Everything on this planet is soon going to disappear into a massive black hole. Each Monday, we’ll present those football-related elements that have already been swallowed into the abyss.
Sucked Into the NFL’s Black Hole, Week 10
↵
↵
NFC East Sending Three to the Playoffs. In my slightly bias opinion, the East is still the most dominate division in football. The four teams have lost a total of four non-divisional games. You could take any team out of that division, put them in the North, South or West and they’d likely be in first place, with the possible exception of the Romo-less Cowboys. But that isn’t how it works, and after Philly’s loss last night (now 0-3 in the East, I might add), it seems unlikely the that the East will be sending three teams to the playoffs, despite deserving to do so. The Giants obviously have a clear path to the postseason, and the ‘Skins schedule sets up favorably for a playoff run. But, based on current record and remaining opponents, it’s hard to find a path to 10 wins for the Cowboys and/or Eagles. ↵
↵↵Meanwhile, the slightly weaker NFC South continues to pile up wins. Overall, they’re one game worse than the East, but they have three teams at six wins already, all of whom -- Falcons, Panthers, Bucs -- seem more than likely to crack double-digits in the victory column. As a Redskins fan, it’s worth worrying about the South stealing both Wild Card spots and actually being the division with three teams playing in January. It seems inevitable that the second WC spot will come down to the conference record tie-breaker. ↵
↵
↵Rookie QB Learning Curve. It's standard operating procedure that if a team drafts a QB in the first round and immediately starts them, they’re, at best, going to struggle in their first season or, at worst, never actually pan out at all. Yet somehow, both of ‘08’s first rounders -- Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco -- are excelling in their rookie season. They’ve led their respective teams to six wins and they aren’t making as many typical rookie mistakes -- both are averaging less than one INT per game. Somewhere, Alex Smith, who threw one TD and 11 picks in nine games during his rookie season, sits in a corner shaking his head.↵
↵
↵The Patriots Injury-Free Streak. It ends at two games. Added to the growing list of players on IR is linebacker and all around man-child Adalius Thomas, who broke his arm in yesterday’s win over the Bills. Despite an infirmary full of Pro Bowlers, New England has still managed six wins and a share of first place in the AFC East. Our hopes of a Patriot-less postseason may yet be squashed. ↵
↵
↵Charles Gordon’s Intact Fibula. I had previously never heard of Vikings punt returner Charles Gordon, but now I shall never forgot him. While running one back yesterday against the Packers, his leg, which was still planted in the ground, was rolled on by a Green Bay tackler. The result was truly disgusting and if you’d like to see it on repeat set to horrible music, go watch the video at Deadspin. ↵
↵
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
See More:
