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NFL playoff race tightens; two teams remain perfect
December 14, 2009
Andrew O’Brien | aobrien7@gmail.com
As Tom Brady, Randy Moss and the New England Patriots moved to a perfect 13-0 after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-13 in Week 14 of the 2007 NFL season, they caught the attention of the nation.
Would they go a perfect 16-0 during the regular season, and be the first team to have a perfect season and win the Super Bowl since the 1972 Miami Dolphins did it following the 1970 AFL-NFL merger?
Well, the Patriots went on to go 16-0, also beating the Dolphins in Week 15, 28-7. In the last game of the regular season, the Patriots beat the New York Giants with a final score of 38-35, but the Giants got the last laugh. The Giants became the first NFC team to win the Super Bowl as a wild card, on one of the most memorable catches in NFL history, and spoiled the New England Patriots’ chances of going 19-0.
As Week 14 of the 2009 season came to a close, things are much different than 2007. This season there are two teams sporting undefeated records, and both teams have a legitimate of making it to the playoffs with an unblemished record.
The Indianapolis Colts are 13-0 and are heading into a Thursday night divisional showdown with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Although the Colts have the AFC South locked up, the Jaguars are fighting for a wild card berth, and of course the Colts are looking to move to 14-0.
The New Orleans Saints are also a perfect 13-0 despite a few come-from-behind wins. Nevertheless, they head into a huge NFC matchup with the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are in second place in the NFC East, one game behind Philadelphia. The Cowboys’ December woes continue, and having lost against the Giants on Dec. 6 and San Diego on Dec. 13, they continue their dismal streak of not having a winning record in December since 1996. They are 11-20 in December since 2002.
The Colts have a favorable schedule, with three games remaining against average opponent: Jaguars, Dec. 17; Jets, Dec. 27; and Bills, Jan. 3.
The Saints will play Dallas on Saturday, Dec. 19, then against the Buccaneers Dec. 27 and end the regular season against Carolina on Jan. 3.
Whereas the Colts haven’t had as many close calls compared to the Saints, the Saints have the Who Dat! Nation on the edge of their seats. The Saints resemble those 2007 Patriots much closer than the Colts. The Saints are averaging 36 points per game through Week 14, extremely close to the 39 points the Patriots averaged through the same amount of games in 2007. Not only are the Saints and Patriots eerily similar in points scored, Drew Brees and Brady put up similar statistics. Through 13 games, Brees is averaging 295 passing yards per game, compared to Brady’s 300 yards per game.
But, as the end of the season nears, speculation grows as to whether these teams will make a run at perection.
The 1972 Dolphins will be forever remembered, and both the Colts and the Saints have a chance to embrace football immortality. Although these two teams want to stay healthy and ready for the playoffs in January, they should have a goal of getting to 16-0 in the regular season. Why, you ask?
Well, it’s fairly simple. Getting to 16-0 for the regular season is a great feat, but there are other aspects to this accomplishment. Sure you want to make sure you have all your best players come the playoffs, and if you don’t need to risk an injury by having them on the field when you’ve locked up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, then why would you play them? Because getting to 16-0 is history-making, and because if you get to 16-0, you’re going to have that drive to continue perfection, to follow suit of those 1972 Dolphins and ultimately, to not do what the New England Patriots did. Losing in Weeks 15, 16 or 17 can do a multitude of things to a team.
It can either wake them up from that one loss, even if they benched a lot of their starters. Or, it can send a team into a downfall from which they might not recover.
Either way, it’s a fine line in determining what a team should do.
And if I was the owner? I’d go for it all. Perhaps that’s why I’m not the owner though.
But Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, might be thinking along the same lines.
“I think obviously you’d love to see two 18-0 teams in the Super Bowl,” Irsay said. “That would be tremendous and unprecedented for the league. But I can only know about us. We’d love to get to 16-0. But the biggest focus is going to be on being prepared for that first playoff game.”
Isray isn’t the only one with perfection on the brain.
Brees thinks his Saints should go for it, and for one simple reason, really.
“Because we’re here, aren’t we?” Brees recently told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “Who knows if we will ever get this close again?”
Much like I said earlier, what’s the point in getting to 13-0 to lose a game or two or three at the end of the season and lose your swag heading into the playoffs?
Colts coach Jim Caldwell plans to have some type of players poll to determine the ultimate plan for the team.
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning says it’s a great topic for discussion, but there probably isn’t a right or wrong.
“It’s a great, huge topic for analysis and different opinions,” Manning said. “I don’t think there is a right answer. I think whatever plan Coach Caldwell gives us, that will be the right plan because that’s what he decides, and that’s what we’ll carry out. But either way, you’re opening up yourself for second-guessing.”
But despite Manning’s conservative, team-mentality type of answer, he also suggested he concurs with Brees.
“Believe me, I haven’t liked starting a game, playing a series and coming out,” Manning said.
Comparatively, there are plenty of AFC teams that aren’t undefeated and are fighting for a playoff spot.
Following Week 14, the Denver Broncos are 8-5, but if they take a glance in their rear-view, four teams are lurking at 7-6. The Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens are all hoping to move into a wild card spot.
But the AFC East is much closer than just the Dolphins and Jets at 7-6. The New England Patriots are only one game ahead at 8-5.
Due to tie-breakers, the Jaguars and the Broncos are in wild card position right now. But there is plenty of football to play, and the Jaguars have a tough closing schedule, starting Thursday night against the Colts.
In closing, a quick question: What do the Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars have in common?
Well, they both get an opportunity to increase their playoff chances this week, and get a shot at the two undefeated teams.
What will happen? Stay tuned.
