A Few Notes on the NFL

The playoffs are coming! The playoffs are coming! As contending teams strive to reach the playoffs and raise their level of play, we are getting to see who the true contenders are and who are just pretenders. A few bits of opinion:

The New York Jets are probably dead. Atlanta beat them at the Meadowlands outside in the cold. How do you lose to a southern dome team at home up north with the playoffs on the line? The Jets, who started off so promising, deserve to stay home in the post season.

Indy still undefeated, New Orleans not so much. It may not be a bad thing to lose that one game, but it still hurts, especially losing to those nasty Cowboys. The Saints need work on the pass defense. It looked for a minute at the end that the Saints might pull it out, but the defense's inability to keep Dallas down on its end of the field cost the Saints yardage and time they couldn't make up losing on that final offensive series.

Minnesota will be in the playoffs, but in what state? They've fallen off, especially on offense. Favre and Peterson have both had a number of subpar games. Also, apparently Vike's coach Brad Childress wanted to pull Favre but Brett didn't want to come out--and he did not come out. Not good.

The Titans have a pulse...and so, barely, do the Steelers. There are six AFC teams at 7-7 looking for one Wildcard Playoff Spot. With their beginning of the season, who would have thought the Tennessee Titans would even be able to sniff the play offs? Kudos to Vince Young, who is my comeback player of the year.

The New York Giants must beat the stuffing out of the Washington Redskins tonight in Monday Night Football. 'Nuff said.

Bengals put up a hellava fight against the red hot San Diego Chargers in an emotion-filled game; the first played after Chris Henry's death. Chargers' win in the last seconds of the game was not unexpected. How the Bengals do emotionally after going the funeral and everything this week will be a point to watch. However, they are playing the Kansas City Chiefs at home. Bengals: Just give the ball to your running backs Benson and Johnson and watch them run.

The Cincinnati Bengals paid tribute to Chris Henry with #15 on their helmets, and Chad Ochocinco carried Henry's jersey with him onto the field. (www.nfl.com)

By all accounts, Henry was maturing as a player on the field and as a person off the field at the time of his death. If only he could have resisted getting in that "last word" when his fiance tried to drive off... (www.nfl.com)