NFL 2012 Season Week 14 Picks

A perfect storm is brewing for the Packers. Not only is the number 2 seed within their grasp based on their remaining schedule and the 49ers remaining schedule, but there exists a decent possibility that the Giants will be bumped from the playoffs. I would say there is really only one team that would really scare me in the playoffs, and that's the Giants.

The Packers only "lost" to the seahawks because of a 1 in a billion alternate universe last second debacle that corrected the course of the NFL for all to benefit from.

Some thoughts on Ponder:
... I don't know what more people want from Ponder if they look at a play where the QB rainbows it in there from 40-60 on target enough to hit a receiver in the head, and then place the blame on the QB, and not the guy who forgot he has arms.

He's right in the mix with Stafford and Bradford, who most people would say have been pretty solid hits, and (again, currently) ranks 4 spots ahead of Luck. (Who is obviously a rookie on a bad team, but the media has already declared him the second coming, despite his currently ranking only ahead of names such as Weeden, Sanchez, and Cassell.

Eau Claire newsman Bob Gallaher (@WEAUGallaher) was hardly the only person to over react, and likely based on a sample size of "I was only able to watch the last couple games", but he tweeted the following today: Ponder is easily the worst QB in the NFL. A waste of a draft pick for Minnesota. They will rue it for years to come.

I only keep referring to Rodgers because he's probably the best example of a QB on a team that asks essentially nothing of their running backs, to contrast with Ponder, who has to be the best example of a QB on a team with the opposite approach. Also, like I said, that isn't the difference between falling to an 84 season and to a 105 season, but it could be the difference between a 104 season and a 99. More importantly though ADDING a handful of TDs to a 79 probably would make a pretty solid difference in perception. I'm not saying "if you switched them they'd switched stats too", but I am saying they could be clones of each other and expecting similar ratings for those 2 situations described above would be unreasonable, even outside of the issue of how reasonable expecting Ponder to play more or less that well, just without the TDs, would be at this point. Ponder is a young QB on a rebuilding team that doesn't get to mask a so-so day behind 2 short TDs very often, whereas many QB's do get that opportunity. Likewise, his rating takes a disproportionate hit when he throws an interception. So, where exactly is "good" for him, really? 80?