The NFL Preview With The Rizz 12.29.07: Week 17 (Part 1)

Posted by Randy Isbelle on 12.29.2007

We have reached the final week of the regular season, and the most important thing is who will become the first ever 411 NFL Champion!

Results for Week 16

Straight Up: 10-6
Vs. Spread: 7-9

Overall Results

Straight Up: 150-90 (63%) SAME
Vs. Spread: 114-117-9 (49%) -1 %


Here are my revamped (Since Week 12) goals for 2007 are as follows:

Straight up: 65 %
Vs. Spread: 50 %



Let's start with how last week ended up:

	1	2	3	4	Final			1	2	3	4	Final			1	2	3	4	Final
Pittsburgh	7	17	7	10	41		Dallas	7	10	0	3	20		Oakland	0	3	0	8	11
St. Louis	7	10	7	0	24		Carolina	0	7	3	3	13		Jacksonville	14	14	7	14	49
Pittsburgh Steelers (10-5, 3-4 away) St. Louis Rams (3-12, 1-7 home)							Dallas Cowboys (13-2, 7-0 away) Carolina Panthers (6-9, 2-6 home)							Oakland Raiders (4-11, 2-6 away) Jacksonville Jaguars (11-4, 6-2 home)
Passing: Roethlisberger (PIT) 261 yds Rushing: Davenport (PIT) 123 yds Receiving: Holmes (PIT) 133 yds							Passing: Romo (DAL) 257 yds Rushing: Barber (DAL) 110 yds Receiving: Smith (CAR) 137 yds							Passing: Garrard (JAC) 199 yds Rushing: Rhodes (OAK) 115 yds Receiving: Jones-Drew (JAC) 96 yds
My Picks							My Picks							My Picks
Vs. Spread			Straight Up				Vs. Spread			Straight Up				Vs. Spread			Straight Up
St. Louis Rams (+8)			Pittsburgh Steelers				Carolina Panthers (+13)			Dallas Cowboys				Oakland Raiders (+14)			Jacksonville Jaguars
	1	2	3	4	Final			1	2	3	4	Final			1	2	3	4	Final
Green Bay	0	7	0	0	7		Kansas City	0	14	0	6	20		Houston	7	0	0	8	15
Chicago	3	10	15	7	35		Detroit	9	10	3	3	25		Indianapolis	3	21	14	0	38
Green Bay Packers (12-3, 6-2 away) Chicago Bears (6-9, 3-4 home)							Kansas City Chiefs (4-11, 2-5 away) Detroit Lions (7-8, 5-3 home)							Houston Texans (7-8, 2-6 away) Indianapolis Colts (13-2, 6-1 home)
Passing: Favre (GNB) 153 yds Rushing: Peterson (CHI) 102 yds Receiving: Jennings (GNB) 42 yds							Passing: Huard (KAN) 305 yds Rushing: Duckett (DET) 102 yds Receiving: Gonzalez (KAN) 137 yds							Passing: Manning (KAN) 311 yds Rushing: Walker (HOU) 66 yds Receiving: Wayne (IND) 143 yds
My Picks							My Picks							My Picks
Vs. Spread			Straight Up				Vs. Spread			Straight Up				Vs. Spread			Straight Up
Green Bay Packers (-9)			Green Bay Packers				Detroit Lions (-4 1/2)			Detroit Lions				Houston Texans (+9)			Indianapolis Colts
	1	2	3	4	Final			1	2	3	4	Final			1	2	3	4	Final
Cleveland	0	0	7	7	14		NY Giants	0	17	0	21	38		Philadelphia	21	3	7	7	38
Cincinnati	0	19	0	0	19		Buffalo	14	0	7	0	21		New Orleans	14	3	0	6	23
Cleveland Browns (9-6, 3-5 away) Cincinnati Bengals (6-9, 5-3 home)							New York Giants (10-5, 7-1 away) Buffalo Bills (7-8, 4-4 home)							Philadelphia Eagles (7-8, 5-3 away) New Orleans Saints (7-8, 3-5 home)
