NFL Football: Week 11 – Preview 1

Today we begin to look at the match-ups for this weekend (and Monday night). This weekend arguably the biggest rivalry in football will take place on Sunday, at a little after 4 pm. Also in the NFC, the New York Giants will be visiting the Detroit Lions, the Chicago Bears will visit the Seattle Seahawks, and the Carolina Panthers will visit the Green Bay Packers. Over in the AFC the New England Patriots are visiting the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs will travel to the Indianapolis Colts.

These are the biggest match-ups of the weekend. Many of these teams need to bounce back from losses last weekend. These teams include the Giants, the Lions, the Panthers, the Chiefs, and the Colts. None of these teams want to suffer two straight losses as they struggle to make it in the playoffs and to have as high of a seed as they possibly can.

The Indianapolis Colts are a banged-up team and they just keep getting bad news. They learned yesterday that Pro Bowl Defensive End, Dwight Freeney, will miss the rest of the season with an injured foot. This is a huge loss for the defense. Now the rest of the players on that side of the ball will have to step-up and make plays – specifically they’ll have to get pressure on the quarterback without their best pass rusher.

This weekend the Colts will play the Kansas City Chiefs. This is a big game for both teams. The Chiefs need a win if they want to stay in the race for the AFC West. But the Colts are the team that really needs a win. After wining their first seven games this season, the Colts lost a heartbreaker to the Patriots and then they played horribly against the San Diego Chargers (yet they still almost won). But if the Colts lose again this week, suddenly their season will take on a completely different look. They will probably be behind both the Pats and the Steelers in the playoff standings, and they will be on a three game skid. So, the time is now for the Colts. They need a win.

On Sunday night it will be a lot of fun to see how the Buffalo Bills play against the New England Patriots. The Pats are coming off their bye week and there’s no doubt that the fans in Buffalo will be crazy. Remember this atmosphere nearly tripped up the Dallas Cowboys – a team that has been stellar in places like Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York yet looked rattled in Buffalo.

I have a feeling that the Pats might be walking into their first loss. I know it doesn’t make sense, but I have a feeling. And the feeling means either the Pats are about to lose or I ate too many nachos last night.

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