As far as the 49ers are concerned, the only games of significance are at 1:15pm pacific time. At that time, the 49ers kick off against the Rams and the Cardinals kick off against the Seahawks. After eight games of the NFL season, it really comes down to the 49ers five NFC West matchups. If the 49ers win their five remaining divisional matchups they guarantee themselves no worse than a 7-9 record. Of course, at 2-6 we have no idea whether the 49ers can actually win multiple games in a row, so we won't hold out breath on that.
In the meantime the morning features some very interesting matchups. I would actually argue that the most interesting matchup of the morning is the Cleveland Browns hosting the New York Jets. The Browns are coming off a game in which they absolutely destroyed the New England Patriots. Now, the Sanchise comes to town and I would like nothing better than to see the Jets get rolled up by Peyton Hillis, Colt McCoy and the Browns. Are the Browns legit behind McCoy and Hillis?
I'm also intrigued by the Vikings at the Bears. It seems like every week is Brad Childress' last week as head coach, as well as Brett Favre's last stand before Jenn Sterger's chat with the NFL brings him down. As bad as the 49ers season has gone, the Vikings have some kind of debacle going on. This has been an absolutely bizarre NFL season so who knows what to expect going forward. Will the Vikings finish with an abysmal record and a new coach, or will the Vikings players put some wins on the board in spite of their loathing of Childress?
Aside from that, we've got some other interesting matchups, but I think those are your big storyline matchups. Randy Moss makes his debut for the Titans against the Miami Dolphins and Chad Pennington's return at QB. The Colts face off against T.Ocho and the Texans and Jaguars battle for AFC South mediocrity. I just can't get wildly excited for those games, although I could use a big performance from Moss in fantasy football.