Atlanta/Tampa Bay?

[BigDave95]

The reason why we're not including them is b/c both of their OTs are gone, and Portis is banged up-their backup center is starting for Samuels now. I would LOVE for them to beat Philly, but it's not going to happen.

Which is another great reason why we want Atlanta to beat Tampa. If the Eagles win out and finish at 10-5-1 and we're 10-6, we'll need Tampa to NOT be 11-5. We'll win all tiebreakers with Atlanta or Tampa (assuming Chicago isn't also 10-6) so we could still make it even if we lose the Philly game, but we can't do that if Tampa has 11 wins.

 

[AdamJT13]

They may not be able to beat our conference record, but they can match it. We both have 4 conf. losses, if we both win out, we'll both be 8-4 in NFC games. So that makes the common games tiebreaker next...

Atlanta is 1-2 with games vs. Tampa Bay and St. Louis remaining.
Dallas is 3-1 with one game vs. Philly remaining.

An ATL loss to Tampa would ensure that we hold the common games tie breaker even if we lose to NY or Philly.

That doesn't mean we'll make the playoffs, but it means we'll still hold a tiebreaker on Atl.

Even if we end up tied in common games (Atlanta loses at Minnesota, we lose at Philadelphia), we should win strength of victory quite easily. Out of 27 specific games in which we'd want one team to win and they'd want the other team to win, they'd need 14 more games to go their way than go our way. So if only eight out of the 27 go our way and 19 go their way, we'd still win the strength of victory tiebreaker. And they'd need teams such as Detroit, St. Louis, Oakland and Kansas City to pull upsets and teams such as the Giants and Baltimore to lose (in addition to the games they'd lose to us in this scenario).

Basically, if we end up in a tiebreaker with Atlanta, they'd need a miracle to have the advantage.

 

[bootsy]

Which is another great reason why we want Atlanta to beat Tampa. If the Eagles win out and finish at 10-5-1 and we're 10-6, we'll need Tampa to NOT be 11-5. We'll win all tiebreakers with Atlanta or Tampa (assuming Chicago isn't also 10-6) so we could still make it even if we lose the Philly game, but we can't do that if Tampa has 11 wins.

How the heck did Tampa end up at 9-4. They are not that good at all. Heck they couldn't even beat our B team.

I am still torn on who to root for in this Tampa/Atl game. If I knew Tampa would lose one of it's game after this game then I would definitely be rooting for Atl all the way. None of these teams scare me that is why we have to make a maximum effort to win these last 3. It would be a shame in my opinion if Atl, TB, Phil make it in over us. None of those teams and any team in the NFC outside of maybe the Giants are better than us.

 

[Boysboy]

Has anyone seen our growing laundry list of injuries?

We can kiss our season goodbye now-forget about the playoffs, I'll be surprised if we're even 1/2 way competitive in any of our remaining games.

 

[Coy]

How the heck did Tampa end up at 9-4. They are not that good at all. Heck they couldn't even beat our B team.

I am still torn on who to root for in this Tampa/Atl game. If I knew Tampa would lose one of it's game after this game then I would definitely be rooting for Atl all the way. None of these teams scare me that is why we have to make a maximum effort to win these last 3. It would be a shame in my opinion if Atl, TB, Phil make it in over us. None of those teams and any team in the NFC outside of maybe the Giants are better than us.

If Phil makes it and we don´t, it means they beat us on the final week, so we would not be better than them.

 

[bootsy]

If Phil makes it and we don´t, it means they beat us on the final week, so we would not be better than them.

I still don't think they are better than us just because they beat us. Especially being that we would have split the season series with them. So since Philly beat the NYG last week does that mean Philly is better than the Giants?

 

[tecolote]

I still don't think they are better than us just because they beat us. Especially being that we would have split the season series with them. So since Philly beat the NYG last week does that mean Philly is better than the Giants?

Look, the last week in Philly is probably going to be a playoff game, whoever wins will be the better team.

 

[HTownCowboysFan]

As much as I love the Cowboys and invest a lot of time and money in 'em, I think we're just snakebit this year. Just one of those years. I'm hoping like hell they prove me wrong, but I don't think we get in this year.

 

[arync]

ATL, someone will take care of them later but for this week we need Tampa to lose.

 

[TNCowboy]

We have to pull for Tampa Bay. They have the better record.

If Atlanta loses, that gives us a one-game cushion that we may very well need.

 

[CowboyMark]

Who cares? Cowboys are as good as in.

 

[Doomsday101]

We have to pull for Tampa Bay. They have the better record.

If Atlanta loses, that gives us a one-game cushion that we may very well need.

I agree. Tampa has Alt, SD and Oakland remaining and I expect they will beat both SD and Oakland. add to that they have a 1 game lead on us. Alt on the other hand has Minn and St.Louis left I think there is a better chance alt splits those 2 games

 

[AmericasTeam31]

Even if we end up tied in common games (Atlanta loses at Minnesota, we lose at Philadelphia), we should win strength of victory quite easily. Out of 27 specific games in which we'd want one team to win and they'd want the other team to win, they'd need 14 more games to go their way than go our way. So if only eight out of the 27 go our way and 19 go their way, we'd still win the strength of victory tiebreaker. And they'd need teams such as Detroit, St. Louis, Oakland and Kansas City to pull upsets and teams such as the Giants and Baltimore to lose (in addition to the games they'd lose to us in this scenario).

Basically, if we end up in a tiebreaker with Atlanta, they'd need a miracle to have the advantage.

Ok glad you put in layman's terms at the end there....

Now, can you or someone tell me how Chicago plays into our playoff picture?

