NFL | A “royal battle” in the American!

The picture in the two NFL conferences is currently very different. While we can already guess without risking being too mistaken which will be the top four or five teams classified on the National side, no less than 13 of the American’s 16 teams still have realistic chances of reaching the playoffs, unheard of in mid-December.

Miguel bujold
Press

In the Nationale, the Arizona Cardinals (10-2), Green Bay Packers (9-3) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-3) can all secure their tickets to the tournament by winning. Sunday and Monday (the Cards receive the Los Angeles Rams, Monday evening). With less than a disastrous past month, the Dallas Cowboys (8-4) and Rams (8-4) are also set to make the playoffs. So that leaves two places available for a handful of teams.

It is much more complex in the American, where only the New York Jets, the Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars have no more hope. There were already a dozen teams involved in the fight and now there are 13 after the Miami Dolphins’ five-game winning streak (6-7). All other teams are currently playing for an average of .500 or better.

So there will be dozens of intra-conference games that will directly impact the standings in the American over the coming weeks. A real holiday treat for lovers of the oval balloon.

That being said, a team seems almost certain to qualify in the AFC, and they are a big regular in January football. Yes, it is about the incredible Patriots (9-4) which are obviously not killable. Thanks to whom ? To good old Bill, let’s see.

We saw the great Belichick on Monday evening. As you surely know, the Pats went to defeat the Bills (7-5), in Buffalo, by trying a grand total of three assists … In December, the importance of being able to count on a good game on the ground and to be able to stop that of the opponent becomes doubly important, and we have seen it once again.

In a game they had to win to regain control of the East American, the Bills were never able to slow down the Pats’ ground attack and the lack of a premier running back. shot in their own backfield did not help.

The Bills’ 14-10 loss hurt them, but the worst part was that Belichick and the Pats were able to keep all the passing plays they had in the bank to attack their defense in their next clash, the December 26. Remember that the Bills lost their best cornerback Tre’Davious White for the rest of the season due to a knee injury… Buffalo will have no choice but to win at Foxborough in two weeks to finish first rank in the east. Expect a good performance from Mac Jones this time around.

Four-team races

If the race in the East will be between the Patriots and the Bills despite the awakening of the Dolphins (6-7), who will have to aim for a better second place, the one in the North division will probably involve all four teams until the very end.

The Baltimore Ravens (8-4) are currently in the lead, but the last segment of their schedule promises to be particularly difficult. Baker Mayfield said he and the Cleveland Browns (6-6) could still hope to finish first in their section and he is absolutely right. The Browns, however, will likely have to beat each of their division rivals in the coming weeks, starting with the Ravens on Sunday in Cleveland.

The young Cincinnati Bengals (7-5) are learning to win and will play without any pressure from now on. We all believed they would need at least another year before they could aim for the playoffs. To borrow the English expression, they play with the money of the house.

Of the four North American clubs, the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6-1) seem the most vulnerable. But they will have been able to benefit from ten days to regroup after their 36-28 loss to the Vikings, which occurred Thursday night in Minnesota. Their next four games will likely be Ben Roethlisberger’s last regular season career, so it’s safe to assume the Steelers won’t skimp on preparation and effort.

The three teams that do not win the division title will surely be in the game for a better second place. And it’s essentially the same situation in the West Division, when there are only two victories between the four formations.

In the lead for the moment, the Kansas City Chiefs (8-4) could give themselves a serious option on a sixth consecutive division championship by beating the Las Vegas Raiders (6-6) on Sunday, then the Chargers (7- 5), Thursday in Los Angeles (7-5).

If the Chargers were to defeat the Chiefs, however, they would hold the tiebreaker between the two teams that had already won in Kansas City earlier in the season.

The Denver Broncos (6-6) and Raiders lack the talent of the Chiefs or Chargers, but a best-second spot is still within reach in the worst-case scenario.

Dangerous, the Colts

That leaves the South Division where the Tennessee Titans (8-4) are trying to keep the Indianapolis Colts (7-6) an arm’s length away at the top. Julio Jones is expected to make a comeback against the Jaguars on Sunday, but the Titans will have to go without AJ Brown for at least two more games, and it’s still unclear whether Derrick Henry will play again this season. Luckily for them, the Titans’ schedule is relatively easy until the end of the regular schedule.

Not only are the Colts two games behind the Titans, they may also have lost the two clashes between the two teams, so Mike Vrabel and his men hold the tiebreaker. The Colts have formed one of the strongest teams on the tour after a three-game losing streak to start their season. They’ve won six of their last nine games, and two of their three losses have come in overtime against the Titans and Ravens. The third went to Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.

Running back Jonathan Taylor is in the conversation for the MVP, the Colts’ offensive line is one of the best, their defense is playing well, and Carson Wentz has reignited a career that was nerve-racking. The Colts will be dangerous if they make the playoffs.

The Patriots and Chiefs have a small head start on the rest of the conference, but it’s currently impossible to predict what the American’s final standings will look like in a month’s time. I have been very interested in the NFL for 40 years and have never seen anything like it. In wrestling, we call it a “royal battle”. And it will be awfully interesting to watch!

Three games to watch

Dallas v. Washington, Sunday, 1 p.m.

Still strange that Washington’s four-game winning streak came without Chase Young. The defensive end has missed the last three games of his own, as has Quebecer Benjamin St-Juste, whose name was recently entered in the concussion protocol for a third time this season. It’s not clear if the cornerback suffered one or more concussions, but he hasn’t played since Oct. 31. The Washington team could choose to give him the necessary rest by taking a long-term view. St-Juste is playing his first season in the NFL. After a week of absence due to COVID-19, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy predicted a victory for his team on Sunday. The Cowboys lost their two annual games to Washington in 2020.

Buffalo v. Tampa Bay, Sunday, 4:25 p.m.

Antonio Brown has been suspended for three games after giving false proof of vaccination. Bruce Arians had said the Buccaneers would release Brown as soon as he made a foul off the field when they hired him last year. To be continued. The Bucs have won their last three games after a little slump and their season is starting to look awfully like 2020 … It will be very interesting to see how the Bills react after their loss to the Patriots on Monday night. They will probably have to win their last five games in order to be able to beat the Pats at the finish line in the East of the American.

Los Angeles Rams v. Arizona, Monday, 8:15 p.m.

Sean McVay and his team ended an ugly three-game losing streak with a win over Jacksonville last Sunday, but there’s still plenty of doubt about them. If they don’t win their division title, the Rams would likely have to win three away games in January so they can then play the Super Bowl in their stadium however they want. Do you believe it? We therefore assume that they will play with more combativeness than they did recently, Monday evening. By defeating Kyler Murray and the Cardinals, the Rams would stay in the game for the top spot in the West National. But if the Cards beat them for the second time this season, the Rams will have little chance of finishing the regular season ahead of them.