Rooting Guide: 11/15

by rhys on Nov 15, 2009 8:41 AM CST

I am pleased to present you with the first installment of this weekly feature, which will take a look at the Packers (fading) playoff hopes, and who you should root for to make the postseason more likely.

This week, the Packers come into a crucial game with the Cowboys at home on a 2-game loosing streak (and with a 4-4 overall record), with painful losses to the Vikings and Buccaneers. Their wins have been against the woeful Bears, Browns, Lions and Rams. It doesn't look good.

As far as their playoff hopes, here's the NFC Wild Card standings as of now (top 2 finishers get into playoffs):

1. Philadelphia Eagles (5-3)

2. Atlanta Falcons (5-3)

3. NY Giants (5-4)

4. Green Bay Packers (4-4)

Also Rans: Chicago Bears (4-5), San Francisco 49'ers (4-5), Carolina Panthers (3-5), Seattle Seahawks (3-5).

Really, not too bad. They are one game off the lead, with a few bad/OK teams lurking behind them. I'm just assuming the division is out of hand, given the Vikings are 7-1 and we have no games left with them.

Now, here's what Packers fans want to have happen this weekend.

1. The Cardinals are playing the Seahawks (3 pm. Central). Root for the Cards. An Arizona win would put them into a secure division lead, (they'd be 6-3, the Seahawks would be 3-6), whereas a loss would muddle the NFC West picture (the Cards would be 5-4, the Seahawks would be 4-5). It would be nice to have a clear winner out west, and have the Seahawks, a bad team who are lurking, done away with.

2. The San Diego Chargers are playing the Philadelphia Eagles (3 pm. Central). Root for the Chargers. In fact, this one is pretty easy. Any time an AFC team is playing an NFC team, always root for the AFC team (a win in the AFC does not effect the Packers at all). This would make Philly 5-4, bringing them down to the same hypothetical record as the Packers after a win over Dallas this weekend, which brings me to my next point...

3. Root for Green Bay. Duh.

4. Carolina is playing Atlanta (12 pm. Central). Root for the Panthers. A Carolina win would also bring the 5-3 Falcons down a notch to the Packers level, and although it would boost the Panthers to a 4-5 lurking status, having the current leader brought down a peg is always a good thing.

The 5-4 NY Giants have a bye this week.

So, if all these these things happen they way they should this weekend: here's your NFC wild card race:

1. Falcons (5-4)

1. Eagles (5-4)

1. Packers (5-4)

1. Giants (5-4)

(49'ers, Bears, Panthers lurking @ 4-5)

That looks pretty darn good. A four-way tie, and two relatively easy games for the Pack in the next two weeks (49'ers, Lions).

Of course, it's completely irrational to suspect things will work out this perfectly, as the Falcons, Eagles and Cowboys are all favored to win.

Here's to hoping.

Tweet Comment 13 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I had been wondering

How the playoff picture looked. I know it’s too early because at least one of these teams is going to implode like the Jets and Packers did last year. Philadelphia always finds a way to make their playoff run harder than it should be. Bill Simmons recommended they bring a closer for Andy Reid because he can’t manage the clock. And the Giants are on an ugly 3 game slide, but they could turn it around after the bye. Just a lot of possibilities.

by Brandon on Nov 15, 2009 10:39 AM CST reply actions

Yeah, it’s pretty ridiculously early to speculate. Still fun, though.

The Giants are actually on a 4 game slide, if you can believe it, after going 5-0 to start the year. They look really bad, and could easily implode. The Falcons and Eagles scare me.

I’m just hoping Favre starts throwing 2-3 picks/game as he gets more dinged up/tired and the Vikings start losing. A little schadenfreude…

88-74 - Giants Series Record: 28-18-5, 19-7 at home.

Adopted Giant: Daryl "Dealio" Maday - Not reassigned after all. Still a mediocre AA pitcher.

by rhys on Nov 15, 2009 10:47 AM CST up reply actions

Panthers beat Falcons

Looking to buy: General Manager Deputy Badge

by Bush League All Star on Nov 15, 2009 3:08 PM CST reply actions

guess what?

Everything seems to be coming true.

Panthers beat Falcons.

Chargers beat Eagles.

Cardinals are beating Seahawks.

Packers seem to be on the way to beating Cowboys.

It’s a good day for the Packers’ chances at a wild card.

by starmark on Nov 15, 2009 6:23 PM CST reply actions

McCarthy and Capers

They did some great prep work this week. The offense called better plays to not let Rodgers get killed (even though he was still sacked multiple times, it didn’t seem like he was under constant pressure each drop-back) and Capers D really held a good Dallas offense down.

I was happy with Brad Jones on the outside too…Thoughts?

by AaronR on Nov 15, 2009 6:42 PM CST reply actions

Good Day

I agree. Brad Jones looked alright. Some things that really stand out to me.
1. Capers let the defense loose a little bit. I was happy to see a non conservative game plan.
2. McCarthy did a good job choosing quick drop backs. Glad to see that too.
3. You’re rooting guide helped a lot!

by Tim V on Nov 15, 2009 7:09 PM CST up reply actions

1. Capers let the defense loose a little bit. I was happy to see a non conservative game plan.
2. McCarthy did a good job choosing quick drop backs. Glad to see that too.

Yeah, Capers brought blitzing pretty consistently and Romo had a hard time reading them. He needs to continue to call games this way as it actually makes our defense unpredictable, like he was brought into do.

Yes, he did. It was good to see Rodgers throwing some quick passes on what were actually called run plays. We’ve had a lot of success doing this the last couple of seasons and had tremendous success doing that today. Jennings, Driver, Jones, and Nelson are all great/good after the catch, and all showed it today.

by packallday555 on Nov 15, 2009 8:22 PM CST up reply actions

Oops

*blitzes. Not blitzing.

by packallday555 on Nov 15, 2009 8:23 PM CST up reply actions

Brad Jones looked alright

He was a liitle late on some coverage reads, but played better than anyone expected. I had a feeling this guy would turn in a solid performance. I think TT is good at evaluating LBs, and I’ve expected Jones to be a decent player.

by StephanL on Nov 16, 2009 4:43 AM CST up reply actions

Thanks rhys!

I hope you do this again. I love the analysis of the playoff picture. Everything worked like clockwork this weekend too! (Except for that last minute TD with 0:38 on the clock)

One thing that stood out today was the commitment to the running game. I was really excited about getting bored watching the Packers run game plug away. I thought to myself “A run? Again?” but the runs worked and softened up the defense and slowed the pass rush. I hope we operate like this in the future. It will be quite the test next weekend against the 3rd ranked run defense (as ranked going into this week).

by StephanL on Nov 16, 2009 4:41 AM CST reply actions

It all happened!

Wow…what a difference a week makes. THIS is the team I thought we’d see this year, not the one that couldn’t do anything right against the bucs. Its still VERY early for playoff picture talk, but its good to know that we are RIGHT in the hunt!!

by TrevorR on Nov 16, 2009 8:49 AM CST reply actions