NFL Playoff Picture – Week 14

With just four weeks left in the regular season, NFL teams are approaching that illustrious home stretch of last-chance winning runs and playoff predictions. Either your team is destined for greatness, on the outside looking, or out of the playoff picture entirely.

Let’s start with the AFC, where the division leaders are pretty solidified, yet the wildcard spots are a bit more up in the air. We can pretty much say the New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, and Denver Broncos are winning their respective divisions.

Not only does each of these teams have a three game lead in their division, they have the advantage in head-to-head matchups with the second place team in the division, and a not so worrisome schedule in the next four weeks of play.

The only questionable division leader could be in the AFC West with the Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs, but and a big but, Denver has won the last two match ups between the two teams and looking at the next four weeks Denver is easily able to win all (Houston, Tennessee, Oakland, Chargers…yea done deal).

Photo Source: Peter Aiken via SBNation

Now that means the Chiefs will easily claim that first wildcard spot, but the second wildcard spot is where things get a bit interesting and less predictable.

Going into this weekend, Miami sits at 6-6 and has the Pittsburgh Steelers, then the Patriots, the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets. Realistically, based on how the season has gone, Miami can likely beat the Jets, potentially the Bills, not likely beating a somewhat revived Steelers and extremely unlikely to beat the Patriots.

As for the Tennessee Titans (5-7), the schedule alone is just making it hard for me to believe they will get that playoff spot. Denver is obviously a difficult game, and then Jacksonville is on a hot streak as of late, so that will be a tough one for the Titans. But I will note here, that while the hype is surrounding Jacksonville and they have the momentum, I just don’t see them making that playoff spot.

Unless Miami surprises me, I think we are looking at the Ravens (6-6) and the Steelers (5-7) vying for that final wild card spot. And honestly speaking, the way the season has gone for the Steelers certainly did not think I’d be mentioning them in the same sentence as a playoff but could happen with the way things are going now. Ravens have some tough match ups again – Lions, Patriots, and division leader Bengals.

But the Ravens can win this weekend’s game verse the Vikings and have beat the Bengals last meeting so that is definitely a potential win. The Steelers have Miami, Bengals, Green Bay and the Browns, so predicting three wins from that. If both the Ravens and Steelers go 8-8, the deciding factor would be the head-to-head matchup, which in that case means Ravens get the wild card.

Things get a bit more colorful when you head over to the NFC. We will start in my beloved disaster of a division this season, the NFC East. I dread typing this as many of you know but the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles are tied 7-5 and this is a bit of a hazy forecast going forward of how this will play out. Not to mention again, but obviously we know the Washington Redskins are out of this. (That is all that will be mentioned of that to appease the public).

Ironically, the last game of the regular season for the Eagles and Cowboys is against each other and the one that will potentially determine who goes to the playoffs. At that point I see the Cowboys coming in to the game having beat the Bears, Packers and Skins in the previous three weeks. As for the Eagles, I see a loss verse the Lions and wins against both the Vikings and Bears.

So with the Cowboys coming in 10-5 and Eagles 9-6, if the Cowboys win they obviously take the NFC East title. If the Eagles win, then it will fall back on some tie-breaking factors (Eagles and Cowboys in this situation 1-1 verse each other). Based on all of this, I hold back tears as I type the Cowboys will be the NFC East champs.

As for my New York Giants, let’s be real, I’m banking on a division win since they are way out of wild card contention. And if that is my only hope, and judging how the Eagles have been as fans say “flying” and the Cowboys have been doing, things are not looking pretty for me. Realistically my GMEN are out of the playoff picture, but imaginatively they win the next four games and surge to the top of the standings (one can dream).

Things are a bit more secure for other division leaders – Chicago Bears minus Jay Culter is out of things for sure, Detroit Lions take the NFC North. As for NFC South, that is where things get particularly interesting with the story of the season in my thoughts – the Carolina Panthers.

Photo Credit: Bob Donnan USA TODAY Sports via SBNation

Those days of poking fun at Cam Newton’s woes in Carolina are long over for sports analysts, because the man and his team are on fired. This weekend’s match up verse the Saints and the next time the two meet again soon after are obviously key. With both tied 9-3 for the NFC South lead, it all clearly comes down to those two matches.

