NFL Football Discussion Thread ~ Final Week of Regular Season

NFL ^

[CounterCounterCulture]

*** USELESS VANITY THREAD ***

And thus begins the official end to the season of 20 NFL teams as the 12 survivors jockey for their post-season slots this weekend.

AFC East  
  Team           W  L T 
  Miami          9  6 0 
  N.Y. Jets      8  7 0 
  New England    8  7 0  
  Buffalo        7  8 0 
 
AFC North  
  Team           W  L T 
y-Pittsburgh     9  5 1 
  Cleveland      8  7 0 
  Baltimore      7  8 0 
  Cincinnati     2 13 0  
 
AFC South  
  Team           W  L T 
y-Tennessee     10  5 0 
  Indianapolis   9  6 0 
  Jacksonville   6  9 0 
  Houston        4 11 0 
 
AFC West  
  Team           W  L T 
y-Oakland       10  5 0 
  Denver         8  7 0 
  Kansas City    8  7 0 
  San Diego      8  7 0 
 
NFC East  
  Team           W  L T 
yz-Philadelphia 12  3 0  
  N.Y. Giants    9  6 0 
  Washington     6  9 0 
  Dallas         5 10 0  
 
NFC North  
  Team           W  L T 
y-Green Bay     12  3 0
  Minnesota      5 10 0 
  Chicago        4 11 0 
  Detroit        3 12 0 
 
NFC South  
  Team           W  L T 
y-Tampa Bay     11  4 0  
  Atlanta        9  5 1 
  New Orleans    9  6 0  
  Carolina       6  9 0 
 
NFC West  
  Team           W  L T 
y-San Francisco 10  5 0 
  Seattle        6  9 0 
  St. Louis      6  9 0 
  Arizona        5 10 0  
x-clinched playoff berth
y-clinched division title
z-clinched first-round bye
*-clinched homefield advantage 

Official playoff scenarios

The following are the official playoff scenarios in each conference and division as determined by the NFL. Strength of victory is the season-ending winning percentage of all the opponents a team has defeated. Strength of victory can change after final week.

AFC EAST

Miami Dolphins: Can clinch AFC East division with win or tie.
To clinch home-field advantage: 1) Win AND Oakland loss AND Tennessee loss AND Pittsburgh loss AND Miami wins strength of victory tiebreaker over Oakland and Tennessee.
To clinch a first-round bye: 1) Win AND Pittsburgh loss or tie AND Oakland loss; 2) Win AND Pittsburgh loss or tie AND Tennessee loss; 3) Win AND Tennessee loss AND Oakland loss AND Miami wins strength of victory tiebreaker over Oakland and Tennessee.
To clinch a playoff spot: 1) N.Y. Jets loss or tie AND Denver win; 2) N.Y. Jets loss or tie AND Kansas City loss or tie.

New England Patriots: Can clinch AFC East division: 1) Win AND N.Y. Jets loss or tie.
To clinch a playoff spot: 1) Win AND Cleveland loss or tie AND Denver loss or tie AND Kansas City win; 2) Win AND Cleveland loss or tie AND Denver loss or tie AND San Diego loss or tie; 3) Tie AND N.Y. Jets loss AND Cleveland loss AND Denver loss AND San Diego loss AND Kansas City loss or tie.

New York Jets: Can clinch AFC East division: 1) Win AND Miami loss.
Can clinch playoff spot: 1) Win AND Cleveland loss or tie AND Denver win; 2) Win AND Cleveland loss or tie AND Kansas City loss or tie; 3) Tie AND New England loss or tie AND Cleveland loss AND Denver loss or tie AND Kansas City loss AND San Diego loss or tie.

AFC NORTH

Pittsburgh Steelers: Have clinched the AFC North title.
Can clinch home-field advantage: 1) Win AND Tennessee loss AND Oakland loss.
Can clinch a first-round bye: 1) Win AND Tennessee loss; 2) Win AND Oakland loss.

Cleveland Browns: Can clinch playoff spot: 1) Win AND Denver win AND N.Y. Jets win; 2) Win AND Kansas City loss or tie AND N.Y. Jets win; 3) Win AND Denver win AND Miami win or tie; 4) Win AND Kansas City loss or tie AND Miami win or tie; 5) Tie AND N.Y. Jets loss or tie AND New England loss or tie AND Denver loss or tie AND San Diego loss or tie AND Kansas City loss; 6) New England loss AND N.Y. Jets loss AND Baltimore loss or tie AND Denver loss AND San Diego loss AND Kansas City loss.

Baltimore Ravens: Can clinch playoff spot: 1) Win AND New England loss AND N.Y. Jets loss AND Cleveland loss AND Denver loss AND San Diego loss AND Kansas City loss.

