Bubble teams can't afford to look ahead

Updated: December 16, 2005, 3:13 PM ET
By Jeremy Green | ESPN Insider
As a fan of the NFL, this is the best time of the year. It is a time when you live and die with your team. Every play is a big play. Every first down is important. Every missed scoring opportunity is devastating. You say to yourself, "If only we could have come up with that interception or fumble recovery."

Yes, it is a time when fans are trying to will their teams into the playoffs.

There are a lot of teams "living on the edge" right now. Their season has been broken down into one-game segments. Win and they stay alive; lose and they can start making offseason vacation plans.

Some teams have been in these types of situations and can handle them. Others aren't quite as battle-tested. Will they come out and play loose or will they succumb to the pressure and play tight?

This is what the NFL is about. Spending every Sunday in mid-December sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for the next chapter to be written.

Let's look at four teams in the NFC and three teams in the AFC that are currently living on the edge. Some are riding hot streaks and some are just trying to survive. What are their issues as they make a playoff run?


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