NFL Liquor Cabinet Week 9

For the entire NFL season, we will be breaking down the rest of the NFL not named Green Bay by looking at it like a liquor cabinet. Why did we choose this method? I like to booze and it makes things really easy to determine what's great, average and poor. 

Top Shelf
Carolina is the real deal - They might have beaten up on the lesser teams in the NFL, but a playoff team is supposed to win football games such as the ones Carolina has been winning throughout the last month. Their schedule gets much harder with games against San Francisco, New England and two against New Orleans meaning they will be tested yet I still think they can win some of those games. Their front-seven is relentless and they played pretty well in the secondary against a competent quarterback in Matt Ryan. I would not want to face this team in the coming weeks and months.

Have a day Nick Foles - It seems like every week we are trying to find a new word to describe Philadelphia's offense and how to talk about Chip Kelly. This week will open some eyes with Nick Foles throwing for seven touchdowns dominating Oakland's defense in a 49-20 rout in the Bay Area. People can shit on Oakland all they want, but the fact of the matter is they play well at home and have been playing better of late. Foles came in and napalmed the field on Sunday. I have no idea if this will continue for Foles yet this has to encouraging for the Eagles as Michael Vick's hamstring remains in question and Matt Barkley is clearly not the answer right now. Foles might be Kelly's short-term and who knows maybe his long-term solution.  

Mike James does his best Tim Tebow - Sure Tampa Bay blew a 21 point lead on Sunday to Seattle, but at least they will always have rookie Mike James throwing a jump pass to former Green Bay Packer Tom Crabtree. I wish we could get a jump pass on every Sunday. (H/T GIF'd Sports)

Don't sleep on Washington - Hear me out, but Washington looks better and better each week. They are only 3-5 and definitely a player in the NFC East race possibly a Wild Card spot. Washington's secondary is a goddamn disaster, but the rest of the team is good enough to be a playoff team. Robert Griffin III looks like himself again and Alfred Morris rushed with purpose for the first time in what seems like forever. They played Minnesota on Thursday and a road game against Philadelphia before a home Monday Night showdown with San Francisco. If they can win the next two games, I love their chances, and I am glad Green Bay played them in Week 2.

Tony Romo saves Dallas from embarrassment - There were those times in college and in life that get called a 'sure thing' whether it be a test, an assignment, a person from the opposite sex, there are countless examples. Sometimes these 'sure things' turn into everything but and that's what Dallas faced against Minnesota on Sunday. Minnesota played inspired football and took the lead late in the fourth quarter with a big drive led by bruising runs by Adrian Peterson. The ball was in Tony Romo's hands with under two minutes left and as we all know, anything can happen with the Dallas quarterback in this situation. Romo led an inspired drive down the field with big passes to Dez Bryant and Cole Beasley leading to a seven yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Harris with only 35 seconds left.  Romo will probably not get the same amount of attention as he would have if Chad Greenway picked him off in the endzone, but still a nice Sunday for him.

Middle Shelf
Seattle comes back, but cause for concern? - This was definitely a weird week in the National Football League but nothing was weider than Seattle trailing by 21 points to Tampa Bay. Mike James rushed for over 150 yards and now this is the second straight game where a no-named rusher bullied them through the whole game. Russell Wilson also looked pedestrian with two interceptions including one in the end zone. Once again, the pressure on Wilson was heavy making him move from the pocket. Granted, they need to get some offensive linemen back, but this team is a paper tiger right now.

AFC Wild Card is a complete mess - Right now, New York Jets would be in the playoffs but there are seven teams with a chance at making the playoffs right now. The Jets.  Also alive in the playoff hunt are Tennessee, San Diego, Miami, all with four losses. Teams with five losses, Cleveland, Oakland and Baltimore, all have their heads barely above water. If you can predict who will be the final team in the AFC playoffs, I will give you some kind of award because it is hard to sort out the pile right now.

Kansas City keeps winning, but everyone is not impressed, why? - Kansas City is probably the most hated on 9-0 football team. People are expecting the bottom to fall out. While I agree maybe the Chiefs are playing above their heads, I still think this is a real solid team. They might not be number one at anything individually, but the Chiefs can find a way to win football games. Kansas City's defense is one of the best in the whole NFL and they very well might be the best. Chiefs defense tied the record for most games with  the opposing team scoring less than 17 points with their ninth consecutive game tying the 1977 Atlanta Falcons.

Bottom Shelf
Oh no Houston - We started to the hype machine early on Sunday Night as Case Keenum started gunslinging out there with big passes to Andre Johnson putting Houston up 24-6.  Rookie kicker Randy Bullock missed two field goals in the second half and Indianapolis starts creeping back in with a big second half from T.Y. Hilion.  Bullock had a chance to redeem himself in the final seconds of the game, but he completely missed a 55-yard field goal. Keenum seems like the short-term future of this team.

New Orleans' northeast struggles continue - Saints have two losses and those two losses are when they headed to northeast part of the United States.  One happened with a bad final drive against New England and then they got steamrolled by New York Jets' defense. The Jets defensive line became a terror squad again and Chris Ivory tore up his former team on the ground.  New Orleans has four games left on the road including trips to Carolina and Seattle. They need to play better on the road if they want a deep run in January unless they find their way into the one seed.

RIP LaDarius Webb's ankles - Baltimore suffered another lost this weekend as Cleveland's defense made Ray Rice and the Ravens offense obsolete. One of the best plays in the game was Davone Bess breaking LaDarius Webb's ankles like his name was Hot Sauce (H/T Black Sports Online) 

Pittsburgh and Atlanta are done for - Two teams who had playoff hopes at the beginning of the year and two teams we can forget about being playoff contenders as November begins. Although both of these teams have enough of a homefield advantage to win some games at home this year so do not be surprised when they beat a legitimate playoff contender in the weeks ahead.

Baltimore is trending downwards quickly - The defending Super Bowl champions are officially on the ropes. They are two games under .500 and have lost four of their last five games. Baltimore takes on Cincinnati at home this Sunday and this is a must-win. Even if the Ravens get a win here, they still have a lot of work to do moving forward with a schedule that is not easy with a finish that features a road Monday Night game against Detroit, home for Sunday Night against New England and travel to Cincinnati.

Charlie.