Sanchez's first ‘playoff game’? Essentially, yes
Loser of Jags-Jets likely will miss playoffs, and 9 other shocking storylines
 Chris Trotman / Getty Images Mark Sanchez and the Jets are 4-4 after starting the season 3-0. |
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 When the Saints go marching in In the middle of Mardi Gras revelry, the Saints Super Bowl parade on Tuesday took center stage. NBC's Janet Shamlian reports. |
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Mike Florio weighs in on the most shocking story lines at the NFL's '09 midseason:
1. Playoff game in New York?
The Jaguars are 4-4. The Jets are 4-4. When they play in New York, it'll essentially be a playoff game.
Sure, the winner won't necessarily make the playoffs. But barring an unlikely turnaround, the loser definitely won't get there, especially with a cluster of other teams (Chargers, Texans, Ravens, Bills, Dolphins) jockeying for the sixth seed in the AFC playoffs.
So in a year in which there are plenty of really bad teams, the AFC has more than its fair share of mediocre ones, and one of them is going to end up in the playoffs.
2. Cardinals need to deliver a knockout
The Arizona Cardinals have done a nice job this year against the good teams on their schedule. Against the bad teams, however, the Cardinals have stumbled.
So after beating the Giants then losing to the Panthers then beating the Bears, the Cardinals now welcome to town the Seahawks when they're ripe for a stumble.
Now is the time for the Cardinals to reverse the trend and deliver what essentially would be a knockout blow for the 3-5 Seahawks. A win would give the Cards a three-game lead plus a tiebreaker over Seattle, and the ability to focus only on the 49ers, who finally have reversed a four-game losing streak.
3. Ice Bowl rematch could cure the hot seat
After losing to Brett Favre at home and the Bucs on the road, the Packers are in danger of imploding.
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They desperately need to build some momentum, and that process ideally would start with a win in their next game.
Enter the Cowboys. Last year, Dallas won at Lambeau Field -- the site of 1967's Ice Bowl -- for the first time ever. Their 6-2 record is arguably a little inflated, and the 'Boys might be ripe for a beating.
The key for Green Bay will be to protect quarterback Aaron Rodgers and to avoid giving up a big play to Cowboys wideout Miles Austin. If Rodgers has time to throw, the Packers have the weapons to outscore the Cowboys.
If they don't, then that hot seat under the rear end of coach Mike McCarthy will only get hotter.
4. Another November swoon for Eagles?
Last November, a three-game winless streak left the Eagles at 5-5-1 with five games to play. This November, an ugly home loss to the Cowboys has dropped Philly to 5-3 with road games on tap against the Chargers and Bears.
Losses in both would put the Eagles back at 5-5, with a stretch run featuring road games against the Falcons, Giants, and Cowboys.
So in a season featuring widespread belief that the Eagles would be in the thick of things come January, the reality is that they've got their work cut out.
5. Take the Saints and give the points
So much for the 20-point spreads.
The 8-0 Saints are traveling this weekend to St. Louis, home of the 1-7 Rams. The Saints, against much better teams than the Rams, are averaging more than 30 points per game. The Rams, against much worse teams than the Saints, are averaging fewer than 10.
And yet the spread is only 13.5 points.
Though we point this out for amusement purposes only, we think it would be quite amusing to bet the farm on the Saints.
6. Bengals might not really want to win in Pittsburgh
Four years ago, the Cincinnati Bengals went to Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers.
The victory cemented the AFC North for the Bengals, and it prompted league observers to declare that a changing of the guard had occurred.
But then the Steelers woke up, won the rest of their regular-season games, made the playoffs as the sixth seed, went to Cincinnati for the first round of the playoffs, blew out Carson Palmer's ACL, beat the Bengals, Colts, and Broncos, and ultimately won the Super Bowl.
So while on the surface the Bengals would surely love to complete a remarkable sweep of the Ravens and the Steelers, it might also be a good idea not to wake up the monster again -- especially since this version of the Steelers is a lot better than the one the Bengals beat in 2005.
7. Vikes should start pulling Favre whenever they can
As Vikings quarterback Brett Favre deals with a groin injury that could nag at him for the rest of the season, the team needs to find ways to rest him. Though he'd never agree to sit down for a game given his streak of consecutive starts (we think it's up to 12,000 by now), the Vikes should be trying to knock teams out quickly, so that Favre can be given the rest of the day off.
The next two weeks, they'll have an opportunity to do so against sub-.500 teams -- the Lions and the Seahawks.
The other benefit of such an approach is that backup Tarvaris Jackson will get some live reps in the event that something on Favre creaks until it snaps later in the year.
8. Chiefs running out of chances
The Chiefs have had a very bad three years. In 2007, they won four games. Last year, only two.
This year, there's a chance that the half-life principle operates again, leaving the Chiefs with only one win for the season.
They've got chances to get a second win, but not many. One of the last and best opportunities comes this weekend, when they head to the Black Hole for a rematch with the 2-6 Raiders. Then again, the Raiders beat the Chiefs earlier this year at Arrowhead Stadium.
If the Chiefs can't do it this weekend, the best remaining chances arguably come next month, with back-to-back home games against the Bills and the Browns.
Depending on the weather for the December 20 game against Cleveland, there could be fewer people in the stands than on the playing surface.
9. AFC teams pulling for the Pats
With the Colts holding a two-game lead over the closest four AFC teams, the throng of Patriots fans this weekend will include the fans of the Bengals, Steelers, Broncos, and anyone else with designs on earning a first-round playoff bye.
OK, Jets and Dolphins fans likely won't be shaking the red, white, and blue pompoms.
The teams chasing the Colts need them not only to fall within reasonable striking distance of the two-loss and three-loss teams, but also to be stripped of that air of invincibility, in the hopes that one loss will become two (at Baltimore) and maybe three (at Houston).
Of course, the rooting for the Pats will be temporary. If New England moves to 7-2 by beating the Colts, fans of the teams who want to see Indy fall in Week 10 will go back to rooting against the Patriots in Week 11 and beyond.
10. Monday night misery
This year, the Monday night schedule contains several very good games.
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The slumping Ravens head to Cleveland, for a game against a 1-7 Browns team that by all rights should be 0-8.
Ugh. Wake me up when it's time to go to bed.
But all is not lost on this one. For the same reasons that folks tuned in to ESPN a few weeks ago to watch Redskins coach Jim Zorn, you know, not coach, the rubbernecked demographic might turn out in droves to see what happens.
Or, at a minimum, to see what exactly about the Browns will get Jon Gruden worked up into a frenzy of cliched superlatives.
On second thought, maybe this one won't be so bad, after all. I'll just go to bed at halftime.
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