AFC SOUTH

Tennessee Titans: Have clinched AFC South title.
Can clinch home-field advantage: 1) Win AND Oakland loss or tie; 2) Tie AND Oakland loss; 3) Pittsburgh loss or tie AND Miami win AND Oakland loss AND Tennessee wins on strength of victory tiebreaker over Miami and Oakland.
Can clinch a first-round bye: 1) Win or tie; 2) Miami loss AND Pittsburgh loss or tie; 3) Oakland loss AND Miami win AND Tennessee wins strength of victory tiebreaker over Oakland and Miami.

Indianapolis Colts: Can clinch playoff spot: 1) Win or tie; 2) New England loss or tie; 3) N.Y. Jets win; 4) Cleveland loss or tie AND Kansas City loss or tie; 5) Cleveland loss or tie AND Denver win.

AFC WEST

OAKLAND Raiders: Have clinched AFC West title.
Can clinch home-field advantage: 1) Win; 2) Tie AND Tennessee loss or tie; 3) Pittsburgh loss or tie AND Tennessee loss AND Miami loss; 4) Pittsburgh loss or tie AND Tennessee loss AND Oakland wins strength of victory tiebreaker over Tennessee and Miami.
Can clinch first-round bye: 1) Tie; 2) Miami loss or tie AND Pittsburgh loss or tie; 3) Miami loss or tie AND Tennessee loss; 4) Tennessee loss AND Oakland wins strength of victory tiebreaker over Tennessee and Miami.

Denver Broncos: Can clinch playoff spot: 1) Win AND Cleveland loss or tie AND New England loss or tie AND N.Y. Jets loss or tie; 2) Win AND Cleveland loss or tie AND Miami loss AND N.Y. Jets win; 3) Tie AND New England loss or tie AND N.Y. Jets loss AND Cleveland loss AND Kansas City loss or tie AND San Diego loss or tie.

Kansas City Chiefs: Can clinch playoff spot: 1) Win AND Denver loss or tie AND New England loss or tie; 2) Win AND Denver loss or tie AND Indianapolis win or tie AND N.Y. Jets loss or tie; 3) Win AND Denver loss or tie AND Indianapolis loss AND N.Y. Jets win AND Cleveland win; 4) Tie AND New England loss AND N.Y. Jets loss or tie AND Cleveland loss or tie AND Denver loss AND San Diego loss or tie.

San Diego Chargers: Can clinch playoff spot: 1) Win AND Denver loss or tie AND Kansas City loss or tie AND New England loss or tie AND N.Y. Jets loss or tie AND Cleveland loss or tie; 2) Win AND Denver loss or tie AND Kansas City loss or tie AND Miami loss AND N.Y. Jets win AND Cleveland loss or tie; 3) Tie AND Denver loss AND Kansas City loss AND New England loss AND N.Y. Jets loss AND Cleveland loss.

NFC EAST

Philadelphia Eagles: Have clinched NFC East title and a first-round bye.
Can clinch home-field advantage: 1) Win; 2) Tie AND Green Bay loss or tie; 3) Green Bay loss.

New York Giants: Can clinch playoff spot: 1) Win; 2) Tie AND New Orleans loss or tie; 3) New Orleans loss.

NFC NORTH

Green Bay Packers: Have clinched NFC North title.
Can clinch home-field advantage: 1) Win AND Philadelphia loss or tie; 2) Tie AND Philadelphia loss; Can clinch first-round bye: 1) Win or tie; 2) Tampa Bay loss or tie.

NFC SOUTH

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Have clinched NFC South title.
Can clinch first-round bye: 1) Win AND Green Bay loss.

Atlanta Falcons: Can clinch playoff spot: 1) Win or tie; 2) N.Y. Giants loss or tie; 3) New Orlean loss or tie.

New Orleans Saints: Can clinch playoff spot: 1) Win AND N.Y. Giants loss or tie; 2) Win AND Atlanta loss; 3) Tie AND N.Y. Giants loss.

NFC WEST

49ers: Have clinched NFC West title.

Source

The following teams have been officially eliminated from playoff contention:

Arizona, Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Minnesota, St. Louis, Seattle and Washington

WEEK 17 SCHEDULE

(all times Eastern Standard Time)

Saturday, Dec. 28 
Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants, 1:30 pm
Kansas City at Oakland, 5:00 pm 
Sunday, Dec. 29 
Atlanta at Cleveland, 1:00 pm
Baltimore at Pittsburgh, 1:00 pm 
Carolina at New Orleans, 1:00 pm
Cincinnati at Buffalo, 1:00 pm 
Dallas at Washington, 1:00 pm
Miami at New England, 1:00 pm 
Minnesota at Detroit, 1:00 pm
Tennessee at Houston, 1:00 pm 
Jacksonville at Indianapolis, 4:05 pm
Arizona at Denver, 4:15 pm 
Green Bay at N.Y. Jets, 4:15 pm
Seattle at San Diego, 4:15 pm 
Tampa Bay at Chicago, 8:30 pm  
Monday, Dec. 30 
San Francisco at St. Louis, 9:00 pm  