Passing: Anderson (CLE) 250 yds Rushing: Watson (CIN) 130 yds Receiving: Winslow (CLE) 73 yds							Passing: Edwards (BUF) 161 yds Rushing: Bradshaw (NYG) 99 yds Receiving: Toomer (NYG) 99 yds							Passing: Brees (NOR) 289 yds Rushing: Westbrook (PHI) 100 yds Receiving: Curtis (PHI) 78 yds
My Picks							My Picks							My Picks
Vs. Spread			Straight Up				Vs. Spread			Straight Up				Vs. Spread			Straight Up
Cleveland Browns (-3)			Cleveland Browns				Buffalo Bills (+3)			Buffalo Bills				New Orleans Saints (-7)			New Orleans Saints
	1	2	3	4	Final			1	2	3	4	Final			1	2	3	4	Final
NY Jets	0	6	0	0	6		Miami	0	0	7	0	7		Baltimore	0	0	0	6	6
Tennessee	0	7	3	0	10		New England	7	21	0	0	28		Seattle	0	21	6	0	27
New York Jets (3-12, 1-7 away) Tennessee Titans (9-6, 5-3 home)							Miami Dolphins (1-14, 0-8 away) New England Patriots (15-0, 7-0 home)							Baltimore Ravens (4-11, 1-7 away) Seattle Seahawks (10-5, 7-1 home)
Passing: Pennington (NYJ) 264 yds Rushing: White (TEN) 103 yds Receiving: Cotchery (NYJ) 152 yds						>	Passing: Brady (NWE) 215 Yds Rushing: Maroney (NWE) 156 yds Receiving: Gaffney (NWE) 82 yds							Passing: Hasselbeck (SEA) 199 yds Rushing: Alexander (SEA) 73 yds Receiving: Mason (BAL) 98 yds
My Picks							My Picks							My Picks
Vs. Spread			Straight Up				Vs. Spread			Straight Up				Vs. Spread			Straight Up
New York Jets (+10)			Tennessee Titans				Miami Dolphins (+21 1/2)			New England Patriots				Seattle Seahawks (-7)			Seattle Seahawks
	1	2	3	4	Final			1	2	3	4	Final			1	2	3	4	Final
Atlanta	7	7	0	13 (0)	27		Tampa Bay	6	7	0	6	19		Washington	9	13	3	7	32
Arizona	7	17	0	3 (3)	30		San Francisco	0	7	7	7	21		Minnesota	0	0	7	14	21
Atlanta Falcons (3-12, 1-7 away) Arizona Cardinals (7-8, 5-2 home)							Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-6, 3-5 away) San Francisco 49ers (5-10, 3-5 home)							Washington Redskins (8-7, 4-4 away) Minnesota Vikings (8-7, 5-3 home)
Passing: Warner (ARI) 361 yds Rushing: James (ARI) 76 yds Receiving: Boldin (ARI) 162 yds							Passing: Garcia (TAM) 196 yds Rushing: Gore (SFO) 89 yds Receiving: Smith (TAM) 79 yds							Passing: Collins (WAS) 254 yds Rushing: Portis (WAS) 76 yds Receiving: Moss (WAS) 71 yds
My Picks							My Picks							My Picks
Vs. Spread			Straight Up				Vs. Spread			Straight Up				Vs. Spread			Straight Up
Arizona Cardinals (-12)			Arizona Cardinals				San Francisco 49ers (-7 1/2)			Tampa Bay Buccaneers				Minnesota Vikings (-6 1/2)			Minnesota Vikings

	1	2	3	4	Final
Denver	0	0	3	0	3
San Diego	10	6	7	0	23
Denver Broncos (6-9, 2-6 away) San Diego Chargers (10-5, 7-1 home)
Passing: Rivers (SDG) 189 yds Rushing: Tomlinson (SDG) 107 yds Receiving: Marshall (DEN) 75 yds
My Picks
Vs. Spread			Straight Up
San Diego Chargers (-10)			San Diego Chargers

With the column braking up into three parts, it gives me a little bit more room to add a few new features, in this part, I will bring back the look at the playoff picture, but first let's take a look at the complete NFL standings.

