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Dallas Cowboys playoff chances

NFC East Race: Dallas & Philadelphia Race To A Final Showdown

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The NFC East race appears destined to come down to a Week 17 battle between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, a circumstance that gives the Cowboys a chance for a rare trifecta–they could lose a head-to-head battle for the division to the New York Giants in 2011, the Washington Redskins in 2012 and the Eagles in 2013. All that’s needed is to make sure NBC flexes this year’s game into prime-time so all three could take place for the nation on Sunday Night Football.

Philadelphia currently holds a one-game lead, with an 8-5 record against Dallas’ 7-6 mark. The Cowboys own the tiebreakers though. They’ve got a head-to-head win over the Eagles, and Dallas has won all four of its division games, so it looks like Philly has no choice but to win it outright. The combination of the Eagles having the lead in the race, but the Cowboys having both tiebreakers and the Week 17 game at home seem to add up into making this race a dead heat with three weeks left.


To get a good grasp on the NFC East race, we’ll do some general statistical comparisons of how each team has gotten to this point, what that might mean for the future and then look ahead to the final three weeks.

Offense is the engine driving each team, with the Cowboys ranking third in the NFL in points scored and the Eagles being tied for ninth. They’ve gotten there through different means though.

Philadelphia might be using a hurry-up, innovative style under first-year head coach Chip Kelly, but the end result is decidedly old-fashioned. The Eagles don’t necessarily complete a high percentage of their passes (18th in the league), but they make big plays, ranking 2nd in yards-per-pass. The big-play passing game is set up by a potent running attack, with LeSean McCoy leading the way on a team tied for first in yards-per-rush.

Running the ball and big-play passing is a time-honored tradition in the NFL, from John Madden’s Raiders to Joe Gibbs’ Redskins and Kelly’s Eagles stand in sharp contrast to the high-percentage passing attacks that substitute short throws for running plays around the league.

Dallas is more conventional, which for a team with Tony Romo as its quarterback, is somewhat surprising. The Cowboys are in the middle of the league in yards-per-pass, but Romo is completing a high percentage and not turning the ball over, where his team is tied with Russell Wilson and Seattle for fewest interceptions. Is it possible that the Romo-Coaster is finally settling down?

The Cowboys are getting good enough run production, ranking ninth in yards-per-rush, even though they don’t have a back like McCoy.

Defensively is where Dallas is losing their comparative edge to Philadelphia,  a statement that will come as no surprise to anyone who watched the debacle this past Monday in Chicago, when the Bears scored on the Cowboy defense every time they had the ball, save the final possession when they took a knee.

Dallas is in the bottom quarter of the NFL in every notable defensive category, and the situation is dire enough that the name of coordinator Monte Kiffin was trending this week as a Google search term and owner Jerry Jones had to affirm his support of Kiffin.


In fairness to Kiffin, the Cowboys defensive front four has been ravaged with injuries, but Demarcus Ware is healthy now and really needs to ramp up his game in a year that’s seen him record only six sacks. Ware has Defensive Player of the Year talent and has played to that level (though he’s never won the award) in the past. Now would be a good time to find his mojo again.

Jones might also want to look at what happened with the Baltimore Ravens last year, when they boldly made a coordinator change in December. Baltimore cut loose offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, and with good reason. The Ravens were seen hoisting a Super Bowl trophy not long after, and they weren’t playing a whole lot better than the Cowboys are at a similar point in the season.

Philadelphia’s defense isn’t great, but it’s in the upper half of the NFL, the reason they’re in first place and Dallas is not. The Eagles’ pass defense is problematic, thanks primarily to the lack of a pass rush, but they do defend the run well.

Both teams have excelled in winning the turnover battle, and it’s primarily due to the fact they take care of it their end, something that’s sustainable over the long haul. By contrast, recovering fumbles is more fluky, and while each team has padded their turnover differential with this, each offense is characterized by smart play and taking good care of the football.


This is also the characteristic that defines playoff victories, and something to keep in mind in the first round, where the winner of this race will probably be a home underdog to either San Francisco or the New Orleans/Carolina runner-up.

The schedule for the next two weeks breaks in favor of Dallas. The reports are that Sunday’s nationally televised home game with Green Bay (4:25 PM ET, Fox) will not involve Aaron Rodgers, and if that report holds, the Cowboys will be a sizeable favorite. Dallas then visits Washington to play a team whose coach, in my view, has quit on them.

