The winner of this game will go to 9-6 and will have the inside track on the #5 spot based on conference record (winner would have only 4 AFC losses).
Cincy hosts the Steelers Week 17 while Denver hosts the 49ers, so odds are the winner will take care of business at home.
Gut feeling is that Denver has a great day running the ball and pulls out a close one. Cincy has a short week and a long road trip ahead. Denver hasn't won at Invesco since October 15th, the drought ends Sunday.
Actually, a Cincy/NE or Denver/NE matchup could be clinched by X-mas night if:
KC loses to Oakland Sat night*
*Only necessary if Denver wins, KC holds division tiebreaker (div record)
NE beats Jax
Indy beats Houston^
Baltimore beats Pittsburgh^
^This will eliminate NE from contention for the #2 or 3 spot (NE loses conference record tiebreaker)
Jets lose to Miami Monday night+
+Jets could slip into the 5 spot by winning out and the Cincy/Denver winner losing in Week 17
Great post Richpat. This is when the NFL season starts to get exciting outside the little message board world here.
I think Cinci should have been able to score more points against Indy if they were for real. I wasn't really buying in to their midseason turnaround, although they had been playing like a good team recently and they've put together as string of very legit wins.
Denver is starting to gain momentum under Cutler, even though I thoroughly enjoyed them getting spanked upside down by San Diego. I think they were weaked significantly I think by losing two starters on the O line, even though their replacements are looking more solid by now. Their defense is still good even though being smacked around by Indy and SD.
I see Denver winning at home but the Steelers spoiling Cinci's bid. Too much of a rivalry there. Whatever these two teams do at home, the game this weekend has playoff implications, probably impacting our beloved Pats.
I'm not sure who wins, but I'd like it to be Denver, setting up a potential rematch at Gillette. I think an emotional win over Denver just might provide enough momentum to carry us through Indy and/or San Diego.
By now, we know what we have with this team. If this team is to go deep in the playoffs, it will do so on *momentum* , and getting a monkey off your back like Denver would be just the thing.