AFC
AFC East
Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	Home	Road	Div	Conf	Non-Conf	Streak	Last 5
New England Patriots	15	0	0	1.000	551	239	312	8-0	7-0	6-0	12-0	3-0	15W	5-0
Buffalo Bills	7	8	0	.467	243	337	-94	4-4	3-4	4-2	6-6	1-2	2L	2-3
New York Jets	3	12	0	.200	255	345	-90	2-5	1-7	2-4	3-8	0-4	3L	1-4
Miami Dolphins	1	14	0	.067	242	399	-157	1-6	0-8	0-6	1-10	0-4	1L	1-4
AFC North
Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	Home	Road	Div	Conf	Non-Conf	Streak	Last 5
Pittsburgh Steelers	10	5	0	.667	372	242	130	7-1	3-4	5-0	7-4	3-1	1W	3-2
Cleveland Browns	9	6	0	.600	382	375	7	6-1	3-5	3-3	7-5	2-1	1L	3-2
Cincinnati Bengals	6	9	0	.400	342	360	-18	5-3	1-6	3-3	5-6	1-3	1W	3-2
Baltimore Ravens	4	11	0	.267	248	363	-115	3-4	1-7	0-5	1-10	3-1	9L	0-5
AFC South
Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	Home	Road	Div	Conf	Non-Conf	Streak	Last 5
Indianapolis Colts	13	2	0	.867	440	246	194	6-1	7-1	5-0	9-2	4-0	6W	5-0
Jacksonville Jaguars	11	4	0	.733	383	262	121	6-2	5-2	2-3	8-3	3-1	3W	4-1
Tennessee Titans	9	6	0	.600	285	287	-2	5-3	4-3	3-2	6-5	3-1	2W	3-2
Houston Texans	7	8	0	.467	337	356	-19	5-2	2-6	0-5	4-7	3-1	1L	2-3
AFC West
Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	Home	Road	Div	Conf	Non-Conf	Streak	Last 5
San Diego Chargers	10	5	0	.667	382	267	115	7-1	3-4	4-1	8-3	2-2	5W	5-0
Denver Broncos	6	9	0	.400	298	390	-92	4-3	2-6	3-3	6-6	0-3	2L	1-4
Oakland Raiders	4	11	0	.267	266	368	-102	2-5	2-6	2-3	4-7	0-4	3L	2-3
Kansas City Chiefs	4	11	0	.267	216	322	-106	2-6	2-5	2-4	3-8	1-3	8L	0-5

NFC
NFC East
Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	Home	Road	Div	Conf	Non-Conf	Streak	Last 5
Dallas Cowboys	13	2	0	.867	449	298	151	6-2	7-0	4-1	10-1	3-1	1W	4-1
New York Giants	10	5	0	.667	338	313	25	3-4	7-1	3-3	7-5	3-0	1W	3-2
Washington Redskins	8	7	0	.533	307	304	3	4-3	4-4	2-3	6-5	2-2	3W	3-2
Philadelphia Eagles	7	8	0	.467	319	291	28	2-5	5-3	2-4	5-7	2-1	2W	2-3
NFC North
Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	Home	Road	Div	Conf	Non-Conf	Streak	Last 5
Green Bay Packers	12	3	0	.800	401	278	123	6-1	6-2	3-2	8-3	4-0	1L	3-2
Minnesota Vikings	8	7	0	.533	346	289	57	5-3	3-4	3-3	6-6	2-1	1L	4-1
Detroit Lions	7	8	0	.467	333	410	-77	5-3	2-5	3-2	4-7	3-1	1W	1-4
Chicago Bears	6	9	0	.400	301	323	-22	3-4	3-5	2-4	3-8	3-1	1W	2-3
NFC South
Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	Home	Road	Div	Conf	Non-Conf	Streak	Last 5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	9	6	0	.600	311	239	72	6-1	3-5	5-0	8-3	1-3	1L	3-2
New Orleans Saints	7	8	0	.467	354	355	-1	3-5	4-3	3-3	6-5	1-3	1L	3-2
Carolina Panthers	6	9	0	.400	236	324	-88	2-6	4-3	2-3	6-5	0-4	1L	2-3
Atlanta Falcons	3	12	0	.200	215	373	-158	2-5	1-7	1-5	2-9	1-3	6L	0-5
NFC West
Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	Home	Road	Div	Conf	Non-Conf	Streak	Last 5
Seattle Seahawks	10	5	0	.667	352	247	105	7-1	3-4	5-1	8-3	2-2	1W	4-1
Arizona Cardinals	7	8	0	.467	356	380	-24	5-2	2-6	2-3	4-7	3-1	1W	2-3
San Francisco 49ers	5	10	0	.333	212	344	-132	3-5	2-5	3-3	4-8	1-2	2W	3-2
St. Louis Rams	3	12	0	.200	244	390	-146	1-7	2-5	1-4	3-8	0-4	3L	1-4

