Monday 22 December 2014 18:17, UK
While many are beginning the slow wind down towards Christmas, the intensity levels are rising across the National Football League with many big games still on the horizon.
Week 16 provided some clarity to the NFL playoff picture, as we discovered after spending 15 hours in the Sky Sports studios this weekend. Here is what caught my eye on the penultimate weekend of the regular season.
There will be some massive games in Week 17 but we are already beginning to see the playoff picture take shape.
The AFC has already seen New England, Denver, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh clinch their spots on the starting grid for the race to Super Bowl XLIX in Arizona on February 1.
In the NFC, five of the six playoff spots have already been decided with Seattle, Detroit, Dallas, Green Bay and Arizona booking post-season berths. The final spot will be filled by the victor in a winner-takes-all clash between the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers in the NFC South.
As of right now, New England would be the top seed in the AFC and would book homefield advantage throughout the playoffs and Seattle would be the number one in the NFC, which would be quite the story. As I will discuss now…
Defending champions Seattle have endured an undulating campaign. Early season wins over Green Bay and Denver had us crowning them as repeat winners as early as September. But then came the stumble as the Seahawks were humbled with losses to San Diego, St Louis, Dallas and Kansas City.
That run of form probably left Seahawks fans a little nervous as their team faced up to an impending run of games that would see them play Arizona (twice), San Francisco (twice) and Philadelphia. Well, in that period the Seahawks have won the lot and re-discovered the swagger and defensive physicality that saw them crowned champions of the NFL a year ago.
Most importantly, the Seahawks are back on track for homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. I would back Seattle to win in most places given their current form, but they are always a firm favourite when playing on home soil.
I still have concerns about Seattle’s offensive line and the consistency and talent of the wide receivers, but the rest of this team looks an awful lot like the one that hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy a year ago.
Turnovers have been a problem for the Philadelphia Eagles all season long and that was the case on Saturday night as their playoff hopes were extinguished with a 27-24 loss to the lowly Washington Redskins.
Mark Sanchez is simply not good enough to win with consistently in the NFL. He makes poor decisions with the football and just doesn’t value possession highly enough, for me. Two Sanchez turnovers hurt the Eagles on Saturday, with his late interception proving to be an absolute heart-breaker.
The Eagles remain talented in a lot of areas. They do need to upgrade their secondary but they are pretty well covered in most other parts of the field. But until they can get consistent and tidy play from their quarterbacks, they are going to remain a dangerous but flawed team.
It’s going to be a big off-season in Philadelphia as they assess whether Nick Foles or Sanchez can be the guy for them heading into 2015.
It was fitting to me that the New Orleans Saints’ season ended on an embarrassing play in front of their own fans. When Drew Brees fumbled on the final play of the game, any Saints fans with the stomach to remain in their seats had to witness Osi Umenyiora jogging 84 yards to the end zone, waving to the Saints players in the process, to complete a 30-14 win for the Atlanta Falcons.
Despite having a potential future Hall of Fame quarterback in Brees, the Saints should shoulder the blame for their 6-9 record on both sides of the ball. Sure, the defence has been terrible, but the offence has also made critical mistakes at key times.
It has been a calamitous season in New Orleans and what is most shocking to me as that the former fortress known as the Superdome has now witnessed five consecutive home losses for the Saints. There could be some jobs on the line in New Orleans in the coming days.
I have been critical of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo in the past and there is no getting away from the fact that he has made costly mistakes in big games over recent years. But it should also be noted that during that same period, Dallas won several games based on Romo’s playmaking ability.
While Romo has always been a good improviser and a playmaker, I think he has become a more complete quarterback this year and has rightly become a late entrant into the league MVP discussion.
I would still have Romo just below that group of elite passers that includes Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, but only based on the fact that they have hit the high levels for longer in their careers. Right now, Romo is the match for all of them, stride for stride and throw for throw.
In Sunday’s 42-7 demolition of the Indianapolis Colts, Romo hit on 18 of 20 throws for 218 yards and four touchdowns. He was sensational and what looked like being one of the games of the day was never a contest.
That was an alarming loss for the Colts on Sunday and they appear to be hitting the skids at the wrong time of the year. There are quite a few areas of concern for the Colts and a couple of them are having a seriously negative impact on quarterback Andrew Luck.
The offensive line is young and too easily man-handled, forcing Luck to make quicker and often rasher decisions with the football. And the running game is virtually non-existent, making the Colts very one dimensional and easier to contain on offense.
The Colts are in the playoffs because of their continued domination of the AFC South division, but I cannot see them going toe to toe with in-conference heavyweights such as New England and Denver.
And given that you want to be playing your best football heading into the post-season, the Colts have reason to be concerned at the moment.
