Massive Mavs Comeback: Mavs 107, T-Wolves 100

The Mavericks come-from-behind stunner at the AAC on Tuesday might just be the microcosm for the current season so far. Dallas erupted for 67 second-half points to overcome a 29 point 3rd quarter deficit to beat the Timberwolves, 107-100.

The Mavs started 2-7 and were simply embarrassing early this season. After a nice stretch of home games, Dallas was able to return to .500 before continuing to climb to its current perch on the Western Conference's sixth seed at 19-12. And as things were spiraling out of control in downtown Dallas last night, it was merely the set up for the greatest comeback in franchise history.

	1	2	3	4	Tot
Timberwolves	27	35	22	16	100
Mavericks	20	20	33	34	107

At halftime, with Dallas trailing 62-40, my dad leaned over and asked me - perhaps only with a slight hint of sarcasm - if I was ready to go. With an equal amount of cynicism, I replied that "I'd hate to leave and miss the greatest comeback ever." I only wish I had truly meant what I said. But seeing the Mavs rally back albeit against a 6-25 Minnesota team is another building block for Rick Carlisle's team to use as the foundation for a playoff run this season.

The Mavs have had solid come-from-behind wins this season, and while none of them have been against top teams like the Lakers, Celtics or Cavs, the team's ability to overcome adversity and a deficit cannot be ignored. After all, just how many teams are defeating the Lakers, Celtics or Cavs anyway, let alone overcoming a near-30-point hole to do it?

Carlisle watched most of the game from his office after getting ejected in the second quarter. And things continued to get worse before they got any better. The 22 point halftime hole ballooned to 29 when the T-Wolves took a 70-41 just 94 seconds into the second half. From that point, Minnesota scored just 30 more points. Dallas went on to pour in 66, more than doubling the T-Wolves output.

From the 10:26 mark to 3:34 left in the 3rd quarter, the Mavs pulled within 9 points, 74-63. But it wasn't until the 4th quarter that Dallas finally retook a lead for good when Dirk drove to the hoop and slammed home a dunk for the 93-91 lead.

Josh Howard, a regular when it comes to putting on a 4th quarter disappearing act, showed why he has All-Star potential during the final period. J-Ho made 4 of 5 buckets (9 points), grabbed a rebound, added an assist on a Jason Terry 3-pointer, and blocked a shot. Howard finished the night with 23 points, one of four Mavs in double figures, going 10-of-22 from the floor.

Jason Terry served as the only bench contributor during the comeback as JJ Barea did not play during the second half with an strained shoulder. The Jet flew for 25 second half points to finish with 29 to lead all scorers.

And once again, the 2006-07 MVP proved to be the solid superstar despite being banged up early. Teams around the NBA are clued in to the fact that roughing up Dirk Nowitzki can take the Big German off his game. The Utah Jazz managed to frustrate him enough to draw a Flagrant 2 out of him, earning Dirk a one-game suspension. And tonight, when Nowitzki got a bloody nose after taking a smack to the face, he responded with his play on the court. He toughened up. His 24 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block aren't the mind-blowing numbers that he's capable of putting up, but they are 24 points and 13 rebounds that the Mavs can count on every night, the same way they can count on Jason Kidd to set the table for this offense.

Kidd finished with 16 assists, 14 points along with 7 rebounds, 4 steals and a block. But the numbers don't show how he squeezed the ball through the smallest windows to Erick Dampier streaking to the basket, or to find Jet and Josh on the wing. It's something the Mavericks have come to find almost ordinary with Kidd, but it's something that shouldn't be taken for granted. It's easy to simply look at box scores from New Jersey to see Devin Harris's numbers, and while the young point guard continues to flourish with the Nets, the Mavericks aren't doing too poorly with J-Kidd.

Another solid Dallas win. And no, it's never a good thing to trail a team like Minnesota by 29 points in the second half (or ever), but the resiliency displayed by the Mavs will come back to them in a good way down the road, especially in a very tight Western Conference.

		W	L	%	GB
1	LA Lakers	25	5	.833	-
2	New Orleans	19	9	.679	5
3	San Antonio	20	11	.645	5.5
4	Denver	20	12	.625	6
5	Portland	20	12	.625	6
6	Houston	20	12	.625	6
7	Dallas	19	12	.613	6.5
8	Phoenix	18	12	.600	7
9	Utah	19	14	.576	7.5

Season over: Dal 6, Phi 44

How do you put in perspective just how embarrassingly bad this Cowboys loss truly is?

Throughout the 2008 season, the Dallas Cowboys earned new lease on life after new lease on life, and each time the Cowboys squandered it. It's being called the most disappointing loss to finish the most disappointing season in recent Cowboys memory.

The Philadelphia Eagles had their dream concoction of early game finishes, with the Bears and Bucs each losing, setting up the win-and-you're-in contest between the Cowboys and Eagles. And with each rendition of "Fly Eagles Fly" the Cowboys fell deeper and deeper into a black hole of disappointment, resulting in a 44-6 loss at the Linc.

The Eagles (9-6-1) finished a half-game ahead of Dallas (9-7) to earn the final NFC Wild Card spot, while the Cowboys, a preseason Super Bowl favorite, missed the postseason for the sixth time in the past nine seasons.

Oh how this team has fallen.

I could talk about all the different points of the "Phailure in Philly" to pinpoint the moment where the game got away from the Cowboys, but frankly Dallas never even showed up.

Yes, the two long fumble returns for TDs hurt. Sure, seeing Pacman Jones fumble the kickoff at the end of the first half to allow the Eagles to tack on three more points stung. But the most telling moment of the game had to come when Tony Romo waved off the punt team and his head coach on 4th and 1 early in the 3rd quarter.

It seemed like the inmates had overrun the asylum and Wade Phillips officially became a bystander. One play later, Romo seemed to improvise out of a sack and into a throw-back to Jason Witten who heaved the ball downfield to Terrell Owens who fought to cap the 42 yard gain. It was the only play that brought me to my feet as a Cowboys fan at all yesterday. It was the one play that I thought could start the comeback. It was going to turn the tide on what was at the time a 27-3 deficit and turn this game into one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history.

Instead, one false start and incompletion later, Romo dropped back and Brian Dawkins stripped the ball which the Eagles then took 73 yards for the touchdown.

And what seemed like Romo taking control and fighting to bring the Cowboys back, waving off his coach and getting some of the excitement back, Romo regressed into what he has been known to be for so long: an inexperienced quarterback.

I must remember back to what Bill Parcells said two seasons ago when Romo took over for Drew Bledsoe, and the Big Tuna reminded everyone to "put the anointing oil away, OK?" after a big Thanksgiving win.

No need to worry about that. Seems that someone set the oil on fire, which turned into the conflagration that became the 2008 Cowboys season. The year that brought you massive disappointments in Arizona and St. Louis, a horrendous game given away in Pittsburgh, and an unceremonious farewell to Texas Stadium against Baltimore, how fitting is it that this season ended with one last colossal blunder.

