by Michael A Kazanjian
assistant a&e editor
With week 12 approaching in the NFL the playoff picture is becoming clearer and clearer. This season has held a few surprises and with so many top rank teams it’s almost impossible to guess who’ll be battling it out in this year’s Super Bowl.
Both the AFC and the NFC are putting up more than respectable numbers this season, but the AFC has a slight edge. In the AFC, Miami has surprised quite a few fans with an 8-2 record. Dan Marino is gone, but is he missed? Tennessee, last year’s Super Bowl contender, is also at 8-2 and shows no signs of slowing down with wonder boy Steve McNair at the helm. And then out of nowhere Oakland has made the Raiders a force to be reckoned with once again. Lead by quarterback Rich Gannon ,who’s a local man, the Raiders are at 8-2 and should have no problem clinching the AFC West.
With all the good happening in the AFC this year it’s no wonder that there has to be some bad mixed in. The once mighty Denver Broncos are pulling in this week at 6-4, a serious drop from their past four years. And San Diego, which was considered not too long ago the team of the future, is far in last place with a 0-10 record, the worst in the NFL.
The NFC is also putting on a show this season. Leading the NFC East are the Giants at 7-3 and Philly’s own Eagles at 7-4. There’s something that hasn’t been said in a long time. Minnesota leads the Central Division at 8-2 and St. Louis once again leads the West at 8-2 also.
With so many teams playing as well as they are this season it may turn out to be one of the closest playoff races in recent memory. Creeping up in the AFC are Indianapolis and Baltimore, which are both hoping to advance far into the playoffs, but with such stiff competition around them that may be harder than they think. The NFC leaders can rest a bit easier, the teams that trail in the divisions are a far way off from stealing their reign at top seat. New Orleans poses the biggest threat at the moment to the Rams with a very impressive record of 7-3 and having a running back like Ricky Williams anything is possible.
We’re about seven weeks away from the end of the season so it’s not that bad of a time to make a few predictions. In the AFC you can almost bet your house that the Raiders are going to be a tough team to stop once they reach the playoffs but Tennessee is still hungry after coming so close last season. Miami and Indianapolis will have a big showdown in the playoffs but I see the Colts ending a great season for the Dolphins early on. Denver has a shot at landing a wild card seat but what they’ll do with it is another story. Will the Broncos make it to the second round? Doubtful.
Onto the NFC. The NFC East is going to be war. Between the Giants, Eagles and Redskins, naming a victor at this point would be sacrilegious. Look for Minnesota to go far this year and for St. Louis to be there to stop them.
I didn’t want to do it but it’s too tempting. This year’s Super Bowl will be.Forget it. I can’t do it. Check back in a few weeks.