American Football Conference				National Football Conference
Wild Card	Divisional	AFC	Super Bowl	NFC	Divisional	Wild Card
#5 Jacksonville Jaguars #4 Pittsburgh or San Diego	Lowest Seed Available #1 New England Patriots	??? ???	??? ???	??? ???	Lowest Seed Available #1 Dallas Cowboys	#5 New York Giants #4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
#6 Tennessee or Cleveland #3 San Diego or Pittsburgh	Highest Seed Available #2 Indianapolis Colts				Highest Seed Available #2 Green Bay Packers	#6 Washington or Minnesota or New Orleans #3 Seattle Seahawks

	Quarter Finals
	Buffalo Bills	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Points	-17	-2
Yards	-3	+4
Turnovers	0	0
Penalties	-3	-4
Win	0	0
TOTAL	-23	-2

	Quarter Finals
	Miami Dolphins	San Diego Chargers
Points	-21	+20
Yards	-4	+2
Turnovers	+12	+6
Penalties	-2	-3
Win	0	+10
TOTAL	-15	+35

First Round	Second Round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	FINALS
Week 81. New England Patriots (+66) 32. St. Louis Rams (-12)	Week 121. NE Patriots (+19.5) 16. Minnesota Vikings (+43)	Week 14 16. Minn Vikings (+40.5) 25. Buffalo Bills (+41)	Week 16 25. Buffalo Bills (-23) 13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-2)	Week 17 13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11. San Diego Chargers
Week 816. Minnesota Vikings (-12) 17. Houston Texans (-39.5)
Week 99. Tennessee Titans (+25) 24. Detroit Lions +56	Week 1324. Detroit Lions (-38) 25. Buffalo Bills (+12)
Week 98. Seattle Seahawks (-8) 25. Buffalo Bills (+24.5)
Week 105. New York Giants (-18) 28. San Francisco 49ers (-25)	Week 125. New York Giants (-37.5) 12. Philadelphia Eagles (-14.5)	Week 15 12. Phil Eagles (+20) 13. TB Buccaneers (53.5)
Week 1012. Philadelphia Eagles (+15.5) 21. Cleveland Browns (-11.5)
Week 1113.TB Buccaneers(+38) 20. Oakland Raiders (-5)	Week 1313. TB Buccaneers (+22.5) 29. Denver Broncos (-27.5)
Week 114. Dallas Cowboys (+13.5) 29. Denver Broncos (+26.5)
Week 93. Pittsburgh Steelers (+50.5) 30. Atlanta Falcons (+21.5)	Week 133. Pittsburgh Steelers (+12.5) 19. Kansas City Chiefs (-27)	Week 14 3. Pittsburgh Steelers (-29) 11. SD Chargers (+13)	Week 16 11. San Diego Chargers (+36) 31. Miami Dolphins (-15)
Week 914. Carolina Panthers (-25) 19. Kansas City Chiefs (-18)
Week 811. SD Chargers (+45.5) 22. Cincinnati Bengals (-14)	Week 1211. San Diego Chargers (+33) 6. Green Bay Packers (+19.5)
Week 86. Green Bay Packers (+14.5) 27. New York Jets (-18)
Week 117. Washington Redskins (-8.5) 26. New Orleans Saints (-19)	Week 13, 147. Wash Redskins (-8, +16.5) 10. Jack Jaguars (-8, +47)	Week 15 10. Jack Jaguars (+17.5) 31. Miami Dolphins (+18)
Week 1110. Jack Jaguars (+20.5) 23. Chicago Bears (-12)
Week 1015. Baltimore Ravens (-36) 18. Arizona Cardinals (+10.5)	Week 1218. Arizona Cardinals (-19) 31. Miami Dolphins (-9)
Week 102. Indianapolis Colts (-9) 31. Miami Dolphins (-2.5)

