Rooting Guide + Playoff Picture: 12/6

by rhys on Dec 6, 2009 11:31 AM CST Comment 8 comments

It's Sunday morning, and so this weekly feature returns. The current NFC Wild Card standings (drumroll please...)

1. Philadelphia Eagles 7-4 (6-2 in conference)

2. Green Bay Packers 7-4 (6-3 in conference)

3. NY Giants 6-5 (4-3, or .571 in conference)

4. Atlanta Falcons 6-5 (5-4 or .555 in conference)

You can ignore pretty much everyone else except the 49'ers, who, in recent weeks on this blog, have been cited as possible threats to the Cardinals in the NFC West. If the season ends, say, with both the Cards and 49'ers at 10-6 or 9-7, this could complicate things. Overall, though, it looks pretty good for the Pack.

Here's how you should root this week:

1. The Eagles are in Atlanta to take on the Falcons. In a tough one, I'm going to have to recommend rooting for the Eagles. An Eagles win would make Atlanta 6-6, and all but out of the picture with both Michael Turner and Matt Ryan seriously injured. This is a good thing. It also makes the Eagles 8-4, and will maintain their current first place standing in the WC race, as the Packers are playing an AFC team. Even if they win, they will still be trailing in the conference record tiebreaker, you see. Oh well. There are other weeks to try to take that top spot.

2. The Giants are at home to take on the Cowboys. Cowboys all the way in this one. A win would make them 9-3, making them de-facto favorites for the NFC East title. The Giants would be 6-6, having lost 6 of their last 7, and practically out of the playoff picture, much like the hypothetical Falcons.

3. The Vikings are in Arizona to take on the Cards. Root for the Cards. A win (as Brandon already explained) would make them more likely to rest their starters against us in Week 17. We want them to run away with the divison, on that note....

4. The 49'ers are in Seattle to take on the Seahawks. It'll never happen, but root for Matt Hasslebeck's crew. This, coupled with a Cards win, would effectively end the NFC West "race."

5. Packers need to win. Obviously.

If all this happens, we'll be sitting quite pretty. Now, so to not set myself up for disappointment, I'll point out that a loss to the Ravens would not be the end of the world. It doesn't effect our conference record, which is the primary tiebreaker, and our remaining schedule is fairly soft. That said, I think it would be a big win, and we should come out prepared to win this game on extra rest/planning against the inconsistent and banged-up Ravens.

The Eagles are really our only threat in this race, and I'm feeling pretty good. Now watch me get burned when the Packers flame out and lose three in a row.

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Interesting stats coming into December

Aaron Rodgers has been the leading passer for Packer games in 9 of 11. The two passers that had more yards one those gamedays: Jay Culter (Week 1) and Tony Romo (Week 10).

Speaking of Tony Romo and according to ESPN, he is the leading interception thrower in December games since 2006. Followed by Brett Favre and John Kitna (still in the league? Backup in Dallas?)

Speaking of turnovers! Packers are +17 in the TO margin. That is something I love to see.

Packers have a few milestones coming up. Aaron Rodgers already surpassed 3,000 yards throwing, but we could have a 1000 yard rusher and possibly 2 1000 yard receivers. Not that these benchmarks are great indicators of performance, but:

Ryan Grant: 890 yards rushing (110 needed)
Donald Driver: 845 yards receiving (155 needed)
Greg Jennings: 722 yards receiving (278 needed)

With 5 games left, I suspect 2 out of the 3 to be met.

Those stats are important for personal reasons to the players, but no stat matters other than the W. Let’s get those wins Packers.

Looking to buy: General Manager Deputy Badge

by Bush League All Star on Dec 6, 2009 2:55 PM CST reply actions

Three things out of the four things we needed happened. Not too shabby. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow for the fifth.

Can’t really believe the 49ers lost and Cardinals won haha..Dallas wasn’t able to mind but I don’t necessarily think that’s the end of the world. I think the Cowboys are going to implode. The Eagles will take the East division. And we’ll get that 5th seed with the Giants getting the 6th.

by packallday555 on Dec 6, 2009 11:53 PM CST reply actions

Well the NFC West is shaping up just the way could have hoped! Now if only the Giants could totally fall apart like they should be.

by TrevorR on Dec 7, 2009 8:56 AM CST reply actions

Giants v Cowboys

Is head to head play the first tie breaker? If so I think the Giants/Cowboys game was a toss up.

by Wittness on Dec 7, 2009 1:59 PM CST reply actions

Yeah I believe so. I really think the Cowboys are going to have another collapse and miss the playoffs. They have San Diego, New Orleans, Washington, and Philly left. With Washington actually looking like a solid team these past 3 weeks, they could easily lose all 4 of these games.

by packallday555 on Dec 7, 2009 2:50 PM CST up reply actions

I would prefer we get the fifth seed

Otherwise it’s looking like we would play Arizona first, then if we got past them we would go to New Orleans. That’s two tough opponents in the first two games who have offensive strengths that where our defense seems to struggle.

by Charlie Kelly on Dec 8, 2009 9:07 AM CST reply actions

Good point. I think we have to wait and see what Arizona team shows up in the playoffs. Their so hit or miss. Obviously, they were a hit Sunday night against the Vikings but it could end up being one good game for them.

The thing about them is their defense really isn’t all that great. Yes, they shut down Favre and co. but that was because they forced the Vikings to become one dimensional and knew they were going to pass nearly every play. The running game is why the Vikings passing game has been so successful, but without the running game Sunday night it struggled.

The Saints are darn good and we would have too execute near perfect but they have shown some signs of being mortal this month (with close games with the Rams and Redskins) so who knows.

by packallday555 on Dec 8, 2009 10:40 AM CST up reply actions

Here is something interesting

Say nothing happens to the playoff picture. Everything remains the same. Dallas vs. Philly and Green Bay vs. Arizona could happen in back to back weeks. Has that happened before?

Looking to buy: General Manager Deputy Badge

by Bush League All Star on Dec 9, 2009 9:06 AM CST reply actions