TL1961
Well-known member
- Joined:
- Apr 24, 2013
- Posts:
- 32,848
- Liked Posts:
- 19,218
The Eagles couldn’t beat the Rams cheerleaders.
You haven't seen the Eagles lately.
The Eagles couldn’t beat the Rams cheerleaders.
Dallas won’t have a meaningless Week 17 unless they lose at Indy. Otherwise they are able to pass us for the 3 seed.
Yeah I think DAL has pretty much all the tie breakers with us, so they may well end up the #3 seed which would be huge. The 6th seed should be as easy as a win can get for the 3 seed, so hopefully that’s us, not DAL.
I voted Vikings but I really do think it may be the Giants.
Carolina and Philadelphia have brutal schedules the rest of the way. LA and New Orleans are now extra motivated to not put themselves in a position to play a game in Chicago, so they are going to take the rest of their season quite seriously until they have that first-round bye sewed up.
Redskins are dead. Done in by the nightmare QB situation.
Tampa Bay sucks and you know what, I flat out do not believe that the Packers are going to come into Chicago and deny the Bears an NFC North clinching win.
So that leaves the Giants, who have two tough-but-winnable games against Tennessee and the Colts before a week 17 Cowboys matchup that may mean absolutely nothing to Dallas.
With Dallas one game behind the Bears, unless Bears gain a second game on Dallas, both teams will be playing (thru Week 17) for a better seed -- namely the advantage to host the opponent.Dallas won’t have a meaningless Week 17 unless they lose at Indy. Otherwise they are able to pass us for the 3 seed.
Colts did lose to Jags 6-0 the week before last, but they have won last 5/6 games.Giants have to play @ Indy, Luck is playing at an insane level, the Colts are red hot and they're fighting for a playoff spot. Maybe they win it if it's in New York, but I don't see them going to Indy and winning that game.
I dont think the Cowboys are beating the Colts this week. Frank Reich knows that Dallas scheme and personnel-wise its a bad matchup for the Colts. Cowboys have a stud front-7 but their secondary is pretty average (aside from Byron Jones, who is quite good). The Cowboys will find themselves in the impossible position of having to drop seven to cover all of Luck's reads but not being able to bring adequate pressure against the NFL's best OL when only rushing four.
And there is an element to Dallas having their division basically locked down while the Colts are desperately fighting for their lives. Once win streaks get to this ~5 game stretch teams just lay off the gas. Bears did it against New York.
After the Bears take care of business against 12 this Sunday (actually Monday, but whatever) there wont be much left to play for. Though I have a sense that if Minnesota is in a win-or-die mode week 17 the Bears will not roll over for them at all.
I defer to your expertise on the Dal/Indy matchups, (I think Dal is better). But I don't know why you assume any team is taking their foot off the gas when their playoff seeding is on the line. How important is home field advantage in this upcoming playoffs? As usual, it's been of prime importance. Teams want to win it all real bad, every team will be freaking for a home field game in the playoffs.I dont think the Cowboys are beating the Colts this week. Frank Reich knows that Dallas scheme and personnel-wise its a bad matchup for the Colts. Cowboys have a stud front-7 but their secondary is pretty average (aside from Byron Jones, who is quite good). The Cowboys will find themselves in the impossible position of having to drop seven to cover all of Luck's reads but not being able to bring adequate pressure against the NFL's best OL when only rushing four.
And there is an element to Dallas having their division basically locked down while the Colts are desperately fighting for their lives. Once win streaks get to this ~5 game stretch teams just lay off the gas. Bears did it against New York.
After the Bears take care of business against 12 this Sunday (actually Monday, but whatever) there wont be much left to play for. Though I have a sense that if Minnesota is in a win-or-die mode week 17 the Bears will not roll over for them at all.
Knowing that Nagy is super conservative on injuries and resting players, I think it’s likely he cares more about his players’ health than about whether the Bears are the 3-seed or 4-seed.
Now, if a first round bye is on the line, that’s different.
Not likely but entirely possible both the 1 and 2 seed in the NFC lose in the division round. Would be a tragedy if the Bears give away one of the better home fields in the sport just for rest. Be kicking yourself if that happened.
That’s a big “if” to entertain when you could just have the sure thing of rested, fresh players.
Don’t necessarily agree with the mindset. I’m speaking purely on how Nagy probably sees it. Who knows for sure, but his actions and words thus far would seem to back up my assertion.
They're football players. They don't need to be babied. I'll never forget when Tom Coughlin had the Giants play hard in a "meaningless" week 17 game. People thought it was stupid but two months later he was hoisting the trophy.
If there is something to be gained week 17 the Bears will go out there and try to gain it. Hell, I think they are pissed off enough at Minnesota that they will try and knock them out of the playoffs even if a win does nothing for the Bears. Nagy has shown himself to be aggressive almost to a fault at times and this team is a pack of hungry dogs.
Obviously there are players who need the rest, similar to the Mack situation in the middle of the year, and its not like they would attack the game with the same desperation they would if it were do or die...but don't roll over. Don't go into the dance on a sour note.