Philadelphia has a tougher slate. Their road trip to Minnesota on Sunday suddenly looks tough, as the Vikings have been playing competitive football of late, choosing to compete rather than quit at the end of a lost season, something that speaks well of head coach Leslie Frazier. Like Dallas though, the Eagles may play a team without its star, as the status of Adrian Peterson’s ankle is up in the air.

If Peterson doesn’t play, it’s a double bonus for the Eagles–they almost certainly win the game, and McCoy widens his lead on A.P. for the rushing title. The only other contender is Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles, and with the Chiefs likely locking into the #5 AFC playoff seed in the near future, Charles might be sitting in Week 17. The odds are looking good that Philadelphia will have the rushing champ.

Philadelphia then has a tough home game with Chicago, albeit one they should win. That sets the stage for Week 17 in Dallas.

Las Vegas likes the Eagles to ultimately prevail, with the betting odds on Philadelphia to win this NFC East race at 5-9. You can bet Dallas with a slight advantage, at 3-2. As for myself, I picked the Redskins and Giants to each win ten games and make the playoffs out of this division, so I’m just set to cut my losses and forgo a pick. We’ll deal with it here in Week 17 if the ultimate showdown materializes.

NFC Playoff Picture: The Race For The #6 Seed

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The NFC playoff picture is reasonably stable at the top, but the push for the final wild-card spot looks wide-open, with seven teams packed within a game of each other in the loss column. Even if we concede playoff spots to Atlanta, Chicago, NY Giants, San Francisco and Green Bay, there’s still one more out there. Today we run down the seven teams with a shot, briefly summarize their strengths and weaknesses to this point and look at the schedule ahead…

Seattle (6-4): The final berth belongs to Seattle as of today, thanks to their head-to-head win over Minnesota who is the only other 6-4 team. The Seahawks are doing it with defense in particular their ability to rush the passer. They are tied for second in the NFL in sacks, a big reason why teams attempt so few passes against them.

Seattle can also throw the ball better than generally given credit for, as Russell Wilson has gradually improved throughout the year within the confines of a run-oriented offense that rightly plays it conservative so the defense can win games.

What Pete Carroll’s team has to worry about is the schedule. This is a dramatically different team away from home, where they are 5-0. The next two games are road trips to Miami and Chicago, and one of the home games left is San Francisco. The Seahawks should get to nine wins, but there’s no room for error in home games against Arizona and St. Louis.

Minnesota (6-4): To certain extent, the Vikings are similar to the Seahawks. They win games by running the ball on offense, and pressuring the quarterback on defense. The Vikes have helped out their attack by a kickoff return game that ranks 5th in the NFL, although the defense has had to bail out some shaky punt coverage work. Where the comparison starts to fall apart is that while the Viking defense is good, it’s not at the elite level of Seattle, and while quarterback Christian Ponder played well in Sunday’s win over Detroit, we haven’t the same kind of steady improvement that has been the case with Wilson.

Minnesota has a bye week coming up, but both games against Green Bay remain, as does a road trip to Chicago, along with another road trip to Houston. The standings tell you Minnesota is a playoff contender and with six games to go that’s all you can ask. But I don’t see how you would possibly predict it. Just getting to 8-8 against this schedule would be a big achievement.

Tampa Bay (5-4): Doug Martin is getting the attention at running back and has having a great season, giving the Bucs a nice running game. But don’t overlook how well Josh Freeman is cashing in his opportunities to throw the ball. Even though Tampa only ranks in the middle of the league in how often they pass, Freeman is first in yards-per-completion. When you put this kind of offense, together with a defense that can stop the run, you have enough to get into the playoff discussion.

Whether being in the discussion can be translated to actually being in the playoffs depends on whether this team ever finds a way to generate a pass rush. Of the seven teams we’ll discuss today, Tampa’s pass rush is the worst and the secondary isn’t good enough to cover for it. This has the makings of a team whose playoff hopes get dashed by blowing a big lead somewhere along the line.

The Bucs have their own schedule problems down the stretch, with both games against Atlanta remaining, along with a road trip to Denver. Tampa needs to win home games against Philly and St. Louis, plus a road trip to Carolina. Considering that all of these teams are capable of pulling an upset—and that the Eagles and Panthers each have more raw talent—finding four more wins looks daunting.

