Reality Check for Mike Florio

I know it shouldn't but statements made on PFT.com the last two days have irritated me.

Primarily it's his statements that the New York Giants could be an "incredibly good" wild card team that has to play the division winner with the worst record, and that the AFC East isn't the third worst division in football, which Mike Florio asserts on this YouTube clip.

First, let's look at the New York Giants. After getting waxed by the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers to open the season, the Giants have gone 6-0 beginning with a come-from-behind win over the 5-3 Washington Redskins. The combined record of the 6 teams the Giants have beaten is 13-36.

So why aren't people making any "Yeah, but" comments about the G-men? Let's also remember that under Tom Coughlin, the New York Giants are 8-16 in the second half of the season. With road games in Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia and Buffalo, as well as home games against Dallas and New England remaining, let's not put the Giants in the double-digit win club just yet, ok? This is a team that could easily go 2-6 or 3-5 down the stretch and sneak their way into the playoffs.

As far as who the worst division is in the NFL, it's obvious that the answer is the NFC West, who are a combined 9-23, followed by the AFC Wet. I don't dispute that one bit.

What I do dispute is that the AFC East is better than the NFC South. It's just simply not true. Yes, the Patriots are 9-0 and are the best team in the NFL, but look at the rest of the division. The Jets and Dolphins are a combined 1-16 and Buffalo is 4-4 primarily because they've already played the Jets and Dolphins. The Patriots aside, the rest of the teams in the AFC East are a combined 2-14 against the rest of the NFL.

Meanwhile, the NFC South has three teams who will likely be over .500 by the end of the weekend, including the soon-to-be 5-4 New Orleans Saints who are playing more and more like the team that went to the NFC Championship Game a year ago.

Florio also said "Unlike 2006, an 8-8 record won't be enough to qualify for a wild-card this year. With the four best teams in the conference clustered into two divisions, even 10-6 might not be enough to nail down seeds No. 5 or No. 6."

Personally, I hope we don't see an 8-8 wild card team (or division winner) coming out of the NFC. I've already laid out the Giants remaining schedule, but what about that other 6-2 team that isn't leading it's NFC division?

The Detroit Lions have home games against New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs. They also travel to Arizona Cardinals, Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers and Green Bay Packers. You know, as much as I like Jon Kitna, I still wouldn't bet on Detroit winning 10 games this year. Aside from the home game against Kansas City, I don't see any "locks" on their schedule the rest of the way.

The odds may be against it, but it's not unrealistic to think that a team like Carolina, New Orleans, Arizona or Chicago to be 8-7 heading into the final week of the season with an eye still towards the playoffs this year.