Let’s Review the Week That Was in the NFL

Because I don’t normally go this route I think it good to make a slight change and review the NFL weekend because we had tons of things happen this weekend that simply did not meet with my expectations (not because I expect everything to go MY way, but I honestly think it I’m right most of the time and when I am inherently wrong about this many things I get thrown for a loop.  I mean, I really thought I had this figured out!)

The NFL provides us with enough ups and downs that we can call it the “ultimate reality television” but I don’t think for a second that I could have been so up on one thing, hen down on it, and right back “up” on it again in the span of a few weeks.  For example:  the idea of the Ravens, Steelers and Bengals all making the playoffs from the AFC North was a reasonable (yet crazy) idea a few weeks ago.  After I made such a bold statement the Steelers continued a long losing streak (in losing to the Browns) and I thought my theory was done for.  Now two weeks later those same Steelers (whose coach’s 8-year old thought he made a bad move) have beaten the Packers with a miracle final drive and had a solid win against the Ravens this Sunday.  I can’t say that I understand the tiebreakers and I know that the Steelers have to pray for lots of losses from teams like the Jets, Texans and Ravens in order to get into the playoffs.  The mere notion of the Steelers making the playoffs after they starting hemorrhaging W’s a few weeks ago is almost surreal because they had seemingly thrown away their season and so many pundits were wondering if Mike Tomlin had lost this team that won the Super Bowl a season ago.

All in all that’s a pretty funny way to describe a team that has a 4000 yard passer, two 1000 yard receivers and a 1000 yard rusher in the same season for the first time in its rich history.

I can hear the catcalls already “What about ‘joy’ Mr. Man?  Huh?  What about the ‘joy’ that was going to take the Colts to 16-0.  Where’s that joy now that they’ve dropped a game to the Jets and the best they can do is 15-1?  Huh!?”  All I can say to that is:  If you though the Colts were going to lose and you didn’t give in to the hype then you were right…I was wrong.  I bought in (even after I said they were smart enough to drop a game so they wouldn’t do it in the playoffs)  and was prepared to ride them to the 19-0 season that would have left me laughing at the Patriots if 2007.  (However, I can take solace in the fact that these Colts could go 18-1.  Yes, the same 18-1 that the Patriots did in 2007, but this 18-1 would result in a championship that those Patriots could not close the deal on.)

Oh, the joy thing.  Well, where’s the joy?  Just watch their press conferences today.  They’re still upbeat:  no grunting, heavy sighs or groan and moans.  They’re disappointed (don’t get me wrong) but they aren’t going to take that out on us during their press time.  They aren’t playing for the camera.  If you wanted a good comparison I think we could make one to the 2004 Red Sox who said they were just a bunch of idiots on the way to a World Series title.  These Colts know that the Patriots are pretty cold and that has won them 3 Super Bowls, but these Colts might just be dumb enough to grin in the face of trouble and power through.  (Although I feel sort of silly calling a team led by a guy who audibles every time he comes to the line [sometimes more than once] an idiot, but what can I do?  The comparison works.)  This joy won’t take them to 19-0, but I still believe it can win them a ring.

Denver and Philly tangled in a game where the Eagles had a chance to get a stranglehold on the NFC East and perhaps inch a little closer to catching the Vikings or the Saints and stealing away with a 1st round bye in the playoffs.  I know it sounds crazy because just a couple weeks ago we were all wishing for an “undefeated Super Bowl” between the Saints and the Colts.  Even so, when the Saints lost last week to the Cowboys that was a solid win for the Boys and I assumed (as did most) that the Saints probably wouldn’t lose again since the Vikings were nipping at their heels(until the Vikings lost to the Bears in OT on MNF.)  (I really didn’t think the Saints would lose to the Bucs, but here we are.)   The Saints have shown how vulnerable they are and they have answered my own question “Did the Cowboys draw us a blueprint?” I think they did my dears.  Now, with the Saints 13-2 they could only tie the Vikings for the best record in the NFC and then it would go to tiebreakers, but if the lose and go to 11-4 (the same record as the Eagles) then we have a fight on for that other 1st round bye where the Eagles could potentially come out of nowhere and snatch it away from the Vikings.  Would you have guessed that a couple weeks ago?  I know I wouldn’t have!)

In a note that probably only interest me because I live in Atlanta the Falcons beat the tar out of the Bills 31-3 on Sunday and pushed themselves to 8-7.  One more win next week and they have their first set of consecutive winning seasons in franchise history.  (That stat still gets me every time!)

Cleveland beat Oakland in an effort to prove that Eric Mangini (I don’t know, I’m no feeling Doofgini right now) was completely derelict in his duties up until last weekend when he unleashed Jerome Harrison on the NFL and Mr. Harrison ran for 286 yards in one game.  If there was ever a way to seal your own fate by winning that would be it.  Sit the wrong skill-position player for most of the season, start him due to an injury, he breaks a team record held by Jim Brown, then you go out and kill the next week too.  That has “I was stupid the majority of the season” written all over it.  Sorry, Eric.  This is the NFL and they don’t call it the No Fun League for nothing.

