Week 15 - Monday

'68 Colts vs. '09 Saints

New Orleans' playoffs hopes are in the balance tonight, as they host the Colts at the Superdome.
Because of their tie, the Colts already remain out of the playoffs, unless 2 AFC East giants (Miam/NYJ/NE) both lose all remaining games.

Baltimore started out with no problems scoring, with their rushing game setting up for a TD in the 1st quarter alone. Morrall hit Orr for the other 27 yard TD.

Things seemed to calm down as New Orleans got more ball time, but both Defenses put up some 3-and-outs. But on 1 particularly unlucky one for the Saints, Volk returned the ball 78 yards. The Saints were hurting.  With Baltimore now grabbing 3 TD's in the first 24 minutes of gameplay, things seemed grim.

With everyone having seen a Brees comeback before, all eyes were on the Saints the last 6 minutes of the half. He would not disappoint. After tossing into the red zone, he would sneak 10 yards for his first TD. Later, he would setup for a FG before half to cut the Baltimore lead to 21-10.

Things did calm down more in the 2nd half, and both teams found themselves at a standstill for several minutes. Baltimore continued pounding away at New Orleans with their rushers, and Brees continued his aerial attack. But neither team would score on offense.

In fact, as Brees seemed to be doing his best and getting into Baltimore territory, he was picked off by Lyles, who put a 4th TD on the board for Baltimore. With a phenomenal show of defense, the Colts win 28-10

 One reason for Baltimore's win is holding Brees' aerial attack back to 167 yards. Brees completed half of his 40 throws, but averaged only 8 yards per catch. Morrall, on the other hand, averaged 14+ yards/catch with just 9 completions. But the real winners are the Baltimore rushers, with Matte running for 80 yards, Pearson running for 63 and Hill running for 32 yards, among others.

With this loss, the Saints find themselves at 6-8, with 4 teams in the conference at 7-7 that would have to lose all remaining games for them to still have a post season chance.

Playoff Hopes

At this point, the following teams are almost certainly out of playoff contention, save for some phenomenal circumstances:

  • '91 Buffalo
  • '69 Cleveland
  • '68 Balt. Colts
  • '00 Titans
  • '97 Denver
  • '92 Dallas
  • '86 NY Giants
  • '02 Tampa Bay
  • '09 New Orleans
  • '89 San Fran

These teams are in serious jeopardy, heading out if they lose a game:
  • KC Chiefs
  • SD Chargers
  • LA Rams lose
On the other hand, the following scenarios are almost assured:

  • Jacksonville or Houston will clinch the AFC South.
  • The team that doesn't clinch will have a wildcard shot
  • Patriots or Jets or Dolphins will clinch the AFC East
  • Only one of the 2 remaining teams will have the other wildcard shot
  • The Packers have home advantage throughout as the clear #1 seed.
  • Philly's only edge over the Redskins right now is on strength-of-schedule. Remaining games for both teams are divisional, so whoever does best the next 2 weeks will have the division championship.
  • Carolina and Arizona are likely NFC wildcards, but if either team slips up, the teams currently at 7-7 are still within shot. Detroit currently has the best conference record among 50% teams.

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