 

[Coy]

I still don't think they are better than us just because they beat us. Especially being that we would have split the season series with them. So since Philly beat the NYG last week does that mean Philly is better than the Giants?

If we lose at Philly on the last weekend and both sides are playing for the final spot, you have to say they are the better team, no question about it, and about Philly beating the Giants this past week, remember it´s a long 16 game season, Philly was playing for their playoff lives, the Giants weren´t and that does make a difference.

Tell me something, so you think NE was better than the Giants last year??? it doesn´t matter bro, the team that wins is the best team.

 

[AdamJT13]

Now, can you or someone tell me how Chicago plays into our playoff picture?

The Bears only matter because they conceivably could create a three-way tiebreaker that would make our head-to-head win over Tampa Bay meaningless. But it's unlikely that the all of the right circumstances will happen to make Chicago a factor for us at all.

The ONLY way we'd have to worry about Chicago is if we beat Baltimore but lose to either the Giants or Eagles to finish 10-6 AND Washington wins out AND Minnesota wins at least two out of three AND Chicago wins out AND Carolina wins at least one more AND Tampa Bay loses to Atlanta and splits its final two games AND Atlanta loses at least one of its last two games.

That would leave us third in the NFC East behind Washington, Minnesota would win the North with Chicago second, and Carolina would win the South with Tampa Bay second. There would be at least four teams tied at 10-6: us, Washington, Chicago and Tampa Bay (Atlanta could be, too, but they'd be behind Tampa Bay in the South). The first tiebreaker would be between Washington, Chicago and Tampa Bay. Washington would win that (Chicago would be eliminated via conference record, and Washington would beat Tampa Bay via common games, 4-1 to 3-2). Washington would be in, and we would advance to a three-way tiebreaker with Chicago and Tampa Bay. If it was just us and Tampa Bay, we would win because of our head-to-head victory. But because Chicago also was in the tiebreaker, Tampa Bay would advance because of its conference record.

Now, if the situation was exactly the same except our only loss was to the Ravens, we would make the playoffs even if Chicago created that three-way tiebreaker with us and Tampa Bay. Chicago would be eliminated on conference record (we'd be tied with Tampa Bay at 8-4, and Chicago would be 7-5), and we would beat Tampa Bay because of our head-to-head win.

 

[Coy]

Ok glad you put in layman's terms at the end there....

Now, can you or someone tell me how Chicago plays into our playoff picture?

One of the ways Chicago would affect our playoff chances is if this five teams end with a 10 - 6 record.

Dallas (Our loss being against the Giants or Eagles)
Washington
Tampa Bay
Atlanta
Chicago


That way, we would be out and the spots would go to TB and Washington.

 

[casmith07]

I've posted this one many times before - we want Tampa to win. No matter what happens unless Carolina wets the bed the last 3 games, they win the NFC South. The two Wild Card teams will be either BOTH from the NFC South or one from the NFC South and one from the East.

We have two NFC contests remaining and Atlanta has 3. We need Atlanta to lose out because if we lose to either NYG or PHI and they win out, which is likely, then they and TB will be Wild Card and we'll be out because they'll hold the tie-breaker for record against NFC opponents.

Here's how I see it happening:

1. Carolina
2. NYG
3. Arizona
4. Minnesota
5. Tampa Bay
6. Dallas

Depending on record, Minnesota might have to come to Texas Stadium, and then we'd go to the Meadowlands.

 

[ethiostar]

The Bears only matter because they conceivably could create a three-way tiebreaker that would make our head-to-head win over Tampa Bay meaningless. But it's unlikely that the all of the right circumstances will happen to make Chicago a factor for us at all.

The ONLY way we'd have to worry about Chicago is if we beat Baltimore but lose to either the Giants or Eagles to finish 10-6 AND Washington wins out AND Minnesota wins at least two out of three AND Chicago wins out AND Carolina wins at least one more AND Tampa Bay loses to Atlanta and splits its final two games AND Atlanta loses at least one of its last two games.

That would leave us third in the NFC East behind Washington, Minnesota would win the North with Chicago second, and Carolina would win the South with Tampa Bay second. There would be at least four teams tied at 10-6: us, Washington, Chicago and Tampa Bay (Atlanta could be, too, but they'd be behind Tampa Bay in the South). The first tiebreaker would be between Washington, Chicago and Tampa Bay. Washington would win that (Chicago would be eliminated via conference record, and Washington would beat Tampa Bay via common games, 4-1 to 3-2). Washington would be in, and we would advance to a three-way tiebreaker with Chicago and Tampa Bay. If it was just us and Tampa Bay, we would win because of our head-to-head victory. But because Chicago also was in the tiebreaker, Tampa Bay would advance because of its conference record.

Now, if the situation was exactly the same except our only loss was to the Ravens, we would make the playoffs even if Chicago created that three-way tiebreaker with us and Tampa Bay. Chicago would be eliminated on conference record (we'd be tied with Tampa Bay at 8-4, and Chicago would be 7-5), and we would beat Tampa Bay because of our head-to-head win.

Man, your awesome. Do you teach classes on NFL salary cap and this stuff?

 

[Coy]

Look, the last week in Philly is probably going to be a playoff game, whoever wins will be the better team.

My point exactly.

 

[AdamJT13]

I've posted this one many times before - we want Tampa to win.

Not necessarily. If Tampa Bay lost its final three games, or even two out of three, that would be great for us.

We need Atlanta to lose out

No, we don't. We just need them to NOT win more games than we do.

Depending on record, Minnesota might have to come to Texas Stadium, and then we'd go to the Meadowlands.

Wild card teams are on the road in the first round. If we're the sixth seed, we cannot host a playoff game.