1*/1*

Patriots

  16-0  

  New England had a bye will host Jacksonville in the divisional playoff round. The Patriots were of course perfect against teams qualifying for the playoffs this season at (6-0) with home wins over the Chargers, Redskins, and Steelers by a combined score of 124-34 (wow); and road wins over the Cowboys, Colts, and Giants by a combined score of 110-82. Not too shabby, eh?

*The asterisk denotes that the Patriots will remain #1 in the power rankings for the rest of the season for going (16-0), even if they don’t win the Super Bowl, because as we pointed out last week going undefeated in the regular season at (16-0) carries much longer odds than winning the Super Bowl.

2/2

Colts

  13-3  

  Indianapolis had a bye and will host San Diego in the divisional playoffs. The Colts went (4-3) against teams that qualified for the playoffs this season including a sweep of the Jaguars, a split with the Titans, a win over the Buccaneers, and very close losses to the Patriots and Chargers.

Cowboys

  13-3  

Dallas had a bye and will host the New York Giants in the divisional playoffs, a team they’ve already beat twice this season… Currently the Cowboys are (4-2) against playoff teams this season including a win over the Packers, a split with the Redskins, a loss to the Patriots, and of course a sweeping of the Giants.

All eyes are on Owens’ high ankle sprain. We point to a similar situation in Super Bowl XXXIX when Owens played through pain as a member of the Eagles going against the Patriots. He went over 100 yards on nine catches.

4/4

Packers

13-3

  Green Bay had a bye and will host Seattle in the divisional playoffs as Mike Holmgren returns to Lambeau. The Packers went (3-1) this season against teams qualifying for the postseason including wins over the Giants, Redskins, and Chargers, and a loss to the Cowboys. Note the Packers’ last win against a playoff team this season came in week 6 against Washington.

Jaguars

  12-5†

  The Jaguars won a wild, wild card playoff game at Pittsburgh where they blew an 18 point lead a la the New England Patriots versus the Colts in the AFC championship game last season. The only difference was the Jaguars were able to recover and grab the victory, which made it two road wins against the Steelers this season… With the victory the Jags improved to (5-3) against playoff teams; but more importantly it advances them to the divisional playoffs in New England.

6/6

Chargers

12-5†

The Chargers survived being shutout at home in the first half of their wild card matchup with Tennessee thanks to some tough defense of their own, and LT’s “second effort”… Although there is some debate about whether Tomlinson’s forward progress was stopped. Furthermore, the Chargers may not have been properly set at the line of scrimmage. Watch the NFL video. At any rate, let’s religitimize this win for San Diego as the Chargers did prevent the Titans from scoring again… Next week San Diego heads to Indianapolis for a divisional playoff matchup with the Colts.

7/8

Giants

  11-6†  

Down 7-0 the Giants scored 24 unanswered points to grab a wild card win in Tampa Bay. The Giants appear to be peaking at the right time which is good news for a squad that stands at (2-5) against playoff qualifying teams this season; including two losses to Dallas which is where the Giants will head next week for the divisional playoffs.

8/7

Steelers

  10-7†

  The Steelers came back from down 18 points to take a fourth quarter lead against the Jaguars only to see it slip away in the closing moments. It was a tough loss for the Steelers on several fronts as they only allowed 239 yards of offense to Jacksonville, but still managed to surrender 31 points due to an interception return for a touchdown and kickoff return to the 1 yard line.

9/12

Seahawks

  11-6†  

  Seattle came back from a 1 point 4th quarter deficit to soundly beat Washington in a wild card matchup, thanks in part to 2 late interceptions returned for touchdowns. The Seahawks improved to (2-1) against playoff qualifying teams which includes a shutout loss at Pittsburgh… Next week the Seahawks will head to Green Bay for a divisional playoff matchup with the Packers.

10/9

Titans

10-7†

The Titans lost a tough wild card game at San Diego after shutting out the Chargers in the first half. The key play was of course Tomlinson’s second effort touchdown in which Stephen Tulloch made what might have been the best defensive play of the year, although it went for not as LT’s forward progress was not ruled to have not been stopped. Watch the NFL replay and see how Tulloch doesn’t even leave his feet until LT is already in the air moving towards the end zone; yet still manages to knock LT back. A phenomenal play in a losing effort…

Overall the Titans finished the season (2-5) against playoff qualifying teams including two heartbreaking losses to the Chargers, and loss to the Buccaneers, but splits with the Jaguars and the Colts, which is what is keeping the Titans ranked above Tampa Bay in the power rankings…

Buccaneers

9-8†

  After leading the Giants 7-0 in their wild card matchup, the Buccaneers were never really in the game. Overall Tampa Bay finished the season (2-4) against playoff qualifying teams including wins over Washington and Tennessee, and losses to Seattle, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, and the New York Giants.

12/10

Redskins

  9-8†

The Redskins came back from down 13 points to take a fourth quarter lead in Seattle, but two Collins’ interceptions were returned for touchdowns late in the game leading to a blowout final. Overall Washington finished the season (2-6) against playoff qualifying teams including losses to the Patriots, Buccaneers, Packers, and Seahawks, and splits with the Giants and Cowboys… With Gibbs announcing his retirement today, the search for a new head coach begins.