Who To Root For this Weekend...

while waiting for the Vikings lay an egg on Sunday Night:

Saturday at Noon:

Tampa Bay (9-5) v. Atlanta (8-6) at Tampa. The Falcons are essentially tied with the Vikings for the last wild card spot. A loss to the Bucs would drop them a game behind, which is important, since they hold the tiebreaker, because they demolished the Vikings earlier this year. The Vikings aren't going to catch the Bucs for the first Wild Card, since the Bucs also hold the tiebreaker, so they better hope that Tampa wins.

NY Giants (10-4) v. Washington (8-6) at Washington. The team with the racist nickname would get the final wild card spot if the season ended today. The Giants are likely going to win the NFC East (and will clinch by beating the racists), that and a two game lead over the Vikings means what they do in the last two weeks only matters when they are playing teams the Vikings are actually competeing with.

Carolina (10-4) v. Dallas (8-6) at Carolina. The Panthers are basically three games up on the Vikings, since they "ended" the Vikings season in October. The Cowboys are tied with the Vikings, Redskins and Falcons for the last wildcard spot. You do the math.

Sunday at 4pm:

Green Bay (3-11) v. Chicago (10-4) at Green Bay. This one is obvious. If the Packers can pull of the upset (riiiiiigght) and the Vikings beat Baltimore, then the Metrodome is going to be the place to be on New Year's Day. If not, then the Vikings are going to be fighting for that Wild Card spot.

[Picks for these four games coming tomorrow morning]

[Here's a complete look at the Playoff Picture. It's complicated, to say the least]