NFL Week 16 Preview: Cowboys Say Bye to Stadium, Giants Say Bye to #1 Seed

You miss a lot when you don’t have power for a week.

T.O is back to being a great citizen. Brett Favre might retire. The Lions still stink.

OK, I guess I didn’t miss that much.

The New Hampshire ice storm last week caused us to lose power last Thursday. We still have no power, thanks to a truck that so kindly snagged our power line and ripped everything off the side of the house.

If you’re reading this, I really, really appreciated that.

Luckily, this is why God invented Bars (for game watching) and Starbucks (for their Internet access).

IND 31, JAC 24

My first impression of David Garrard wasn’t good. I spent almost all of last season telling everyone that he was an overrated backup quarterback. But he won me over in the playoff game against the Patriots. He was fantastic.

Then came the 2008 regular season, and my first impression proved to be far closer to the truth than my playoff revelation.

The Colts have come back from the dead so many times this season it’s insane. They should have started 0-4. They should have lost to the Patriots. They were down 10 points Thursday night going into the fourth quarter.

Yet they win. They always win.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to play these guys in the playoffs.

Now for the games that haven’t happened yet…

BAL @ DAL

The Cowboys say goodbye to their storied stadium Saturday against the upstart Baltimore Ravens. The Cowboys would like to say goodbye to their old home with a victory, but the Ravens are in a foul mood after their last-minute controversial loss to the Steelers.

And the Ravens are NOT a team I’d want to play in that situation.

Plus, has Wade Phillips ever won a big game? Ever? In his life? Seriously?

CIN @ CLE

It’s that time of the season when two useless and pathetically hopeless teams get to play against each other in front of friends and family only.

The rest of us, people who enjoy real football and root for teams that aren’t pathetic, are upset that I’ve giving this game two whole paragraphs of thought.

PIT @ TEN

This game will decide the number one seed in the AFC. I can’t wait. The Steelers have played a pretty insane schedule, and they might come out of it with the best record in the AFC.

Both teams feature dominant defenses, but I like the Steelers’ defense better. Both teams feature middle-of-the-pack offenses, but I like the Steelers’ offense better.

I just can’t see a way the Titans can come out on top in this one. There’s no shame in being second best, I guess.

SF @ STL

See my Cleveland-Cincinnati comments.

SD @ TB  

The most surprising thing of the last two weeks, besides the whole ice-storm leaving me without power for seven days (and counting!) is the Buccaneers’ lack of any defensive toughness.

They haven’t looked bad against the run, they’ve looked AWFUL against the run.

Norv Turner has reached the “he’s already fired, he just doesn’t know it yet” stage of his tenure in San Diego.

Marty 1, Chargers 0.

Even with the issues Tampa’s had against the run, I can’t imagine the Chargers winning this game…

NO @ DET

We knew Detroit was going to be bad, but nobody thought they’d be THIS bad. We thought the Saints were going to be good, and we were terribly, terribly wrong.

The love affair with Reggie Bush is officially over. The Saints are thinking about changing the name on his uniform to Reggie Bush-is-listed-as-questionable.

The Lions are two games away from history. I’m sure they’ll find a way to screw it up.

MIA @ KC

Miami just proves exactly how bad the Raiders and Lions’ front offices have been. They went from nearly going imperfect, to potentially winning the AFC East.

As a matter of fact, if they beat KC this weekend they’ll be the odds on favorite to win the AFC East.

But, for some reason, and it admittedly could be my blatant Patriots’ homerism, I don’t think they beat KC on the road this week.

ARI @ NE

Bet the over on this one. There’s no way the Arizona defense can stop the Patriots’ offense. There’s no way the Patriots’ secondary can do anything against the Arizona wide receivers.

If you like defense, go watch the Steelers and Titans.

The Patriots haven’t lost a must-win game in December since 2002. They’ll continue that trend this weekend.

BUF @ DEN

I hate JP Losman. If the Patriots win out, but don’t make the playoffs, you can put it on Losman and the Bills coaching staff.

Why are you throwing the ball in that situation? You better roll over for New England like that next week to even things out…

Denver will win this game easily. They’re a solid one-and-done playoff team.

NYJ @ SEA

Brett Favre wants us to talk about whether or not he’s going to retire? I’m SHOCKED. Someone like him, a great teammate who always puts the team first, talking about his retirement right before the biggest game of the season??

Shocking!

The Jets can’t win on the left coast. The Seahawks shock the world. Upset of the week

HOU @ OAK

See my San Francisco-St. Louis comments.

ATL @ MIN

The Matt Ryan express still needs some outside help to make the playoffs, but just being in the playoff discussion should be considered a victory for the Falcons. They’ll stay in the playoff hunt when they knock off the supplement brothers and their Viking teammates.

Then again, I declared the Vikings dead like two months ago. So what do I know?

PHI @ WAS

The Eagles might actually make the playoffs. Who would have thought after they tied with the Bengals (worst game ever) then benched McNabb. Unreal.

The Redskins are talking about firing their coach. Seems like a rash decision for an organization that needs maturing…until you remember the whole benching the starting running back to get the backup some reps thing from a few weeks ago.

Eagles roll.

CAR @ NYG

All season the Giants have been the best team in the NFL. Then the Plaxico thing happened. Since then, it seems like the Giants just haven’t been right.

The Panthers, on the other hand, have been extremely right. They’ve been running over everyone and everything in their way. They’re the hot team.

This is going to be a great game, but in the end the Panthers will prove too tough for the suddenly beatable New York Giants.

GB @ CHI

Green Bay was shocked to hear Brett Favre talking about potential retirement before a big game. They’ll be even more shocked when the Bears pummel them on national TV.

Favre 0, Green Bay 0, nobody wins! Except the Bears, that is.

Back to my no-electricity house to enjoy some no-electricity fun. Enjoy the weekend!

Sean Crowe covers the New England Patriots for Examiner.com and writes a bi-weekly column for Sports-Central.org.

He is a Senior Writer and an NFL Community Leader at Bleacher Report. You can email him at [e-mail]. His archive can be found here.