Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2) vs Baltimore Ravens (7-3)
With the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears we probably have the biggest rivalry in the NFC. In my opinion, Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore is the biggest rivalry in the AFC. Two teams that can’t stand each other at all. Pittsburgh has won the last four games in a row and what is positive is that the offense is getting stronger. While the games at the beginning of the season were actually difficult to watch because the offense was so weak and they only got through the defense, they can now also score points with the offense. There have always been at least 26 points in the last four games. Against Washington, a strong offense was even able to compensate for a defense that wasn’t quite as strong this time, allowing at least 27 points. In this form, Pittsburgh definitely has to be on the list for, say, the divisional round. The defense is the second best in the league.
The Ravens have the best offense in the league. 31.8 points on average, they are also clearly ahead in terms of yards, 440.2, San Francisco is in second place and has 28 yards less. However, the defense is not that good, they are only in 25th place and allow 25.3 points per game. Sunday’s duel will be the 61st in history; they met for the first time on September 8, 1996, and the Ravens haven’t been around that long. Pittsburgh has the edge and won 35 of the duels. And the last three derbies all went to Pennsylvania.
New York Jets (3-7) vs Indianapolis Colts (4-6)
The duel between two teams that somehow expected more from this season. The Jets have lost six of the last seven games and stayed under 20 points four times, they never had more than 22 points during this period, and in general they never got over 24 points in the entire season. There is still a bit of hope with the rest of the program, because apart from a home game against Seattle and an away game in Buffalo, these are actually doable things. But once again the team just doesn’t seem like anything is really happening when it comes to the playoffs. The biggest problem is the weak running game, with 86.8 yards per game only beaten by the Cowboys and the Raiders.
Indianapolis is in a slightly better position, but here too it will be very, very difficult when it comes to the playoffs. The last three games were all lost, here too you can have a little hope for the rest of the program, because the only really difficult game that is still to come is in week 12 at home against Detroit. The problem in Indianapolis is the many turnovers. Only the Cowboys and Raiders have given the ball away more often. And of course this game has some history, because even though the two are in the same conference these days, they played against each other in Superbowl 3. At that time, the merger between the NFL and AFL was still in the process and the NFL teams viewed the AFL teams as inferior. The Colts, then still based in Baltimore, were part of the NFL, the Jets were part of the AFL. The Jets’ victory in the Super Bowl was one of the biggest surprises of the very young Super Bowl era.
Denver Broncos (5-5) vs Atlanta Falcons (6-4)
Both teams suffered stupid defeats. The Broncos played a really good game against the Kansas City Chiefs and definitely had the win, but they deprived themselves of the reward because the supposedly decisive field goal was blocked. If you look at the situation again, you can see how weak Denver is in this situation. Overall, the situation isn’t that bad, you have a balanced record, the game against Atlanta is certainly one on equal terms and then there are easy tasks at first, then there is a game against Cincinnati in week 17, which could perhaps be decisive in week 18 Then it’s against Kansas City again, but then they might already have the first round bye.
Atlanta was pretty stupid in the loss to New Orleans. This was a game Atlanta should never have lost, but they were weak in the first half and not effective enough in the second half. The defeat in itself isn’t terribly dramatic, especially since Tampa Bay also lost, but of course you want to get back on the road to success as quickly as possible. By the way, so far there is a series with Atlanta, whenever they scored 20 or more points they won the game, if they scored less than 20 points they lost. The rest of the program isn’t that easy, but it’s relatively doable, so you should be able to win at least a few games.
San Francisco 49ers (5-4) vs Seattle Seahawks (4-5)
Trend-setting game for both teams. San Francisco is coming off an important win over Tampa Bay and has won three of its last four games. They were clearly the better team against the team from Florida, but they still struggled extremely hard for a long time, which just shows that victories are no longer a given for San Francisco. The next few weeks will be demanding, after the game against Seattle there are away games in Green Bay and Buffalo on the schedule. What I think has changed in San Francisco is that the defense is no longer as good as it used to be, they allow an average of 22.4 points, which is only 17th place. I don’t want to say that their defense is bad is, but not as good as it once was.
