NFL Picks Week 14: Playoff Contenders on Upset Alert
Published by Nicholas Goss on December 10, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are just one playoff contender on upset alert in Week 14 of the NFL season. With four weeks left in the regular season, teams will be under playoff-like pressure down the stretch.
This portion of the season is where we separate the contenders from the pretenders, and to be successful, you have to play good defense and run the ball well as the weather gets worse.
Let’s look at three playoff contenders who are on upset alert this week.
1. Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are about to hit the Tebow Mania train head-on, and they must be near-perfect to survive.
Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is 6-1 as a starter this season, and even though his stats are not amazing, he does what is needed to win games. His teammates believe in him and so do his coaches.
The Bears defense has played well this season, but they do give up a lot of yards through the air. Chicago allows 259.5 passing yards per game. Even though Tebow is not a prolific passer, he has still thrown 10 touchdown passes with just one interception.
Tebow and the strong Broncos defense will give the Bears everything they can handle this week.
The Atlanta Falcons are in a three-way tie in the NFC wild card race with the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears, and they need to make sure they play their best game against a talented Carolina Panthers team.
Carolina has won two consecutive games and boast the NFL’s eighth best passing attack and fifth best running game.
The Falcons must be able to contain Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who can really pick apart a defense when he’s on top of his game. Newton’s running ability also makes him dangerous as a dual-threat. Newton has also thrown 14 interceptions this season, so Atlanta should be able to create a turnover that could give them some momentum.
For the Falcons to avoid upset, they must run the ball with Michael Turner and control the clock. This is a game the Falcons need to reach the playoffs, but with it being against a division opponent who knows them well, winning this game won’t be easy.
Bill Belichick‘s Patriots played terribly in the fourth quarter last week against the winless Indianapolis Colts, but held on to win 31-24.
Against a much better Washington Redskins defense in Week 14, the Patriots cannot execute that poorly on offense again or they could lose.
New England still has the worst-ranked passing defense in football, allowing a staggering 310 yards per game through the air. Redskins quarterbacks will not find it hard to accumulate yards against the Patriots defense.
Where the game will be decided is the battle between Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and the Redskins pass defense. Washington has the ninth best pass defense, and if they can get to Brady and disrupt his rhythm, the Redskins will have a good chance at an upset.
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