Clinched
GIANTS: NFC East AND 1st round bye
TITANS: AFC South AND 1st round bye
CARDINALS: NFC West

Can clinch this week
AFC:
TITANS can clinch homefield advantage with a win and Steelers loss
BRONCOS can clinch AFC West with a win or Chargers loss
STEELERS can clinch AFC North with a win
STEELERS can clinch a playoff berth if any two of the Patriots, Jets, and Dolphins lose
RAVENS can clinch a playoff berth with a win AND same as above
COLTS can clinch a playoff berth with same as above.
NFC:
VIKINGS can clinch NFC North with a win AND Bears loss
PANTHERS can clinch a playoff berth with a win AND any 3 of Cowboys, Redskins, Eagles, Falcons, Bears loss
Buccs can clinch a playoff berth with a win AND Cowboys or Eagles loss

Eliminated
Texans, Browns, Jags, Raiders, Chiefs, Bengals, 49ers, Seahawks, Rams, Lions

Facing Elimination
Chargers, Packers, Bills

12/10/2008 1:00:19 AM

under what situations will the panthers have a home playoff game?

[Edited on December 10, 2008 at 1:08 AM. Reason : nostradamus]

12/10/2008 1:07:55 AM

It depends where the Giants and Buccs finish. The Vikings are also a question mark but as long as they lose one game (practically garunteed against the Giants) then it won't matter.

If the Panthers win the division, they will most likely get a bye.
If they finish ahead of the Giants, or defeat them next week and tie, they will get homefield throughout

[Edited on December 10, 2008 at 1:10 AM. Reason : responding to nostradamus]

12/10/2008 1:09:50 AM

Since the Panthers lost to the Vikings early on, the Vikings would get the bye if they end up in a tie.

12/10/2008 1:15:56 AM

so we are hoping for a 1,2, or 3 seed to get homefield?

12/10/2008 1:18:22 AM

A 3 or 4 is gaurunteed one home game, and then if they win will go on the road to play against 1 or 2. The NFC Championship game host will depend on initial seeding (If 1 and 2 both lose, then a 3 seed can host the Championship game or 4 if #3 is out as well.)

12/10/2008 1:21:21 AM

If the season ended now:

#1 NYG and #2 Carolina have bye
#6 Dallas @ #3 Minnesota
#5 Tampa @ #4 Arizona

I would predict both Dallas and Tampa Bay to win, and the next round would be:

Dallas @ Carolina
Tampa @ NYG

And the inevitable championship game:
Carolina @ NYG, repeat of Week 16 matchup

12/10/2008 1:25:50 AM

Don't want to get ahead of myself but how awesome and fun do you think Charlotte would be for an NFC Championship game? I still predict it'll be in New York, Charlotte, or Tampa.

12/10/2008 1:27:55 AM

Quote :

"I would predict both Dallas and Tampa Bay to win, and the next round would be: Dallas @ Carolina Tampa @ NYG And the inevitable championship game: Carolina @ NYG, repeat of Week 16 matchup"

I thought the NFL was set up differently, meaning that whichever team was the lowest seed left would go to play the #1 meaning in your scenarior Dallas would go to play NYG and Tampa would travel to play Carolina, or is it actually set up like brackets where 4/5 plays 1 regardless?


From wikipedia about last year's playoffs:

Quote :

"The Divisional Playoff games on January 12-13 matches the top seed in each conference with the lowest seeded team to win in the Wildcard round while the two remaining teams in each conference face each other."

[Edited on December 10, 2008 at 1:36 AM. Reason : wiki info]

12/10/2008 1:31:26 AM

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/standings/playoffrace/bracket

[Edited on December 10, 2008 at 1:38 AM. Reason : -]

12/10/2008 1:37:54 AM

yeh i have seen brackets everywhere...but what about official documentation stating that it isn't the team that is the lowest seed that travels to play the 1 regardless of whether that is the 4/5/or 6?

I will take a look back to the year the Steelers made the superbowl...

12/10/2008 1:40:15 AM

Sorry, Stix is right. NYG would host Dallas if the Cowboys beat the Vikings.

Either way, by the end of the season the Giants will have beaten every NFC playoff team except for the Buccs. They will be ready for anything.

12/10/2008 1:40:37 AM

ok cool...I wasn't trying to be a jackass, I was just as confused about how it really works...

would be pretty awesome to get Tampa at home again if it ended up that way...could always hope for a Cowboys win too, to bring the game to Charlotte...crazy thoughts...


still got to get in though

12/10/2008 1:42:37 AM

The path to the Super Bowl goes through NY. Tony Romo is incapable of winning in the playoffs, and the Vikings running game won't get anywhere against the Giants, and we already saw what happens when the Cardinals try to matchup. There's no one other than Carolina capable of beating the Giants, so they will be the ones hosting the championship game.

12/10/2008 1:48:32 AM

but you are right...I can hope for the vikings to beat the Cowboys and Tampa to somehow pull off a miracle in New York, yes? If those do end up being the final standings.

[Edited on December 10, 2008 at 1:52 AM. Reason : I can...]