They didn't show up. Period. There's no other way to explain a 38-point loss. In sports, you always hear about one team wanting it more. It's an argument I've always thought was ridiculous. After all, who could "want it more" when everyone is playing for a championship? When both teams don't have rosters littered with ring-wearing players, wouldn't they both really want it? I mean, come on, it's not like one team would just go through the motions while another would go all out in an attempt to reach the ultimate goal? But after watching Sunday's disgusting (lack of) effort in Philadelphia, it's pretty evident that the Eagles didn't want it more. Instead, it appeared the Cowboys didn't want it at all.

Looking behind to see ahead

I don't think the Cowboys problems are as easily fixable as bringing in a Parcells-type coach. Even if you do that, you then have to overhaul the attitude of the players on this team.

We saw that happen when Jimmy Johnson took over in 1989. He got rid of players who were just there to collect their checks, and he brought in guys who wanted to win, who he could mold.

Parcells came to Dallas when the cupboard was empty, and he took that empty 5-11 shell of a team to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth ... under Quincy freaking Carter. But the guys that Parcells molded into his first playoff team in Dallas were not talented enough to build on, and thus the 2004 and 2005 seasons were spent building the foundation for what we saw emerge in 2006 and 2007, a talented disciplined football team. The Tuna didn't just make everything better. It took time. Yeah, he got the Cowboys into the playoffs at first, bringing instant credibility here in town. But then he made sure to build for the future, which seems to now be wasted with Wade Phillips on the sideline.

If the Cowboys do go bring in a Parcells type of coach (I know everyone is kicking around Bill Cowher's name), that new coach would have to change the attitudes of all the current players or just get rid of them all - which cannot happen because of the contracts that Jerry Jones has given out.

Parcells didn't have that problem because the guys he inherited had never accomplished anything, so when Bill said "do it this way" you had to do it that way. Period. With the current team, any coach that would tell them to change their attitude would face questions of "why" and "how come" when a head coach shouldn't have to face those questions from his team.

Jimmy came in and put his stamp on the team in 1989, cutting guys who he didn't feel were playing for a championship. Tuna arrived in 2003 and made Q-Car a playoff quarterback.

Quick show of hands: does anything think the Cowboys would be better off with Quincy instead of Tony Romo? Answer: Hell no!

So how come Quincy became a disciplined QB in 2003 and we heard all about his newfound commitment to staying late and studying film and working hard? It had something to do with the guy standing on the sideline ready to cut him at a moment's notice. Where was that kind of accountability on the 2008 Cowboys? It wasn't there.

Has Romo improved in the last two seasons? I know he's put up good numbers. I know he's been to Pro Bowls. But has Romo actually become a more focused, smarter, better decision-maker on the field since Bill Parcells left? Has he? No. Sadly, the answer is no. And it's obvious why.

You can take that same question and ask it of this entire team. Have they really improved at all over the last two seasons? Not improved their record. But have they become better football players? Have they learned how to be better at the game of football?

And with that answer being "No" it's easy to see why this team clearly needs some sort of shake up.

Your 2008 Dallas Cowboys:
Preseason favorites. Playoff spectators.

The Farewell: Dal 24, Bal 33

On what was certain to be a bittersweet day, the farewell game at Texas Stadium, the game provided only the bitterness of another December loss miring what turned out to be a hollow post game ceremony.

At some point, I'll put together my thoughts on seeing all the Cowboys legends on the field after yesterday's game, as well as some of my fondest Texas Stadium memories, but all I could think after the Cowboys' 24-33 loss to the Ravens was how that stadium, the only stadium to host five Super Bowl championship teams, deserved better. The stadium that housed the dreaded Doomsday Defense saw the longest run by an opponent serve as the dagger that could kill the Cowboys playoff hopes.

Dallas no longer controls its destiny and must now hope for help in the form of losses by Atlanta or Tampa Bay coupled with a win next week in Philadelphia. With both of those NFC South teams playing doormats (Detroit and Oakland) in Week 17, one of them needs to fall this week if the Cowboys will realistically have a chance to get into the tournament.

A few quick thoughts on the game (before I depart for Utah for a ski trip)...

+ Tashard Choice = awesome. I get giddy thinking about having him, Marion Barber and Felix Jones in the backfield next season.

+ I don't know if Tony Romo really does look at Jason Witten because they are BFF, but regardless of the reason, I hope he keeps it up. It was Witten's clutch catches over the middle that help set up some of the Cowboys' late scores to keep this thing close.

+ In fairness, watching TO on his late-game routes, he was open. Only problem was that Romo couldn't get him the ball because he had a linebacker in his face on seemingly every play down the stretch. Ray Lewis used the Cowboys QB as a tackling dummy yesterday. Not sure how many sacks Baltimore had, but Romo was constantly knocked down and beaten up.

+ Replaying both of those long TD runs in my head, both of which on the first play of the possession for the Ravens, I want to puke. Horrible tackling up front and no chance to catch guys once they hit the hole. Just ugly.

+ On that final fourth down of the game on the Cowboys final possession, could someone explain a backwards pass to Roy Williams that wasn't even close to a first down? What ever happened to "run to the stick and turn around"? The play never had a chance.

+ The defense that looked so solid in the the first half (allowing only 3 field goals), ended up surrendering 24 second half points and allowed rookie QB Joe Flacco to drive the purple birds down the field eating up the clock.

I can't go on about that game. It hurt not just because the Cowboys playoff chances are now in extreme jeopardy. It hurt because that stadium with a hole in the roof deserved better. The stadium that saw the Cowboys rise from "next years champions" into "America's Team" was denied the farewell it earned. It sickens me that Dallas lost its last game in football's cathedral - the 100th Cowboys loss ever in that building. But while God has enjoyed watching his favorite team play through his own personal window in the roof, so have I from Section 108 Row 5. And I'll miss that.

Hawaii 5-0: Five Cowboys to Pro Bowl

The 2009 Pro Bowl rosters are out, and the Cowboys had a drop off from last year's 11 selections (which ballooned to a record 13 with injuries).

The five Cowboys heading to Hawaii are tight end Jason Witten, center Andre Gurode, guard Leonard Davis, nose tackle Jay Ratliff, and outside linebacker and NFL sack leader DeMarcus Ware. Davis was the only Cowboys non-starter named to the NFC squad. While we can look into all the details of how great a season guys like Jason Witten, Jay Ratliff and DeMarcus Ware are having - and we will, I'm more shocked by the omission of quarterback Tony Romo to a third straight Pro Bowl.

It's unreal that Romo was left off the roster. The three NFC QBs will be Kurt Warner (Cardinals), Drew Brees (Saints) and Eli Manning (Giants). Kurt Warner is having a great year. No denying that. He's made the Cardinals a winner. Um... damn!

I know Brees is putting up nice numbers (okay, great numbers), but Romo is winning games. Not winning games like a caretaker QB who babysits a mediocre offense while the defense carries the club. Romo has made big plays for the Cowboys all season long. The Cowboys are 8-3 with Romo under center with all three losses coming by 7 points or less (2 vs. WAS, 6 @ ARZ, 7 @ PIT). Does that make any sense to anyone?