Seattle had last week off and desperately needs a win. After a good start to the season with three wins, only one of the last six games was won. And the first duel with San Francisco in Week 6 was also lost. What is striking is a statistic on defense: if Seattle conceded 20 or fewer points, they won the game, which they always managed in the first three weeks, then only in Week 7 in Atlanta when they scored more than 20 points then they lost the game. While the defense was top at the beginning, it is now only in 23rd place and allows an average of 24.6 points. If you’re honest, Seattle has to win this game if they want to make any progress towards the playoffs. If they win it, you could even get a lot of things back on track within a few weeks, because next week comes Arizona, then it’s the Jets, and then it’s Arizona.
Buffalo Bills (8-2) vs Kansas City Chiefs (9-0)
An absolute top game. Buffalo is almost certain to win in its own division, it’s all about how good the starting position is for the playoffs. If you want to talk about the No. 1 seed again, the only way to do that is with a win over the Chiefs. Buffalo has won the last five games. In four of these games they have allowed 20 or fewer points and scored at least 23 in each of these games, and at least 30 in each of the last four. On average, Buffalo scores 29 points, which, along with Washington, is third in the NFL in terms of defense 19.3 points, which is still 9th place.
The Chiefs came close to their first loss last week, but again they jumped at the loss and blocked the game-winning field goal. Of their 9 wins, seven were by one score. Just like with Buffalo, winning in their own division is just a formality, although in Kansas City the topic of 17-0 is slowly becoming a reality. And if you look at the plan, after the game against Buffalo there are actually relatively easy tasks, it goes to Carolina, then comes the Raiders, then comes the Chargers, you play in Cleveland, then there is a slightly more difficult game at home Houston then you have to go to Pittsburgh and finally to Denver. If you manage to win in Buffalo, I can only imagine losing in Pittsburgh.
Cincinnati Bengals (4-6) vs Los Angeles Chargers (6-3)
For Cincinnati it is probably the game for the very last chance at the playoffs. They are currently in 9th place in the AFC, winning in their own division is almost impossible. If they want to achieve something, then they have to beat the Chargers, who are in a sense direct competition, because the Chargers will be almost certainly not winning their own division. The annoying thing about Cincinnati is that aside from a really bad showing in Week 8 against Philadelphia, they have never lost by more than one score. So they are basically the exact opposite of the Kansas City Chiefs. The offense is pretty good, averaging 27 points, sixth in the NFL, but the defense is allowing an average of 26.2 points, which is 26th.
Defense is something the Chargers do very well, the team from California only concedes 13.1 points per game on average, and the defense is outstanding. And so far they haven’t conceded more than 20 points in any game. The offense isn’t exactly great, but it has improved in the last few weeks, with over 25 points in each of the last three games. It is of course also a very important game for the Chargers, they are currently in 6th place in the AFC. A win would take them away from Cincinnati, and a loss would have the team from Ohio breathing down their necks again.
Dallas Cowboys (3-6) vs Houston Texans (6-4)
Grab your cowboy hats, put a nice piece of meat on the grill and get excited for the Texas Derby. Although the Cowboys are probably not really happy, they are still winless at home and have lost all of their last four games. The defense is a disaster, six times this season the opponent has scored 27 or more points. Only Carolina scores more points than the Texans. When the opponent enters the redzone, the bell almost always rings; 77.4% of opponents’ visits to the redzone end with points. No other team is that bad.
By the way, Houston is also pretty bad in this category, with a score of 69.2%, which means 29th place. However, Houston is doing much better, even though they recently lost twice in a row, the good news is that from the There is no real pressure in your own division, after the game against the Cowboys you have games against Tennessee and Jacksonville. If you win them, victory in the division would be almost certain. The O Line issue still needs to be improved. CJ Stroud has been brought down 35 times, with only Chicago and Cleveland doing worse