Detroit (4-5): I’m frankly disgusted with the Lions, after the way they were carved up by a Viking passing game that was missing Percy Harvin. Detroit had seemed to be rounding into form and a win here would have marked them as perhaps the favorite to get this final playoff spot and possibly to move further up the ladder. But the inability to run the ball has hindered the offense. This is not a huge surprise, but the subpar pass rush is a shocker, given that the front four should be one of the best in the league. And given this team’s persistent problems with discipline, I’m sure it won’t shock you to learn that Detroit is terrible at getting themselves field position on kickoffs and punt coverage.

And the schedule? How about Green Bay twice, Chicago, Houston and a road trip to resurgent Indianapolis. Good luck winning five of seven against that slate.

Dallas (4-5): We dug deep into the Cowboys last week, so I won’t rehash old ground, except to say that beating Philadelphia only proves that you’re not the most dysfunctional team in the NFC East. Proving you’re a playoff team is something else. At least the schedule is soft, with home games against Washington, Cleveland and Philly ahead.

New Orleans (4-5): The win over Atlanta was just what the Saints needed to get themselves back on the map. They’ve won four of five and they’re at least making more attempts to run the ball. But this is a team who is exactly what the mainstream media tells you they are—it’s Drew Brees gunning, not much in the way of run support and a genuinely awful defense. At the very least, they need to run the ball a little bit better so they can manage leads with their offense. Otherwise, similar to Tampa Bay, a blown game in the fourth quarter will doom a playoff push.

New Orleans’ schedule is positively brutal—they visit Atlanta, the New York Giants and Dallas, they have a home game with San Francisco and another home date with Tampa. In fact those are the next six games, before they close at home with Carolina. If we could start from scratch right now, the Saints have the momentum, but when you lose games to the Redskins, Panthers and Chiefs in September, that’s a tough self-imposed hurdle to overcome.

Arizona (4-5): Because of the 4-0 start, the Cardinals are still hanging on with this list, but that’s really a formality. The offensive line lost Levi Brown before the season began and can’t run the ball nor can they protect the passer. The defense is above average, but it can’t carry the team. And the injuries continue to pile up. O’Brien Schofield is lost for the year at outside linebacker and we still don’t know when Kevin Kolb will be back. The schedule includes road trips to Atlanta, San Francisco and Seattle and the Cards would need at least one of those to have a chance.

Bottom line? Arizona can feel like Mitt Romney did around 9:30 PM this past Tuesday—knowing there’s still a theoretical chance, but that realistically it’s all over but the shouting.

One final caveat on this race is that perhaps Green Bay shouldn’t be conceded a playoff spot. The Packers are 6-3, but do have significant injury issues and a couple tough road games ahead. If they lose both (at Detroit, at NY Giants) we can reassess the wild-card picture. For now though, these seven teams should assume they’re all after the same spot.

I see it coming down to Seattle and Dallas, as the Cowboys’ soft schedule will push them back into it and the inherent flaws in the other teams and/or their schedules are too big a hurdle. I’d have to lean the Seahawks—I think they’re a better team to begin with and the one-game edge in the loss column can’t be overlooked at this stage of the game.

The irony of this potential situation wasn’t lost on anyone in Week 3, after Seattle’s controversial Monday Night win over Green Bay—no owner in the NFL played hardball with the officials more than Jerry Jones. And the win the replacements gave Seattle in Week 3 is shaping up as the one that keeps Dallas out of the playoffs.

Are The Dallas Cowboys Dead?

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Turmoil is again in the air with the Dallas Cowboys, as they sit at 3-5 with their playoff hopes already on life support at the halfway point of the regular season. Whether Jerry Jones the owner should fire Jerry Jones the GM is a topic on sports talk shows, not just in Big D, but nationwide. The ‘Boys have a game with equally turmoil-ridden Philadelphia coming up Sunday. With the Cowboys-Eagles game in the prime Fox time slot at 4:25 PM EST, the discussion of where to go from here will get even more attention.

As for what Dallas should do in the future, we’ll leave that for another time. For now, TheSportsNotebook is interested in this question—what’s been the problem with the 2012 Cowboys and is there still time to fix it and make the playoffs?

