NFC Playoff Profile

New Orleans Saints: After a 13-0 start, the Saints lost three straight losing to Dallas, Tampa Bay, and Carolina. With Drew Brees at quarterback, however, it's definitely not time to panic. There was clearly an emotional let down in New Orleans after the big win against New England. They still had home-field advantage to play for, but it's hard to be as excited to play teams like the lowly Redskins and Buccaneers. The Saints won't have that trouble when it comes to the playoffs. The Saints still have a bye week despite a 3 game losing streak and will take that time to regroup.

Minnesota Vikings: Brad Childress was recently exposed as a tactical moron for his attempt to pull Brett Favre in the game against Carolina despite being ahead 7-6. Favre was exposed to be as big a pre-madonna in the locker room as he is in the offseason. Despite coming into the season told that he would not be able to start all 16 games, Favre refused to step aside. There is also tension between the two since Favre frequently changes the plays at the line. When Childress wants to run, Favre wants to pass. After spanking the suddenly terrible New York Giants, the Vikings have a bye week to get on the same page. What both need to realize is that neither of them are the most important guy in purple. That would be Adrian Peterson. If Brett lets him carry the ball once in a while, he'll carry the team deep into the post season.

Arizona Cardinals: The defending NFC champs once again won their terrible division. As one of the most inconsistent teams in the league this season, it's hard to know what to expect. Winning the conference last season was a surprise, but there were no teams as good as New Orleans or Minnesota waiting for them. No repeat for Cinderella.

Dallas Cowboys: After hearing from everyone that they are a bad team in December, the Cowboys went on to beat the undefeated Saints and destroy conference opponent Philadelphia to win the NFC East. This team clearly has the talent and ability to play with any team in the conference, but when expectations are high for this team, that seems to be when they play their absolute worst. Without TO, however, this may be a new Dallas team.

Green Bay Packers: The Packers quietly climbed the NFL standings to find themselves in the post season hunt, but they don't seem to offer much for other teams to worry about. They come in with a very good defense, but with no real offensive line allowing more sacks even than the Washington Redskins. How far the Packers go will be up to quarterback Aaron Rodgers. A wild-card match up against probably the worst playoff team in the NFC, Arizona, gives them a shot at the second round.

Philadelphia Eagles: The Eagles collapsed at the end of the season with a terrible performance against Denver and a 24-0 shellacking by the Cowboys to lose the NFC division. But the Eagles could easily be a sleeper team. Everyone knows about their struggles to win the conference championship, but that's because they make it to so many. Andy Reid always has his team playing well come the playoffs. There will be no repeat of last week's game against Dallas. There's no guarantee that they beat the suddenly dangerous Cowboys, but they will be much better prepared for this week's game.