Football

Playoff fever starts to build

In December it is inevitable that a child’s mind will turn towards Christmas and what presents they may receive if they have been good boys or girls but for a football fan; the thoughts at this time of year revolve around the play-offs and the hops of reaching the Superbowl. Sadly some teams have already had their play-off hopes for the season crushed and fans in Cincinnati, Detroit, Kansas City, Oakland, Seattle, Cleveland, Houston, Jacksonville, Oakland, San Francisco and St Louis already know that no matter how good they have been this year, they won’t be given the gift of a play-off place this season. A few more teams will be joining them on the sidelines but as the NFL season enters week 15 a number of franchises have booked their spot or are just a result or two away from booking their spot in the playoffs in January.

Although the different levels of success in the next few weeks can be measured by winning divisional titles or gaining byes in the play-off, each team will know what they have to do in order to progress their season and some franchises have a more straightforward path than others. The NY Giants clinched the NFC East title even though they lost their week 14 match against Philadelphia but that would not have been a major concern with the Divisional title being put out of reach of closest rivals the Dallas Cowboys. Joining the Giants in the playoffs will be the Tennessee Titans who are the AFC South winners but the Titans will still be entering Week 15 with something to play for. They can obtain home field advantage if they win their next match and the Pittsburgh Steelers lose so there will still be a high level of motivation for the team from Tennessee.

Another team who entered Week 14 in a strong position were the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West division who knew that a win would seal their title. Arizona, who had a 7-5 record faced the St Louis Rams who had racked up a 2-10 record, which made the Arizona Cardinals many people’s favorites to emerge triumphant at the end of this game. Even if the Cardinals failed to win, a tie would have been enough to clinch the title if San Francisco failed to defeat the NY Jets or if San Francisco lost, the Arizona Cardinals would have been crowned NFC West winners regardless of the outcome of their own match. The 49ers held a 4-8 record going into this match against a NY Jets team who boasted an 8-4 and who currently head the AFC East division. San Francisco were triumphant in their match but so were the Cardinals which ensured that the team from Arizona clinched the NFC West title.

With only three teams having booked their place in the playoffs so far there is still plenty to play for in the remaining weeks of the season and with the Wild card Weekend occurring on the 3rd and 4th of January 2009, there isn’t a lot of time to wait before the excitement reaches an all new level for the current NFL season.