I remember learning my times tables as a kid, and the sevens were the easiest. It was all football scores. Well, as long as you're not the Bengals, who missed an extra point last week. What they didn't teach us was the crazy calculus that goes in to figuring out what must take place for the Giants to make the playoffs.
Get out your slide rule, Dexter...
Now, if Green Bay loses or ties, all we gotta do is win. Simple.
In the highly unlikely event that the Giant and Packer games both end in a tie, we'll need a loss or tie from the Rams and Falcons, together with a win or tie from the Saints. A little more complicated, but I'm still following along.
Now stay with me. If New York and Green Bay win, we need the Saints to lose. If New York and Green Bay both tie, we need the Saints to win or tie. I don't get it either. If New York and Green Bay both lose, then we need New Orleans to win. Make sense?
If the Giants win and Green Bay wins, then we need either Detroit or Minnesota to lose. If Washington, Chicago, Dallas, and St. Louis all lose, then it gets silly. We'll need losses by any two of the following: Arizona, Miami, San Francisco, New Orleans, Cleveland, and/or Seattle. Got that?
Now, here's where it gets interesting. If the Giants lose, they can still make the playoffs with nine losses. We'll need the following: wins by the Bears, Eagles, and Vikings together with a loss by Carolina. Again, if both the Giants and the Packers lose, we need the Vikings to win. If they both win, we need the Vikings to lose. I think.
There's another way we can sneak in, but it involves a hockey team in Helsinki. You're on your own figuring that one out.
I'm not even sure who to root for this weekend.
