .500 and they are 5-5 after 10 games.
Where the Broncos went wrong this season is a serious topic of conversation in Colorado, even as the team uses its short week to get ready to play the equally dysfunctional Giants on Thanksgiving Day.
It’s about time to start protecting the good women and children in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It’s nearly December, and watching the Dallas Cowboys play in December has forced hundreds of thousands of football fans to avert their eyes.
A few months from now they will assemble in bars near Lambeau Field, look out at a few feet of snow and talk about how their team was so close to a playoff spot entering the final several weeks of the season.