Last year, not only did Romo make the Pro Bowl, but he dragged half the offense with him to Honolulu - and if you don't believe me, go back and check the three games Romo missed this season and see just how pedestrian Terrell Owens, Marion Barber, Flozell Adams and the rest of the offense looked.

Eli Manning to the Pro Bowl? Isn't this more of a "congratulations on the Super Bowl" selection more than anything? Eh, okay, I guess he's won some games this year. But he has looked rather ordinary in recent weeks without Plaxico Burress.

Romo got shafted on this.

NFC Playoff Picture - Week 15 wrap up

Get ready for the payoff of all the tiebreaker numbers. With only two weeks left in the regular season, only 10 teams are alive to make the playoffs in the NFC, with two of them (NYG, ARZ) already having clinched their division last week. The Giants and Panthers, each now 11-3, play next week in the Meadowlands, and the winner will clinch the first round bye as a result of what will end up being either a better record or a head-to-head win. Ah hah!

The Vikings still hold a 1-game lead over the Bears in the NFC North, but the Bears have an easier schedule to finish the season. (see remaining games below)

And then there's the wild card picture. Technically the Panthers haven't clinched the NFC South, but it is very unlikely for the Panthers to miss the playoffs from their perch at this point. So with Dallas, Tampa Bay and Atlanta all sitting at 9-5 (and the Eagles who are only a half-game back at 8-5-1 ... ties count for a half-win and half-loss), the wild card picture officially won't be set until Week 17 wraps up.

Here's the current standings, followed by remaining schedules, and of course a look at where teams stand in our Ultimate Tiebreaker Rankings to better understand the current NFC playoff picture.

If the playoffs started today, who need not worry:
1. z-New York Giants (11-3)
2. Carolina Panthers (11-3)
3. Minnesota Vikings (9-5)
4. z-Arizona Cardinals (8-6)
5. Dallas Cowboys (9-5)
6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-5)

Need to keep winning:
7. Atlanta Falcons (9-5)
8. Philadelphia Eagles (8-5-1)
9. Chicago Bears (8-6)
10. Washington Redskins (7-7)

Newly eliminated - don't worry, I'll explain why despite the identical 7-7 record as Washington
11. New Orleans Saints (7-7)

Lower echelon:
12. Green Bay Packers (5-9)
13. San Francisco 49ers (5-9)
14. Seattle Seahawks (3-11)
15. St. Louis Rams (2-12)

The road to futility goes through Detroit:
16. Detroit Lions (0-14)

With Atlanta beating Tampa Bay this week, evening the teams with Dallas at 9-5, this log jam gets tricky, especially when you consider conference records. The Eagles have a nice chance to play their way into the playoffs thanks to the tie game. While I'm still not sure how you tie the Bengals, I have always been sure ties are possible in the NFL. The Redskins still have an outside shot, but their window could close next week with a loss to the Eagles. The winner of that game still has a chance, but the loser is essentially eliminated. Not only that, the Redskins could win but be eliminated if teams like Dallas, Tampa Bay and Atlanta earn victories. It's so complicated, so great.

Prediction Key:

Win

Loss

	NYG	TB	ARZ	CHI	CAR	WAS	ATL	DAL	MIN	NO	PHI
W-L	11-3	9-5	8-6	8-6	11-3	7-7	9-5	9-5	9-5	7-7	8-5-1
Week 13	W @Was	W NO	L @Phi	L @Min	W @GB	L NYG	W @SD	W Sea	W Chi	L @TB	W Ari
Week 14	L Phi	L @Car	W STL	W Jax	W TB	L @Bal	L @NO	L @Pit	W @Det	W Atl	W @NYG
Week 15	L @Dal	L @Atl	L Min	W NO	W Den	L @Cin	W TB	W NYG	W @Ari	L @Chi	W Cle
Week 16	Car	SD	@NE	GB	@NYG	Phi	@Min	Bal	Atl	@Det	@Was
Week 17	@Min	Oak	Sea	@Hou	@NO	@SF	STL	@Phi	NYG	Car	Dal
Predicted Final Record	12-4	11-5	9-7	10-6	12-4	8-8	10-6	11-5	11-5	8-8	9-6-1

Current NFL Tiebreaker rankings


The third week of breaking down the tiebreakers, and now things are becoming clearer.  (tiebreaker standings: Week 13, Week 14) [Travel back in time to freshman algebra, and show your work--> ]

We're focusing on the Wild Card tiebreakers as that's where the fun is found. Here's the 11 steps for breaking a tie between two wild card contenders:

1. Head-to-head, if applicable.
   
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.
   
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.
   
4. Strength of victory.
   
5. Strength of schedule.
   
6. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.
   
7. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.
   
8. Best net points in conference games.
   
9. Best net points in all games.
   
10. Best net touchdowns in all games.
    
11. Coin toss.
    

For this exercise, we ignore the head-to-head step as it takes a simple glance at the regular season to solve. We're digging deeper. First, the best W-L-T percentage in the conference.

W-L-T percentage in NFC

Team	CAR	MIN	TB	DAL	ATL	PHI	WAS	CHI	NO
NFC W-L-T	7-3	7-3	8-4	7-4	6-4	6-4	6-4	6-5	4-6
%	.700	.700	.667	.636	.600	.600	.600	.545	.400
Rank	T-1	T-1	3	4	T-5	T-5	T-5	8	9

Why the Saints have been eliminated: Just take a look at the conference record of the New Orleans Saints.  That 4-6 mark leaves them in a position to finish at best 6-6 in the NFC.  When considering that they would not only need to win out but have either Tampa Bay, Dallas, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Washington and Chicago to lose out (which isn't all that possible because of games against each), the Cowboys and Bucs each already have more than six conference wins, they won't be losing this tiebreaker to the Saints.  And thus, on a cold day in Chicago, the New Orleans Saints 2008 campaign fell short.

The next step, best won-lost-tied percentage in common games we skip for two reasons. First, we won't know which two teams to analyze when it comes to common opponents, and secondly because even if we had two teams, they might not have the requisite four games to apply this tiebreaker. Thus, we press onward.

Strength of Victory
This tiebreaker is used to determine the caliber of opponents a team beat throughout the season. If a team racks up a monster record but does it against pansies, they would lose this tiebreaker to a team with the same record who beat tougher opponents. This is really where things start to get technical.

This week: Philadelphia, Dallas, Carolina, Minnesota, and Chicago all won, so their strength of victory records will be updated with new teams. Because the others lost, no victory means no changes in who they beat, but the records of their opponents have been updated.  Last week, the Cowboys had a .394 strength of victory compared to their .4365 mark this week thanks to a win over the 11-3 Giants.  The Eagles, however, still hold the edge in this tiebreaker despite adding a win over mediocre Cleveland last night.

