Its week 15 of the NFL season and the AFC playoff picture remains wide open. Twelve teams are still in contention for the six AFC playoff spots available.

The AFC playoff picture is lead by the undefeated Indianapolis Colts (14-0) who are vying for a perfect NFL season record. They are followed by the Chargers (11-3), Patriots (9-5), Bengals (9-5), Ravens (8-6) and Broncos (8-6). Six other AFC teams (Dolphins, Jets, Jaguars, Titans, Texans and Steelers) are still alive with 7-7 records but their fate is dependent on the outcome of other AFC teams.

Here is the AFC Playoff picture going into Week 15 of the NFL season:

Indianapolis Colts (14-0)

• Clinched the AFC South and homefield advantage throughout the AFC playoffs

San Diego Chargers (11-3)

• Clinched AFC West
• Clinches a first round bye with:
  win or tie OR
  New England loss or tie

New England Patriots (9-5)

• Clinches AFC East Division title with:
  win or tie OR
  Miami loss or tie

Cincinnati Bengals (9-5)

• Clinches AFC North Division title with:
  win OR
  tie and Baltimore loss or tie OR
  Baltimore loss

• Clinches a playoff spot with:
  tie OR
  Jacksonville loss or tie and Jets lose or tie and Houston-Miami tie

Baltimore Ravens (8-6)

• Clinches a playoff spot with:
  win and Jacksonville loss or tie and Jets loss or tie OR
  win and Jacksonville loss or tie and Denver loss OR
  win and Miami loss or tie and Jets loss or tie and Denver loss OR
  tie and Jets loss and Jacksonville loss and Tennessee loss or tie and Houston-Miami tie

Denver Broncos (8-6)

• Clinches a playoff spot with:
  win and Jacksonville loss or tie and Miami loss or tie and Jets loss or tie and Pittsburgh loss or tie

There are just too many AFC playoff picture possibilities for those teams with a 7-7 record. Week 15 of the NFL season will help unravel the complex AFC playoff picture.

sources: NY Daily News, nfl.com,espn.com

THE MATCHUP
Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers
Oct 19, 2009 @ 8:30 PM
Qualcomm Stadium

THE LINE
Chargers are the favorite, giving 3. The Under/Over is 44

THE RECORD
The Denver Broncos are 5-0 Overall, 3-0 at Home and 2-0 Away. They are 1-0 in the Division and 4-0 in their Conference.
The Broncos have scored 99 points and given up only 43.

The San Diego Chargers are 2-2 Overall, 1-1 at Home and 1-1 on the Road.
They are 1-0 in their Division and 2-2 in their Conference.
The Chargers have scored 101 points and given up 102.

2009 TRENDS AGAINST THE SPREAD
The Broncos are 5-0 ATS.
The Broncos are 2-0 ATS away.
The Broncos are 4-0 ATS as the underdog.
The Broncos are 2-0 ATS as an away underdog.
The Chargers are 1-3 ATS.
The Chargers are 1-1 ATS at home.
The Chargers are 0-1 ATS as the underdog.
The Chargers have not been a home underdog.

PREGAME ANALYSIS
One of the keys to this MNF contest is the Denver Bronco defense. In their first five games, they have given up only 43 points while allowing only 3.3 yards per carry. If they can keep the Chargers to just under 4 ypc, they can still win, even if Phillip Rivers has a big game.

Another factor that could determine the outcome is that the Broncos are averaging 139 yard rushing and the Chargers are defense are giving up 151 yards per game – and wiith their star defensive tackle Jamal Williams (IR), the Chargers defense may be in for a long day.

GAME PREDICTION
Denver Broncos 24 San Diego Chargers 21

Denver’s new head coach, Josh McDaniel has fired up the Broncos and they have bought into his system. The Broncos defense will stop the Chargers ground game and give their offense multiple opportunities to score. In addition, the Chargers defense will overpursue on the run, opening up the passing game for Kyle Orton.

source: espn, foxsports

Is the NFL’s game plan to use Twitter a brilliant marketing strategy or are they opening themselves up to new public relation blunders?

This is the first NFL training camp where the NFL has featured Twitter as a new marketing vehicle to expand it’s reaches and bring football fans closer to the game.

While the NFL league office recommends that clubs allow their players to Tweet, some clubs don’t agree.

Take for instance, the Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos. Both teams ban their players from tweeting from training camp. Bans go against a league memo sent last week to all teams that recommended best practices regarding Twitter. NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy stated “We recommended that clubs allow limited live reporting from practices that are open to the public, subject to the guidelines set by the clubs on the issue”.

There are also concerns among the clubs that players may not what they should and should not be tweeting. Cincinnati Bengal wide receiver Chad Ochocinco announced his intention to tweet from the sidelines during games, apparently not aware of the ban on any kinds of outside communications on game day. Minnesota Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe decided to show how bored he was during first day of training camp by tweeting “ZZZZZZZZZZZ” from a meeting. He later tweeted that he was referring to an “administrative” meeting, not a team meeting. And now the San Diego Chargers ordered star cornerback Antonio Cromartie to pay $2500 for using Twitter to comment on the “nasty food” in training camp.

Although the use of Twitter will undoubtedly cause some PR problems, it offers the NFL a “free” venue to market it’s product worldwide, and brings the diehard football fans even closer to the game. Using Twitter also puts the NFL on the forefront in the new media age – where information is instantaneous and just a few keystrokes away.

The NFL’s decision to adopt as it’s social media venue is a brilliant marketing decision. You can bet that controversial Tweets by NFL players will only help promote NFL football.

source: technewsworld.com