NFL Week 16: Who to Root For…
By Joe Tufaro
This time of year always brings about the quandary of who to root for as your team fights for a playoff spot. This week is not quite as complicated as it could be, but here goes:
The Giants are in the position of win and your in. So, if they take care of business and beat the Ravens and the Eagles. they will at least be the number 6 seed and become road warriors again in the NFL post-season. In this case you have a few options. Atlanta is the number one seed and with games against Detroit and Tampa they will most likely stay there, and so the discussion turns towards the second seed. I would suggest Giants fans root for San Fran to continue winning. That would put Green Bay in the three spot, meaning the Giants would travel to Lambeau for the first weekend of games. There is no better match-up it seems for these Giants than the Packers. Of course the Giants did travel to San Francisco earlier this year and dismantle the 9ers, so there is your choice.
The other option is for the Giants to win the division, and that takes a little more help from some familiar foes. This is easy, you root against both the Cowboys and the Redskins this week, making it impossible for one of them to win their next two games since they face each other in week 17. That does force you to root for the Eagles, as they play the Redskins this week, but that is certainly the lesser of two evils. If either the Redskins or Cowboys are victorious this weekend, then you root against that team in week 17.
As far as the rest of the NFC, here are your times and rooting instructions:
Minnesota at Houston 1 pm Eastern….Take Houston
Chicago at Arizona 4:25 Eastern…Take Arizona
Although the above games are important, they mean nothing if the Giants win out. Despite the NFL and ESPN listing the Giants as the #9 seed currently and therefore out of the playoffs, this is inaccurate at best. This assumes the playoffs start today, and I’m pretty sure the commissioner is not canceling the past two weeks of the season, unless the world does end this Friday. The Giants should be listed as #6 because they can’t be knocked out by any of the teams listed ahead of them if they win both their remaining games, whereas the Bears, Vikings, and Cowboys can.
Dallas plays New Orleans at 1 Eastern and Washington plays the Eagles also at 1…..The Giants will know if they have a chance to win the East when they take the field Sunday….but either way they WIN two and they ar IN.