Team	PHI	DAL	TB	WAS	CAR	ATL	MIN	CHI	NO
Teams Beaten	STL PIT SF ATL SEA CIN* ARI NYG CLE	CLE PHI GB CIN TB WAS SF SEA NYG	ATL CHI GB CAR SEA KC MIN DET NO	ATL ARI DAL PHI CLE DET SEA	SD CHI ATL KC NO ARI OAK DET GB TB DEN	DET KC GB CHI OAK NO CAR SD TB	CAR NO DET HOU GB JAC CHI DET ARZ	IND PHI DET MIN DET STL JAX NO	DEN SF OAK SD KC GB ATL
Beaten Teams' Record	55-70-1	54-70-2	54-72	41-56-1	65-89	51-75	51-75	41-70-1	38-60
%	.4373	.4365	.429	.423	.422	.405	.405	.371	(.388)
Rank	1	2	3	4	5	T-6	T-6	8	OUT

*Ties in the NFL count as a half-win and half-loss, therefore the Eagles tie against the Bengals will be counted as half of a win and the game is counted in their strength of victory. Note: Donovan McNabb probably did not know this.

Strength of Schedule
This is similar to strength of victory except it includes the records of all the teams played, not just the teams defeated. Listed are the teams played (italics indicates loss), their combined record and winning percentage, followed by the rankings of where each team falls in this particular tiebreaker.

This week: It's kind of funny that the Browns dropped the Eagles strength of schedule enough this week for the Saints strength of schedule percentage to pass them (New Orleans played 8-6 Chicago compared to Philly playing the 4-10 Browns).  Too bad the Saints were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention a few tiebreakers ago.  Other than that, not a whole lot shifted here.

Team	NO	PHI	TB	WAS	CHI	MIN	ATL	DAL	CAR
Teams Played in 2008	TB WAS DEN SF MIN OAK CAR SD ATL KC GB TB ATL CHI	STL DAL PIT CHI WAS SF ATL SEA NYG CIN* BAL ARI NYG CLE	NO ATL CHI GB DEN CAR SEA DAL KC MIN DET NO CAR ATL	NYG NO ARI DAL PHI STL CLE DET PIT DAL SEA NYG BAL CIN	IND CAR TB PHI DET ATL MIN DET TEN GB STL MIN JAX NO	GB IND CAR TEN NO DET CHI HOU GB TB JAC CHI DET ARZ	DET TB KC CAR GB CHI PHI OAK NO DEN CAR SD NO TB	CLE PHI GB WAS CIN ARI STL TB NYG WAS SF SEA PIT NYG	SD CHI MIN ATL KC TB NO ARI OAK DET ATL GB TB DEN
Opp. Record	100-96	99-96-1	98-98	96-98-2	96-99-1	95-101	94-101-1	93-101-2	92-104
%	(.510)	.508	.500	.495	.490	.485	.482	.480	.469
Rank	OUT	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8

With this formula, opponents that have not yet been played (Weeks 16-17 opponents) have not yet been factored in. A team like Washington with a .495 opponent winning percentage will see that number fall significantly again after a game against San Francisco after Cincinnati coming on the schedule dropped them this week.

Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed
I know what you're thinking: what does that even mean? How could anyone ever know that? That's what I'm here for. Here's the breakdown of how these tangled up teams currently rank when it comes to putting up points and preventing teams from scoring.

Team	CAR	PHI	TB	NO	ATL	MIN	DAL	WAS	CHI
Offensive Points Allowed	353	369	313	390	336	342	332	231	331
NFC Rank	6	5	11	1	8	7	9	15	10
Defensive Points Allowed	264	281	251	353	281	290	288	266	302
NFC Rank	3	5	2	12	6	8	7	4	9
Combined Ranking	9	10	13	13	14	15	16	19	19
Who comes out ahead	1	2	3	OUT	4	5	6	T-7	T-7

Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed
As you can see from the above tiebreaker, it's very easy for several teams to end up tied within a conference with similar combined rankings, especially when you consider that it's really the teams at the top of the conference who are being looked at. At this point, it's time to bring in the entire NFL into the mix to determine whose rankings are the best.

Team	CAR	PHI	ATL	TB	MIN	DAL	NO	CHI	WAS
Offensive Points Allowed	353	369	336	313	342	332	390	331	231
NFL Rank	7	6	12	19	11	13	1	14	29
Defensive Points Allowed	264	281	251	251	290	288	353	302	266
NFL Rank	6	9	11	5	13	12	25	14	7
Combined Ranking	13	15	23	24	24	25	26	28	36
Who comes out ahead	1	2	3	T-4	T-4	6	OUT	7	8

Best net points in conference games.
We're getting farther and farther down the list of tiebreakers. By this points, it's extremely rare that two teams remain tied. However, this is simply an exercise to see which teams come out ahead in each category. Now it's time to check net points (Net = Offensive Pts - Defensive Pts).

Team	PHI	TB	MIN	DAL	CAR	CHI	ATL	NO	WAS
Points Scored vs. NFC	304	270	252	260	246	271	252	257	180
Points Allowed vs. NFC	208	208	209	236	224	258	251	264	188
Net	+96	+62	+43	+24	+22	+13	+1	-7	-8
Tiebreaker Rank	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	OUT	8

Best net points in all games.
It's only fair to judge a team's body of work against its conference before looking at how it did against the entire NFL. Take a team that gets to play interconference games against the other conference's weakest division (*cough* AFC West *cough*) compared to teams that must play against AFC East opponents. That's why this tiebreaker is so far down the list.

Just take a look at the point differentials of teams like Carolina, Atlanta and New Orleans who each saw their net points skyrocket when taking into account the entire NFL. That's because this season the NFC South played the AFC West. Note: the NFC West is playing the AFC East which could explain why Buffalo, New England, Miami and the Jets are all doing so well this year. It's not the only reason, but it certainly helps.

Team	PHI	CAR	TB	ATL	MIN	DAL	NO	CHI	WAS
Points Scored vs. NFL	369	353	313	336	343	332	390	331	231
Points Allowed vs. NFL	273	264	251	281	290	288	353	302	266
Net	+96	+89	+62	+55	+53	+44	+37	+29	-35
Tiebreaker Rank	1	2	3	4	5	6	OUT	7	8

Best net touchdowns in all games.
This is the final tiebreaker that has anything to do with football played on the field. After this, it comes down to a coin flip. Could you imagine the whole coin flip debacle from Thanksgiving 1998 going down as the final tiebreaker for a playoff spot??? Wouldn't you have to watch? It'd be the most intense coin flip ever - until of course we see overtime in the Super Bowl.

Consider this fact about the net touchdowns tiebreaker. Lets say two teams play each other and tie in the head-to-head (are you listening, Donovan, it's possible), 21-21. Team A scores 21 by kicking seven field goals. Team B finds the end zone three times. If it got down to this tiebreaker, Team B is going to really enjoy how that tie came about. Here are the net TD numbers:

Team	DAL	CAR	PHI	NO	TB	MIN	CHI	ATL	WAS
Total TDs Scored	40	40	40	47	32	37	37	36	23
Total TDs Allowed	28	29	30	37	25	32	33	33	29
Net	+12	+11	+10	+10	+7	+5	+4	+3	-6
Tiebreaker Ranking	1	2	3	OUT	4	5	6	7	8

Pigskin panacea: Dal 20, NYG 8

There's nothing a win cannot cure.

