Diner morning news: It’s time for the playoffs

It sure sounds like Coughlin's act is getting very, very old in New York, and I wonder if they would have played nearly as well in their Redskin game -- just before the two-egg streak -- if it hadn't been the nighttime national game. Even Zorn -- the official Dead Man Walking of October, November, and December 009 -- got his players to play better in meaningless games.
Bill Walsh was a big proponent of trading players just before they hit their downward slope. I wonder if anyone feels the same about coaches. Sure, Coughlin won it all in 2007 and were dominant at times over the last two seasons, but the players just don't seem to be responding to him.

Mike (et al.),

I would be interested in hearing your take on how an uncapped 2010 might affect the 6- 12- and 24-month timetables discussed above. If mid- and small-market teams like my beloved (yet hapless) Lions can just shut it down for a year (having no spending floor), it seems to me that this would push back those plans by some multiple factor of 12 months (and not merely 12 months).

The Lions are so bad on defense that they need to start acquiring talent now if they want to be competitive in three or four years. I like the idea of them focusing on a body type for each position and drafting/acquiring players accordingly. However, if they plan to hibernate for 12 months, I do not like their chances of executing such a plan that requires a commitment to consistency. Moreover, I would hate to see them get Suh and then have him wallow in purgatory for X number of years.

With respect to the draft, if a team like Detroit were, in fact, going to go on the cheap for a year, would it make more sense to trade down whenever possible and acquire more players rather than spending the money now associated with higher picks?

At the end of last season it appeared to me that the Packers and Saints were much better than their record showed. Who fits that category this year? I would say Miami, Denver (despite their collapse they had some impressive wins) and Tennessee (huge momentum for next year).

Also I thought Washington was nowhere near as good as their record, and I think Carolina may fit that bill. Late season wins over very disinterested teams don't impress me, and they are old and without a 1st round choice this year. Cincy is also a team that does not impress me at all and I think they will be 1 and done this year and an under .500 team next year.

Birds played terrible in Dallas. However, the one thing I will take from the game is that in the 1st half, before the Eagles went completely 1-dimensional with the pass game, the O-Line did a good job vs Dallas' front. Cowboys D seemed to tee off and get loads of pressure in the 2nd half when they knew they didn't have to defend the run. Eagles will need to stay close early on next week so they can keep balance as a way to slow down the Dallas front 7. Saturday Night cannot come soon enough

Michael, very fair comments on the Jets. Not even your favorite poster,yahoo dave, can find fault.

I'll just add that the one first down Cincy did get came via penalty.

A very good season will be great with a win on Sat (and I think it will - both teams run the ball and play stout defense, but the Jets are better on both fronts).

Cincy's only chance is to win the turnover battles.

All I can say is that I don't see the same possible playoff team in Denver that Lombardi does. I find it hard to believe that there could be a worse chain of events to end the season. Coach feuding with his best players, throwing whole units under the bus, loss at home to a team you should beat . . . . whatever. And whether you think Orton is a servicable starting QB or not (a debateable question), its tough to think that he can demonstrate the level of play necessary to take this team to a different level.

The worst part of it from a fans perspective is that even if the Broncos get off to a good start next year, we will just be waiting for the other shoe to drop. No division lead in Sept, Oct, or November is big enough. It's just depressing that I won't truly be able to feel good about my team for at least 11 months . . . until they win a game in December. Especially depressing since the Chargers are proving themselves to be a team that finishes strong, and Rivers has established himself as a truly elite player. I feel like the Broncos are entering a long dark winter that may last for years.

Spot on as usual, Mike. Denver's run defense has been awful. Started with the Monday night loss to Pittsburgh. That has killed the D the past 10 weeks and without the defense this team folded. The offense can not win games by itself.

I agree with Scot I don't see this getting a lot better next year. The defense has too many 30+ guys and we lucked out this year with no major injuries. There is ZERO chance of that happening 2 seasons in a row. And can we now agree that McDaniels is not ready for an HC position. A week ago McDaniels called out the O-line for it's spotty play but not a word about the run defense and lack of physical play from the D-line. I wonder why? Is it because the O-line is staffed with Shanahan guys and the D-line is his 'guys'. McDaniels needs to grow up.

Before the Denver - KC game, I looked up Denver's defensive rushing stats since week 10. A couple of games under 100 yards total; a couple between 100 and 150; and a couple disasters above 200 yards allowed. With McDaniels' masterful motivation job this week, I figured he had tore the locker room apart enough for me to insert Jamaal Charles into my starting lineup for our Fantasy League championship. Sir Charles led the way as I hoisted the coveted cup at the end of the day!

As a Broncos fan I'm sick of these late season collapses that occur for no reason. In Cutler's rookie year it was because Shanahan had a tiff with Plummer and decided not making the playoffs was subservient to Cutler getting experience. Last year we were 8-5 and the Chargers were 5-8, and we still managed to lose the division to them, Shanahan getting fired postseason, and then our rookie coach deciding a month in to start an argument over Matt Cassel being better than Jay Cutler, and somehow we actually seemed to get the best guy of the three in Randy Orton (?). And then this year we actually start 6-0 and finish out the string 2-8 with losses to Oakland, Washington, and Kansas City in there, and supposedly this is our rookie coach deciding it would be a perfect time to start further arguments with Shanahan dead-enders. Can everyone shutup, get along, and stay the course for awhile?

Since we last made the playoffs in the 2005 season, we're a combined 32-32, a 9-7 season, 2 8-8 seasons, and a 7-9 season. We're in the middle, not going down but not going up either.

Can we get accurate rankings of players broken down by categories and position? I would love to know which quarterbacks have the strongest arms and which TEs are best blocking in-line.

@hubcap, I should have been more clear, I meant last year for Washington. They were 8-8 and it appeared to me they won a couple of games with mirrors. A foreshadowing of this year? Probably. To me Carolina looks the same way, I'm not buying the Matt Morre hype, that team is old with no cap room and no 1st round pick. Now cap room may not be a problem in an uncapped year but with the turmoil in the front office and coaching staff I doubt they are going to make much noise in the offseason.

Now cap room may not be a problem in an uncapped year but with the turmoil in the front office and coaching staff I doubt they are going to make much noise in the offseason.