The 2010 NFL Pro Bowl will be played this Sunday night, January 31st in Dolphins Stadium, the site of Super Bowl XLIV, which will be played between Indianapolis and New Orleans the following week, Sunday February 7th.
The NFL’s final two teams in each conference square off against one another this Sunday with a trip to Super Bowl XLIV on the line. There are solid reasons why each team has a chance to win, but it is often the intangibles that determine the actual outcome.
It’s Championship Week in the NFL and with it two teams are one win away from playing in Miami for Super Bowl XLIV. Like most football fans nationwide, everyone has an opinion on which those two teams will be. Our database does, too.
There are generally two schools of thought when it comes to handicapping the final four teams on this week’s card. You can look at them statistically, or you can analyze them technically.
The smoke has cleared from the wildcard round of the playoffs and one favorite; Dallas and three underdogs; New York, Baltimore, and Arizona are moving on to the divisional round to face the top four seeds in the league.
After 512 regular season games the playoff field of 12 teams has been set. The top four teams get a chance to sit back and watch this week as the other eight will fight for the right to move on.
Heading into the final week of the regular season there are a handful of games that will have a major impact on the entire playoff picture. In the NFC all six playoff berths have been filled but we only know one thing for sure; New Orleans is the #1 seed.
The playoff picture in the NFC is almost in place. New Orleans, Minnesota, and Arizona have clinched their division, Philadelphia has clinched a berth, and Dallas, Green Bay, and New York will fight it out for the final two spots. The AFC, on the other hand is a whole different story. Indianapolis and San Diego have clinched their division, while New England and Cincinnati are one win away from clinching theirs.
With 14 weeks of games in the books a few pieces of the post season puzzle are in place and a few more will probably be in place after this week. Indianapolis, New Orleans, and Minnesota are in. San Diego, Cincinnati, Arizona, Philadelphia, and Green Bay can punch their ticket with a win and some help.
Indianapolis is 12-0 and on the verge of locking up home field throughout the playoffs in the AFC. New Orleans survived a scare but held on the beat Washington to move to 12-0, clinching the NFC South and is in prime position to secure home field throughout as well. With four weeks to go, everything else concerning the post season is still undecided.
After 12 weeks of football, 11-0 Indianapolis is the first team to officially clinch their division and in the case of 11-0 New Orleans and 10-1 Minnesota it is just a matter of time. Every other division is still up for grabs with some races being much closer than others. New England, Cincinnati, and Arizona all have a two game lead, while San Diego and Dallas each lead by one.
Baseball is grabbing a little of the spotlight, but it’s still football that still takes center stage in October.
NCAA Previews:
A marquee matchup in college football is set for Saturday evening when the No. 1 Florida Gators head to Baton Rouge to play the No. 4 LSU Tigers. Online sportsbooks have the nation’s consensus top team favored by 7.5-points with a Total of 46.
By Marc Lawrence • Playbook.com
Last year we went out on a limb and predicted that a sleeper team could emerge from the NFC WEST DIVISION and that the Cardinals appeared ready for a breakthrough year.
And like the amazing Karnac, Arizona opened the envelope and answered when the Redbirds came within 30 seconds of winning the Super Bowl.
2008 marked the first time in the last six years that a team from the NFC SOUTH DIVISION failed to move from the outhouse to the penthouse, or last place to first place.
That’s not to say that Atlanta, the NFC SOUTH DIVISION cellar dweller in 2007, didn’t deliver last season. They did. It’s just that Carolina won one extra game and edged out the Falcons for division honors.
In our quest to be the ONLINE LEADER in NFL Gambling & NFL Handicapping information we’re way out ahead of the rest with our 2009 Divisional Previews for all 8 NFL divisions.
We will be covering the entire off season for each team and giving you a preview of the upcoming 2009 season with updates from now through kickoff of Week 1 of the NFL 2009/10 Season.
Life is a struggle during these troubled times in the Motor City.
It’s sad when the biggest selling souvenir on Sundays at Ford Field during the football season these days is a paper bag. That’s because the Lions’ football team is deeper in the tank than the auto industry.
Marc Lawrence
Hands down the toughest division in the NFC, and arguably in the entire NFL, the NFC EAST DIVISION is home to the best defensive brand of football in the league.
The division completed a ‘grand slam’ of sorts in 2008 when all four residents ended the season with sub 300-yard defenses.
To further enhance their stance, a message was sent to the rest of the league when all four teams shored up their stop-units in the off-season.
