Sunday Morning Bloody Mary: Know Who You're Rooting For - NFL Week 12

by Dave Cariello on Nov 28, 2010 6:00 AM CST

Since the Saints already took care of business for the week, fans of the team have another Saints-less Sunday afternoon to watch the other games going on around the league and do a little scouting work. To see which games will be aired in your neck of the woods, check out the Week 12 broadcast distribution map.

Make the jump for a quick preview of the rest of the games remaining in the NFL's Week 12 and a rundown of which teams Saints fans should be rooting to better the Black & Gold's chances of making the playoffs. Your comments are always welcome.

Green Bay @ Atlanta

NFL.com Game Center

Game: 1pm, FOX, Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick

Odds: Falcons by 2

Analysis: Even though we really don't want the Packers to win this game and threaten the NFC lead, we really don't want the Dirty Birds to stay ahead of the Saints within the division. So today, we've all got to be cheese heads.

Root for: Green Bay

Pittsburgh @ Buffalo

NFL.com Game Center

Game: 1pm, CBS, Kevin Harlan, Solomon Wilcots

Odds: Steelers by 7

Analysis: The outcome of this game has no effect on the NFC playoff picture so no pressure here. If you're into the underdog thing, a Bills win would be surprisingly impressive.

Root for: Whoever you want.

Carolina @ Cleveland

NFL.com Game Center

Game: 1pm, FOX, Chris Rose, Torry Holt

Odds: Browns by 10

Analysis: Jake Delhomme will be getting the start against his former team today, hopefully that will be plenty of inspiration to make sure the Browns crush

Root for: Cleveland

Tennessee @ Houston

NFL.com Game Center

Game: 1pm, CBS, Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts

Odds: Houston by 6

Analysis: This game might be important for these two division rivals but for Saints fans it's pretty meaningless. Feel free to root for whoever you like most.

Root for: Go with your gut.

Jacksonville @ NY Giants

NFL.com Game Center

Game: 1pm, CBS, Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf

Odds: Giants by 7

Analysis: If the Jaguars can manage to pull out a win, it would take the 6-4 Giants significantly further out of the race in the NFC. This is definitely a key game that could seriously help the Saints and quite a few other teams in the conference.

Root for: Jacksonville

Minnesota @ Washington

NFL.com Game Center

Game: 1pm, FOX, Dick Stockton, Charles Davis, Jim Mora Jr.

Odds: Redskins by 1.5

Analysis: Since both teams are in the NFC and someone has to win, I guess it would be best for the Vikings to be that team. They're out of the playoff picture while the 5-5 Redskins have a remote chance of competing with the Saints.

Root for: Minnesota

Miami @ Oakland

NFL.com Game Center

Game: 4:05pm, CBS, Gus Johnson, Steve Tasker

Odds: Oakland by 2.5

Analysis: Saints fans don't need to worry about this intra-AFC battle between two mediocre 5-5 teams looking to earn themselves a winning record.

Root for: Doesn't matter

Kansas City @ Seattle

NFL.com Game Center

Game: 4:05pm, CBS, Bill Macatee, Rich Gannon

Odds: Chiefs by 2.5

Analysis: Not like the Seahawks pose any real threat within the NFC conference but it sure wouldn't hurt for them to get beat by a team from the AFC. And it's definitely likely.

Root for: Kansas City

Tampa Bay @ Baltimore

NFL.com Game Center

Game: 4:15pm, FOX, Sam Rosen, Tim Ryan

Odds: Ravens by 7

Analysis: It's time for Tampa Bay's little fairy tale start to finally come to an end and prove to everyone what we've all been thinking this whole time: this team isn't for real. The Ravens let us down when we needed them to beat the Falcons a few weeks ago. This is their chance to redeem themselves. Pretty please?

Root for: Baltimore

Philadelphia @ Chicago

NFL.com Game Center

Game: 4:15pm, FOX, Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa

Odds: Eagles by 3.5

Analysis: Both teams are 7-3 and in the race with the Saints for the top playoff spot in the NFC. We'd love to see both teams lose, unfortunately that hasn't been invented yet. The best thing might actually be a tie but that's certainly not very likely. The Eagles scare me more so I think personally I'd prefer the Bears to win.

Root for: Neither of them.

St. Louis @ Denver

NFL.com Game Center

Game: 4:15pm, CBS, Ron Pitts, John Lynch

Odds: Broncos by 3.5

Analysis: This is an AFC vs. NFC matchup so we need to root for the Broncos by default but who really cares if the Rams actually win a game?

Root for: Denver

San Diego @ Indianapolis

NFL.com Game Center

Game: 8:20pm, NBC, Al Michael, Cris Collinsworth

Odds: Colts by 3

Analysis: You already know how I feel about Phillip Rivers and since the other quarterbacks name is Manning, I'm gonna go with the Colts. But in the grand Saints scheme, it doesn't matter which team wins.

Root for: Whatever

San Francisco @ Arizona

NFL.com Game Center

Game: Monday, 8:30pm, ESPN, Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, Jon Gruden

Odds: 49ers by 1

Analysis: This is a battle to avoid becoming the worst team in the worst division in the NFL. How exciting!? Couldn't they flex this game out of the Monday night spot? It really doesn't matter who wins because neither team will be making the playoffs.

Root for: Arizona for payback.

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Comments

quick notes on the Cheese Head/ Dirty Bird contest

We cannot emphasize how important a Packers victory over the Falcons would be. The Dirty Birds have the best overall record in the NFC, as well as a better conference record (5-1) than the Saints (7-2). Atlanta’s final 6 games come against NFC opponents (Green Bay, Tampa Bay, Carolna twice, Seattle and New Orleans) and, while we’d like to think that a Seahawk or Panther team could sneak up on Matty Ice and co., it’s going to take a good team to beat Atlanta… and I only see 2 left on their schedule.

by jimfrotch on Nov 28, 2010 7:59 AM CST reply actions

Bucs fairy tale

I have family in Tampa so try to be nice, but they still have to play Saints and Atlanta and probably somebody else, haven’t checked, just don’t see them keeping pace. I they beat Baltimore, I may be wrong.

"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds" -Bob Marley

by PanheadCatahoula on Nov 28, 2010 9:02 AM CST reply actions

Like it all except

I will never root for the vikes….well…it would have to be WAY more critical than this game.

by saintslam on Nov 28, 2010 11:02 AM CST reply actions

fair enough

What’s up with that video you posted? I don’t really get it.

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by Dave Cariello on Nov 28, 2010 11:06 AM CST up reply actions

No way

I will never root for the Vikings, so I disagree with that one.

I also disagree with your Tampa Bay / Baltimore choice. I think we need Tampa Bay to win and stay on a roll so when Atlanta comes to town next week they will stomp the birds into the ground. A division loss counts double, so it greatly increases our chances of winning the division.

Dorothy-"But how can you talk if you haven't got a brain?" Scarecrow- "I don't know, but some people without brains do an awful lot of talking." -Wizard of Oz

by Cajun in CA on Nov 28, 2010 11:30 AM CST reply actions

If you want some really in-depth stats on who to root for week by week:

Check out http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NFL/NFC/South/Saints.html

It breaks down each individual game, and the percentage change that each result will have on the Saints playoff chances.

For example, next week, if the Falcons beat the Bucs, it will increase the Saints chances of making the playoffs by 1.8% (since we are competing with the Bucs for a wildcard spot), but it will lower our average place in the NFC by .25 spots (since we will be more likely to end up as a 5th seed wildcard than a 1 or 2 seed division winner).

by Monkey Poop Battle on Nov 29, 2010 11:51 AM CST reply actions