No more doubting that after Sunday's Cowboys 20-8 victory over the defending Super Bowl champs. It's been a 24/7 circus all week long at Valley Ranch. From the media declaring the owner questioned the toughness of a guy nicknamed "the Barbarian," to a QB-TE-WR love triangle that resulted in an ESPN reporter being thrown under the bus with Terrell Owens behind the wheel. Consider this: the team whose receiver shot himself in the leg just one week ago had less distractions coming into this game. Just another week in Dallas.

Not only did the Cowboys get back into the win column one week after giving away a game in Pittsburgh, but they controlled the tempo all night long. Dallas never trailed the Giants, and what can only be described as Doomsday II dominated turned the Big Blue offensive line into a Black & Blue unit.

And after the game, Tony Romo and Jason Witten stood with Owens for an interview with NBC's Andrea Kramer with no signs of discontent or dissension, and no lack of smiles. Turns out, the storm blew over, and now the 9-5 Cowboys find themselves holding down the fifth seed in the NFC playoff picture (tiebreaker standings coming Tuesday).

The pre-game drama came on the offensive side of the ball, but the Cowboys earned this win the same way any team anchors a championship, with Big D. Since Wade Phillips became more involved in the defensive scheming, there's no denying the links to the Cowboys success. Yes, it's been nice having Romo back, but the Cowboys are winning by stopping their opponents, not blowing them away with high-octane offense.

It began against Tampa Bay, where the Cowboys held a first place team to nine points, such a dominating performance that the team won with Brad Johnson under center. Including that Week 8 win, the Cowboys defense has held its opponents to 16.1 points per game in its last seven contests, a vast difference to the 25 ppg average through the first seven games. Dallas now leads the NFL in sacks, with DeMarcus Ware (now at 19) seriously challenging Michael Strahan's single-season sack record (22.5).

The Cowboys offense, specifically the trio in the eye of last week's media hurricane, can slip their thank you cards into the lockers of their defensive counterparts. For one week at least, the storm has blown over.

How much of Ed Werder's reporting from this past week was accurate and how much was the lies that Terrell Owens says? My only conclusion is that Werder or his sources may have exaggerated or sensationalized his report, but I don't think he "told a tale" as Owens claimed during his post-game press conference. Werder has the right to cite anonymous sources as a journalist, but with that comes the criticism of people denying your report. Rich Eisen said on NFL Network after the game that knowing Werder, working with him for seven years at ESPN, that he's not a liar, so the report must have clearly come from somewhere. Former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci followed up by saying he worked with Owens for six years, and watching him during his post-game press conference he saw a guy trying to do his best to put his checkered past behind him and show a strong front.

Personally, I'm looking forward to the Sal Paolantonio press conference to come to Ed Werder's defense after TO called Werder a liar:

"It's really unfair. It's really unfair.

That's my coworker. *sniffle* That's our Cowboys beat reporter. And if you do that, it's unfair!

We report as a team. *sniffle* We report as a team."

More notes from a big win in Big D over Big Blue:

+ DeMarcus Ware collected a sack on the Giants' first play from scrimmage, dropping Eli Manning for a nine yard loss. Only problem? He knocked the ball out, but didn't notice because he was too busy doing his sack dance to go after the ball. Hey, three sacks is great, and Ware seemed to become even more focused after that, but you've got to think he's personally kicking himself a little bit for having this highlight reel sack and celebration feature a scramble for a loose ball in the background. Any doubt that Ware should be Defensive Player of the Year? I'm sure Baltimore's Ed Reed will have something to say about that, so whichever player shines brighter in next week's head-to-head match up will have a nice path to the award.

+ The Cowboys teed off on Manning yesterday, recording 8 sacks. The Giants have now allowed 23 sacks in 2008 - 13 of them against Dallas.

+ Terence Newman earned his third and fourth interceptions of 2008, stepping in front of Domenik Hixon for his first and catching a pop fly in the game's waning moments. Newman flat out dominated the young receiver, traveling with him across the field all game long. Anyone who said the Giants wouldn't miss Plaxico Burress might have more screws loose than Plaxico himself. From Newman to Orlando Scandrick, the secondary held strong, allowing Manning only 191 yards through the air.

+ Anyone miss Pacman Jones? In the secondary? The return game? Anyone? All right, moving on.

+ The offense started with consecutive three-and-outs, and the home crowd became a little restless (read: booed). But just as the Cowboys seemed to get a solid drive together in the middle of the first quarter with back to back completions to Owens and Marion Barber, the offensive line allowed consecutive sacks to take the Cowboys out of Nick Folk's amazingly long range, forcing a punt.

+ I guess Patrick Crayton's meeting with Jason Garrett paid off. Romo ran around, escaped the pocket, and found #84 breaking away from coverage for the game's first score, a 34-yard TD. Thank goodness he kept running, unlike last January.

+ Tashard Choice impressed me yesterday. Not for being the Cowboys best weapon for the second straight game, but for how he celebrated his 38-yard TD run to seal the game. Channelling the showmanship from his inner-Terrell-Owens, Choice extended his arms to for a "T" followed by flexing both arms to his left in a "C" - a take off on Owens' T-O celebration. No one ever said this kid lacks bravado. Choice finished with 91 yards on the ground on nine carries and caught four balls for 52 yards (143 total yards). Anyone else excited for the idea of having Choice, Barber and Felix Jones all healthy next season? Me too.

+ Speaking of Barber, clearly he's still got some healing to do. His 8 carries for 2 yards show his toe isn't well yet. But maybe he played to get the owner off his back, right?

+ Fullback Deion Anderson joined Choice in scoring his first career touchdown on Sunday. Choice set up the TD by stretching for a first down on the final play of the third quarter, and breaking off a 22-yard run to start the 4th. On 2nd and 1, I saw TO on the sideline and began ranting that he needs to be on the field, at least to have the defense keep an eye on him. Cue the play fake. Romo fakes a handoff to Choice and lobs a ball to a wide open Anderson for the score. The Giants sure bit on it. Heck, I bit on it from my couch.

+ In related news, Martellus Bennett caught a pass that wasn't a touchdown.

+ All the hoopla surrounding the TO vs. the BFF's Romo & Witten appears to have settled down - at least for now. It is worth pointing out, however, that on the key 3rd down conversion where the Cowboys essentially put the game out of reach (right before Choice's TD scamper), Romo looked to the tough, reliable tight end instead of the guy who dropped a ball off his hands earlier in the game. Buddy system? Not really. I'd say it's just good quarterbacking.

+ Okay, I realize that Burress and bruising running back Brandon Jacobs were out for the Giants. I realize that contributed to the loss, but the Cowboys were missing a big part of their offense at the Meadowlands back in November, so let's call it even.

+ Show of hands. Who threw their Cowboys hat off, punched a hole in a wall, threw the remote, kicked their dog, or slightly died on the inside when Romo went down and clutched at his back? Just the thought of Brad Johnson coming into the game made me do four of the five (probably because I don't have a dog). As long as Romo is under center, anything (for better or worse, anything) can happen, and I can live with that. Great play by him to work to bat the ball just out of the end zone on the safety. A 14-5 ball game is still a two-possession affair. 14-10? I'd worry.

