NFL: Last Team Standing

Everything else
1

Stolen from Dr. Z’s Power Rankings over at SI.com, let’s play the prediction game:

Pick either the last team to remain unbeaten or the last team to stay winless. Which team will be the last to have a zero in their win/loss record?

Bonus points (+1,000,000) for choosing the week it all ends.

Here’s my prediction:

I’ve got Oakland to make it to week 16, where they will squeak one out against the Chiefs at home. They’ll have to sit down versus the Cardinals, though.

I’ve got Indy going down to the Broncos or Pats in weeks 8 or 9. They won’t make it out of that road trip with a perfect record.

The Ravens won’t make it past week 13 when they visit the Bengals and have a decent shot of staying with Indy until mid-season. I’m so optimistic because I live so close.

Chicago loses to the Pats in week 12. Man that going to be a good game.

The Lions will pick up a win either this week or against the Jets in week 7. They are showing signs of life.

Tampa will win one of their games against the Saints. Week 9 for them, at the latest.

I don’t see a winnable game on the schedule for the Titans. Even the Texans should be favored to beat them at home. They are my pick. I’m going to the complete season O’fer.

2

So, there are 3 unbeatens, Baltimore, Indy and Chicago, and 4 winless, Tenessee, Oakland, Detroit and Tampa.

Baltimore will lose soon. They’ve got Denver, Carolina and Cincy in their next 4 games and are overdue for a loss. That leaves Chicago or Indy, who could both get out of October unbeaten, but have some stff matchups in November.

As for the winless: Detroit’s schedule is too light. They’ll get a few wins soon. As horrible as Oakland is, they’re playing SF and Arizona in the next few weeks and should be able to get in the win column. That leaves Tennessee and Tampa, who both have brutal schedules, but some winnable games in the next few weeks.

So it feels like a coin flip between Chi / Indy / Tenn / TB, but I’m going to go with the team that gets to play Buffalo, Arizona, SF and Miami as their next 4 games: the Chicago Bears, who will lose their first game to New England on Nov 26.

3

With VY starting, Tennesse beats Houston 9 games out of 10. It’s the grudge factor.