Wednesday Morning QB (Week 12)
Thanksgiving has come and gone meaning the beginning to the holiday season and more importantly the start of the playoff race.
It is an unofficial date in the NFL calendar but it is one nonetheless as Thanksgiving marks the start of that run towards the playoffs.
Teams have been looking to get in good standing heading into the final stretch of the season and now it is finally here.
As the weeks begin to count down and the chances for teams to make a run get slimmer there are some stand out teams that are going to make things interesting.
The playoff race is shaping up to be something different as teams are making a run and making things that much more difficult for the leaders.
In the AFC the only thing that seems for sure is that the Patriots will win the East as they are beginning to run away with the division title.
The North is beginning to shape up into a decent race as the Steelers looked like they were going to easily win but the Ravens are looking to come back.
With a new QB under centre, they have promise and could make this a real race near the end of the season.
Two of the hottest teams in the league are making the fight for the South even better as the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts are trying to continue their run.
The Texans have won 8 in a row while the Colts are now at five straight wins, whoever falters first will leave the door open.
In the West Los Angeles is quietly having a great season and a big part of that quiet is the fact that they can’t keep up with the Chiefs.
Kansas City has become one of the best teams in the league under their rookie QB, Patrick Mahomes and they are taking over the West leaving the 8-3 record of Los Angeles as only second best.
The NFC is just as tight heading into the final stretch of games with much the same issues as the AFC.
The mess that is the NFC East might get a little more clear as the Dallas Cowboys are finally looking like a playoff contender.
They are beginning to rise through after winning three straight games and finally looking like the team that many thought they could be.
In the North things are pretty unsettled but with Detroit and Green Bay losing key games it seems like a two-team race between Chicago and Minnesota.
That battle will come down to the final weeks as there is still a miraculous chance for the Packers to make it this is going to be a battle of defences to determine the oldest division in football.
By far the hottest team in the league right now is beginning to make the NFC South less of a race as New Orleans’ run of 10-straight has them pulling away.
The West was almost figured out right away as the Los Angeles Rams have been the best team in the league winning all of their games up until two weeks ago.
Putting in two more wins has them seemingly running away with the division leaving little room for anyone else.
The teams that are beginning to take over are making the potential playoffs one of the best in recent memory.
The potential for teams like the Rams and the Saints to face off in an important game like the NFC Championship has fans excited.
Then there is the potential of seeing Kansas City, New England or Houston to all face each other in important games.
The playoff race itself is getting interesting in a few divisions as the next few weeks will go a long way to determining what the playoffs will look like.
Great teams are headed there as there are some dominant ones who have come through this season.
There is still some room for them to fall and for the face of the playoffs to change but the look of things right now makes the playoffs seem fun.
Thanksgiving marks the start to what is going to be a fun last few weeks of the season with five weeks for teams to lock down a spot.
Some will fail to do so and changes will be on the way while others will work their way to those final spots.
It is going to be an entertaining sprint to the finish that might only lead to a more entertaining playoff race towards the Super Bowl.
Fifth Quarter
Taking Over
Joe Flacco has often been the centre of debate in the NFL for whether or not he is the type of QB to lead a team to a championship. That word elite is thrown around so much that it began to seep into the minds of the Ravens. They drafted Lamar Jackson in last year’s draft as the clear replacement for Flacco. Although the plan was always going to be letting Flacco take the reigns while Jackson got up to speed a slow season has led them to speed up the plan. Jackson took over in Week 11 and has led the Ravens to two straight wins. He will continue to be the starter as he looks to make an amazing first impression by leading the Ravens to the playoffs and supplanting Flacco as the starter.
Can’t Keep Clean
Reuben Foster has been a case in what not to do as an NFL star with his career now in danger of going down as a waste of talent. This year started with Foster being arrested for possession of marijuana and released after posting bail, a charge that remains a debated topic. Then a month after being released he was arrested again, this time for domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon. That charge was then dropped after his girlfriend claimed she made it up to get back at him for ended the relationship and then testified that it was a way to get money. This past week he was arrested once again for domestic violence and San Francisco decided that enough was enough releasing him. He was claimed by Washington in a controversial signing of a player with a history of issues off of the field.
On the Hot Seat
The hot seat is only getting hotter for coaches as the weeks move on with a few already losing their jobs in the season. A new addition to that hot seat is a coach that is among one of the longest tenured coaches in the league. Nobody would claim that Mike McCarthy is a bad coach but the Green Bay Packers haven’t had the success they expect as a team. They are a team that missed the playoff once in the last nine seasons but are in danger of doing it two years in a row. A loss to Minnesota this week leaves their playoff hopes in serious doubt and if they can’t find a way back McCarthy could be on his way out. It will be a classic move from a successful team firing a coach more for a change than anything else.
The Sport Addiction 