The NFC North leading (7-3) Bears travel to the paradise to take on the surprising (7-3) Buccaneers .

Is this a preview of the NFC Championship game?

Of course not! wink But who would have thought these teams would be leading their divisions this deep into the season?

[ November 20, 2005, 05:31 PM: Message edited by: Cadillac ]

your guys are going to need a a bit of help from my guys in order to stay in 1st place in the NFC South.

I'm just here to tell ya now.....ain't happenin'.

Carolesbians 30
Buffalo 6

Is it the Bucs or the Bears that improves to 8-3?

I'll say it's da Bucs

Bucs 20
Bears 10

Tampa sucks in cold weather. It will be the Bears.

The game is in Tampa.

Good job Mr outsports, checking the schedule and or the standings are helpful.

[ November 21, 2005, 11:37 AM: Message edited by: PhillyFan ]

Stinger - you SHOULD be pulling for the Bucs! If the Bears win, you're one game closer to winning the division.

THAT was funny...the Vikings winning the division!

Keep up a bit there dude, Vikes got all their hard games out of the way, and the bears still have to play some of theirs.

But what am i thinking...

YEAH TEAM GO TEAM! whoo hooo! YEAH MAN!

Who do the eagles lose to this coming week?

My bad. I should have checked. I just went off of Puker's post showing the score. I thought he used common practice of listing the home team second. I should have done my fact checking considering the source.

Nevertheless, I think Tampa will probably win this one with the Bears playing on the road. I would want to look at a few things first before posting my final pick.

We'll be waiting with baited breath! wink Oh so many emotions!

So many exciting games, it should be tons of fun! what excitement for everyone!

YEAH TEAMS!

I say let's give a cheer for Seattle

GO HAWKS!

Puker, read your comment again and let me know if you find anything wrong. Moron.

"H"!

A!

W!

YEAH Hawks!

They are in for one heck of a crazy game coming up! Hope they can do well with whatever it is they do.

What a crazy season for them! Those fans are just gonna be so darn crazy!

[ November 22, 2005, 07:09 AM: Message edited by: PhillyFan ]

Denver at Dallas should be a real doozy! Denver will beat them but the 'Boys shouldn't worry because the Seahawks will take care of the Giants at home.

YEAH YEAH MAN GO TEAM THEO (LOSER, EVERY TROLL COMES OUT NOW)!

YEAH GO LETTUCE PICKERS!

[ November 22, 2005, 10:36 PM: Message edited by: PhillyFan ]

There are plenty of trolls. Theo isn't one of them.

Exactly. Theo's been around since the old board and a long time Denver fan.

And since we are now rah-rahing, Go Seahawks.

[ November 22, 2005, 10:55 PM: Message edited by: Mariner Duck Guy ]

I disagree. Denver is 6-0 at home but only 2-2 on the road.

Welcome aboard carpetbagger/gravytrainer.

[ November 23, 2005, 06:23 AM: Message edited by: RazorbackTX ]

Oh sorry, then it's time for another

"GO YEAH! whoo hooo! I hope "X" team wins! They are GREAT!"

Such INSIGHT...

Originally postyed by PF in the Week 11 thread: I'm not sure a mere playoff appearance will bring him back, but I sure hope not. This is going to sound odd, but I think the Culpepper injury is the main reason for the Vikes latest success. Had Culpepper still been playing, I bet they'd have lost to both the Giants and Packers. They'd still be trying to pass downfield rather than relying on the run, chomping up time of possession and keeping that French-like defense off the field.

The Culpepper injury forced Tice to come up with a Plan B rather than him figuring it out on his own after getting throttled the way they'd been early on.

[ November 23, 2005, 07:30 AM: Message edited by: FireMikeTiceNow ]

Mr Tice,

Just trying to make an argument for the guy. In a way, he’s the one who turned the team around. It’s not like the past owner allowed him to hire any type of decent O/D coordinators. Plus, that team was totally lost at 1-4 and the Cruise on the lake happened. I venture to say, most teams would have packed it in at that point.

At 5-5 and looking at the remaining schedules for Chicago and Minn, you have to say they have a heck of a shot to be playing for the division come the last game of the year vs the bears. The Vikes have also gotten a few players back on D.

Also looking at the differences between Johnson/Cullpepper, I have to wonder if it is not going to take the pepper a while to actually have to read defenses now that Moss has left. He started his career with Moss where teams would basically just roll coverage to moss. They would double or triple Moss leaving routes underneath open for him. Now, he’s gotta find the open men without his safety blanket. How much did Moss hide these problems in the past? Does the pepper need a Moss/TO on the team to be an efficient QB? Just askin…

This year the name of the game is just to make it into the playoffs. Looking at the NFC is there really a team to be afraid that can’t be beaten?

Atlanta- If you shut down their running game, does ANYONE think Vick is capable of beating any team with his arm?

Dallas- They have been nothing but up and down every game this year. They can be beaten by the long pass, and if a team wants to run against them, they usually can. Then throw in Bledsoe in a big game… that’s an int waiting to happen.

Giants- Manning has never beaten a good team on the road in his career. SF is the only team he’s ever beaten on the road. Plus they only have 2 games left at home.

Seattle- Should be able to breeze through their division and into the playoffs. The problem I have with this team is the same as always… come playoff time and a good team shuts down Alexander or keeps his rushing in check. Will they pull a typical seattle and start dropping passes?

Tampa- Has what amounts to a rookie QB should they make the playoffs. Rarely is this a good thing. Plus, unless they figure out how to beat Carolina, they are stuck on the road. Rookie + Playoffs + Road games = Gone.

