By Jared Epstein
As we near the end of the season, 2011 has been a wild rollercoaster ride in the NFC. The Lions and 49ers finally decide to show up this season surprising everyone they can actually have winning records in the 21st century. The Giants looking great including a magnificent win against Brady and the Pats and yet losing to the Redskins and Seahawks. Green Bay is turning out to be one of the best teams in history, not losing a game since week 16 of last season. With the “dream team” Eagles choking, it gives teams like Dallas a chance to take advantage of an easy schedule. In the midst of all the controversy in the NFC, it’s time to separate the men from the boys. Lets take a closer look into the NFC and choose who’s a contender and who’s a pretender.
Green Bay Packers (9-0; 1st place in NFC North): The defending Super Bowl champs are the best team in the NFL, hands down. They dominate every game they play whether it’s home or away and have scored a minimum of 24 points in every game. There are no words to describe them except for perfection, at least so far. In upcoming weeks, the only games I see them having little trouble with are: the Lions, Bears, and Giants but don’t be surprised if they end up going to the playoffs still unbeaten the way Rodgers is handling the ball.
Verdict: Contender
San Francisco 49ers (8-1; 1st place in NFC West): San Fran has come out this year fired up and tired of losing. The last time the Niners have finished a season with a winning record was 2002 going 10-6. With a great running back in Frank Gore, Alex Smith starting to wake up, and a number 1 ranked defense in opponent rushing yards, the question isn’t will they win the division, but how far in the playoffs will they go? With the second place teams in their division, Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks, at 3-6, there’s no doubt they will be in the post-season this year.
Verdict: Contender
New Orleans Saints (7-3; 1st place in NFC South): After a huge overtime win against Atlanta last week, the Saints stand alone in first with a two game lead. With six games left in the regular season and a bye week, the Saints play three struggling teams in Tennessee, Minnesota, and Carolina. Plus, the strong teams they play such as the Lions, Giants, and Falcons are all home games so they can have the “who dat” nation loud and right behind them. The Falcons can look real good at times but I see the Drew Brees and the Saints taking 1st in the division with ease.
Verdict: Contender
New York Giants (6-3; 1st place in NFC East): Big blue has surprised everyone this season with being in 1st place in the eastern conference after week 10. With both the defense and offense bombarded with injuries at the beginning of the year and the “dream team” Eagles in the same division, the season wasn’t going to be easy. Luckily, the Eagles are starting to look like the Heat by blowing five 4th quarter leads and with Dallas playing up and down certain weeks, the Giants have taken advantage of the division. On another note, the G-men have the toughest schedule in football ahead of them by playing the undefeated Packers, Saints, Cowboys twice, Eagles and the Jets. If they can pull out five wins, they will be safe for making the playoffs but that will be an extremely difficult task to pull off.
Verdict: Contender
Chicago Bears (6-3; tied for 2nd place in NFC North): With the perfect Packers in the NFC North, 1st place is out of the question so it’s wild card or nothing for these Bears. After losing to Detroit in week 5, Chicago has battled back and joined 2nd place after defeating the Lions last week. With Jay Cutler not getting sacked as much as earlier in the season, teams still kicking to Devin Hester, and Matt Forte playing without an off button, the Bears are a team to be taken seriously, especially with a rather easy schedule for the remainder of the season.
Verdict: Contender
Dallas Cowboys (5-4; 2nd place in NFC East): This season there are two different Cowboy teams. One team that comes up short on big plays and the other is a dominant force to be reckoned with. With a fairly easy schedule playing the Redskins, Dolphins, Cardinals, and Buccaneers, the Cowboys look good for being playoff bound. Now that Dallas is getting Dez Bryant move involved in the offense while Miles Austin is out, people can really see how dangerous Bryant is. As long as the defense can keep their future opponents from getting into the end zone too much, look for the Cowboys to be in the playoff picture and possibly get in as 1st place from the NFC East.
Verdict: Contender
Detroit Lions (6-3; tied for 2nd place in NFC North): Let me start by saying bravo to the Detroit Lions. The Lions haven’t had a winning season since 2000 and only 3 years ago in 2008 they succeeded by being the worst team going 0-16. After a red hot 5-0 start this season with the help of the monstrous Calvin Johnson, the Lions have seemed to cool off by going 1-3 in their last four games. This Lions team has proved they can give a tough fight but with the Packers taking first place in the division and the Bears on a roll going 4-1 in their last five games, the road to the playoffs will not be easy. Also, Detroit still has to play the invincible Packers twice, the Saints in New Orleans, a score happy Charger team, and what can be an explosive Raider team at times. I take my hat off to these ferocious Lions and the season isn’t over yet but I see the Lions coming up short to the Bears for the wild card spot, leaving them watching football in January instead of playing themselves.
Verdict: Pretender
Atlanta Falcons (5-4; 2nd place in NFC South): Atlanta has had a mediocre start compared to last season finishing first in the division with a 13-3 record. Also, the Matt Ryan and Roddy White connection hasn’t been as strong as usual but fortunately for Atlanta, Michael Turner is still contributing big numbers. Despite getting big plays from rookie Julio Jones, look for the Falcons to perform like Turner on the 4th and short run against the Saints in overtime- just short. First place isn’t going to happen in the division at this point due to the Saints fairly easy record so the only hope they have is the wildcard. Having said that, they will have to compete for that spot with a strong looking Cowboy team and possibly a solid 4th quarter comeback Giants team depending on how the NFC East turns out. Don’t get me wrong, the Falcons have a good chance with 6 games left in the season but I pick Atlanta to come up one or two games short of a wild card spot.
Verdict: Pretender
Predictions:
NFC North- Green Bay Packers (1 seed)
NFC West- San Francisco 49ers (2 seed)
NFC South- New Orleans Saints (3 seed)
NFC East- New York Giants (4 seed)
Wild Card- Dallas Cowboys (5 seed)
Wild Card- Chicago Bears (6 seed)
Wild Card Round- New Orleans over Chicago; New York over Dallas
Divisional Round- Green Bay over New York; New Orleans over San Francisco
Championship Round- Green Bay over New Orleans
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