NFL 2007 Week 15: AFC Edition

AFC EAST: Sadly, the Patriots look to be set for their undefeated season. All they have left are the crippled Giants and the “surging” Dolphins, and both would be an absurd upset. I’m still holding out hope, but the Pats won’t be resting any of their starters. It would be the greatest game ever, though, if Miami could come up with a way to win. That hope is a reason to watch the game next week, at least. Buffalo looked lost in their own elements against Cleveland, playing one of their worst games in years. There’s no doubt that the “blizzard-like” conditions (I’m no meteorologist, but I don’t understand how weather can be blizzard-like without actually being a blizzard) messed both teams up badly, but at least the Browns managed eight points. 8-0? What kind of score is that? For the number two team in the division, the Bills sure can play worse than anyone in the league. In losing their quarterback and being four touchdown underdogs, the Jets put up a good fight against the Patriots. They slowed down the offense (with a lot of help from the wind) and played stronger offense than I’m used to seeing from them, but none of that was close to enough for New York to claim revenge. In the only decent news to come out of Week 15, the Dolphins finally won. Granted, it was against the demolished Ravens, but it was good to see them celebrating like it was the Super Bowl. It’s a positive change from the dour Patriots after each of their consecutive wins.

AFC NORTH: It’s hard enough for me to believe that the Browns actually have a winning record, let alone leading a division. They may only be tied, but the Steelers are playing badly and Cleveland’s been the far more consistent team of the two. Whatever happens now, this is definitely the most successful season since their return and, really, a lot longer. Pittsburgh, however, has completely fallen apart. The breakdown isn’t on the Ravens’ level, but they’ve completely lost their stranglehold on the division. With the Browns’ excellent draft and a certain Bengals recovery, picking the North next year will be really tough. While I do think the Bengals will come back strong next year, they are an abysmal team this year. 1-6 on the road, including their smoking by the Niners on Saturday, they look simply terrible. Even when Palmer’s having a good day, which he did this week, the defense is so bad that they allow twenty points to the worst offense in the league and to Mr. Nobody Shaun Hill, who was allowed, in his second start in six years, one of the most efficient passing days of the week. I wasn’t afraid that Brian Billick would lose his job after this season but, after losing to Miami and especially after some dubious play calling in the game, now I’m not so sure. He’s looked very bad this season. I think he’ll be given one more shot, but there’s so much work that needs to be done on that offense; it’ll take at least a few more years before they’re worth anything again and, by that time, Billick will be doing stupid coach segments on ESPN.

AFC SOUTH: The South now appears to be the toughest division in football. It’s very strange to see an entire division without a losing record, but even Houston is at 7-7. The Colts are still the clear best of the group, but looked to be going down early against the horrid Raiders. That defense really isn’t what you’d call stingy, but they still kept Manning from putting together a decent drive the entire first half. They keep winning, but are looking as beatable as anybody. The Jaguars are really the team to be afraid of at this point, though. In spite of Pittsburgh’s attempts to come back, the Jaguars trounced their opponents in a stadium where teams just don’t win. Their running game is working so well right now, it’s hard to think that a defense will be able to effectively stop them throughout the playoffs. If the Pats are unlucky enough to have to face them, the Jags will run straight down their throats. The Titans have played inconsistently, but have kept themselves ahead of the Texans for another week. When their offense clicks, it’s very good. Young had a good game on the ground and through the air and White finally got back on track. Granted, they played the Chiefs, but the offense was very balanced and their defense was as good as they needed it to be to stop Brody Croyle. They won’t make the playoffs, but they have remained surprisingly strong all season. The Texans played what was probably the best game in their history against the Broncos on Thursday. They did everything right. From Sage Rosenfels’ strong play to Mario Williams’ dominance over the Denver offensive line, they smashed the Broncos all over Houston. Kubiak, along with Shanahan’s son Kyle, knew what Denver was going to do at every step and exploited it to the fullest. I guess if any team has to beat Denver, let it be Denver’s southern clone team.

AFC WEST: After all their bad play and bad coaching, the Chargers still clinch the division. If any of the other three teams here had played anywhere close to good football over the course of this season, there’s a damn good chance that San Diego would never have gotten of the ground, but since their divisional rivals played like such garbage, they were given an open door to the playoffs. The Texans effectively ended Denver’s season on Thursday but, given how they’ve played, it’s inevitable. This has been the worst Bronco season in a decade, and it’s hard for me to understand. At times, they’ve been brilliant then, just as easily, they slip into their crap mode and stop scoring. I think there’ll be some serious changes in the off-season but, for now, it’s just going to be a race to keep their heads above .500. After seven straight losses, I’d have to say that, records aside, the Chiefs are the worst in the division. They had fifteen decent minutes in their game against Tennessee, which is about half of the total decent minutes they’ve had all season. Whereas the Raiders have things going on that may help them be better in the coming years, the Chiefs look lost and ready to spend the next decade moribund. The Raiders looked like a fairly decent team in their loss to the Colts. By the end, Manning & Co took over completely, but Oakland kept it close for most of the time. As they’ve only lost three of their last five instead of seven straight, they are definitely better than the Chiefs right now, which should be a huge slap in the face to any Chiefs fan, if any of those still exist.