Another win on this roller coaster season that is the 2008 Dallas Cowboys. It's amazing just how low things surrounding this team can seem one week and just how high they feel the next. All season long, it's been up and down so rapidly, so violently, that as a fan I'm starting to suffer from motion sickness. One thing is for sure: when this team plays to its potential, they are the unstoppable force everyone expected them to be. Now at 9-5, the Cowboys control their own destiny and can go a long way toward exorcizing some demons if they close "The Farewell" game at Texas Stadium the way this historic venue deserves.

Post game interview with Romo, Witten, Owens:

Romo, Witten, Owens in SNF intro

Tonight with the Cowboys and Giants on Sunday Night Football, the big focus will be on the drama between the Cowboys' Terrell Owens, Jason Witten and Tony Romo. I wonder if NBC will edit them out of Faith Hill's musical "Sunday Night Football" introduction and replace them with some of the more mellow Cowboys, like Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson.  

Just 20 seconds into the theme song, the trio is eating popcorn, all smiles. This could be more of a disaster than TO's Desperate Housewives plug on ABC a few years ago, leading to an unnecessary apology from Owens despite being a total non-issue.

NBC's "Waiting all day for Sunday Night" introduction

Avery out ... now what?

Sean Avery's brief time with the Dallas Stars is over.  Just 165 days after signing the outspoken winger to a 4-year deal, the Stars announced this morning that Avery will not be a part of the organization moving forward.  The left winger lasted 23 games before his comments in Calgary earned him a six-game suspension, opening the door for his teammates and the organization to reveal their true feelings.

(Read the Stars news release)

Any other player making those comments would most likely not have earned a six-game suspension from the league. Then again, any other player probably wouldn't have called the cameras over to make sure they were rolling before beginning that diatribe.

Sean Avery's sloppy seconds comments were the exclamation point on the grammatical blunder that was his signing. Heck, the Stars were trying to get rid of him even before he made his comments. No one wanted him then; anyone seriously interested now?

That's why the Stars are stuck footing the bill for this guy, at least through the end of the season, unless by some miracle Avery is claimed off of waivers during the season.

For the Stars organization, Avery serves as the perfect scapegoat. For now. Players can blame early season struggles - and there have been plenty of them - on Avery being a distraction within the locker room. He's clearly irked veterans Mike Modano and Marty Turco, and with Brenden Morrow out for the year, there isn't a constant presence of strong, unquestionable leadership to stand up to Avery. But with this problem now gone, this cancerous tumor now removed, how quickly can the Stars bounce back, if at all?

Have the Stars even improved since Avery's departure? They've played six games since his comments the morning of the Calgary game, and the Stars are 3-3-0. Playing .500 hockey, it's a lot better than the puppy-trying-to-walk-on-ice type of play we'd seen up to this point. At some point, it's no longer entertaining; it's just sad.

Avery's suspension initially looked like a catalyst to turn this team around. But the Stars have followed each win by promptly losing. The team earned an impressive 3-1 win over the defending champion Red Wings before being shut out 3-0 in Nashville the next night. I don't want to hear about how tough it is playing the second half of a back-to-back. For a team that has put together back-to-back wins (not on consecutive days, just ever) only once since February, clearly there are deeper problems than one outspoken left winger.

Divided locker rooms don't just heal when one troublemaking player leaves. Wounds linger.

Dallas has suffered injuries to so many key players, the goaltending has been inconsistent at best (and if we're being honest, ugly), and the youngsters that looked so good last year appear lost.

So where do the Stars go without Avery? With five of the next seven games in Dallas, winning always has been the true panacea in sports. But looking down the roster, I don't see anyone capable of fulfilling that prescription.

Love Triange: Romo-Owens-Witten

It's amazing how much this Tony Romo-Jason Witten-Terrell Owens love triangle is getting blown up. And after listening to pretty much all of it across several TV networks, radio stations, newspapers, blogs, etc, there seems to be way too much smoke for the size of this fire.

Simply put: this is getting blown out of proportion.

And before Eagles fans and 49ers fans out there begin with there "toldja so's" let's take a look at the source of this controversy.

"Owens believes that Romo and Witten, close friends and road roommates that came to Dallas in the same offseason, hold private meetings in which they create plays that the two of them will use in upcoming games without including Owens in the conversations. Owens would not give me a comment today, but he believes that this is the reason that Witten and not Owens leads the Cowboys in receiving." Ed Werder, ESPN

If Owens didn't talk to Werder, how would he have ANY clue what TO is really thinking or what he believes is going on? I'm not saying TO is a saint by any means, but this is just ESPN blowing things way out of proportion. It's absolutely ridiculous.

Another fact that's been buried at the end of a Dallas Morning News story is that the receivers spoke to receivers coach Ray Sherman seeking permission to talk to Garrett. I don't think any of those three receivers - TO, Roy Williams, Patrick Crayton - are trying to blow this thing up. Instead at the first sign of trouble in paradise, ESPN is all over it to let everyone know that the whole system is breaking down.

Isn't it possible these are just the same regular frustrations that any team would go through after a tough late-season loss?

Now I'm not saying that Owens is completely without fault in this situation. Despite his great ability on the field and his enormous role in the offense, it'd be foolish to ignore his history in San Francisco and Philadelphia.

While Owens did not speak to Werder, the DMN's Calvin Watkins spoke to the receiver about his thoughts on the Werder story.

"I'm not jealous of Witten. I'm not jealous of nobody. I can take the approach that I got paid so screw everything, but that's not me. I just want to win. I'm not trying to create a war of words with anybody. I thought we had a productive meeting and I just talked to Jason about Tony reading the whole play because other people are open besides Witten."

The end of that final sentence is the focal point of where this is all stemming from. Saying "other people are opens besides Witten" is not a big deal. Holy crap, you mean a quarterback made a bad read once ever? Or a quarterback threw at a covered Pro Bowl mega-reliable target? How many times in Owens' career has he been covered yet still be able to make a play? It happens. So while TO might be pointing out that other people were open in Pittsburgh, or while this might even show he was frustrated at the end of the crushing loss, it doesn't mean he's jealous or thinks there's a conspiracy.

Enough already.

Two days ago, it was Jerry Jones versus Marion Barber with the owner supposedly questioning the running back's toughness, a story that was all over the major networks. How was it these reports couldn't see this for what it really was: the owner simply misspeaking and putting his foot in his mouth. Jones is the biggest Cowboys fan and eternal optimist there is. He's not one to call out his players, but that was ignored for the sake of sensationalistic journalism.

Jason Witten has been quoted (and there's audio of him on a NY radio station) not seeming upset or frustrated or even steamed about this issue. Perhaps that is simply the levelheadedness of Witten, but my bet is that it's simply not as big an issue as it's being made.

Does TO really, truly believe that Romo and Witten are drawing up secret plays on road trips and staying up til 3am eating cookies, painting each others toenails, talking about their love live and diagramming plays for Sunday? Come on. No rational person could possibly think that?!

