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Week 14
Playoff picture beginning to take shape
Posted: Wednesday November 29, 2000 12:07 PM
By B. Duane Cross, CNNSI.com
Four more weeks to the season. Who knows how many different ways to reach the postseason?
It's December in the NFL -- the season for "scenarios," those brain-twisting tiebreakers that fans love so much.
"We're all waiting for Santa," says New York Jets head coach Al Groh, mindful that, for many teams in this tight NFL season, their fate may go down to the final, season-ending Christmas weekend.
As the NFL enters Week 14, no division leader has more than a two-game lead. In the NFC West, it's a tie for first. In the AFC Central and NFC East, the first-place teams have half-game leads.
There are 12 teams that have won two-thirds of their games (8-4 or better) -- the most ever at this point in a season.
"This is going to come down to the last week," says Miami Dolphins defensive end Trace Armstrong. "It's going to come down to the very end."
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And for those clubs not considered to be in the thick of the race, like 6-6 Pittsburgh or 5-7 Carolina, Green Bay, Jacksonville or Kansas City? Recent history says there is reason for hope.
In each of the past seven seasons, at least one team with a record of 6-6 (or worse through 12 games) has advanced to the playoffs. Minnesota (6-6) did it in 1993; Detroit, Green Bay and New England, all 6-6, in '94; Detroit (6-6), Miami (6-6) and San Diego (5-7) in '95; Indianapolis (6-6), Jacksonville (5-7) and Minnesota (6-6) in '96; Detroit (6-6) in '97; Arizona (6-6) in '98; and Dallas (6-6) last season.
Three teams this week can qualify for the postseason, with one, Minnesota, winning its division. Here are the postseason scenarios entering Week 14:
AFC East: No teams can clinch a playoff berth.
AFC Central: No teams can clinch a playoff berth.
AFC West: Oakland clinches a playoff berth with a win and losses (or ties) by both Buffalo and Indianapolis.
NFC East: Philadelphia clinches a playoff berth with a win, a Washington loss and either a Tampa Bay loss or losses by both St. Louis and New Orleans.
NFC Central: Minnesota clinches a playoff berth with a win and clinches the division title with a win and a Tampa Bay loss (or tie).
NFC West: No teams can clinch a playoff berth.
Arizona, Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, San Diego, Seattle, and New England have been eliminated.
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Buckin' Bronc
Denver RB Mike Anderson needs 29 rushing yards for 1,000. The Broncos would be the second team with three different 1,000-yard rushers in consecutive seasons (L.A. Rams -- Eric Dickerson, Charles White, Greg Bell -- 1986-88). |
That 70s Show
Oakland and Pittsburgh -- bitter rivals in the 1970s -- play a regular-season game at Three Rivers Stadium for the first time since 1980. The Raiders and Steelers have the most all-time playoff victories in AFC history (21 each). |
Nesting on top
Philadelphia is in sole possession of first place this late in a season for the first time since 1988. The Eagles, riding a five-game winning streak (longest since six in a row in '91), play host to Tennessee on Sunday. |
Golden boys
San Francisco has scored in 399 consecutive games (including postseason). With 1,018 rushing yards, RB Charlie Garner gives the 49ers a 1,000-yard running back for the fourth consecutive season. |
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Flattery -- New Orleans QB Aaron Brooks engineered the "greatest" victory in the Saints' 33-year history, according to the Times-Picayune, with last week's 31-24 win against St. Louis. |
Flag -- Mistakes by Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning have resulted in losses in three of the past four weeks, including a game-turning, fourth-quarter interception against Miami.
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Flattery -- Denver WR Rod Smith leads the league with 1,314 receiving yards. With all the attention on injured RB Terrell Davis, most people have overlooked Smith's Pro Bowl-caliber season. |
Flag -- The fan -- "fat boy," as colleague Leigh Montville refers to him -- who stumbled on to the field at Ericsson Stadium on Monday night made his parents really proud. |
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Atlanta P Dan Stryzinski leads the NFC (third in the league) with 24 punts inside the 20-yard line. It is his eighth consecutive season with at least 20 inside the 20. He is averaging 41.3 yards per punt. | |
Jacksonville QB Mark Brunell has an NFL-best 29-13 (.690 winning percentage) division record. He is 5-0 against Cleveland, the Jaguars' opponent Sunday. | |
N.Y. Jets RB Curtis Martin needs 109 yards to become the third NFL player to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first six seasons (Barry Sanders, 10 seasons; Eric Dickerson, seven). |
Green Bay QB Brett Favre has thrown for 35 TDs and 4,019 yards in 17 games against Chicago. In Week 5, he threw for 333 yards and three TDs against Chicago, the Packers' opponent Sunday. |
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Denver at New Orleans (1 p.m. EST) -- This game pits the league's No. 2 offense (Broncos, 426.5 yards per game) against the No. 4 defense (Saints, 268.8 ypg). Much of the star power will be watching from the sidelines, which makes this Battle of the Backups worth watching.
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Miami at Buffalo (1 p.m. EST) -- Into numerology? Five of the past eight meetings have been decided by seven points or less. The home team has won seven of the past eight matchups. The club leading in turnover ratio has won seven of the past eight meetings. Final score: 8-7, maybe. |
N.Y. Giants at Washington (1 p.m. EST) -- The Giants thunder in with the NFC's third-ranked rushing offense (135.1 yards per game), led by RB Tiki Barber, who has 1,280 yards from scrimmage (6.6 yards per touch). The Redskins, however, have allowed only four rushing TDs, tops in the NFL. |
Tennessee at Philadelphia (1 p.m. EST) -- If ever there was a rush to judgment, the Titans and Eagles personify it. Tennessee QB Steve McNair has 337 yards rushing, while Philly's Donovan McNabb leads all quarterbacks with 558. |
Green Bay at Chicago (8:35 p.m. EST) -- The NFL's oldest rivalry, dating to 1921, resumes with the 160th regular-season meeting. This will be the first Packers-Bears matchup in Sunday prime time since Oct. 17, 1991, a 10-0 Chicago victory on TNT. |
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Forty years ago Monday, Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas put the finishing touches on a record that some believe may be the toughest of all to break: touchdown passes in 47 consecutive games. The closest anyone has come to Unitas is 30 consecutive games by Miami's Dan Marino (1985-87). Two active QBs are on the list of the top five streaks in the category: Atlanta's Chris Chandler and Indianapolis' Peyton Manning, both with 27. The longest active streak is St. Louis' Kurt Warner (23). |
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