Eleven weeks in, and the only thing we're sure of is that we're sure of nothing. Though teams like the Chargers, Eagles and Vikings look poised to take their divisions, we know that these next seven weeks will prove that anything goes. Teams like the Dolphins and Jets vie atop their division, while the Steelers have come out from nowhere to become the newest AFC Wild Card darlings. The NFC West appears to be poised for three representatives in the playoffs, with the order very much undetermined. With it all up in the air, it's time to take another look ahead as we make one smaller step for Tecmo kind.
The importance of a few of our early games is so obvious it's almost not even worth mentioning. But as our specialty is pointing out the obvious, we will do as much now. San Francisco will attempt to pull even with the Saints, who've only lost once this season -- to San Francisco. Buffalo will measure up against the new class of the AFC East in Miami, needing a win to just pull within .500. Meanwhile, Houston and Minnesota will meet in a clash of former Central division champions and current leaders within their division. We'll also have the pleasure of seeing the surging Eagles beat up on Green Bay and Phoenix try to make it two wins straight after going 0-8, though they'll more or less be carrion for the Falcons by the third quarter.
Aside from those contests, the rest of the early games present a fun grab bag of meaningless mid-season match-ups. Tampa Bay and Chicago will battle in the Purgatory that is the race for the NFC's 3rd Wild Card along with Dallas and the Rams. Also, Denver continues their quest to show that their one step forward and two steps back philosophy is still a worthwhile venture against a Giants team with no clear future. Lastly, to prove that this whole job is as much scraping sewer walls as it is ice cream taste testing, there's a game between New England and Indianapolis to test whether or not you still have a gag reflex.
Our Sunday evening games will pass through some important territories, first with New York's AFC representative, the Jets, trying to hold back a Bengals team that has a renewed taste for winning. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh shoots for five straight against an unpredictable Detroit team. The Redskins will take another baby step in the NFC East with a should-be walk over the Chiefs and the Raiders hope to end their hurtle by bouncing back against the AFC trampoline in Seattle.
Monday night's next melee is an AFC affair this time around, featuring the coasting Chargers battling against the hungry Browns of Cleveland. The Browns haven't scored a point since Week Nine which, not so coincidentally, was the week of their last win. Despite the setback against Houston, Mike Tomczak will continue to prove that their five-game win streak was not a fluke and that Bernie Kosar will continue to carve a spot into the Cleveland bench with his butt cheeks. In San Diego, Stan Humphries has been anything but a fluke, and will prove why he's still a top-5 quarterback in his first featured game since last year's Tecmo Bowl. In order to get his team back to the big game, he'll need to continue his calm, cool and collected crap-kicking of other teams' defenses. This game will surprisingly go a long way in determining each team's fate. Don't miss out on this one!
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AFC
NFC
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