POSTSEASON

Wild-Card Weekend 
Saturday, Jan. 4
AFC or NFC game, 4:30 pm on ABC
AFC or NFC game, 8:00 pm on ABC 
Sunday, Jan. 5
AFC game, 1:00 pm on CBS
NFC game, 4:30 pm on FOX 
Divisional Playoffs 
Saturday, Jan. 11
AFC game, 4:30 pm on CBS
NFC game, 8:00 pm on FOX
Sunday, Jan. 12
NFC game, 1:00 pm on FOX
AFC game, 4:30 pm on CBS 
Conference Championships 
Sunday, Jan. 19
NFC Championship Game, 3:00 pm on FOX
AFC Championship Game, 6:30 pm on CBS 
Super Bowl XXXVII 
Sunday, Jan. 26
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, Calif.
6:00 pm on ABC 

[babaloo999]

Heh. Hopefully the Texans offense won't be so offensive next year. As for the 'boys. They've had their time. All your super bowls are belong to us, eh.

[unspun]

Go Green Bay - Favre won't be around forever and I want to watch him as often in post season as possible.

Have you noticed though, that they play a much more disciplined (and effective) West Coast offense, when Pederson is playing quarterback?  Last game, Brett looked like the head case he seems at times to be, especially in the first quarter.

And who is calling plays when he's in, Ray Rhoades?  Sheesh

Oh, Bart Starr, Bart Starr... (sigh)  no - cloning is wrong.

Arlen

[CounterCounterCulture]

Philadelphia and Tampa Bay meet in the national championship game down in Tempe. Clearly this is the game that everyone wants to see.

Bwa-ha-ha-haaaaa! Not if they play the way they did this weekend.

[clodkicker]

Go Vikings! Oops maybe next year?

[BenLurkin]

You may have heard by now that Couch is out. Holcomb is about the same quality QB (Many Browns fans wanted him to be the starter round about mid-season)

That said, the Browns will probably not get past the Steelers (Shhh don't tell anyone!) but we can hope for a lively contest. I was glad to see Maddux come back. Cordell is cool but the Steelers really click with Madox at teh helm.

My SuperBowl prediction:
Oakland 31
San Francisco 17

[mr.pink]

...but we can hope for a lively contest.

It's going to be a great game, and I'll be surprised if it's not a nail biter. I hope the refs allow the players to settle it on the field and not over officiate (which IMHO, there's been too much of in recent seasons).

My SuperBowl prediction...the two toughest teams: Tennessee 18
Philadelphia 16

BTW- I wish Tenn was still in our division.

[panther33]

Well, the Niners blew a 17-3 fourth quarter lead tonight, losing to the lowly Rams 31-20 in a game irrelevant for the playoffs but vital for postseason pride. Oh, well. We will have to wait for Sunday to watch the Niners pull out another victory.

My Super Bowl Prediction: Niners 31, Raiders 24

[panther33]

Anyone here paying any attention to the college bowl games?

Um... NO!

(I'm just joking with you... though I've never really gotten into college football)

[panther33]

(sigh)

If only the fourth quarter had been like the first three...

[panther33]

Now, as long as the team looks as good as the cheerleaders, we got this Super Bowl wrapped up...

[dfwgator]

I think Cleveland has a shot to win the AFC, they are much better with Holcomb at QB, and they've been good on the road all year. They are my sleeper pick.

[panther33]

And, finally, how do all you Raiders fans explain this?

November 3rd, 2002
San Francisco 49ers 23, Oakland Raiders 20

[CounterCounterCulture]

An embarrassment. The Raiders beating themselves.

But there's a big difference between regular season and post-season. A regular season loss is a bump in the road. The playoffs are where wins are vital.

Raiders already redeemed themselves in second games where they had lost the first (KC, San Diego). Same thing last year with the Jets, losing game 16 then winning the next week. That Niner game was an eon ago.

But the Niners won't even make it to the Super Bowl, so the Raiders won't get their rematch.

[Allegra]

Heh. Hopefully the Texans offense won't be so offensive next year. As for the 'boys. They've had their time. All your super bowls are belong to us, eh.

I'll be the first to admit that the Texans' offense needs some serious revamping in the off-season. But they weren't so offensive on September 8, 2002 - the Texans' very first NFL game against Dallas, now were they? :)

[Hatteras]

"...what coach, coordinator or player will they add next year to make everyone proclaim them as the rightful heirs to the Miami dynasty of the early 70s?"

Dare I? How about Kurt Warner? :-)

[discostu]

Never bet on a team that backed into the playoffs. Niners, Eagles, Pack and Falcons are all in trouble; especially the Niners who had the game won then left their will in the locker room after halftime and get the short week to prepare for a Giants teams that's peaking at the right time. Over in the AFC, who knows, that conference is so even and so many of the teams streaky it all depends on the biorythms. Also remember that the only teams to win the Superbowl from the wild card are all AFC, though the team I'd watch out for got the bye: Titans, everybody started ignoring them when the started the season 0-3 and they've very quietly put together a great season.