Week 17
15-0	New England Patriots (-14 1/2)	versus	New York Giants	10-5
December 29, 2007, 8:15 PM EST – Giants Stadium

Last Three Weeks

New England Patriots: For a team trying to become the first team ever to finish the regular season with 16 wins, the New England Patriots seem pretty calm about the whole situation. In fact, Tom Brady was cracking jokes as he was trying to give advice to the opposing head coach, telling him he should rest his two big defensive lineman for the game so that they could rest for the postseason. New England might be going for the first undefeated record since the Miami Dolphins did it back in 1972, but that is not all that the Patriots are playing for. With only six more points the Patriots will have scored more points in one season then any other team in NFL history, Brady only needs two more touchdown passes to break Peyton Manning's record of 49, while Randy Moss only needs two more touchdown receptions to pass the great Jerry Rice (who did it in only 12 games) at 22. The Patriots showed just how dominating they can be earlier this season, but in the past month and a half, they have shown that they can outlast any team and win the close ones as well. In fact, four of their last six games were won by 10 points or less.

New York Giants: The importance of this game for the New York Giants is all a matter of perception. Yes, the Giants playoff spot is clinched and the result of this game will not change the fact that next week they will head to Tampa Bay to play the Buccaneers in the first round of the playoffs, however to take down the Patriots in the last possible game would be historically significant. Head coach Tom Coughlin has said that they will go out on Saturday to try and win the game, but it has yet to be seen whether or not that will actually be the case. Most experts are saying that at halftime, or around then, Coughlin will pull his main players and get ready for the playoffs no matter the score, but that is just too hard to believe. If the Giants are down by a touchdown or less, or even leading, at halftime do you really think Coughlin would bench his guys? Hell why even put them out there in the first place.

Prediction: New England is on the doorstep to history, and they will let nothing stand in their way. I've heard a lot of people saying that the Patriots are selfish and are only playing for the records, but the fact is that if they were 14-1 and had those records on the line, most of the starters would be sitting. Going through an entire regular season without a loss is a huge accomplishment, and just shows how unified this team really is, even if the naysayers disagree.

Vs. Spread	Straight Up

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Pittsburgh

W 34-13

@ Philadelphia

W 16-13

New York Jets

W 20-10

Washington

L 10-22

Miami

W 28-7

@ Buffalo

W 38-21

Team	SU	ATS	O/U
New England	15-0	10-5	10-5
New York	10-5	9-6	7-8

New England

Team

New York

36.7 (1st)

Pts For

22.5 (14th)

15.9 (1st)

Pts Against

20.9 (14th)

412.7 (1st)

Total Offense

332.4 (15th)

292.3 (1st)

Passing Yards

194.5 (21st)

120.3 (10th)

Rushing Yards

137.9 (4th)

286.5 (4th)

Total Defense

299.3 (6th)

186.9 (5th)

Passing Defense

198.1 (8th)

99.5 (10th)

Rushing Defense

101.3 (11th)

+15 (3rd)

Turnover Diff.

