The WVBR Sports Blog:
The Voice of the Big Red
The Voice of the Big Red
Late-Season NFL Predictions
Original Airdate: Tuesday, December 8, 2009. This is a part of the 93-Second Sports Shot series. 93-Second Sports Shots air weekday nights at 6pm.
The National Football League regular season is coming to a finish as we head deeper into the month of December. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of questions surrounding which teams will qualify for postseason play. With that in mind, here are a few predictions:
1) The Philadelphia Eagles will win the NFC East. Philadelphia is finally hitting their prime, as evidenced by their drubbing of Atlanta last week and their track record. Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb always seem to get things going around this time of year, and with a battery of weapons on the offensive of the ball this year is no exception. The Eagles may not lose again during the regular season, and even if they drop a game, the Cowboys should give them some room for error. Tony Romo and Dallas have always been the anti-Eagles down the stretch, and they started it again this year by losing on Sunday against the Giants. Before you know it, the Cowboys could be 8-6, as they host San Diego and then have to visit New Orleans in the next two weeks.
2) The Baltimore Ravens will still find a way to sneak into the playoffs as a wild card in the AFC. Baltimore has had a strange season- they started off 3-0, lost their next three, and have alternated wins and losses since then. The good news for the Ravens is that all of their losses have came to teams with winning records- and three of the last four teams they face have four wins or less. Baltimore may not be dominant, but they can beat Chicago, Oakland, and Detroit. With that being said, if the Ravens can beat Pittsburgh in Week 16- which I believe they can given their inability to win close games- they will win a wild card berth.
3) Despite favorable schedules, the Colts and Saints do not go 16-0 in the regular season. There is a reason only two teams have gone undefeated during an NFL Regular Season. One, the 1972 Dolphins, only had to play 14 games, while the other, New England two years ago, played under Bill Belicheck, the one coach who always wants to win. As each team clinches the number one seed from their conference in the next few weeks, the sense of urgency will decrease, and they will drop a game or two. That exact thing has happened to Indy before, while New Orleans will find a way to lose as their defense is far from dominant. For the Colts I circle the Thursday Night game at Jacksonville, as they have a short week to prepare, and won't be able to contain Maurice Jones-Drew. For the Saints, I see potential slip ups against Dallas or in the last week at Carolina when the starters will see limited playing time.
The National Football League regular season is coming to a finish as we head deeper into the month of December. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of questions surrounding which teams will qualify for postseason play. With that in mind, here are a few predictions:
1) The Philadelphia Eagles will win the NFC East. Philadelphia is finally hitting their prime, as evidenced by their drubbing of Atlanta last week and their track record. Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb always seem to get things going around this time of year, and with a battery of weapons on the offensive of the ball this year is no exception. The Eagles may not lose again during the regular season, and even if they drop a game, the Cowboys should give them some room for error. Tony Romo and Dallas have always been the anti-Eagles down the stretch, and they started it again this year by losing on Sunday against the Giants. Before you know it, the Cowboys could be 8-6, as they host San Diego and then have to visit New Orleans in the next two weeks.
2) The Baltimore Ravens will still find a way to sneak into the playoffs as a wild card in the AFC. Baltimore has had a strange season- they started off 3-0, lost their next three, and have alternated wins and losses since then. The good news for the Ravens is that all of their losses have came to teams with winning records- and three of the last four teams they face have four wins or less. Baltimore may not be dominant, but they can beat Chicago, Oakland, and Detroit. With that being said, if the Ravens can beat Pittsburgh in Week 16- which I believe they can given their inability to win close games- they will win a wild card berth.
3) Despite favorable schedules, the Colts and Saints do not go 16-0 in the regular season. There is a reason only two teams have gone undefeated during an NFL Regular Season. One, the 1972 Dolphins, only had to play 14 games, while the other, New England two years ago, played under Bill Belicheck, the one coach who always wants to win. As each team clinches the number one seed from their conference in the next few weeks, the sense of urgency will decrease, and they will drop a game or two. That exact thing has happened to Indy before, while New Orleans will find a way to lose as their defense is far from dominant. For the Colts I circle the Thursday Night game at Jacksonville, as they have a short week to prepare, and won't be able to contain Maurice Jones-Drew. For the Saints, I see potential slip ups against Dallas or in the last week at Carolina when the starters will see limited playing time.
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~Jonah and Kurt's NCAA LiveBlog (Fri 3/19)
~Rahul's NCAA Liveblog (Fri 3/19)
~Cornell Hockey gears up for ECAC Championship Weekend (Thu 3/18)
~NCAA Tournament Expansion (Thu 3/18) 1 Comment
~Thoughts on Cornell-Temple (Tue 3/16)
~ECAC Hockey Playoffs scenarios (Sun 3/14) 3 Comments
~Pointless March Madness Speculation (Fri 3/12)
~Video Technology in Sports (Thu 3/11)
~UOBBS (Wed 3/10)
~2010 NFL Mock Draft (Tue 3/9)
~Sad thing is...Part II (Tue 3/9)
~Sad thing is... (Mon 3/8)
~Cornell to face Harvard at Lynah next weekend (Sun 3/7)
~Women's Sports at Cornell (Thu 3/4)
~Women in Baseball? (Wed 3/3) 1 Comment
~Cornell's Keys to Advancing in the NCAA's (Tue 3/2)
~Cornell and ECAC Hockey Rundown (Sun 2/28) 1 Comment
~Cornell Victorious on Senior Night (Sat 2/27)
~Cornell Tames the Tigers (Fri 2/26)
~Jonah and Kurt's NCAA LiveBlog (Fri 3/19)
~Rahul's NCAA Liveblog (Fri 3/19)
~Cornell Hockey gears up for ECAC Championship Weekend (Thu 3/18)
~NCAA Tournament Expansion (Thu 3/18) 1 Comment
~Thoughts on Cornell-Temple (Tue 3/16)
~ECAC Hockey Playoffs scenarios (Sun 3/14) 3 Comments
~Pointless March Madness Speculation (Fri 3/12)
~Video Technology in Sports (Thu 3/11)
~UOBBS (Wed 3/10)
~2010 NFL Mock Draft (Tue 3/9)
~Sad thing is...Part II (Tue 3/9)
~Sad thing is... (Mon 3/8)
~Cornell to face Harvard at Lynah next weekend (Sun 3/7)
~Women's Sports at Cornell (Thu 3/4)
~Women in Baseball? (Wed 3/3) 1 Comment
~Cornell's Keys to Advancing in the NCAA's (Tue 3/2)
~Cornell and ECAC Hockey Rundown (Sun 2/28) 1 Comment
~Cornell Victorious on Senior Night (Sat 2/27)
~Cornell Tames the Tigers (Fri 2/26)
