Macca

7mate are covering all 3 games tomorrow but ESPN are only doing the Panthers @ Dallas match (8.30am)

New England Arizona Giants

Week 12 games The Thanksgiving games all have a bit riding on them ... the Eagles and Dallas cannot afford to lose whilst the Packers/Bears game could be closer than people think. Packers should win but we need to continue to bring our best game. Carolina have a chance to go 11 & 0 and if they do then talk could turn to them going through the season undefeated (4 of their last 5 games are divisional match-ups) Tossing up whether to include them in my tips ... same with the Eagles. 1 point only to play for this week but weeks 13, 15 & 17 are bonus weeks (week 17 is for 3 points) Leaderboard in the comp 5 - Gorgoroth, cowboy_from_ hell 4 - JV7, Georgiou R.R. Martin 2 - Macca 1 - titan_uranus 0 - The rest

Seattle's best is still very good but will they be able to snare a wild-card berth given their schedule? Pittsburgh at home next up won't be easy and they still have to visit Minnesota & Arizona. We can almost certainly assume that the NFC East won't produce a wild-card but there's still a number of teams in the NFC that are in the running for a wild-card berth ... those teams on 4 wins will probably have to win out but 9 wins might do it. However, there nearly always seems to be at least one team that comes from nowhere to challenge - might that team be Tampa? One of Minnesota or Green Bay will probably get one wild-card. Atlanta need a win and they need it asap. In the AFC Pittsburgh seems to be the best team that isn't leading their division ... KC's run home isn't all that difficult either. The Bills & Jets have claims but I favour the Steelers & Chiefs. One of Indi or the Texans are a chance too. I reckon Denver & Cinci will hang on and win their divisions whilst the Pats, Panthers & Arizona will win their divisions barring a huge turnaround in form. The NFC North is still undecided in my opinion whilst any number of teams could win the AFC South & the NFC East. Detroit & Chicago could both play spoiler in the NFC North. Both are capable on their day. One thing is for sure - from here on in we'll start to see elimination games for a number of teams.

The Packers certainly brought their A game today ... all round we were very good whereas in previous weeks we've been awful in all 3 phases. Stopping AP was key and once we stopped him, it was a quite academic. But it's only 1 win and only 1 loss ... both teams are 7 & 3 - there's any number of good teams that have W/L records that are worse. I'd count Seattle, Dallas, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Indi & the Ravens as good teams who for one reason or another have had average or poor returns this season. Detroit are another team who should have done a lot better. Dallas might sneak in but they'll need other teams to help them get in. The Eagles are doing their bit to help but Dallas will need the Giants to do the same - and who knows with Washington? And how about those Panthers? ... 10 & 0 is just remarkable all things considered. They've got a few tough games in their run home but they should get to 13 or 14 wins - and that will probably be enough for the 1 seed. The Panthers already hold the head to head advantage over the Packers so it's really only Arizona who could challenge them for the top seed ... and the Cardinals host the Packers in week 16.

Leaderboard in the comp 5 - Gorgoroth, cowboy_from_ hell 4 - JV7, Georgiou R.R. Martin 2 - Macca 1 - titan_uranus 0 - The rest GRRM makes a move whilst I doubled my score and moved into the bronze medal position (Gorgo's domain)

...and Leicester on top of the table ... who would have thought? The title race is wide open.

The regular season is all about getting enough points to get into the final 16 Vancouver have been good enough to make the playoffs in the recent past but have been abysmal once making it. To be perfectly honest, I don't take it too seriously but enjoy watching the games ... and playoff hockey is fabulous.

You've convinced me ... ah well. there's other sports. I'm more about the comp with ice hockey, NBA & MLB. I prefer to watch the stars and big match-ups. Soccer the same. The NFL as well really but I'm more team orientated with the Packers being a favourite.

ha ha ... just trying to keep the hope alive Cards Quite seriously, I have seen any number of teams in all sorts of sports get on a run ... we all have. I'd agree a team needs a good dose of talent to win the whole thing ... the best teams stand out but 16 teams do get into the playoffs. Think it was just a couple/few years ago where a stack of the lower seeded teams kept winning their playoff series' as well. Sometimes just getting in the playoffs can mean a real opportunity. At this early stage the Stanley cup will be won by one of about 8-10 teams ... the Blackhawks are also hovering and the Red Wings are thereabouts as well. I can see the Canucks perhaps scraping in but we're no real threat.

73-9? The Warriors can do it ... and 2 more wins to equal the best start by an NBA team. A great team to watch and their next 3 are vs Chicago (today) then @ Denver followed by a home game vs the Lakers. Curry is just playing gang-busters and seems unstoppable.

It's a long season and teams can suddenly come back into it with a streak of wins ... my Canucks are going the other way at the moment after having a reasonable start to the season. I always look at it in terms of wins back or wins in front ... the Maple Leafs are less than 2 wins back from a playoff spot whilst the Avs are in a similar position. String 3 or 4 wins together and the thinking changes. Having said all that the Rangers, Montreal, Dallas & St Louis are all playing really well ... the Sharks & Kings are stringing some wins together as well. It's too early to call but the half way mark does give us a much clearer picture. Washington & Pittsburgh are 2 more teams to watch out for.

The Jags have now won as many games as Indi & the Texans. It might be a case of whoever gets to 8 wins will win the AFC South ... the Colts still have to go Atlanta, Miami & Pittsburgh - even 7 & 9 might get it done.

Packers KC Colts

Week 11 games ... no fewer than 11 road teams won in week 10. Is that some sort of record or is it more utterly baffling that the usual suspects here couldn't seem to find 3 road winners amongst that lot? (apart from cfh) The good news is that there is still a total of 11 "possible" points available ... weeks 13, 15 & 17 are bonus weeks. Once again the leaderboard in the comp ... 5 - Gorgoroth, cowboy_from_ hell 4 - JV7 3 - Georgiou R.R. Martin 1 - titan_uranus Macca 0 - The rest .

