LAST WEEK STRAIGHT UP: 11-5
LAST WEEK vs. SPREAD: 8-8
SEASON STRAIGHT UP: 157-82-1
SEASON vs. SPREAD: 121-119
Analysis? Who needs analysis? Just revel in Beastquake II to learn all you need to know about where the 2014 season is headed:
I will give you my predicted playoff seedings after today's final regular season games:
AFC
1) New England
2) Denver
~~~~~~~~~~~~
3) Pittsburgh
4) Indianapolis
5) Cincinnati
6) Baltimore
The only two teams in this conference that are actual Super Bowl contenders are the Patriots and the Broncos, and they will play for the AFC title at the Big Razor in three weeks. Period, exclamation point.
NFC
1) Seattle
2) Green Bay
~~~~~~~~~~
3) Dallas
4) Atlanta
5) Arizona
6) Detroit
It may surprise you to see me admit this, but I think the Cowboys and Lions can hang with the Champs. Dallas because they came up here and beat Seattle back in Week 6 on the strength of DeMarco Murray's 159 rushing yards and Tony Romo's passing that has been borne out since as being a near-career year for him (It's amazing what having a great running back does for a quarterback's QBR), and Detroit because they have the #2 ranked defense in the NFL.
Note I didn't say that the Cowboys and Lions can beat the Champs. The Legion of Boom (entire defense) is back to the killer Super Bowl level of last year, and would not get gashed, sliced, and diced like it did by the 'pokes eleven weeks ago. And the Dallas defense - a stoutly mediocre 16th in the league - would get worn down by Beast Mode and Russell Wilson's arm and legs. And as for Detroit, quarterback Matthew Stafford's inconsistency and poor decision-making of late would be a smorgasbord of turnovers for the 'hawks that would give them one short field after another to negate that powerful Lions D.
As for the only other NFC team you might consider elite - the Packers - they're the NFC version of last year's Denver Broncos: a great offense with a future Hall of Fame quarterback, and a soft defense that resides in the bottom third of the league. And the Champs blasted them by three touchdowns on opening night.
The interesting thing about the seeding, though, is that we up here in the Pacific Northwest probably won't see either the Cowboys or the Lions, who will likely play each other in the first round at JerryWorld, where Dallas would, by my current numbers, be an 11-point favorite. That would take the Cowboys the following week to...."the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field" for an intriguing clash with Green Bay that would have the Pack narrowly favored. Only by pulling off the upset in Cheeseland would Jerry's Boys limp back to the Clink to face a rematch with a Seahawk team that had been luxuriating on home cooking for a month, having enjoyed a first round bye and then easily dispatched either Atlanta or Arizona (for the third time) in the divisional round. In Jerryspeak, Seattle would "give 'em the business" by at least a touchdown and retain the George Halas trophy.
Alternatively, Matt Stafford could suck it up and lead the Lions into Dallas and win, which would send them Clink-ward for the divisional round and gift the Packers the Cardinals-Falcons winner.
But does it really matter? With that 35-6 beat-down of the Cardinals in the building where Super Bowl XLIX will be played, what the other playoff contenders absolutely didn't want to see became a near-certainty: the NFC road to the Toaster on February 1st will go, once again, through Century Link Field.
And you know what THAT means.
[Straight up picks indicated by asterisk (*); picks against the spread in parentheses (x).]
Buffalo
New England* (-10)
Carolina
Atlanta* (-3.5)
Chicago
Minnesota* (-7)
Cincinnati
Pittsburgh* (-3)
Cleveland
Baltimore* (-8.5)
Dallas* (-6.5)
Washington
Detroit
Green Bay* (-7.5)
Indianapolis* (-6.5)
Tennessee
Jacksonville
Houston* (-10)
New Orleans
Tampa* (+3.5)
N.Y. Jets
Miami* (-5.5)
Oakland
Denver* (-14.5)
Philadelphia
N.Y. Giants* (-2.5)
Arizona* (+5.5)
San Francisco
St. Louis
Seattle* (-12.5)
San Diego
Kansas City* (-2.5)
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