NFL Preview: Week 15

I see where the Arena Football League plans on canceling its 2009 season. I guess they figured we all were getting our fill of 61-41 games by watching the Big 12 this fall. Too bad...that league is a pleasure to watch. Anyways, on to football played on a full-sized field, as here is my Week 15 preview.

GAME OF THE WEEK

Steelers at Ravens

Baltimore has been lurking a game behind Pittsburgh for what seems like forever, but they finally get their chance to even up the AFC North race at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

I think we all know what to expect from these two very similar teams in this contest: physical defense built on stopping the run and creating turnovers, and a strong running game on offense to set up the pass.

Many people, including myself, were surprised when the Ravens took the Steelers to overtime in the Monday night game at Heinz Field in late September. Sure, this is a major division rivalry, but the Ravens were not expected to be much of a threat in 2008.

Since, however, and they have kept the Steelers in sight. If Joe Flacco plays as well he did in the first meeting (minus the five sacks he incurred), look for the Ravens to pull off the upset and pull even in the North.

OTHER TOP GAMES

Buccaneers at Falcons

The Falcons currently lose on the conference record tiebreaker for the second wild card spot to Dallas, and their next two games will be a challenge. But this is a squad that I picked to win a grand total of two games back in August. And look at them now.

They step up to the occasion whenever they have to and are a force in the tough NFC South. Matt Ryan played like a rookie in the meeting at Tampa Bay, but that was back in September.

Since, he has looked like he deserved the hype coming out of Boston College. The Bucs' defense will be out to avenge an uncharacteristically terrible performance on national television, and I think they get back on track in the Georgia Dome, although duplicating a strong Week 2 performance against Atlanta will be difficult.

Tampa Bay is a game up on both Dallas and Atlanta, so with manageable home games against San Diego and Oakland to follow, they have to be feeling confident about their playoff chances.

Vikings at Cardinals

I think we can coin this the battle of the two worst division leaders in the NFL (although Denver might give these teams a run for their money in that category), but it should be an interesting game nevertheless (even though those who receive this game on FOX will be forced to listen to the Buck/Aikman duo).

Considering the fact Arizona played the Giants tough and beat Dallas, I believe they are a legitimate threat to at least make it past the wild card round in the NFC.

Meanwhile, I don't have a clue how the Vikings are in this position. They struggle to beat bad teams, are coached by an absolute moron, and have a quarterback situation that has not been the strongest.

It may not seem like it because I believe he is under utilized, but Purple Jesus somehow leads the league in rushing. As for this game, which very well may decide the No. 3 seed in the NFC, the matchup to watch will be the ability of Minnesota to get a pass rush on Kurt Warner.

You can pretty much conclude the Cardinals are not going to have success running the ball, so that should allow the Vikings' strong defensive line to be a little more aggressive.

Broncos at Panthers

Denver has to be throwing up in their mouth at the prospect of facing the Carolina backfield duo of Williams and Stewart, who combined for over 300 yards on the ground against Tampa Bay of all teams. The Broncos are near the bottom of the barrel in rush defense.

While they will have to turn to yet another running back after Peyton Hillis went down for the season, Denver should at least feel confident about staying in this game.

The Panthers' defense is good, but as proven on Monday night, they are prone to a poor performance every now and then. And the Broncos are 2nd in the league in total offense. Carolina is riding a wave of momentum at the moment, and I don't expect the Broncos to come in to Charlotte and steal it away.

Losing wouldn't be the end of the world for either team, although I'm sure the Panthers are eagerly anticipating next week's game at the Meadowlands to possibly determine home field advantage in the NFC.

Giants at Cowboys (Sunday night)

As a Dallas fan, I don't know what loss is more difficult to get over: last Sunday's complete choke job in Pittsburgh, or the loss to these same Giants in the postseason at Texas Stadium one year ago.

The good news for Dallas: they are still in a playoff spot. The bad news: the last three games are no walk in the park, starting with a New York team that will be mad after falling to the Eagles at home on Sunday (and let me say that was the worst I have seen that offense play in over a year).

You have to finish games in this league. The first matchup was not close, but that was largely in part due to the absence of Tony Romo. He may crack under pressure, but he does give the Cowboys the best shot at winning.

The Giants will attempt to pressure Romo, and force turnovers. If successful, they should win. But you have to remember the Cowboys are still a very desperate team. It showed for three and a half quarters in Pittsburgh last week, just not when it mattered most.

AND THE REST

Saints at Bears (Thursday night)

With New Orleans and Chicago both at 7-6, each obviously needs a win here. The Saints are pretty much are on life support as it is from the NFC South basement, while the Bears are only a game back of Minnesota and the NFC North lead.

I don’t think the Saints win this one, based on the fact they lost in blustery Solider Field last December, as well as the year before in the NFC Championship Game. Cold weather doesn’t suit these southern teams too well.

But if Drew Brees is able to find open receivers as he has done all year, the Saints will have a chance to stay alive at least one more week.

Bills at Jets

While he has certainly cooled off since a great start, Trent Edwards doesn’t get enough credit for the job he does as the Bills’ starting quarterback. Just look at the ineptitude of the offense with J.P. Losman under center in Toronto.

