Too soon?

That image above, picture that in a nightclub, that’s basically what happened to Plaxico “Cheddar Bob” Burress.  Needless to say he’s out for the season and I’m going to go out on a limb and say he’s pretty much done with the Giants.

But wait, that’s not all!  Due to a mandatory sentencing law in New York, if convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm (which is hard to deny when you shot yourself in the leg) he’ll face a minimum of three and a half years in prison.

Good job, Plax.  Way to make smart decisions.

The Axe Has Fallen

A muddled AFC playoff picture has finally started to shake out with several teams spectacularly self-destructing and essentially ending their hopes of seeing the postseason.  The Bills and Chargers are essentially done and the Pats no longer control their own destiny.  This leaves the Titans, Steelers, Jets, Broncos, Colts and Ravens in the driver’s seat, win and they’re in.  The aforementioned Pats need a Jets collapse to have a shot.

Meanwhile in the NFC the Giants will need a collapse like the world has never seen to lose their playoff spot.  The Vikings, Bucs, Cardinals and Panthers control their own destiny.  The last spot comes down to either the Cowboys or Falcons.

So what does that mean for your fantasy team?  If your success hinges on players from the Jets, Colts, Pats, Ravens, Bucs, Panthers, Cowboys or Falcons you’re looking good, every week is a playoff for those guys from here on out.  The Titans and Giants might start resting players, namely the ones on your team, so they don’t go into the playoffs with any major injuries and teams who’re more or less done might start playing young guys to see what they’ve got for next year.  So if there are any borderline guys on your league’s waiver wire from the teams listed snag them now just in case.

Don’t Be Afraid To Play Matchups

Continuing with the end of season shakeup theme, remember that as the season winds now you should start looking more and more at matchups.  Early in the year we really don’t have a sense of who’s good and bad, and every team is playing all-out, but by now we have complete information and the top and bottom of the league starts to drag their feet.

For example in Week 13 Joe Flacco outscored Drew Brees, Shaun Hill outscored Brett Favre and JaMarcus Russell outscored Philip Rivers.  Not by a lot - 4, 1 and 2 respectively - but the point remains.  If you have to choose between a motivated player against a weak opponent or a player whose postseason is relatively secure against a powerhouse, go with the former.  The difference between a winning team and a league champion is how well you adapt your strategy for the home stretch.

Your Team is Probably Still in the Playoff Race (Unless you’re a Raiders fan.)

On an optimistic, non-fantasy note, a reminder for those who have given up hope: Not a single team has clinched a playoff spot.  Even the Titans and Giants could still miss the cut.  It’s unlikely, yes, it would involve them losing out and several other teams winning out, but it’s possible.

Additionally, very few teams have been eliminated.  In the AFC the Bengals, Chiefs and Raiders are out of it, and in the NFC the Lions, Rams and Seahawks are out of luck.

The scenarios for the 14 teams who would miss the playoffs of the season ended today but aren’t eliminated are complex, so I’ll just give you the most popular for our audience: For the 49ers to make the playoffs they’d have to beat the Jets, Dolphins, Rams and Redskins (combined record 24-24), and the Cardinals would have to lose to the Rams, Vikings, Patriots and Seahawks (combined record 18-30).

Likely?  No.  But possible.