If you review the Cowboys’ core statistical production, the problems jump out loud and clear. The first, and most transparent is the interceptions. Tony Romo’s offense has thrown 13 picks, and only the hapless Kansas City quarterbacks have thrown more.

Then let’s move to the pass coverage. The Dallas secondary is terrible at ballhawking, the worst in the NFC for interceptions of their own. This is made worse by the fact they rank 23rd in yards-per-pass allowed. The pass defense isn’t without its strengths—they do an excellent job minimizing completion percentage, but their negative numbers tell us that opposing quarterbacks can throw the down the field with a high degree of success and a low degree of fear. In today’s NFL that’s a recipe for disaster.

What about the pass rush? Surely, a 3-4 scheme with Demarcus Ware at outside linebacker can collapse pockets and make some big plays of their own, right? You’d think so, but it hasn’t worked out that way. In spite of a good year from Ware, who has nine sacks, the Cowboys as a whole are 20th when it comes to knocking down opposing quarterbacks.

If you’ve got any notions of Dallas using their running game to keep opposing QBs off the field and reduce their own interceptions, think again. The Cowboys don’t run the ball very often, and are terrible when they try, ranking near the bottom of the NFL in yards-per-attempt and total carries. The foot injury to Demarco Murray hasn’t helped, although even he’s healthy, head coach Jason Garrett still likes to get pass-happy.

As we piece this data together into a portrait of the team, it looks pretty ugly. We have a team that doesn’t rush the passer, whose secondary gets beat down the field and can’t make an interception, combined with an interception-prone quarterback of their own and a running game that can’t take the heat off. Oh, and the punt return coverage is the worst in the NFL, with other facets of special teams being mediocre to poor. Sorry I didn’t mention that.

Maybe the relevant question is how in the hell did this team win three games already? The fact Dallas has been competitive in losses to Atlanta, the New York Giants and Baltimore obscure the reality that a lot of teams in the NFL can play close games on a week-to-week basis. Dallas’ complete body of work tells us they have done nothing that suggests that can start turning these games into wins.

The hope Dallas fans have is that Romo can start playing better football, the pass rush can improve and a secondary that’s still young, with rookie corner Morris Claiborne will get better in the second half. Those are very reasonable things to hope for, even if they do have to be tempered by the injury problems at inside linebacker, where Dan Connor is banged up and Sean Lee lost for the year. So let’s move to the next question, which is whether there’s still time to make a run.

For the sake of this discussion let’s lock up five NFC playoff berths—New York, Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco and give one wild-card spot to Green Bay. The Packers have injury problems and tough road games coming on the far side of their bye week on Sunday, so that might not be a guarantee. But with Green Bay at 6-3, I don’t think a Dallas fan wants to invest too much hope at this time of chasing them down. So we’ll assume that the final wild-card spot is all that’s left.

The main competitors for that spot would be Seattle (5-4), Minnesota (5-4), Tampa Bay (4-4) and Detroit (4-4). From a tiebreaker standpoint, Dallas has lost to Seattle and beaten Tampa Bay. The Seahawks look like a pretty good bet to get to 9-7, so the Cowboys probably need to be thinking in terms of winning 10 games—which means winning seven of the last eight.

If we presume the team makes the reasonable improvements noted just above, that’s actually not as far-fetched as it might seem. Dallas’ schedule is very friendly in the second half. In the coming five weeks, they play Philadelphia twice, Washington, Cleveland and go on the road to Cincinnati. The next time Dallas plays a genuinely tough opponent will be December 16 against Pittsburgh, and that’s at home. Then the Cowboys close with New Orleans and a road trip to Washington. We see at least one team, and usually more, get hot in the second half every year. If Dallas is that team, reeling off seven wins against this slate is doable and pending what happens with the tiebreaker situation it might only take six.

We can conclude that while Dallas’ playoff hopes are in critical condition, and they’ve probably played even worse than their record to date, there’s still a narrow window by which they can get better and take advantage of a soft schedule down the stretch. The biggest test case will come Sunday in Philadelphia.

NFL Week 8: NY Giants-Dallas Keys Sunday Card

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The Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants have gone in opposite directions since the NFL’s opening night when the Cowboys efficiently dismantled last year’s champs in an impressive road win. The Giants won five of the next six. The Cowboys have proven what a lot of us thought at the time—that seeing them play a good game was no surprise, but seeing them be consistent would be. Dallas dropped three of the next five.