Either way they both get to the playoffs, it’s just a matter of who comes out the division lead and right now it’s honestly too hard to tell. Momentum may go in favor of the Panthers but you can never go into a Saints game doubting Breese. This will be one to watch closely.

Over in the NFC West, Seattle Seahawks have already snagged a playoff spot, but this weekend will determine if they take the NFC West leader title. But let’s be honest here, no one is really stopping the Seahawks, with just one loss, so I’m already calling they have the NFC West champs.

Now, we have the wild card spots for AFC, which depending on the Saints and Panthers out come in the NFC South, one of them takes wild card spot number one. As for that last spot, the San Francisco 49ers at 8-4 is a very likely contender, though the Arizona Cardinals could sneak up on them. And naturally, for both teams they face each other in the last game of the regular season. Based on the season thus far, I really see the 49ers pulling this one out and getting that last wildcard ticket.

The post NFL Playoff Picture – Week 14 appeared first on ClotureClub.com.

Gruet NV Blanc de Noirs

With the Inauguration just around the corner, why not celebrate with a little sparkling wine? I say sparkling wine because only a sparkling wine from Champagne can call itself a Champagne. And since the Inauguration is a very American type of celebration, I decided to revisit one of my favorite American Sparklers, the Gruet NV Blanc de Noirs.

Gruet may sound French and for good reason, it is. But make no mistake; this is an All American wine. Gilbert Gruet began making Champagne in the early 1950’s and on a trip to the US in the early 1980’s he noted that parts of the American Southwest closely resembled his home in Champagne in terms of soil make up and climate. That’s right, the Southwest and specifically New Mexico. When thinking of world class wine regions in the US, New Mexico doesn’t typically come to mind, but when Gilbert entrusted his children with the task of making sparkling wine in the traditional Champagne style (Methode Champenoise) he put New Mexico on the world wine map in a big way.

A bit about the wine and grapes. Traditional Champagne can use three grape varieties in a blend to make the final product, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The Gruet NV Blanc de Noirs is made exclusively of Pinot Noir. The NV means non vintage which means grapes from more than one vintage are used to ensure consistency and the highest quality. The vineyards at Gruet’s property in NM are planted at 4300 feet above sea level which results in excellent flavor concentration in the fruit because of the intense sun light and extremes in temperature.

Enough of the technical, on to the fun stuff! The wine has a clean appearance in the glass with pale straw color that has a tinge of red to it because of the Pinot Noir. Two pronounced streams of small tightly formed bubbles formed in the glass. The bubbles, or mousse, indicate a fine quality wine because of their consistency and size and resulted in a nice frothy ring around the glass. The wine had aromas of sourdough and toast and a slight mineral scent as well with a bit of banana. While bread isn’t what you might expect to smell in a sparkling wine, trust me it is a very good thing! This is another indication of quality and a result of the wine’s production in the traditional Champagne style.

When you taste the wine, you immediately find that your nose was on the money. Very subtle yeast and sour dough flavors are readily apparent along with the tropical fruit flavors or banana and a little apricot. There’s a hint of raspberry as well, again a tell from the use of 100% Pinot Noir. This is a super light, crisp and very refreshing wine. Its nice and dry and even though it finishes with a little hint of sweetness on the end, there is not residual sugar in the wine and would do better as a compliment to appetizers or cheese. There is medium acidity which gives the wine a little pep and despites being aged for 2+ years there aren’t any oak flavors resulting in a delicate very well balanced wine.

All in all this is an excellent wine, especially for the retail price, $15 per bottle. Most sparkling wines at that price point will rot your teeth and gut, but the Gruet will knock your socks off. This is a delicious, well made wine that easily can stand up to creamy cheeses and charcuterie or is absolutely perfect on its own. Impress your friends during your inauguration festivities with this one, they’ll think you spent 2X or more on the bottle than you actually did! This American sparkler is the perfect way to celebrate any occasion and you’ll become an instant fan!

The post Gruet NV Blanc de Noirs appeared first on ClotureClub.com.