The obvious rebuttal: Terrell Owens is not a rational person. But while Owens is far from stoic, he also seems to be far from the player he was in San Francisco and Philadelphia. He has come a long way in three years in Dallas. He's become a leader for this organization over that time. This isn't the same receiver that desecrated the star in 2002.

This is a guy who knows that this Cowboys team is his last realistic chance to be a key contributor to a Super Bowl contender. He's 35 now and on the decline of a Hall of Fame career.

Oh, but what team would even want him as a member of their organization?

The Cowboys want things to work with this guy. Owens wants things to work with the Cowboys. Hearing from Witten, it seems he is okay with how things are right now, and he doesn't have a problem with Owens.

As for Romo, he's been silent through all this. What else is he to do? Last season, the QB was crucified for a weekend getaway with his girlfriend. This year he's now being thrust into the middle of a love triangle between himself, his tight end and his top receiver. Romo for now seems to be following the lead of his running back when it comes to the media. Perhaps the entire organization should follow Marion Barber's philosophy when it comes to the press.

Keep your mouth shut.

As for the reported turmoil from this love triangle? The most disturbing part of it all is the fact that other than Bradie James, who didn't say all that much to ESPN's Werder, no other Cowboys players were named in the story. They were all anonymous. If Owens was as bad as some of these sources are making him out to be, why wouldn't some of these guys go on record? Isn't that what's happening with the Dallas hockey team?

Sean Avery caused internal struggles within the Dallas Stars organization, and it could end up costing Brett Hull his job as co-GM. Many of the stars players, including team leaders Mike Modana and Marty Turco and even coach Dave Tippett have not been shy to go on record with their disappointment and frustration with Avery. Maybe those guys are speaking more freely because Avery is currently suspended, but they certainly aren't biting their tongues or hiding from the cameras.

Frankly, I'd be much more impressed with Werder's report if he put some faces to these anonymous sources. I know that's not always how journalism works, but this sort of sensationalism is simply ESPN adding a deluge of gasoline to a room they are already trying to spark.

NFC Playoff Picture - Week 14 wrap up

Things at the top are coming into focus while the bottom of the picture becomes increasingly cluttered. The Cowboys had an opportunity to clean up the mess by winning in Pittsburgh, but their late-game collapse flung the door open for four other teams right behind them. Dallas, however, still controls its own destiny and should consider writing the New Orleans Saints a thank you note for their victory over the Falcons.

Dallas and Atlanta now have identical 8-5 records, but the Cowboys hold the edge in conference W-L-T percentage, giving the Boys control over the final wild card spot for now.

The Giants and Cardinals each wrapped up their divisions, while the NFC South and North are still one-game affairs. Let's take a look at the standings before checking in on the remaining schedules and tiebreaker standings after Week 14.

If the playoffs started today, who need not worry:
1. z-New York Giants (11-2)
2. Carolina Panthers (10-3)
3. Minnesota Vikings (8-5)
4. z-Arizona Cardinals (8-5)
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-4)
6. Dallas Cowboys (8-5)

Need to keep winning:
7. Atlanta Falcons (8-5)
8. Philadelphia Eagles (7-5-1)
9. Washington Redskins (7-6)
10. Chicago Bears (7-6)
11. New Orleans Saints (7-6)

The Beatables:
12. Green Bay Packers (5-8)
13. San Francisco 49ers (5-8)
14. Seattle Seahawks (2-11)
15. St. Louis Rams (2-11)

Needs that bailout:
16. Detroit Lions (0-13)

Thanks to the Eagles upset of the Giants last week, both first-round byes are still very much available, however, the Giants can clinch one of those with a win against the Cowboys in Dallas this weekend. At this point, there is still a very likely log jam at 10-6, so make sure to review your tiebreaker rankings below.

Prediction Key:

Win

Loss

	NYG	TB	ARZ	CHI	CAR	WAS	ATL	DAL	MIN	NO	PHI
W-L	11-2	9-4	8-5	7-6	10-3	7-6	8-5	8-5	8-5	7-6	7-5-1
Week 13	W @Was	W NO	L @Phi	L @Min	W @GB	L NYG	W @SD	W Sea	W Chi	L @TB	W Ari
Week 14	L Phi	L @Car	W STL	W Jax	W TB	L @Bal	L @NO	L @Pit	W @Det	W Atl	W @NYG
Week 15	@Dal	@Atl	Min	NO	Den	@Cin	TB	NYG	@Ari	@Chi	Cle
Week 16	Car	SD	@NE	GB	@NYG	Phi	@Min	Bal	Atl	@Det	@Was
Week 17	@Min	Oak	Sea	@Hou	@NO	@SF	STL	@Phi	NYG	Car	Dal
Predicted Final Record	13-3	11-5	10-6	9-7	11-5	10-6	10-6	10-6	10-6	10-6	9-6-1

Current NFL Tiebreaker rankings

Like last week, let's analyze who holds the tiebreakers at each tiebreaking level in the NFL.  We're focusing on the Wild Card tiebreakers because that's where the drama is.  Quick recap of the 11 steps for breaking a tie between two wild card contenders:

1. Head-to-head, if applicable.
   
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.
   
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.
   
4. Strength of victory.
   
5. Strength of schedule.
   
6. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.
   
7. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.
   
8. Best net points in conference games.
   
9. Best net points in all games.
   
10. Best net touchdowns in all games.
    
11. Coin toss.
    

For this exercise, we ignore the head-to-head step as it takes a simple glance at the regular season to solve. We're digging deeper. First, the best W-L-T percentage in the conference.

W-L-T percentage in NFC

Team	TB	CHI	CAR	ATL	DAL	WAS	MIN	PHI	NO
NFC W-L-T	8-3	5-5	7-3	5-4	6-4	6-4	6-3	6-4	4-5
%	.727	.500	.700	.556	.600	.600	.667	.600	.444
Rank	1	8	2	7	T-4	T-4	3	T-4	9

The next step, best won-lost-tied percentage in common games we skip for two reasons. First, we won't know which two teams to analyze when it comes to common opponents, and secondly because even if we had two teams, they might not have the requisite four games to apply this tiebreaker. Thus, we press onward.

Strength of Victory
This tiebreaker is used to determine the caliber of opponents a team beat throughout the season. If a team racks up a monster record but does it against pansies, they would lose this tiebreaker to a team with the same record who beat tougher opponents. This is really where things start to get technical.

This week: Chicago, Carolina, Minnesota, Philadelphia and New Orleans all won, so their strength of victory records will be updated with new teams.  Because the Bucs, Falcons, Cowboys and Redskins all lost, no victory means no changes in who they beat, but the records of their opponents have been updated.

