I was just looking at the games of this week, and it is unbelievable how the whole playoff picture could turn in an instant from this week and how many teams' seasons are possibly on the line just from this week. I mean no guarantees of anything per se, but looking at some of the games in the big picture, crazy to think what could happen. Not only do we need to win this game to probably be able to ultimately win the division, there are a lot of other things at play here.
Take the Broncos and Bears' game for instance. Aside from Osweiler's start, Bears have a chance to break even and win the total amount of games they won all of last year with a win there. Broncos meanwhile are trying to stay in the hunt for a bye in the playoffs and keep pace to possibly get ahead of the Bengals. No Peyton and coming off a rough one last week and against John Fox their old coach, oh boy. If we lose this Sunday and Chicago beats Denver, that game Thanksgiving night takes on a whole new meaning.
Indy at Atlanta, that's a big one too, huge for both teams. Luck's injury taking him out of this one and the Texans' win against Cincy last Monday could drastically turn the tide here. Atlanta needs this one bad, not only to stay up to pace with Carolina but to get their confidence back and just as the Bears have a big one that could potentially put them within a game of us, Tampa Bay is right behind them and will be right on their backs if they beat Philly and the Falcons lose to the Colts, this game is going to have real potential to shake up the south.
Jets at Texans also has big playoff and divisional implications on it. Texans would either keep pace with Indy or take outright possession of the south with a win, and that's with Yates starting. A Jets win meanwhile would not only still keep the wildcard in the East, but might even vault them in the sole spot with Pitt, assuming Buffalo lost to New England. Although either way the date in Buffalo for the season finale just very well could be for making the playoffs if both the Jets and Bills win this week.
Tampa Bay at Philadelphia is also going to have big playoff implications. A game that has playoff implications riding on it like never before, a win for Tampa Bay here, then going on the road against what will probably still be a Luck-less Colts team, winning these 2 could make the game against Atlanta at home Dec 6, a playoff deciding match. Philly also cannot afford to lose this. If they win, they stay tied with the Giants, but if they lose, I think their season is over because after this, they play Detroit but after that, the Pats, the Bills, the Cardinals, all of which they could lose and if they do, at 5-9 at that point, their season is over. This game could make or break both teams' seasons.
Washington at Carolina, now I've been saying in the chat that I think the Redskins cause the upset because they are a talented 4-5 team and they just seem due for a road win and a marquee one at that, and the pressure mounting on Carolina. But this game too could really propel the Redskins if they win. Not only would a Panthers' loss plus a Falcons win tighten up the NFC South again, the Redskins would also tie the Giants at 5-5, and the game against them at home next week would be for the division. The Redskins would be hot and even though they have to play the Cowboys 2x, Romo has a history of playing awful against Washington when they're hot and all the upcoming games for the Redskins after these next 2 weeks look very favorable for them.
And of course Cincinnati at Arizona, both teams fighting to hang on for the number 2 seeds in their respective conferences for the moment at least, and indeed this game probably will be critical down the stretch. Implications becoming even greater affected by what happens in Minneapolis and Chicago.
This week is indeed where things start taking major shape in this league.
