Monday, November 06, 2006
Best Week the Eagles have had for a while...
The Eagles didn’t play yesterday but they still had a nice day. In addition to resting up a few games ended up going their way and helped their post-season chances, including three games that were upsets and saw teams the Eagles might be chasing in December drop to 4-4 instead of going to 5-3:
-The Minnesota Vikings lost to the 49ers 9-3 in a game that the Vikes ought to have won by a pretty hefty margin. The loss drops the Vikings to 4-4 and is just their second conference loss, important for the Eagles because they might find themselves in competition with the Vikes for the wildcard.
-The Cowboys lost 22-19 to the Redskins, a major victory for the Eagles because it keeps the Cowboys record at 4-4 and keeps the Eagles in second since they own the tie-breaker. At this point the Cowboys are a much bigger threat to do something than the Redskins, so any game the Cowboys lose helps the Eagles out.
-The St. Louis Rams lost 31-17 to the Kansas City Chiefs, which likewise drops their record to 4-4.
-Best of all the Detroit Lions came out of nowhere and upset the Falcons and Michael Vick. After Vick had put together sterling performances in the last two weeks against the Steelers and Cincinnati, he proceeds to turn in a bad performance and lose a conference game. The loss keeps the Falcons record at 5-3 and keeps the Eagles within striking distance.
-In the outside chance that the Eagles can take the division and make a run on homefield advantage in the playoffs (the former being much more likely than the latter), then the Miami Dolphins did the Eagles a big favor by beating the Bears yesterday.
Aside from the Giants narrowly beating the Texans 14-10, yesterday worked out very, very nicely for the Birds. The team got rested and ready for a grueling stretch. Next week they play the Redskins at the Linc. If they want to stay in the playoff race, this is a must-win game.
As many people know I live in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh, so I follow the Steelers (this town is as quiet as a tomb when they play) and yesterday’s tough 31-20 loss to the Denver Broncos basically ends their season. They are 2-6 and sit four games behind the Baltimore Ravens and two behind the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers still have to play the Bengals once, the Ravens twice and they get non-conference games against the Saints and Panthers. Their only solace is that they get three cream-puff games: two against the Browns and a game against the Buccaneers. In order for the Steelers to make the playoffs they’ll basically have to go 8-0 or 7-1 and get some luck because the wildcard isn’t an option: San Diego and Jacksonville, the two teams currently sitting in the wildcard slots, both own tie-breakers on the Steelers. Their only chance is for the Ravens and the Bengals to implode and give them a chance to sneak in and win the AFC North. That is unlikely, although I don’t think the Ravens are anywhere good as their 6-2 record looks. I think the Steelers will basically stagger to the finish line at 7-9 and that this is Bill Cowher’s final year with the Steelers.
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-The Minnesota Vikings lost to the 49ers 9-3 in a game that the Vikes ought to have won by a pretty hefty margin. The loss drops the Vikings to 4-4 and is just their second conference loss, important for the Eagles because they might find themselves in competition with the Vikes for the wildcard.
-The Cowboys lost 22-19 to the Redskins, a major victory for the Eagles because it keeps the Cowboys record at 4-4 and keeps the Eagles in second since they own the tie-breaker. At this point the Cowboys are a much bigger threat to do something than the Redskins, so any game the Cowboys lose helps the Eagles out.
-The St. Louis Rams lost 31-17 to the Kansas City Chiefs, which likewise drops their record to 4-4.
-Best of all the Detroit Lions came out of nowhere and upset the Falcons and Michael Vick. After Vick had put together sterling performances in the last two weeks against the Steelers and Cincinnati, he proceeds to turn in a bad performance and lose a conference game. The loss keeps the Falcons record at 5-3 and keeps the Eagles within striking distance.
-In the outside chance that the Eagles can take the division and make a run on homefield advantage in the playoffs (the former being much more likely than the latter), then the Miami Dolphins did the Eagles a big favor by beating the Bears yesterday.
Aside from the Giants narrowly beating the Texans 14-10, yesterday worked out very, very nicely for the Birds. The team got rested and ready for a grueling stretch. Next week they play the Redskins at the Linc. If they want to stay in the playoff race, this is a must-win game.
As many people know I live in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh, so I follow the Steelers (this town is as quiet as a tomb when they play) and yesterday’s tough 31-20 loss to the Denver Broncos basically ends their season. They are 2-6 and sit four games behind the Baltimore Ravens and two behind the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers still have to play the Bengals once, the Ravens twice and they get non-conference games against the Saints and Panthers. Their only solace is that they get three cream-puff games: two against the Browns and a game against the Buccaneers. In order for the Steelers to make the playoffs they’ll basically have to go 8-0 or 7-1 and get some luck because the wildcard isn’t an option: San Diego and Jacksonville, the two teams currently sitting in the wildcard slots, both own tie-breakers on the Steelers. Their only chance is for the Ravens and the Bengals to implode and give them a chance to sneak in and win the AFC North. That is unlikely, although I don’t think the Ravens are anywhere good as their 6-2 record looks. I think the Steelers will basically stagger to the finish line at 7-9 and that this is Bill Cowher’s final year with the Steelers.
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