Team	PHI	TB	CAR	WAS	NO	DAL	MIN	ATL	CHI
Beaten Teams	STL PIT SF ATL SEA CIN* ARI NYG	ATL CHI GB CAR SEA KC MIN DET NO	SD CHI ATL KC NO ARI OAK DET GB TB	ATL ARI DAL PHI CLE DET SEA	DEN SF OAK SD KC GB ATL	CLE PHI GB CIN TB WAS SF SEA	CAR NO DET HOU GB JAC CHI DET	DET KC GB CHI OAK NO CAR SD	IND PHI DET MIN DET STL JAX
Beaten Teams' Record	47-56-1	49-68	54-76	36-54-1	36-55	40-62-2	39-65	39-65	30-60-1
%	.458	.419	.413	.401	.396	.394	.375	.375	.331
Rank	1	2	3	4	5	6	T-7	T-7	9

*Ties in the NFL count as a half-win and half-loss, therefore the Eagles tie against the Bengals will be counted as half of a win and the game is counted in their strength of victory.  Note: Donovan McNabb probably did not know this.

Strength of Schedule
This is similar to strength of victory except it includes the records of all the teams played, not just the teams defeated. Listed are the teams played (italics indicates loss), their combined record and winning percentage, followed by the rankings of where each team falls in this particular tiebreaker.

This week: The Eagles moved up in this category because the Giants came onto their schedule.  Conversely, the Vikings strength of schedule plummeted when 0-13 Detroit appeared on their schedule again.

Team	PHI	NO	WAS	CHI	TB	MIN	ATL	DAL	CAR
Teams Played in 2008	STL DAL PIT CHI WAS SF ATL SEA NYG CIN* BAL ARI NYG	TB WAS DEN SF MIN OAK CAR SD ATL KC GB TB ATL	NYG NO ARI DAL PHI STL CLE DET PIT DAL SEA NYG BAL	IND CAR TB PHI DET ATL MIN DET TEN GB STL MIN JAX	NO ATL CHI GB DEN CAR SEA DAL KC MIN DET NO CAR	GB IND CAR TEN NO DET CHI HOU GB TB JAC CHI DET	DET TB KC CAR GB CHI PHI OAK NO DEN CAR SD NO	CLE PHI GB WAS CIN ARI STL TB NYG WAS SF SEA PIT	SD CHI MIN ATL KC TB NO ARI OAK DET ATL GB TB
Opp. Record	89-79-1	87-82	86-82-1	82-86-1	82-87	81-88	80-88-1	78-89-2	79-90
%	.527	.515	.509	.488	.485	.479	.474	.467	.467
Rank	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	T-8	T-8

Strength of schedule really illuminates the road each team traveled during the regular season. It's a tiebreaker that the NFL must use every so often when teams log-jam the standings around 8-8. Usually this ends of favoring the teams in a division which plays the toughest division. This season teams in the NFC West are playing the NFC East, and because three teams in the West are severely struggling, that is reflected in the overall winning percentage of the opponents of NFC East teams.

With this formula, however, opponents that have not yet been played (Week 15-17 opponents) have not yet been factored in. A team like Washington with a .509 opponent winning percentage will likely see that number fall significantly after games against Cincinnati and San Francisco.

Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed
I know what you're thinking: what does that even mean? How could anyone ever know that? That's what I'm here for. Here's the breakdown of how these tangled up teams currently rank when it comes to putting up points and preventing teams from scoring.

Team	CAR	PHI	ATL	TB	NO	MIN	DAL	WAS	CHI
Offensive Points Allowed	323	339	323	303	366	307	312	218	304
NFC Rank	T-6	5	T-6	11	2	9	8	15	10
Defensive Points Allowed	254	263	271	238	326	276	280	246	278
NFC Rank	4	5	6	2	12	7	9	3	8
Combined Ranking	10	10	12	13	14	16	17	18	18
Who comes out ahead	T-1	T-1	3	4	5	6	7	T-8	T-8

Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed
As you can see from the above tiebreaker, it's very easy for several teams to end up tied within a conference with similar combined rankings, especially when you consider that it's really the teams at the top of the conference who are being looked at. At this point, it's time to bring in the entire NFL into the mix to determine whose rankings are the best.

Team	PHI	CAR	ATL	TB	NO	MIN	DAL	CHI	WAS
Offensive Points Allowed	339	323	323	303	366	307	312	304	218
NFL Rank	6	T-9	T-9	17	2	14	13	16	29
Defensive Points Allowed	263	254	271	238	326	276	280	278	246
NFL Rank	10	8	11	5	24	14	17	16	6
Combined Ranking	16	17	20	22	26	28	30	32	35
Who comes out ahead	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Best net points in conference games.
We're getting farther and farther down the list of tiebreakers. By this points, it's extremely rare that two teams remain tied. However, this is simply an exercise to see which teams come out ahead in each category. Now it's time to check net points (Net = Offensive Pts - Defensive Pts).

Team	PHI	TB	MIN	CAR	DAL	CHI	ATL	NO	WAS
Points Scored vs. NFC	304	260	217	246	240	244	239	233	180
Points Allowed vs. NFC	208	195	195	224	228	234	241	237	188
Net	+96	+65	+22	+22	+12	+10	-2	-4	-8
Tiebreaker Rank	1	2	T-3	T-3	5	6	7	8	9

Best net points in all games.
It's only fair to judge a team's body of work against its conference before looking at how it did against the entire NFL. Take a team that gets to play interconference games against the other conference's weakest division (*cough* AFC West *cough*) compared to teams that must play against AFC East opponents. That's why this tiebreaker is so far down the list.

Just take a look at the point differentials of teams like Carolina, Atlanta and New Orleans who each saw their net points skyrocket when taking into account the entire NFL. That's because this season the NFC South played the AFC West.  Note: the NFC West is playing the AFC East which could explain why Buffalo, New England, Miami and the Jets are all doing so well this year. It's not the only reason, but it certainly helps.

Team	PHI	CAR	TB	ATL	NO	DAL	MIN	CHI	WAS
Points Scored vs. NFL	339	323	303	323	366	312	307	304	218
Points Allowed vs. NFL	263	254	238	271	326	280	276	278	246
Net	+76	+69	+65	+52	+40	+32	+31	+26	-28
Tiebreaker Rank	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Best net touchdowns in all games.
This is the final tiebreaker that has anything to do with football played on the field. After this, it comes down to a coin flip. Could you imagine the whole coin flip debacle from Thanksgiving 1998 going down as the final tiebreaker for a playoff spot??? Wouldn't you have to watch? It'd be the most intense coin flip ever - until of course we see overtime in the Super Bowl.

Consider this fact about the net touchdowns tiebreaker. Lets say two teams play each other and tie in the head-to-head (are you listening, Donovan, it's possible), 21-21. Team A scores 21 by kicking seven field goals. Team B finds the end zone three times. If it got down to this tiebreaker, Team B is going to really enjoy how that tie came about. Here are the net TD numbers:

Team	NO	DAL	CAR	PHI	TB	CHI	ATL	MIN	WAS
Total TDs Scored	44	37	37	37	31	34	35	32	22
Total TDs Allowed	34	28	28	29	24	30	32	30	27
Net	+10	+9	+9	+8	+7	+4	+3	+2	-5
Tiebreaker Ranking	1	T-2	T-2	4	5	6	7	8	9