NFL Late Afternoon Games: The Bears Try To Solve the Tebow Fourth Quarter Riddle
By Jason Lisk
Tim Tebow turned the ball over on a fumble last week, but only has one interception. The interesting thing is he may not actually qualify for the qualifying minimums to be recognized for his low interception total as a league leader. He needs to average just more than 16 attempts over the last 4 games, which would ordinarily not be a problem. Tebow, though, has averaged just more than 16 pass attempts in his last 5 starts, since the Broncos adjusted the offense after the Detroit debacle.
Oakland at Green Bay: The Raiders have been monumentally inconsistent. They are only 3-3 against teams that currently have a losing record, but are 4-2 against teams with a winning record. So, you never know which team is going to show up in the Silver & Black. The good news, since they like to play to the level of their opponents, is that today they get the best. Carson Palmer is dealing with injuries in the receiving group, and Darren McFadden is still not back. Green Bay, meanwhile, keeps rolling on. They will be favored pretty heavily in the last four, and it’s going to take a game where turnovers, red zone performance, and special teams go against them for one of the last four teams to end the run at perfection.
Buffalo at San Diego: Buffalo is virtually done, as they have now lost 5 straight games. San Diego is only alive because they are in the AFC West. A win by the Chargers today, coupled with Broncos and Raiders losses in the other late games, would have them within striking range with 3 to play, and a game against Oakland still to come.
San Francisco at Arizona: The 49ers can now focus on getting a bye with the division officially wrapped. They cannot afford a loss at Arizona if they want to hold off the Saints. Arizona is miraculously in the wild card chase, just barely, after last week’s win against Dallas, and with Kolb back. They need to win out, but at least have a tiebreaker over the Cowboys and a chance to secure conference tiebreakers against the others.
[photo via Getty]