Sunday, October 26, 2008

Does the AFC suck?

It is a good thing the AFC kind of blows this year. It is no coincidence that the Colts had maybe their best day of the season without stepping on the field:

Miami 25 - Buffalo 16

New Orleans 37 - San Diego 32

Cleveland 23 - Jacksonville 17

New York 21 - Pittsburgh 14

Two teams got their second loss and the Colts gained some significant ground against much of last year's playoff field. Is it kind of sad that I'm so excited about these results? Yes. Do I care? No. The Colts need a lot of luck to get back on track and a bunched up AFC should do the trick. Hey, I'm just looking for a reason to care at this point. This was big.

Of course this day will only matter if they go on the road and beat the undefeated Titans tomorrow night. The Colts have won 8 of their past 10 against the Titans. Manning sat out last years finale and thus Tennessee's only "real" victory came on a 60 yard field goal by Rob Bironas. A win saves the season and sets up an unconventional Manning - Cassel showdown. Winner gets momentum and a potential tiebreaker.

We know how big this game is to the Colts, but what about the Titans? How about this: if they win this game they win the South. That sounds like hyperbole, but it is not an overstatement. They would be four games up on the entire division. Stunning, because we are just seven games into the season. They would also have a two-game lead on in the race for the AFC's one-seed. So, yeah, they have a lot to play for, too. If the Titans lose? The Colts would be two games back with the rematch taking place in week 17 in Indianapolis. Two games is still a comfortable margin, but Tennessee has a tough month ahead. After MNF they host the Packers before heading on the road to Chicago and Jacksonville. I think Monday night's game is as big as it gets in the NFL regular season.

2 comments:

Bob M. said...

I hear you begging for my two cents, so here it is:

Right now, the Colts are an average team with very good potential. (not too different from weeks 12-16 in 2006, but with more injury issues). They can turn it around and will, but will that be consistent? Soon? Who knows?

But the schedule, for a change, appears to favor us if we can get by the Titans--after that, we have 7 consecutive winnable games... if we win 5 we'd be 9-5 and probably wrap up 10-6. The key is that it might be okay for a wildcard (not last year) but the wins would include some of those teams over whom a tie-breaker could be huge.

Why are 7 winable for a team that is above-average? NE has 2 RBs, a QB, and some others out with injury. Then Pitt has a weak left side of its OL, a great QB who tends to hold on to the ball too long, and RB and S injuries. Hou is tough, but it IS Houston (cough--I'll sffer for that, won't I, Andre Johnson?), SD is very talented but has been a Jeckyll and Hyde team this year, Cle/Cin/Det if we lose to them we don't deserve the post-season anyway, leaving a final two games with Jax and Tenn. Biggies. There's hope. And not a lot of wiggle room.
Of course I was pretty confident the GB game would be a close win--of course barring two highly unlikely plays--pick-sixes--it would have been close.
We'll probably know a lot more after Monday's game--we'll know it, but may not like what we know.

Anonymous said...

Demond and Deshawn:

Due to my inability (and I tried BIGTIME) to find a genuine purple overcoat, I'll be terrorizing college girls and eurotrash up and down the famed Thayer Street as "Nurse Joker".

My Desert Eag is in evidence somewhere so I'll probably just cop a prop gun from Walmart. I have fake scars and everything.

My girl is bartending as "Slave Leah" - something else I figured you two Star Wars geeks would appreciate - in her underwear with a chain thing around her neck.

Wanna hear a totally irrelevant yet still totally cool stat from yesterday? It was the first penalty-free game in the 731 game history of the Patriots.

Don't beat yourself....