Who will survive? Oh God, not the Tirades ...

Or it might be the Packers. Or the Rangers. We likely won't know for sure until the dust has settled after the Monday night game

John Lambert needs a big day from Davante Adams (17) and Derek Carr to have any hope of a playoff appearance (oh, and he needs to win or hope both the Pack and Tirades lose).

Only three games matter this week. They will determine who will join the Recliners, Blazing Saddles and (we are assuming) the Spread Beaters next week in the first round of the JSFL Playoffs. The one team among the Rangers, Tirades and Packers that survives this weekend of hell likely will face the top-seeded Recliners. It looks like the Spread Beaters and Blazing Saddles will meet in the other national semifinal.

And of those three games that matter this week, the other two hang in the balance of the main draw, the Game of the Week, the main event, the whatever you want to call the battle between the Spread Beaters and upstart Rangers. If John Lambert’s Rangers win, he is in with a 9-6 record.

If he loses, he drops to 8-7 and likely awaits the results of the Tirades (7-7) vs. the Band Aids and/or the Packers (7-7) vs. the Pillow Biters. If the Rangers end up in a playoff versus the Tirades or his brother Jeff, he loses in both cases. Ron Hender enters Week 15 play with the highest “points-for” total this season among the three at 1,203. Jeff Lambert’s Packers have scored 1,188 points and John Lambert’s Rangers trail the Tirades by nearly 70 points and his brother by 50 as they have amassed only 1,131 points so far.

So, the Rangers have to win to get in. It is as simple as that. John is playing a “win or go home” mentality starting Thursday night but, at this point of the roster-setting, he does not appear to have anyone in the mix for the 49ers visiting the Seattle Seahawks. It also does not appear, again at this point Wednesday, that the Spread Beaters will turn to still-injured RB Kenneth Walker III in the Thursday Night game.

ESPN does not like the Rangers’ odds at all. The Tirades, even with Hender at the helm, are still favored to get that final playoff spot. The Packers have the second-best odds and ESPN thinks John will be among the rest of us watching from the sidelines next week. But, we know ESPN has been wrong before (just read this preview on a regular basis and the starting suggestions it gives Hender in the “automatic-start” mode).

And, as a reminder, there are three NFL games this Saturday. The docket starts with the Colts to visit the Minnesota Vikings Saturday morning, the Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns Saturday afternoon, and ends with the Miami Dolphins at the Buffalo Bills.

Good luck and adjust those lineups accordingly, and Go Niners!

And, be on the lookout for a big announcement next week's preview. The JSFL Today staff is in negotiations with a team owner to "wander the paddocks" of the four teams in the playoffs and assess their chances, kind of like how we did at Del Mar last August.

And, all hell is expected to break out Chirstmas week leading up to the Super Bowl at the Del Mar Dome. We have told Colleen, right?

Game of the Week

Rangers vs. Spread Beaters (-20): In the marquee game of the week, we are assuming Matt Pringle will put us all out of our misery and just take care of business. Early lines indicate this should be a blowout. The matchups for Jalen Hurts (QB), Derrick Henry and Isiah Pacheco all look teasingly tempting. But, with the Eagles clinching of the East Division title last week, do they take their foot off of the gas and run more (Ron sure hopes so) or will they continue to let Jalen cook? If he is still winging it and running all over the field, this should be a slam dunk. John has some absolutely brutal matchups to deal with. His QB (Derek Carr, excuse me while I gag) takes on the New England Patriots and we expect Pats’ Coach Bill Bellichick to isolate either the running game or passing game and shut it down, leaving Carr and Davante Adams struggling to score. We like Pringle’s chances not to screw this up. Take the Beaters to the bank by 15

Playoff Hopefuls

Marietta Tirades (-11) vs the Band Aids: Meanwhile, the two teams on the fence looking in with hopeful eyes, the Tirades and Packers, are both Spread Beater fans for the moment. Harsh that Jeff has to pull for Matt instead of his brother John. But, the playoffs are the playoffs. All allegiances, familial or otherwise, go out the window. If, for no other reason other than Ron and Bob like to goad each other, this matchup has plenty of intrigue. The Tirades should walk away with this one and slide into the playoffs, but, then again, this is Ron we are talking about and the Tirades should have locked up a playoff spot or the division title at least a week ago. And, then there are these upstart Band aids. Bob has suddenly been lighting up the scoreboard in recent weeks and we clearly heard Ron mutter, “Of course I have to close against him.” Check the sister at the door. This one could get ugly.

Glancing down the current lineups, the Tirades are favored in almost every position. Patrick Mahomes gets to carve up the Houston defense (albeit a defense that suddenly looked stout against the Dallas Cowboys last week), Dalvin Cook and Miles Sanders both look to have favorable matchups against the Colts and Bears, respectively. The WR duo of Stephon Diggs and Mike Williams could be Ron’s aces in the hole. Diggs struggled last week and Josh Allen might look to him early and often this week against the porous Miami defense. Williams had a great return from an injury last week and gets Tennessee at home. Two Bears (QB Justin Fields and RB David Montgomery) are the only Band Aids projected for double-digit performances this week but will have to take on the formidable Philly defense. If Philly shuts down Monty and Fields on Sunday, this one is over. Bob might have to start Jets RB Michael Carter (yikes) if Najee Harris can't go. Knowing this likely jinxes it for Ron, we say take the Tirades and 8. He will find some way to make this much closer than it needs to be.

Packers (-16) vs. the Pillow Biters: Jeff still has some issues in the backfield. At the moment he has questionable Brian Robinson Jr. starting over injured RB Dameon Pierce. RB Josh Jacobs is also questionable again, but he was last week as well and still scored 16, the fifth straight week he's been in double figures. If both Jacobs and Robinson can't go, it will be JK Dobbins and a free-agent pickup. Jeff also will have to win without Deebo Samuel, who will likely miss the rest of the NFL regular season with an injury. Christian Watson looks to get the start this week in Deebo’s place. Always bet the Pack, this one by 12

Games No One Else Cares About

Blazing Saddles (-18) vs. Invalids: We will loosely bundle these two no-one-gives-a-crap-about games together. The only thing at stake in these two games is which miserable franchise gets the first pick next August. Blayze and Chris Zimnoch both have secured playoff spots and division titles and just await next week’s opponent. Blayze should win this one easily. The Invalids have struggled to top 60 for the past five weeks. Take the Saddles and at least 15

Recliners vs. Gerbils (-5): The Recliners actually go into this one as the underdog and licking their wounds from a sudden lack of scoring and a rash of injuries. He lost Lamar Jackson for the next week and a banged-up Saquon Barkley might ride the pine again this week. The Recliners waived Tom Brady and will ride the arm of Jared Goff (never play Goff away from his cozy home field in Detroit) on the road at the Meadowlands and the nasty Jets’ defense.

The Gerbils counter with the resurgent Bengals’ QB Joe Burrow. Chuck also gets the scoring nod at RB with Christian McCaffrey likely pulling the heavy freight this week against Seattle and Austin Ekeler getting the Titans at home. And can someone answer how Chuck could have McCaffrey and Ekeler and not make the playoffs? Yeah, I didn’t think anyone would have an answer to that one. We sure don’t. Way to piss away that opportunity, Chuck.

Take the Gerbs and 5