They're not giving up on Marsh are they? I thought it was a perfect opportunity to blood Bancroft - he hasn't hit a lot of runs this summer but I thought he was more a chance because of his potential and greater upside. A few of the other younger batsmen around the country might have been considered but Shaun gets another chance to prove himself. I can understand O'Keefe getting a call up because he's been in the mix for a while and deserves a chance ... not sure we'll play 2 spinners but Lehmann has hinted that we might. The selectors might like to see how he would work in tandem with Lyon. Pattinson for his fire-power yeah ... Siddle would have to be a chance too. I wonder if they'll rest Hazlewood and play both Pattinson & Siddle? There are a series of 8-11 day breaks between the next 3 tests (including the current break) so the bowlers will be getting plenty of rest. Here's how I think we'll line up ... Burns Warner Smith Voges S Marsh M Marsh Nevill Starc Pattinson Siddle or O'Keefe depending on the look of the wicket. Lyon .

The Panthers will probably get the 1 seed in the NFC the way they are travelling ... if the Vikes can win at home next week then you might start planning for a busy January. That win by Arizona yesterday probably means they'll win the NFC West - they've now got a 3 game break which will be hard to peg back. Who knows in the East? I'm now looking at the wild-card standings for the Pack ... our game is the 8.30am game on 7mate next Monday. It's fair to say that I don't have a great deal of confidence but will Green Bay lose 4 in a row?

Packers are struggling ... we're no certainty for a playoff spot. Suddenly the rest of our schedule looks difficult. Once a team reveals it's weakness in this league, it can suddenly find itself on that losing train. The only consolation is that a number of NFC teams lost as well (Seattle, Eagles, Rams, Saints, Giants et al) Anyway, 10 road teams have won their games this week (so far) but only cfh managed to pick up the 2 points on offer - even when there's a truckload of road winners we still can't pick 'em! Tipping Comp Points Table 5 - Gorgoroth, cowboy_from_ hell 4 - JV7 3 - Georgiou R.R. Martin 1 - titan_uranus Macca 0 - The rest

The terrorist attacks in France makes sport (at least for me) to be quite insignificant for the time being. Will chat to you about the programming at a later date dl.

Tips ... 2 points on offer this week ... Carolina Saints New England

The Jets could have kicked a field goal to draw within 2 points (with 3.02 left in the game) and banked on their decent defense getting the ball back from Buffalo's average offense. Play to your strengths? It's interesting with these percentage plays or analytics ... damned if you do and damned if you don't sometimes. Kicking the field goal looks a little weak but that is quickly forgotten if the Jets had got the ball back (and then only needing a field goal for victory) Watching it "as live" ... I thought they would have taken the 3 but wasn't surprised when they went for it - anyway, it didn't work. Everyone loves to see teams go for it but sometimes a team just needs to do the most obvious thing. The Pats probably would have gone for it but they've got Belichick, Brady & Gronk. We saw an almost identical situation with the Falcons/49ers game except Atlanta took the 3 (with 3.30 left) and then didn't get the ball back ... again, damned if you do and damned if you don't. There's a school of thought that you go for it on the road and take the points on offer at home.

Warner has played test cricket for less than 4 years and has already hit 15 centuries (including 12 centuries in the last 24 months) The way players are extending their career's these days he could end up playing for another 8 years (at least) So how many centuries all up? 40? More? He could easily get another two or three 100's this summer alone ... then we go to New Zealand early next year for another 2 tests. As for this test ... another fizzer of a contest by the looks of it. It could get even more one-sided when we play the Windies (Gayle, Bravo, Sammy and 1 or 2 others are playing in the big bash instead) CA really needs to find a way for either England, South Africa or India to be here playing tests every summer. We know the South Africans won't come here over Xmas but 4 tests could easily be scheduled for mid/late Oct through to mid/late Nov. As it stands, South Africa and Pakistan are here next summer but this year's scheduling lacks real drawing power. We don't play South Africa nearly enough anyway ... and when we do it's for 3 tests only (generally) The Ashes home & away could be played over 3 years instead of 4 and having a strong team like India here every 3 years would create a lot of interest.

You get out & about a lot nutbean ... good on ya mate. Gotta take a bite out of life I say. The following song was featured on the latest opisode of Fargo (season 2) The show itself is stupendously good and I highly recommend it but the music that accompanies the show is first rate as well. A little different for this thread but what the hell ...

Bridgewater cleared to play? I heard he passed the first concussion test but it was a decent blow he received. I reckon he's being used well and the Vikings have a very even game because of it ... 6 & 2 is a very good start, all things considered. As I mentioned earlier, Rodgers has needed to thread the eye of the needle to find his WR's this season and that's a hard thing to sustain ... we really need a strong running game to be a threat and we're up and down in that area. Plus, our opposition are getting too much of the ball which is putting pressure on our average defense. We're the sort of team that needs to score a lot of points to win games against decent opposition - that's entirely possible of course. When we're on our game, we're always a threat ... but, there's any number of sides that we could say that about. Anyway, 2 points are up for grabs this week in the comp and here's the week 10 games (man, the season is going quickly - again!)

It's like deja vu all over again with the Packers & Vikings cfh (it was 3 years ago actually - how time flies) The game in 2 weeks has suddenly become an ultra important one. If your blokes can eke out a win at Oakland next week then our match-up will have a lot riding on it. Are Dallas completely out of it now? Even with Romo back they still have to go to Green Bay and they also host the Panthers in 3 weeks. All the same, they'd still need to win at least 7 of their last 8 games to make it you'd reckon. In my opinion it's now down to the Eagles or Giants.