One: The Packers are winning without their two best defenders, edge player Za’Darius Smith and cornerback Jaire Alexander, who are injured. Three very notable things to me about this team. Odd, of course, but this defense is giving up 20.2 points per game over the first 12 games, and that’s a winning formula when you’ve got Rodgers, Davante Adams and two good running backs. Green Bay gave up 13 points, total, to Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson, then 62 points, total, to Kirk Cousins and Matthew Stafford. Aaron Rodgers is the bright, shiny object, but the defense is what’s different in Green Bay, and I say that after two distinctly different two-week stretches. The best teams in the NFL with six weeks left in the season, the teams I think have the best chance to get to SoFi Stadium for Super Bowl 56 on Feb. You’ll learn that from an admirable man named Ivan Maisel. One last point before the NFL top 10: Mental illness needs sunlight. Louis being $790 million richer but being light years from another NFL team, Tua Tagovailoa-to- Jaylen Waddle, Big Ben in twilight, Leonard Fournette the inspirer, Jaelen Reagor the goat (and I mean that in a negative sense), Cam Newton the mess, Scotty Miller the example, Saquon Barkley, Hall of Fame maven Bill Belichick, weirdo Ravens, shaky Lamar Jackson. I won’t give the normal attention to the boldface names of Thanksgiving weekend- Elijah Mitchell, Pat Surtain II, Baker Mayfield of the crashing-to-earth 6-6 Browns, Cordarrelle Patterson, St. December and January football really matters. So should you really love New England on a six-game winning streak? Should you really give up on the Rams, on a three-game losing streak? November football matters. New England, 10-1 after 12 weeks in 2019, went 2-4 after that, including the ugly Tom Brady swansong wild-card loss to Tennessee. The Steelers went 1-5 after Week 12 last year, getting embarrassed in the wild-card game by Cleveland. They were 8-0 the rest of the way, fresh as daisies. Remember last year, when the Bucs used the first week of December to modify their offense so it wasn’t a bunch of guys just running around? Worked. Kyler Murray, Julio Jones, the pinky toe of Aaron Rodgers, and maybe Derrick Henry will all benefit by the December break. So many of my top teams have byes in Weeks 12, 13, 14 this year-KC, Arizona, Tennessee, Green Bay and New England. In 2020, Tampa Bay had a Week 13 bye and won the Super Bowl. In 2019, Kansas City had a Week 12 bye and won the Super Bowl. In 2018, New England had a Week 11 bye and won the Super Bowl.
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So abandon faith in the Vikings at your own risk. But the Vikings play Chicago twice and Detroit once in the final six weeks.
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Who loves psycho 5-6 Minnesota? Not me, particularly with Dalvin Cook headed for the MRI tube this morning to check his troubled shoulder. (You thought I’d say Cincinnati, and I almost did.) The team that could be the ultimate spoiler: San Francisco. The best team in football heading into December: Green Bay, by an immunized pinky toe (thanks, Joe Buck) over Arizona. This year, well, I’m going to give you the top 10 in the league heading into snow-squall season, and I’m going to give you the five teams who could be this year’s Bucs. Tampa Bay, on a two-game losing streak with some internal grousing about the dysfunctional offense making the rumor rounds, was 7-5, not a top 10 team as the calendar flipped to December. After 12 weeks, the Steelers were 11-0, the clear number one team in the league. When the calendar turns to December, we should know the lay of the land in the NFL, right? Of course. Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window).Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window).
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