This time last year, the Football ERA had the New England Patriots and the New York Giants at one and two in the cumulative standings. This, of course, was a fortunate result given that the cumulative results are not much of an indicator as a Power Ranking system (see previous posts). However, it was clearly apparent that the Giants were dangerous due to their tremendous pass rush. Every week was like a Super Bowl game on their run to the title last year, and it took good fortune as well as their absolute best play to win out.
This season there are several teams in each conference that are going to be tough to beat in the playoffs. First of all, they have to all secure their playoff positions. In the AFC, the Pittsburgh Steelers can rush the passer but must run the ball better to dominate opponents if they are to make a run. They could easily be the team to beat in the AFC. The Tennessee Titans have to play solid without Haynesworth and Vanden Bosch at 100% on their defensive line. Whether this will be enough to get them by depends upon the matchups and gameday performance and fortune. The Baltimore Ravens can play with anyone--providing they get past Jacksonville this week. They will need to generate more of a pass rush to really control games on the scoreboard--which they havent more often than not this season, despite having a consistent and powerful rushing attack. I don't think anyone wants to face them in a playoff matchup as it takes a physical type of performance to get by the 2008 Ravens.
In the NFC, every game has been a playoff game down the stretch for the Dallas Cowboys. They couldn't get past the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in what amounted to a regular season finale play-in Playoff. Philadelphia could be the team that gets really hot as their defense has been on a tear down the stretch led by their pass rush. However, the Giants match up with every team in the league. While the Giants were last year's cinderella, the Carolina Panthers rushing attack has helped their defense play at a higher level down the stretch. Offensive and Defensive play compliment each other and are more closely connected than what is commonly perceived sometimes.
The NFL Playoff system has always been a bit out of whack and antiquated in that the matchups dont always work out with the seeding system that they have which goes back to times when there were only four teams per conference in the playoffs. Sometimes the 2nd seed gets an easier road and better matchups than the 1st seed. We'll have to see how it all shakes out by the end of this last Sunday, but one of the aforementioned teams should be representing their conference by the time the 2008 Playoffs have set the table for this season's Super Bowl.
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