-8 (26th)

New England Leaders					New York Leaders
Passing	COMP	ATT	YDS	TD	Passing	COMP	ATT	YDS	TD
Brady	366	536	4450	48	Manning	275	497	3085	19
Rushing	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	Rushing	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Maroney	166	789	4.8	4	Jacobs	187	942	5.0	4
Morris	85	384	4.5	3	Ward	125	602	4.8	3
Receiving	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	Rushing	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Moss	92	1393	15.1	21	Burress	66	941	14.3	10
Welker	101	1053	10.4	8	Toomer	55	719	13.1	3

Week 17
10-5	Seattle Seahawks	versus	Atlanta Falcons (-2 ½)	3-12
December 30, 2007, 1:00 PM EST – Georgia Dome

Last Three Weeks

Seattle Seahawks: Seattle is another NFC team locked into their playoff position. With their win last week over the Baltimore Ravens as well as Tampa Bay's loss to the 49ers, the Seahawks have secured the three seed and will face either Washington, Minnesota or New Orleans in the first round of the playoffs. If Seattle makes it out of the first round, they will then head to Lambeau field to take on the #2 seed Green Bay Packers. However, before they can even start to focus on the playoffs they have to finish of the rest of the 2007 season with a game at Atlanta against the lowly Falcons. This will be your basic start your starters early only to pull them out after a series or two to keep them fresh but away from injury game, but the only question is when will the starters be pulled.

Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons are only playing for pride, and it was good to see them last week actually showing some pride in their game against the Arizona Cardinals. The overtime loss proved that the Falcons still have life left, even after everything that has happened to them this season. Quarterback Chris Redman rallied his Falcons late from a 10 point deficit in the fourth quarter to take the lead with under two minutes to play, only to watch Warner drive his team down to kick the game tying field goal, and then win the game on the first possession of the overtime period. Redman had a career high game, throwing for 315 yards and two touchdowns, leading his team to their highest point total all season. Their showing last week proves that they are still willing to go out there and give it all they have, no matter who it is against, and if Seattle pulls their starters out too early, look for Atlanta to come from behind again and steal a victory.

Prediction: You are going to see this a lot from me in this preview, mainly for the fact that I am five games back in my family pool, but also because I believe that when a team out of the playoffs sees their opponent bench their starters because they feel they have nothing to prove, it fires them up inside. Atlanta desperately needs a win here to give them some sort of moral victory going into an off-season that will be one of the hardest in franchise history. If Atlanta wants to continue the tradition of the worst team in the NFC South going on to win the division the following year, they need this win to get it kick started.

Vs. Spread	Straight Up

Seattle Seahawks

Atlanta Falcons

Arizona

W 42-21

New Orleans

L 14-34

@ Carolina

W 10-13

@ Tampa Bay

L 3-37

Baltimore

W 27-6

@ Arizona

L 27-30

Team	SU	ATS	O/U
Seattle	10-5	9-5-1	6-9
Atlanta	3-12	7-8	8-7

Seattle

Team

Atlanta

23.5 (11th)

Pts For

14.3 (31st)

16.5 (5th)

Pts Against

24.9 (26th)

338.8 (12th)

Total Offense

196.8 (24th)

242.0 (10th)

Passing Yards

203.7 (18th)

96.8 (22nd)

Rushing Yards

93.1 (25th)

319.0 (14th)

Total Defense

345.8 (25th)

217.7 (16th)

Passing Defense

221.4 (20th)

101.3 (12th)

Rushing Defense

124.4 (25th)

+13 (5th)

Turnover Diff.

+1 (14th)

New England Leaders					New York Leaders
Passing	COMP	ATT	YDS	TD	Passing	COMP	ATT	YDS	TD
Hasselbeck	337	537	3819	27	Harrington	215	348	2215	7
Rushing	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	Rushing	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Alexander	199	685	3.4	3	Dunn	216	648	3.0	3
Morris	127	537	4.2	3	Norwood	91	569	6.3	1
Receiving	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	Rushing	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Engram	90	1082	12.0	5	White	78	1140	14.6	5
Branch	49	661	13.5	4	Jenkins	53	532	10.0	4

Click HERE to continue to part two!