Brown Bag it, Baby
Over the past decade, NFC East match-ups have consistently been some of the best in football. The Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants have been at the center of many of them. This game should be no different, with each team toting a 9-4 record and in search of a division title. The Redskins and Cowboys are out of the race, so the winner of this game will put itself in great position to win the NFC East and challenge for a first round playoff bye. Plus, Michael Vick will be there.
Monday night’s game between the New York Jets and New England Patriots is arguably the best regular season game we’ve had this year. Rex Ryan has already made it clear his job is to “kick Bill Belichick’s ass” and thinks his Jets are the best team in the NFL, despite what many analysts are saying. The Jets got the best of the Pats in round one at the New Meadowlands, but New England is now without Randy Moss. One would think the subtraction of a player like Moss would hurt the team, but that hasn’t been the case. The Patriots are one of the NFL’s hottest teams since the swap, but the Jets could secure their place as the team to beat in the AFC with a win in Foxboro.
All Michael Vick talk aside, this weekend’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons will do a lot to determine who the team to beat is in the NFC. The Falcons have won eight out of their last nine and the Packers’ defense has allowed only 10 points over the last three games. This could definitely turn out to be the first of two games between these teams this season.
Patriots-Colts is really a match-up that needs no introduction, but we’ll give you one anyway. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady meet once again, with Manning having gotten the better of the Patriots in five out of the last six meetings. At the beginning of the decade, Bill Belichick owned Manning and the Colts. Indianapolis has completely turned that around and won more head-to-head games, playoff games, and championships than New England over the last four years. The two teams find themselves in the thick of the playoff race in the AFC. What else is new?
There aren’t many quarterbacks in the NFL who are more exciting to watch than Peyton Manning. Michael Vick is one of the few. Vick electrified the Eagles when he started filling in for the injured Kevin Kolb. He was then forced to miss time with his own injuries, but he returns to action on Sunday to face the Colts. We’re now right around the halfway point of the 2010 season, when we can really start to get a feel for who the real contenders are. Philadelphia and Indianapolis are two of them.
You won’t hear many people talking about it, but the AFC South has quietly emerged as one of the best divisions in football. The Houston Texans began their season with a bang when they defeated the Indianapolis Colts by a convincing score of 34-24 in Houston. The Texans have since leveled off a bit, but the Colts have not played exceptionally well and are battling significant injuries. Indy will be looking to prove week one was a fluke, while Houston will be trying to convince the AFC they’re for real.
Our week seven LBS Game of the Week preview takes us to historic Lambeau Field for a match-up that we can always count on to produce some fireworks — the Minnesota Vikings vs. the Green Bay Packers. In the 48-year history of the rivalry, the Packers hold an amazingly slight edge with the series sitting at 49-46-1. It doesn’t get much closer than that.
For starters, Vikings-Packers may just be the best rivalry in the NFL at the moment. It’s older than Brett Favre. As of late, the battles have always seemed to have huge NFC North implications. This year is no different. Minnesota kept its season alive last week with a much-needed victory over the reeling Cowboys, while Green Bay is trying to avoid losing its third straight game after a hot start. Oh yeah, and the last time Randy Moss went to Lambeau Field was 2005, when he pretended to moon the crowd.
