The Atlanta Falcons made believers out of many with a 28-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers down in Florida in NFL Week 13 football action. Atlanta’s impressive win gives them the #1 seed in the NFC playoff race.

Right behind the Falcons are the Chicago Bears (9-3), Philadelphia Eagles and (8-4) and the St. Louis Rams (6-6). The New Orleans Saints (9-3) and the New York Giants (8-4) follow with the best chance at the 2 NFC wildcard spots. Other NFC teams with a good chance at the NFC wildcard are the Green Bay Packers (8-4) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-5).

The NFL playoff race continues in week 14 with the Colts taking on the Titans on Thursday, Dec 9.

The complete NFC playoff picture as it stands heading into Week 14 of the NFL football season is as follows:

2010 NFL WEEK 14 NFC PLAYOFF RACE
Seed	Team	Division	Record
1	Atlanta Falcons	South	10-2
2	Chicago Bears	North	9-3
3	Philadelphia Eagles	East	8-4
4	St. Louis Rams	West	6-6
5	New Orleans Saints	South	9-3
6	New York Giants	East	8-4
STILL ALIVE
7	Green Bay Packers	North	8-4
8	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	South	7-5
9	Seattle Seahawks	West	6-6
10	Minnesota Vikings	North	5-7
11	Washington Redskins	East	5-7
12	Dallas Cowboys	East	4-8
13	San Francisco 49ers	West	4-8
14	Arizona Cardinals	West	3-9
ELIMINATED
15	Detroit Lions	North	2-10
16	Carolina Panthers	South	1-11

Check out the Week 14 AFC Playoff Race

sources: cbssports.com, foxsports.com, New York Daily News
http://thenflthisweek.com/2010-nfl-football-week-14-afc-playoff-race/

With the New England Patriots dismantling the New York Jets (45-3) on Monday night, the AFC Playoff race becomes a little clearer.

Holding first place in their respective divisions are the New England Patriots (10-2), Jacksonville Jaguars (7-5), Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3) and Kansas City Chiefs (8-4). The Baltimore Ravens (9-3) and the New York Jets (9-3) hold the advantage for the wildcard hunt.

The Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins are still alive with the identical record of 6-6. The Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans statically are still alive with 5-7 records. Only 3 teams have been eliminated from the AFC playoff race in the 2010 NFL football season.

The AFC playoff race continues in week 14 with the Colts taking on the Titans on Thursday, Dec 9.

The AFC Playoff picture as it stands heading into Week 14 of the 2010 NFL football season:

2010 NFL WEEK 14 AFC PLAYOFF RACE
Seed	Team	Division	Record
1	New England Patriots	East	10-2
2	Pittsburgh Steelers	North	9-3
3	Kansas City Chiefs	West	8-4
4	Jacksonville Jaguars	South	7-5
5	New York Jets	East	9-3
6	Baltimore Ravens	North	8-4
STILL ALIVE
7	Oakland Raiders	West	6-6
8	San Diego Chargers	West	6-6
9	Indianapolis Colts	South	6-6
10	Miami Dolphins	East	6-6
11	Houston Texans	South	5-7
12	Cleveland Browns	North	5-7
13	Tennessee Titans	South	5-7
ELIMINATED
14	Denver Broncos	West	3-9
15	Buffalo Bills	East	2-10
16	Cincinnati Bengals	North	2-10

Check out the Week 14 NFC Playoff Race

source: cbssports.com, foxsports.com, New York Daily News

The Minnesota Vikings fired their head coach, Brad Childress.  With the team’s performance and win-loss record this 2010 NFL season, you can’t say you didn’t see it coming.

Team owner Zygi Wilf announced the news after he and team president Mark Wilf met with Childress early Monday.

“It’s often difficult to articulate one reason why change is needed,” Wilf said.

The Wilf brothers have named Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Frazier immediately squashed any question about the quarterback situation.  He immediately named Brett Favre the starting quarterback this weekend.

“There’s no hesitation from me in that regard,” Frazier said.

During a team news conference, Frazier spelled out what he expected of Favre and the rest of the Minnesota Vikings players - fewer turnovers from Favre and a 100% effort from the rest of the Purple People Eaters.

“The challenge our players have is to understand that other people around the league are taking a look at that tape, and you owe it to your teammates and your family to go out there and play hard every single snap,” Frazier said.

What can you say about the accomplishments of Childress in his 5 seasons in Minnesota?  Better than most NFL coaches. The Vikings won back-to-back NFC North titles (2008 and ‘09) with a record of 39-35.  However, the Vikes record of 1-2 in the playoffs was disappointing. Childress summed up his thoughts about his time there:

“I am proud of our accomplishments and believe the foundation of this football team is stronger today than when I became head coach,” Childress said in a statement released by the team.

At the beginning of the 2010 NFL Football season, Childress, the Vikings and the Minnesota fans had big expectations.  Brett Favre was coming off one of his finest seasons and the Vikings finished with an impressive 12-4 regular season record.

But expectations were quickly met with 3 losses in the first four games, led by the inconsistency and poor play by Favre.

Then there was the Randy Moss fiasco. The Vikings gave up a 3rd round draft pick to the New England Patriots for the future hall-of-fame wide receiver Randy Moss.  But within weeks, Childress released Moss without consulting the Vikings owner or front office.

It came after a loss at New England, the newly acquired Moss praised his former teammates and was critical of Childress, who had given up a third-round pick to acquire him four weeks earier.

Childress told his team the next day he had released  Moss, though the coach failed to offer complete details about what had transpired. Wilf was said to be upset because his coach failed to discuss his actions beforehand. There also were anonymous reports of increasing unrest among Vikings players.

It was at this time that many NFL experts and analysts expected that Brad Childress’ days were numbered, especially as the team fell further and further out of NFL playoff contention.

And then it happened! The Vikings fired Brad Childress one day after the Vikings were embarrassed by the Green Bay Packers 31-3, their second loss in a row.

And the players, for all their frustration with Childress and his style, put the blame on themselves after getting beat up by the Packers.

”We’re grown men. He’s not out there playing with us,” tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said when asked on Sunday about Childress’s status. ”You’ve got to look in the mirror sometimes. We’re 3-7. You go 3-7, you always want to blame somebody else. Sometimes you can’t blame somebody else. Sometimes you have to focus on yourself and what you’re doing wrong.”

There were other mitigating circumstances that led to the firing, including Childress’ increasingly combative relationship with quarterback Brett Favre and Vikings fans finally got involved with thousands of “Fire Chilly” signs being handed out before their hosted Nov 7 game against Arizona.

What’s next for Brad Childress? Probably nothing short term - the same fate that awaits the awaits the Minnesota Vikings in February.

sources: foxsports.com, associated press