Carolina – Chic pick, but when are they going to step up and assert themselves? Not in Chicago last week. If the name of the game is to play at home, they have a lot of work to do. Seattle coming to Carolina is huge rather than going there. I keep wanting to stick with this team as my clear cut favorite, but I’m starting to shy away from them.

Chicago/Minn winning that division gives them just as good of a shot as anyone. The team would get one assured home game. Then it is a crap shoot because there is no one single dominate team in the NFC this year. All of them have big question marks.

Well I'd be willing to give Tice some props if he'd been the one the conclude that the way to win was with a ball control offense. I've never been a football coach and even I had that one pegged weeks before Tice did. Instead he was forced to go that route by circumstances. The fact that the team has adapted so well to it only empasizes toi me how lost this guy is. He went through a whole preseason and 5 regular season games and couldn't figure out that there was a problem with the offensive scheme they were trying to run.

Not necessarily - see SHAUN KING 1999 Season NFC Championship

Regardless, I'd still like to be talking playoffs possibilities versus a 4-6 record.

Face it - whoever makes the NFC playoffs has a good chance of representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.

THANK YOU CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!!!!!!

There is a difference between winning a slug out game (as the pokes do) vs getting dominated by a team (falcons last week) and then pulling the game out on some turnover that rarely happens (td in the endzone).

A team like Dallas who likes to slow the game down and then finds a way to win at the end is much different (and battle tested) than a team who can’t score points and has no real offense without getting turnovers. Then you also throw in the fact that the game speeds up and gets more intense in the post season vs regular season games. This does not bode well for a rookie QB or a team that relies on turnovers to win games.

The 3 teams that I see that can do this and win this way are the Pokes, Panthers and Giants (depending where they play). The clear cut favorite would be the team that goes into the playoffs playing at their peak.

This is why I say that MN has a shot because that is how they are playing. If they win the games they should win, then beat Chicago and win the division… that gives them a decent shot of playing with any of these teams. Plus, they have a QB who can manage the game and not make mistakes (something a rookie rarely does unless your name is brady).

A good team is going to take away Tampa’s running game in the playoffs. That puts everything on the rookie. Does not bode well for them actually doing anything once they get in.

Same thing goes for Seattle, once Alexander is taken away…. That team has proven over the years they can’t win. Nor has their defense shown they can stop anyone. I also don’t like the fact Seattle doesn’t really get tested by playing in their division which sucks. Their only advantage would be to get home field in the playoffs and then roll the dice with the home crowd.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BPT-336:
[QB] THANK YOU CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!!!!!!



BPT, that biting sarcasm was classic ! I am still laughing!

Wrong, and wrong.

Sorry.

I respectfully disagree. The Seahawks will beat the Giants in Seattle Sunday.

Care to explain why you think this? I wont hold my breath.

Should we "book it?"
Is it a "lock?"

Apparently the experts agree with hockeytom as the Hawks are 4.5 point favorites. I think the entire game comes down to homefield advantage and whether Alexander has a big time game, which I expect.

The offense for the Hawks is not a concern for me they can score when they need to. Alexander is just gaining momentum and is getting harder to stop, the receivers arent playing dropsys this year either and they are deep with receivers and TE Stevens is finally coming around too. Problem I see is the defense, they can play great sometimes, and other times not, but the biggest problem I see is the secondary giving up big plays at the worst times. Sunday vs. the Giants will be a good test of how good the team is.

3 points are typically given to the home team in games like this...

So what's your point?

Tally HO!

My point is rather than posting

"gee what a head knocker, i hope my team wins"

Perhaps adding something to the debate would be worth it. Quite simple.

Then perhaps the Eagle fans won't just merely lash back while being provoked.

Well then ask and your wish is granted PF.As most of us up in the Great Northwest already know...Seattle plays particularly well at home,in fact unbeaten this year so far and after a rather bland performance against San Fransisco, I look for the Seattle faithful to make even more noise than they normally do and pump the Hawks up big time for this big game. Alexander, as well as the rest of the team is motivated big time.Their goal is home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Thats pretty big motivation. GO Hawks!!!

[ November 23, 2005, 12:51 PM: Message edited by: hockeyTom ]

I counter your point... the giants play in a division where they have to play at philly, dallas and washinton.

Crowd noise does not effect good teams. Especially those who are used to playing against or in those conditions. These are not the cards who draw 30k for their home games.

Nor does crowd noise "will" the home team or alexander to get more yards.

Hopefully crowd noise will inspire the defensive backs to knock the receivers silly, force some fumbles and make em think twice. Defensive Backs are my biggest concern.

That Saint Louis whatever theyre calling it this year Dome is a noisey place. San Fran and Arizona arent really scary places to go play, but yeah homefield noise can only count for so much, hopefully it will be raining though which might also help the Hawks.

[ November 23, 2005, 01:10 PM: Message edited by: sonic ]

New York is not effected by weather conditions (they play in windy cold new york). The only thing they have to overcome is the long trip out west.

Now Manning (who has never won a meaningful game on the road) that is a different story.

The rest of the gints are not scared of blue face painted soft fans.

I was led to believe that Amani Toomer has been having reoccuring nightmares as of late of fans with blue and green painted faces.

Tiki Barber... key to the game.

I was led to believe that Tiki Barber has been attending a support group for people afraid of fans with Blue and Green painted faces.

Tiki will have 17 carries for 51 yards, if he's the key they will lose

[ November 23, 2005, 02:26 PM: Message edited by: sonic ]

Are you implying that any team in the league would even think Seattle is an imposing place to play?

You have to be kidding me.

Can anyone be taken serious who paints themself blue for a regular season game? All they need are their props... No team is afraid to play in seattle, Cardz dont count as an actual NFL team.

[ November 23, 2005, 02:54 PM: Message edited by: PhillyFan ]