The Stakes for Green Bay and Indianapolis

Week 9 Byes:

(2-6) Carolina Panthers

(6-2) Detroit Lions

(2-6) Jacksonville Jaguars

(2-6) Minnesota Vikings

Week 9 Games:

Sunday, November 6 (Day games)

(1-7) Miami Dolphins 31 at (4-4) Kansas City Chiefs 3
(3-5) Cleveland Browns 12 at (6-3) Houston Texans 30

(5-3) Atlanta Falcons 31 at (0-9) Indianapolis Colts 7

(5-3) New York Jets 27 at (5-3) Buffalo Bills 11

(7-1) San Francisco49ers 19 at (3-5) WashingtonRedskins 11

(4-4) TampaBayBuccaneers 16 at (6-3) NewOrleansSaints 27

(2-6) Seattle Seahawks 13 at (4-4) Dallas Cowboys 23

(6-2) Cincinnati Bengals 24 at (4-4) Tennessee Titans 17

(3-5) Denver Broncos 38 at (4-4) Oakland Raiders 24

(6-2) New York Giants 24 at (5-3) New England Patriots 20

(8-0) Green Bay Packers 45 at (4-4) San Diego Chargers 38

(1-7) St. Louis Rams 13 at (2-6) Arizona Cardinals 19/OT

Night game (being played as I write this)

(5-2) Baltimore Ravens at (6-2) Pittsburgh Steelers

Monday, November 7

(4-3) Chicago Bears at (3-4) Philadelphia Eagles

Today’s games were a mixed bag: the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals, both struggling, took their game into overtime to decide a winner; Green Bay’s defense had 2 touchdowns in the first quarter; the Kansas City Chiefs were spanked hard by the Miami Dolphins, for their first win; Tim Tebow gave his fans a reason to say “I told you so” with a Denver win over Oakland; and in a game reminiscent of Super Bowl XLII, the Giants beat the Patriots, once again playing spoiler for Patriots records: consecutive games won at home, and for Tom Brady, consecutive home games won as a starter.

At this point, we are down to two teams with zero in their win/loss records: the Green Bay Packers, undefeated at 8-0; and the Indianapolis Colts, winless at 0-9. They are yin and yang, the undefeated and the winless.

The Green Bay Packers are playing to repeat as Super Bowl champions, and if they can produce a “perfect season” along the way, so much the better. The pressure on them to continue winning games will grow as the season wears on; the longer they go without losing, the greater the pressure to keep winning.

The Indianapolis Colts are playing for the draft. The draft order goes from worst record in the previous season to the best record; right now the Colts have the worst record, and would have the first pick in the 2012 draft.

Indianapolis desperately needs a quarterback. Peyton Manning is still recovering from neck surgery. It is not known at this point how well he would be able to play next season, after not playing since January 10, 2011. If Andrew Luck (from Stanford) enters the draft, would he go to Indianapolis? Would he be their new franchise player?

Anything can happen in football. My father often said, “Any team can beat any other team, on any given Sunday.” The Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots know the truth of that.