So as the rematch in Dallas looms in the Sunday afternoon late window, the 4:30 PM ET Fox telecast that will lead directly into the network’s World Series coverage, it’s the Cowboys who find themselves in a must-win spot at 3-3. They can’t dig any deeper of a hole in the NFC East, where they’ll either trail by a half-game or 2  ½ games at game’s end. And the battle for the final playoff berths is looking crowded with teams like Seattle, Arizona, even Green Bay, messing around on the playoff fringe.

The health situation is starting to favor New York. After an early season of being riddled with injuries, they are reasonably healthy right now. Dallas has lost inside linebacker Sean Lee to injured reserve, potentially opening up the Giants’ ability to run the ball between the tackles and in turn creating passing lanes for Eli Manning and a now-healthy receivers corps.

It’s very difficult to see Dallas playing anywhere close to what they did in that season opener—but given that game was a decisive win on the road, it won’t take that level of excellence this time around to scrape out a narrow win at home. But they need to show they can run the ball and stop the run, and if they do that, things will take care of themselves.

Oddly enough, I kind of like Dallas’ chances here. They’re about due for a really good game and to do a Super Bowl tease again. New York’s due for one of their clunkers that ensure regular seasons stay interesting in the Big Apple. The guess here is that Tony Romo plays well, the Cowboy corners make some plays and Dallas escapes with a narrow win.

There’s only one other game in the late window on Sunday and its Oakland-Kansas City. This game begs the philosophical question of whether any game the Chiefs are favored in (they’re giving 1.5 points at home) could possibly be worth watching. The answer is no.

Here’s the rundown on the early games on Sunday for NFL Week 8, with priority given to the two games that will be seen by most of the country (St. Louis-New England from London on CBS, and Washington-Pittsburgh on Fox), followed by the prime-time games of New Orleans-Denver on Sunday and San Francisco-Arizona on Monday.

New England-St. Louis: I think this game is going to be close and the seven points the Patriots are favored by is too high. I just wrote yesterday that those hitting the panic button on this New England team are overreacting, and I stand by them. But the Pats are beaten up with a lot of nagging injuries—reports are that tight end Aaron Hernandez will miss this game—and they desperately need to get to the bye that comes next week.

St. Louis is capable of causing Tom Brady some problems in the pocket, with the pressure that Robert Quinn and Chris Long can bring from the ends. If the Rams were playing last year’s Pats, I’d like this as an upset special. But this year’s Pats team can run the ball, and even with backup Brandon Bolden out, I see Stevan Ridley being effective on some quick traps and draws that keep the pass rush honest. That’s why New England survives—but the fan base needs to be ready for some anxious moments.

Washington-Pittsburgh: You’ve got to give Mike Tomlin some credit—his defense still ranks high in spite of injuries to all kinds of key players from early, from James Harrison to Lawrence Timmons to Troy Polamulu. If the playmakers haven’t been out, they’ve been nicked up, but Pittsburgh is still in the top 10 against both the run and pass. They’ll need it all to match up with the Redskins offense, where the effectiveness of the conventional running game behind Alfred Morris has been overshadowed by RG3’s heroics.

Washington hasn’t done much defensively this year, but they have played well against the run, meaning that Pittsburgh’s one burst of effectiveness of the ground last week in Cincinnati probably doesn’t sustain itself. But the ‘Skins secondary is awful and there’s no reason to think Ben Roethlisberger won’t put up some huge numbers.

RG3 is keeping the ‘Skins in every game and at 3-4, if they steal this win, they stay in the playoff hunt. As a fan, I’m hoping fervently it happens and even talking myself into optimism. But analytically, it’s hard to explain to a neutral observer why this Washington team is good enough to beat—not just compete with, but beat—a still-desperate 3-3 team with Big Ben behind center and playing at home.

Carolina-Chicago: If you’re a betting man, this could be the week to jump on the Panthers. They’re getting destroyed in the press, the Bears are on a short week and coming off a win over a divisional foe (Detroit on MNF) and they aren’t always known to get consistency at the quarterback spot. Plus, you’d be getting 7.5 points with Carolina, so you don’t even to count on Cam Newton making a play down the stretch to win the game. This one’s closer than the experts think.

