The Detroit Lions have got something to put onto their resumes this offseason. They have gone 0-16, and are the first team to go winless through a 16 game season. The Tampa Bay Bucs, in their first season of play, went 0-14 on the season. The last game pitted Detroit against Green Bay, in a game between the two bottom teams in the NFC North. Green Bay, with their new QB Aaron Rodgers, were able to hold out 31-21 to finish their season on a positive note. The Lions are unable to see anything good about it. Yes, they came rather close to winning the last game. Yes they almost won several other games. But they were unable to win anything this season. Next season will definitely be better.

The Patriots are on the brink of not qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in several years. Obviously largely due to the fact that Brady is injured. Regardless, the Patriots may go from being one of the best teams in history, to a team that can’t even make the wild card cut. What they need is a win and a little luck. Either the Dolphins or Ravens need to lose, in addition to a Patriots victory over Buffalo, and New England will see January football for another year.

The Giants are really giant this year. They are the best team in the NFC this year and have got the home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They clinched their division a long time ago and they are ready to take it a long way off. The Super Bowl champions have pretty much led all year and will keep pushing into the playoffs. And it doesn’t appear that there are that many strong competitors in the NFC this year. Arizona has fallen off. The North Division will be lucky to get a winner at all. And the south has a couple of strong teams, but nothing really exciting. So at this point, i imagine that the Giants are going to the Super Bowl. We’ll have to see who comes out of this year’s AFC mess to really know.

Several weeks ago (even just a couple weeks ago), it seemed as though the NY Giants were a lock to take home field advantage throughout the playoffs. It didn’t seem like any one else could take it. But somehow the Panthers slipped under the radar and are in a dead tie with the Giants for the playoff advantage. While the Giants have sputterred out lately, Carolina have shifted into high gear, especially with their running game. The test for them now is, however, to win out and win on the road. This is an area that Delhomme has especially struggled at this season.

If the season were to end right now, there would be several disappointed teams at the moment. New York, Carolina, Minnesota and Arizona would be the division winners in their respective divisions and the two NFC Wild Card teams would be Dallas and Tampa Bay. In the AFC, it would be a little more complicated, owing to the 3 way tie in the AFC East. But at this point, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, New York and Denver would be the division leaders and the two wild cards would be Indianapolis and Baltimore. What an exciting year this is, with some teams still dominating and some teams not as good as they were before.

The Patriots went 16-0 last year. “Hmm, not bad,” says the Detroit Lions management. “Now check this out.” The Lions, so far are 0-13 on the season and are just 3 games away from their goal of going 0-16. The way the Lions have just hunkered down every game, concentrated, and just been torn apart by every opponent is incredible. Most teams would lose focus around the midpoint of the season (and some even at the second game) and mess things up with a win. No, not the Lions. They are steadfast on their pursuit towards utter infamy. Their dedication towards imperfection is remarkable. 3 games guys…you know what you need to do. Now do it….do it.

The Detroit Lions almost got their first win last Sunday against the NFC North leaders, the Minnesota Vikings. The team led the game for the first three quarters, but, alas, during the first part of the last quarter the Vikings replacement QB Tarvaris Jackson threw a touchdown to put them up ahead. The Vikings are looking to hold onto their lead of the division and the Lions are just playing for honor at this point, hoping not to become the first team to go 0-16 in the history of the NFL. It is unfortunate for them, but they have a few more games to do it, but it looked like they had their best chance so far this year.

The Minnesota Vikings were able to take the lead in the game and in the division by completing a 99 yard pass to Bernard Berrian at the end of the 2nd quarter to take a 10-7 lead against division rival Chicago Bears and winning the game in the end 34-14. This play was not the only good play the Vikings made this week. It was preceded by an impressive goal-line stand on the 1 yard line. The Bears had it at 1st and 1 and got stopped each time, turning the ball over in 4 downs. Now Minnesota is at 7-5 and leads the division, and Chicago fell to 6-6. It’s a competitive division, but they have now taken a big step towards winning the division. Chicago has to win several more games and hope for Minnesota losing some games.