The Bears will move ahead of the loser of the Giants-49ers game Monday night in San Francisco, but the Bears face a tougher stretch road than either. The loser of the Giants-49ers game will be on a two-game skid and feeling not much better about themselves than the New England Patriots. Confidence is a huge factor in December, whether you`re 10-2 or 2-10.
San Francisco coach George Seifert said when the two perfect records were broken last week, it only added more pressure on Monday night.
The loser will have two losses within the NFC. The Bears have only one NFC loss. That means the Bears will hold the edge in avoiding the extra playoff game against a wild-card team.
But over the last four weeks, the Bears play opponents with better overall records than either the Giants or 49ers.
Bears: Washington, Detroit, Tampa Bay, Kansas City.
Giants: Minnesota, Buffalo, Phoenix, New England.
49ers: Cincinnati, Rams, New Orleans, Minnesota.
It`s difficult to imagine one 15-1 team and two 14-2 teams in the NFC. If that happens, the Bears would get a welcome week off while the other 14-2 team plays.
To the Bears` advantage is that both the 49ers and Giants must play the Vikings, currently the hottest team in the league with a five-game winning streak.
The Vikings` victory over the Packers Sunday night put the teams in a virtual tie for the third NFC wild-card spot, with the Packers still leading by a half-game in the conference tiebreaker.
The Packers have the so-called easiest finish of all: Seattle, Philadelphia, Detroit and Denver.
As hot as the Vikings are, winning streaks are tough to maintain in this league, as the Eagles found out Sunday in Buffalo and the Bills found out last Monday night in Houston.
Despite their loss, the Eagles stayed ahead in the NFC wild-card race;
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and if that Bills-Eagles game is a Super Bowl preview, the NFL could do a lot worse.
The Redskins showed old NFC dominance in crushing the Dolphins 42-20, bad news for the Bears, who travel to RFK Stadium next week.
The recent impressive play of the Eagles, Redskins and Vikings provides plenty of reason for the Giants, 49ers and Bears to avoid that first wild-card playoff game. Recent history demonstrates that getting through the NFC postseason is more difficult than getting through a Super Bowl.
After their perfect seasons were ruined last week, both the 49ers and Giants sounded full of self-doubts. After Monday, the loser will feel downright inadequate, filled with flaws for all to exploit.
Asked if the 49ers` 24th-ranked rushing offense is taking its toll after 18 straight wins, Seifert said: ”I don`t know. It`s a good question. We could still win a championship and not be a much better running team, but it would sure make it a heck of a lot easier if we did run the ball more effectively.”
In New York, they are wondering where Lawrence Taylor`s usually awesome game has gone.
He has played seven of the last eight games without a sack, not helped by the absence of fellow linebacker Carl Banks.
”With Carl out, I`m used basically as a down lineman,” Taylor said. ”I`m getting my butt kicked, I`m telling you.”
Banks, who might return after missing six games with a dislocated wrist, said of Taylor: ”He`s no slower than he was three years ago. He slowed down three years ago. Everybody is asking questions now. He`s no slower than he was three years ago.”
The 49ers rely so much on Joe Montana and Jerry Rice that it`s unbelievable. At least it was unbelievable last week to the 27th-ranked pass defense of the Rams, who held the 49ers to zero first downs in five first-quarter possessions.
The Giants are ranked No. 2 on defense. They had not allowed a touchdown pass from a quarterback to a wide receiver all year until the Eagles` Randall Cunningham connected with a couple of rookies named Fred Barnett and Calvin Williams.
That was a remarkable string dating back to the overtime catch by the Rams` Flipper Anderson in last January`s playoffs.
Now Giants cornerback Mark Collins is having nightmares about Rice, who leads the league in catches (73), yards (1,124), and touchdowns (11), accomplishing much of it without the fulltime threat of injured (knee) John Taylor on the other side.
”To use the old cliche, he is poetry in motion,” Collins said of Rice. ”I like when they show highlight films and he`s running behind people and they slow it down and play the background music. I say, `Wow.` Then I think, `Darn, I`ve got to stop this person.` ”