Seattle-Detroit: If the Seahawks are going to be a playoff team, this is the kind of road win they need. Their physical defense can cause problems for Detroit’s soft offensive line. Their running game can control tempo. Russell Wilson’s mobility can neutralize the Lions’ good pass rush. And if they turn it into a grind-it-out game, you can count on Detroit to shoot themselves in the foot with 10-11 penalties. I like Seattle to prove its mettle in a road game here.

Atlanta-Philadelphia: It’s a mark of how much the Eagles are struggling that this game didn’t displace Washington-Pittsburgh as the game Fox would show to most of the country. But Philly is favored by three. Even giving them homefield courtesy, that still means bookmakers see them as even to Atlanta all things considered. Are we watching the same games? The sportsbook guys are smarter and richer than me, so I can’t dismiss it. But with Atlanta rested and coming off a bye I can’t see why they shouldn’t win.

San Diego-Cleveland: Norv Turner and A.J. Smith are on one sideline. The entire Cleveland Browns franchise is on the other. Could be a more incompetence be clustered in one building than this?

Miami-NY Jets: The winner of this game keeps pace with New England—in fact the Dolphins are only a half-game out and tied with the Pats in the loss column, so the Fish could move into first place if there’s an upset in London. This game was an intense, grinding overtime battle when the Jets won in Week 2 down south. More of the same on Sunday in the Meadowlands, but I like Miami coming off a bye and the Jets perhaps a little soft after a week of some semi-positive press following their near-miss in New England.

Jacksonville-Green Bay: The  14.5 points Green Bay is favored by is far and away the biggest spread on the board this week. Charles Woodson is out for the Packers, but I suspect GB would trade Woodson’s absence for that of Maurice Jones-Drew any day. How is Jacksonville even going to score, much less compete?

Indianapolis-Tennessee: We talked in the recap of last week’s games how these teams were quietly strengthening the AFC South middle class behind Houston and the winner of this one is a viable contender for a playoff spot in a weak conference. You can see Chris Johnson gaining momentum in the running game and I think that continues, as the Titans win decisively at home.

PRIME-TIME

Sun Night: New Orleans-Denver: The Over/Under on this game is 55.5, easily the biggest on the board for totals this week, so there’s no confidence in either defense to slow down Peyton Manning or Drew Brees. That lack of confidence in the defenses is justified, so the question becomes who can make just enough stops to buy time for their own offense and who can at least feign interest in the running game well enough to balance the play-calling.

The answer in both cases is Denver, though not by a lot. Elvis Dumervil and Derek Wolfe represent a little bit better package at defensive end than do Wil Smith and Cameron Jordan on the other side. Denver’s ability to bring Von Miller on the blitz brings them an added dimension. With the running game, the Broncos can at least try it with Willis McGahee. The Saints can’t even do that, nor do they pretend to. Brees likely will have Jimmy Graham on the field, so that at least helps.

But the pattern with this Denver team is clear—unless you put them down 20, you probably don’t win, and maybe not even then (although since Norv Turner won’t be coaching an A.J.Smith-lineup in this game my guess is the Broncos don’t rally from a big deficit here). Denver’s also got homefield and is coming off a bye. Take Peyton, although be wary of laying the six. The Over is the best bet in this game.

Mon Night: San Francisco-Arizona: From the highest total on the board on Sunday night to the lowest on Monday night, as the Niners-Cardinals Over/Under number is 38—only the Jets-Dolphins at 39.5 joins this game under the 40 threshold.

Let’s acknowledge Arizona deserves some respect at home and the seven points they’re getting in what’s likely to be a low-scoring game might seem a little high on the side. And maybe if the game stays close, Larry Fitzgerald could make a game-changing play. Yes, let’s acknowledge that.  But then let’s get to reality—the San Francisco offense is better balanced, with Frank Gore giving them a running threat that Arizona doesn’t have. The Niners are in close to pristine health, while Arizona is, at the very least banged up, even though key players like defensive end Calais Campbell will be in the lineup. And San Francisco proved last Thursday night against Seattle that Alex Smith is still better than his divisional counterparts at managing a brutal war of a game like this one is likely to turn into. Oh, and that reference to Thursday reminds me—San Fran’s had a couple days extra prep time.

It boils down to a 49er win and perhaps a great night for the city of San Francisco—Game 5 of the World Series is scheduled tonight and it’s at least possible the baseball Giants (not to sound like Chris Berman) could be in position to clinch.