Glaring Weaknesses for Every NFL Division Leader

The 2011 regular season is coming to a close, and the playoffs are nearly sorted out.

But for all the encouraging things Green Bay fans are reading about their Packers and New England fans are reading about their Patriots, these two teams have glaring weaknesses that opposing coordinators are forsaking sleep, food and family to figure out how to exploit.

In fact, a quick look at the standings coming into the final week of the regular season shows that all eight division leaders have terribly obvious weaknesses that can—and will—be taken advantage of.

Join me as we go division by division and learn where each team needs to get better and needs to do it in a hurry.

New England's Pass Defense

Let's face it, Patriots fans. Your secondary is awful. Junior varsity awful. The kind of awful the bards will sing of for generations to come.

Sure, you've got a 12-3 record going into the final week of the regular season, but that is for one reason and one reason only—Tom Brady. Without his 4,897 yards and 36 touchdowns, there's no way you could earn even half of those wins.

Your secondary is giving up 294.7 yards per game (last in the league), 8.2 yards per play (last in the league) and 15.3 first downs through the air per game (you guessed it—last in the league).

Heck, Vince Young torched what you call a defense for 400 yards.

Shore up that pass defense, New England, or it'll be one-and-done for you in the playoffs.

Baltimore's Inside Running Game

Baltimore's Ray Rice has rushed for 1,173 yards this season—that's fifth best in the league.

Rice's backup, Ricky Williams, has rushed for 416 yards. Pretty good for a 34-year-old who is flakier than that guy in the Head and Shoulders commercials.

But for all the attention the Ravens running game has garnered this season, the team has a dirty little secret—the interior of their offensive line can't run block to save their lives.

Only 29 of Rice's 267 rushing attempts have been between the tackles, and he's only gained 76 yards. That's only 2.6 yards per carry.

Just 14 of Williams' 102 carries have been between the tackles, and he's only gained 34 yards. That's 2.4 yards per carry.

Outside linebackers, take notice—you can cheat a little bit to the outside when Baltimore's about to run the ball.

Houston's Quarterback Situation

Sure, T.J. Yates has done a masterful job as emergency replacement for a Houston Texans team limping into the playoffs. He got it done against Jacksonville, Atlanta and then engineered that beautiful drive against Cincinnati to win his third straight game.

Blah, blah, blah.

The last two weeks have shown Yates' inexperience and why the Texans were so eager to sign veteran Jake Delhomme after Leinart went down. He threw two terrible interceptions against Carolina and wasn't able to do more than dink and dunk against an Indianapolis secondary that is worse than everyone in the league not named "New England."

To make matters worse, it's not like Delhomme will be able to provide immediate stability for Houston—if he even provides it at all. The former Carolina Panthers quarterback hasn't taken a snap since December 2010 and hasn't played in a playoff game since 2008.

Better luck next year, Texans fans.

Denver's Tim Tebow Situation

Think of him what you will. The Denver Broncos have tied their fate to a young man who may not be the most talented of players in the league, but he's certainly one of the most valuable and competitive.

Sadly, value and competitive spirit won't get teams very far in the playoffs, as we saw last week when Tim Tebow's true colors showed and he threw not one, not two, not three, but four interceptions against the Buffalo Bills.

And two of them were returned for touchdowns!

Listen, I'm a big fan of Tebow. I think what he's doing for that franchise is remarkable, and the fact that he's winning games in the ugliest, most unorthodox ways makes for great television. But it won't win in the playoffs.

New York's Running Game

Somehow, a team led by Tom Coughlin is last in the league in rushing.

I don't know how the New York Giants are doing it. They've got Ahmed Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs, the offensive line has stayed healthy, Eli Manning is playing at a very high level and their defense is only allowing teams to hold on to the ball for an average of 30:50 a game.

Whatever the reason, the Giants are only averaging 88.1 yards per game on the ground.

With that kind of average, any one of New York's opponents in the playoffs can put an extra man into pass coverage and probably still get the job done.

...that's considering New York makes it to the playoffs. Who knows what kind of crazy outcome the NFC East will have? It's so wacky, I wouldn't be surprised if the Redskins made it in.

Green Bay's Run Defense

For a team that's supposedly a "lock" to win the Super Bowl, Green Bay has a surprisingly weak run defense.

Just look at what Green Bay's defense gave up against some of the more athletic offensive lines they've faced—Chicago (199 yards), Minnesota (218 yards) and Denver (119 yards).

They're also allowing opposing teams to convert 25.5 percent of their third downs on the ground—third worst in the league.

Maybe Aaron Rodgers and Company will be able to outscore teams, but we'll see what happens when a running back like Frank Gore comes to town.

New Orleans' Kicker

More often than not, playoff games are close—much closer than regular season games. Usually, they come down to a goal-line stand, a blown kick return or a field goal.

New Orleans fans should be hoping that it doesn't come down to the latter.

Saints kicker John Kasay is doing great so far this season—except when the kick is from 40 yards or more.

Kasay is perfect up to 39 yards, making all 20 of his attempts. But at the 40-yard line and beyond, he's only 6-for-12.

Let's hope Drew Brees can put games out of reach so that the difference between winning and losing isn't three points.

San Francisco's Passing Game

Alex Smith has played some of the most efficient football of his life this season. He's on pace to throw 3.4 touchdowns for every interception—the best ratio of his career.

But in an age where football is pass-first, pass-second, fake the run and then pass again, Alex Smith just hasn't put enough of the offensive output on his shoulders.

San Francisco has averaged just 181.7 yards per game, fourth worst in the league and ahead of only St. Louis, Denver and Jacksonville.

Stop Frank Gore and you've stopped the 49ers. It's as simple as that.