12/10/2008 1:51:36 AM

Imagine how hard this is on someone who is both a Giants and Panthers fan. As long as one of them makes the Superbowl...but the Giants have a better chance of beating any given AFC team.

12/10/2008 3:16:19 AM

i guess, but i'd like to think carolina or tampa based on the defenses could stay in a game long enough to maybe squeeze one out

12/10/2008 3:41:53 AM

Joey Porter...........STFU.

i think this guy likes to hear himself talk almost as much as mercury morris

12/10/2008 6:31:08 AM

^^^ if they're a real fan they will have one team, and a team they like

I was a bears fan until I picked up the panthers, i moved from chicago to here

I root for the panthers first and second, then I worry about what the bears do

head to head i want the panthers to smash the bears

12/10/2008 6:50:32 AM

^^^ Matallica, were you trying to say that the Panthers and the Bucs have better defenses than the G-men, because if so you are completely off base.

12/10/2008 10:49:15 AM

I never would have guessed that the Bears/Saints game tonight might actualy effect the playoffs

12/11/2008 5:21:08 PM

oh, i overlooked this thread, delete the other if you must, mods

12/11/2008 8:19:16 PM

^^^ He said that Tampa and Carolina both have good defenses, and he isn't at all off base.

12/11/2008 8:23:14 PM

GO PANTHERS!!!! How awesome would it be if we had home playoff games?!!!!!!!!!!

12/12/2008 12:24:32 AM

At this point the Panthers will either get at least 2 home gomes or no home games.

12/12/2008 2:34:15 AM

^ I think you're forgetting the bye.

If we are #2 seed, we only get 1 home playoff game, unless NY loses.

12/12/2008 2:37:13 AM

^to the Panthers maybe?

12/12/2008 3:01:50 AM

I meant unless NY loses in the playoffs, in which case the Panthers would play a second home game.

12/12/2008 3:09:18 AM

Panthers win out, they get 2 home games

12/12/2008 3:10:50 AM

Yeah, I know

I was responding to this

Quote :

"At this point the Panthers will either get at least 2 home gomes or no home games."

12/12/2008 3:27:30 AM

Quote :

"^to the Panthers maybe? "

If the Panthers beat the Giants in the playoffs it will be in Giants Stadium, and the next game would be the Super Bowl...so no that has no effect on the Panthers getting home field games.

[Edited on December 12, 2008 at 4:06 AM. Reason : Top Cats]

12/12/2008 4:06:07 AM

are you saying that you think that the giants will hold on to homefield?

bc there is a real possibility that they lose it in which case the games will be in charlotte no matter who is playing the panthers.

12/12/2008 2:53:13 PM

Even if the Panthers beat the Giants next week, the Giants would have to lose one more between the Cowboys and the Vikings. I don't see that happening.

12/12/2008 4:24:09 PM

oh my fucking god if dallas comes for the playoffs again i'm gonna be pissed

12/12/2008 4:26:59 PM

^^if the panthers go 3 - 0, the giants would go 2 -1, giving us the same record as them...us having the head-to-head over them.

[Edited on December 12, 2008 at 4:28 PM. Reason : ad]

12/12/2008 4:27:56 PM

yeah but we'll prolly lose at least 1 of those 3

12/12/2008 4:31:01 PM

^^thus giving us the #1 NFC seed, home field throughout playoffs

[Edited on December 12, 2008 at 4:32 PM. Reason : .]

12/12/2008 4:32:00 PM

Denver and NO have both been stepping it up lately, and if the Giants beat the Cowboys this week then the Saints could still be playing for a WC spot in the final game. And besides...I still don't think the Panthers will beat the Giants anyway.

12/12/2008 4:35:18 PM

i'm already counting the saints game as a loss. it seems like they beat us in the last game of the year everytime something important could happen, without exception. and it is a home game for them, with our division being some 23 - 2 at home or something crazy like that.

12/12/2008 4:46:28 PM

Here's a better stat for you...in every single NFC South game against a divisional opponent, the home team has won EVERY SINGLE TIME. That's 8 games up to this point I believe.

12/13/2008 4:05:09 AM

bump

12/14/2008 2:14:41 PM

former wolfpack wr brian clark with a blocked punt

12/14/2008 3:43:35 PM

official in jets beefalos game just got owned

12/14/2008 3:51:29 PM

The Chargers should have handled KC easily, but what a comeback.

12/14/2008 4:28:33 PM

Packers and Bills have both been eliminated.

12/14/2008 4:30:22 PM

good to see my dolphins hanging around still

12/14/2008 4:41:16 PM

steelers ravens game is coming down to the wire

12/14/2008 7:15:07 PM

damn, I guess he was out, that might be the closest play I have ever seen

12/14/2008 7:18:24 PM

feet in, ball out

cant get much closer than that

what is the rule? i know the ball has to cross the plane, but he also had both feet down in the endzone

apparently the 2 feet down trump the ball over the plane

[Edited on December 14, 2008 at 7:19 PM. Reason : .]

12/14/2008 7:19:19 PM

its where the ball is the moment he has two feet down

12/14/2008 7:20:01 PM