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| Thursday, November 2 By Tom Oates Special to ESPN.com | ||||||||||||
The Rams' Marshall Faulk took a back seat to Kurt Warner last year, but his true value to the most explosive offense in NFL history has become evident this year. Faulk's 1,326 total yards are ahead of his record pace from last year and his 14 touchdowns, if doubled, would smash Emmitt Smith's NFL record. He's in the top 10 in both rushing and receiving and, with Warner out with a broken pinky finger Sunday, Faulk scored four touchdowns against the 49ers. Defensive MVP: La'Roi Glover
Most people thought Dennis Green would fall victim to his own arrogance when he let Jeff George, Randall Cunningham, Randall McDaniel and Jeff Christy leave via free agency and forced out both of his coordinators. However, Green was right when he said when he could find able-bodied replacements for every one of them. The Vikings were the NFL's final unbeaten team and are 7-1 in a season in which many figured them to fall to fourth or fifth in the Central Division. Handicapping the playoff race The race for playoff berths is much less defined in the NFC, where parity is not just a word -- it's a way of life. Last year, there were four 8-8 teams in the NFC, and two of them made the playoffs. It looks like more of the same this year, which means the magic number for a playoff spot is nine wins. Get to 9-7 and you can virtually assure yourself a berth. With that in mind, here is what each team must to do reach the postseason. The Rams (7-1) and Vikings represent the NFL's new breed. Both have so many offensive weapons that it doesn't seem to matter that their defenses rank in the bottom third in the league. The Rams are the only team that can give up 31 points a game and still win -- because they average 41 themselves and haven't scored fewer than 34 all season. With Warner out until December, the pressure falls on Trent Green, who, you may recall, was supposed to quarterback this juggernaut in the first place. The schedule gets tougher -- only two teams with losing records -- but if venerable Bud Carson can make an impact on the ineffective defense, the Rams will be favored to return to the Super Bowl. The Vikings are the NFL's surprise team, with Culpepper surging from dead last to first in the quarterback class of 1999 after only eight starts. However, the defense is worrisome. Pass-rusher John Randle is easier to block now that he's a one-man band, and the pass defense is extremely suspect. Except for road games at St. Louis and Indianapolis, the schedule isn't imposing, which means the Vikings' two-game lead in the NFC Central should stand up. The Giants (6-2) and Redskins (6-3) appear destined to slug it out in the NFC East, with one winning the division title and the other a probable wild-card team. The retro Giants have quietly emerged as a quality team, mainly because they're third in the NFL in rushing and second in stopping the run. All that talk about opening up the offense has given way to a tough-guy approach that seems to be working as 260-pound rookie halfback Ron Dayne picks up speed. The schedule isn't as difficult as it once appeared, which means the Giants would have to suffer a complete breakdown to miss the playoffs, but that Dec. 3 showdown with the Redskins at Washington should determine the division title. The Redskins haven't given owner Daniel Snyder as much bang as he expected for his $100 million, but the defense has improved light years with the additions of Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders, Mark Carrier and, perhaps most important, coordinator Ray Rhodes. That bodes well for the stretch drive and the playoffs even though the banged-up offense -- three starters out for the season -- has been inconsistent. Five of the remaining seven games are in the division, and the other two are at St. Louis and Pittsburgh. So the Redskins will have to earn their way in. The Eagles (5-4), Saints (5-3) and Lions (5-3) will jockey for the fifth and sixth playoff positions, with all three keeping a wary eye on the traditionally fast-closing Buccaneers.
Only the Buccaneers (4-4) fit this description, which is bad news for at least two of the teams ahead of them in the wild-card chase. They look like the same old Bucs -- great defense, no offense -- most of the time, but Sunday's 41-13 win over the Vikings snapped a four-game losing streak and saved their season. And remember, the same old Bucs rebounded from 3-4 to reach the NFC Championship Game last year. The next five games all look like wins, which had better happen because the final three -- at Miami, St. Louis at home, at Green Bay on Christmas Eve -- won't be easy. The Cowboys (3-5), Packers (3-5), Panthers (3-5) and Falcons (3-6) trail eight teams in a race where only six places pay. A 6-2 record (6-1 for Atlanta) will be necessary to even think about a playoff spot, and so far none of these teams has given any indication it can do that. The grand plan of Cowboys owner/coach Jerry Jones went awry from the start. Joey Galloway was lost for the season, the defense can't stop the run or the pass, Aikman's career is day-to-day and Randall Cunningham looked very ordinary against the Jaguars Sunday. The Cowboys haven't won consecutive games since the start of the 1999 season, a string that might carry into next year. In their final eight games, the Cowboys play only one team (Cincinnati) with a losing record. The Packers are the biggest mystery in this bunch because they play everyone tough. However, not even Brett Favre has been able to pull games out at the end. Levens, Favre's biggest crutch on offense, has missed time with three different leg ailments, leaving the quarterback with few weapons. The Packers also have schedule problems. They have two games each against the Vikings and Buccaneers. Even if they split those, they will have to win the rest to get to 9-7. Seifert's plan to keep the Panthers' offense intact and improve the defense took a wrong turn somewhere. The offense, particularly the running game, has deteriorated, and the big-name defensive acquisitions haven't made an impact. Now, Wesley Walls and Chuck Smith are out for the season. The remaining schedule is brutal, with six games against teams with winning records, including two against the Rams. If the Panthers go 6-2 and make the playoffs, Seifert should go directly to the Hall of Fame. Just 21 months ago, the Falcons were in the Super Bowl. They've won only eight of their 25 games since then, and there appears to be little chance of reversing that trend with an offense ranked 30th in the league and a defense ranked 29th. Both lines are in disarray, a problem exacerbated by a schedule that includes Tampa Bay, Detroit, Oakland, New Orleans and Kansas City. If the Cardinals (2-6), 49ers (2-7) and Bears (1-7) aren't in a wait-til-next-year mode, they're fooling themselves. It's obvious by their records that they haven't been fooling anybody else. Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal writes a weekly NFC column every Thursday for ESPN.com. | ALSO SEE
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