If Buffalo has any hope of tainting their division rival’s hopes of making the postseason, they’ll need Edwards to be healthy this week.

The Bretts, meanwhile, are trying to recover from two sound defeats in a row, and now find themselves in a three-way love triangle with the Dolphins and Patriots for first in the AFC East with three weeks to play.

Chargers at Chiefs

Three months ago, everyone was picking San Diego to make the Super Bowl in Tampa. I don’t know what sent this team down the wrong path in 2008, whether it was Shawne Merriman’s injury, the loss of Lorenzo Neal, Norv Turner’s lack of competence as a head coach, or some other cause or combination of causes, but they have been a huge disappointment.

Hey, at least they still get to go to Tampa, albeit for a regular season game next weekend, when I’ll be sure to ignore them in the game preview as I have just done to the Chiefs.

Titans at Texans

They say time heals all wounds, but even a decade plus since Bud Adams picked the Oilers up and moved them to Nashville, I think there is still a lot of animosity on the part of the city of Houston towards the Tennessee franchise.

It probably doesn’t help matters that the Titans have been highly successful in the past 12 years (including a 12-1 start in 2008), while the Texans have yet to be a serious contender in this their seventh season.

Anyways, Tennessee has to be careful to avoid the trap of looking ahead to the Pittsburgh game against a division rival yearning to finish the season on a strong note. Houston was 0-4 at one point, but a 9-7 finish is still feasible.

49ers at Dolphins

The best part of the Dolphins not being a laughingstock in 2008? It has to be Joey Porter repeatedly making himself look like the village idiot. This time, he was defending Plaxico Burress’ close encounter with a loaded handgun. Ah, the thug mentality in the NFL is stronger than ever.

Miami can’t overlook a San Francisco team that has beaten AFC East teams the past two weekends, including the Bills in Buffalo. If Mike Singletary is not named the 49ers’ head coach for 2009 it will be a travesty in my opinion.

Redskins at Bengals

The wheels appear to be falling off the bus in DC, where the Redskins have lost four of five and have fallen to 9th in the NFC playoff picture. Now, Clinton Portis ripped into Jim Zorn on a radio show, which will certainly do wonders for the Redskins’ preparation the rest of the week.

It’s one thing to be the locker room drag queen, but it’s another to be the drama queen, Clinton. With the Redskins needing to win out, Portis should have kept his thoughts in-house and not opened up a potential media firestorm.

Yes, I know they are playing the 1-11-1 Bengals, but Cincy has actually played the NFC East tougher than any of their other opponents in 2008.

Lions at Colts

You know, I used to always enjoy watching the Colts’ well-oiled offensive machine. Something has been amiss in 2008, as the unit sits 20th in the league in yards per game.

Sure, the team has won six in a row and is in a position to secure a wild card berth, but Indy is just not a fun team anymore.

Maybe if they could run the ball, teams wouldn’t hone in on Peyton Manning and the passing game so much. The Colts don’t even average 80 yards a game on the ground.

Neither do the Lions, but as is widespread knowledge by now, Detroit does about everything poorly, so I guess that can’t be considered a shocker.

Packers at Jaguars

Matt Jones has been Jacksonville’s only dependable threat in the passing game this season amongst guys who are actually designated as receivers with 65 catches, 761 yards, and two scores (running back Maurice Jones-Drew is second on the team in receiving).

Well, as they say, do the crime, you do the time, and thanks to Jones’ summer experimentation with cocaine, No. 18 is done for the year. Man, what a great game this had the potential to be at the beginning of the season. Too bad Green Bay is 5-8 and Jacksonville is 4-9.

Seahawks at Rams

You could pay me a million bucks to watch this game, and I’d probably turn you down. I love football, but not to the point where I would sit and watch a couple of 2-11 teams trying to “win” the honor of last place in the horrific NFC West and a higher spot in the draft order come April.

Seattle isn’t really a bad team per se, they’ve just been hounded by injuries all year. St. Louis, meanwhile, well they are the textbook definition of bad. They can’t play defense, can’t run the ball, and turn the ball over like it’s their specialty.

Patriots at Raiders

Well this should be interesting. Patriots receiver Randy Moss, who had a record-breaking 2007 campaign, returns to his home for 2005 and 2006.

Strangely enough, Moss was about as useful as a lighter on the Moon in Oakland, probably due to: a. lack of effort, b. lack of motivation, and/or c. the fact the Raiders haven’t had a good QB since Rich Gannon retired. Like Moss’ work ethic (or lack thereof) or not, thank God his great talent got rescued from that dump.

Oakland Raiders Football: where good players see their careers die.

Browns at Eagles (Monday night)

Don’t look now fellow Philadelphia haters, but Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb have somehow managed not to implode for two straight weeks (unlike certain NFC playoff contenders, cough Dallas), and are right back in the NFC playoff picture.

I still believe 10 wins is going to be the absolute minimum in the NFC, so for the Eagles, winning out is a must (that tie might come back to bite them).

Meanwhile, did anyone else have one of those funny feelings back in the preseason that giving the Browns all of those primetime games this year might come back to bite the league in the ass when they were out of the playoff race by December?