State of the Nation

We would like to send you the the best NFL stories, stats, videos and podcasts from the only nation that is all football all the time

By Michael Quinn

So far, there are a few teams we know are going to the playoffs, like the Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons, and a safe bet would be the Baltimore Ravens.

There also, are teams who we expect to go to the playoffs, like the San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers and rival Chicago Bears.

But than, there's the other teams.

The spoiler teams.

A 'spoiler' is a team who wasn't expected to go very far in the regular season, much less take a trip to the Wild Card game.

A real spoiler team however, takes it past the Wild Card game.

Take the New York Giants of 2011 for example.

They had to claw their way to the Wild Card game and were able to get themselves all the way back to the Super Bowl after upsetting the Green Bay Packers and squeaking by the San Francisco 49ers. 

They won the Super Bowl with a record of 9-7. Possibly one of the greatest spoiler teams while under head coach Tom Coughlin.

Who has what it takes to finish the regular season strong, and the playoffs even stronger?

---