Miami lost by a touchdown to Houston in what I would call a watershed game for the Texans.  Now the Texans are 8-7 with the Jets, Ravens and Broncos and they’re all vying for two playoff spots.  {The part that makes this most interesting is the current wildcard teams losing (Baltimore and Denver.)  Because both the Broncos and the Ravens lost they allowed ALL of the teams at 7-8 to still have a remote chance because losses by certain teams could cause an 8-8 team to make the playoffs.}  However, the “Straight No Chaser” of it is:  Jets win and they’re in and the Ravens win and they’re in.

I’m particularly proud of the Texans because I’ve been hard on them this season since they’ve been on an upward trend but they’ve never been able to finish the deal and make the playoffs.  Then with the talk of Gary Kubiak being on the “hot seat” and Mike Shanahan’s name being bandied about for Kubiak’s job I thought surely they’d fold up their tents again.  Alas!  The Houston Texans are in playoff contention with very good teams like the Dolphins (who they just beat), Ravens, Broncos and Steelers.  What’s more impressive is that the Texans held a 27-0 lead, were outscored 20-0 in the last 20 or so minutes of the game and held on for the win.  Texans teams of the past would have given up the final two scores to surrender a loss…but not today.  This might be a new day in Houston football.

This is one of those times I wish I could convey tone on a blog (maybe they’ll start letting me do podcasts?  That would be cool!)  Anyways, the Arizona Cardinals pounded the Rams today and I have to say “The Cards are getting hot at the right time!”  They’ve a near-lock Hall of Famer under Center, two Hall of Fame-caliber receivers and just enough of a run game to make the defense honest.  What more can you ask for (plus, Ken Whisenhunt’s danced this routine before.)  Would I be shocked if the Cards rolled through the NFC in the playoffs?  No.  Am I betting on it?  No.  The NFC’s a tough nut to crack this year.

As the strokes of the pen (or the keyboard) are made on this column the Cowboys are well on their way to beating the Redskins and clinching the final playoff spot in the NFC.  This would make “Les Six” in the NFC:  New Orleans, Minnesota, Arizona, Philly, Dallas, and Green Bay.  We have literally no idea what order they’ll be in, but we do know that pretty much ANY order is going to yield some very compelling football.  (On a side note:  Marion Barber is a beast.  He runs like a wrecking ball.  Those dreds, the long gate he has, the angry style in which he runs…it makes him a true “power back”.)

I’m note going to start kvetching (as Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth were just saying) about playoff matchups just yet, but I will say that I REALLY want to see Aaron Rodgers rematch Brett Favre in the playoffs.  Man that would be a good game!

{The Cowboys/Redskins game isn’t quite over yet and the Redskins are down 17-0.  They miss a 3rd down conversion and with about 6 minutes left they’re down 3 scores and you figure they need to go for it on 4th down, right?  Nope.  They punted the ball away.  I know they have little chance of winning the game, but you have to at least TRY.  They could have run down, scored, recovered and onside kick, scored again, rinsed and repeated and tied the game.  I know that sounds INSANE, but anything is possible.  Instead of dreaming they punted.  This has just brought to mind a new feature here on the column:  The General’s Sports Dictionary.} The first entry in the General’s Sports Dictionary is:

Coach-quit:  verb;  1.  Bobby Petrino leaves the Falcons after Week 13 and is singing “ooh Pig suey” that same night in Fayetteville.  2.  Jim Zorn, down 17-0 with 6 minutes left in the game punts on 4th down when he really had no choice but to go for it.

Check me after the jump for some New Year’s Day Bowl picks…

Capital One Bowl – Penn State and LSU pony up for a battle of two teams who had good season, but were standing behind better teams in their conferences.  LSU had Florida and Alabama’s shadow to stand in whilst the Nittany Lions were hard up to get past a depleted Ohio State squad.  Even though this isn’t the bowl Penn State was looking for you have to feel good for Joe Pa for getting his team to yet another New Year’s Day bowl and playing strong after the controversy that swirled around him a few years ago as his age came into question.

LSU’s Les Miles is one of the oddest coaches in college football because we’re always left to wonder if they win because of the coaching or in spite of the coaching.  Both teams have pretty nice offenses and strong defenses, but the game is only left up to a couple factors:

1.  Daryll Clark has a good game and Penn State is hard to beat.
2.  If LSU’s defense can produce turnovers like they did in 2008 they are nearly unstoppable.
3.  If Les Miles doesn’t make any stupid decisions that Tigers are always dangerous.

I’ll take the Nittany Lions because I don’t think Les Miles can help himself…

The Rose Bowl – Ohio State and Oregon tangle in my favorite bowl game every year…the Rose Bowl.  I love the Rose Bowl because it conjures images of players holding roses in their teeth after leading their teams to glory.  Vince Young played one of the best games in the history of college football and won Texas a national title in that very stadium.  The Rose Bowl signifies tradition, glory, elegance, all that is right and good in college football.

Ohio State is a sentimental favorite for me because my wife is from Ohio (so I’ve got an entire side of the family that is Buckeye-faithful) and Oregon is a fun pick because Chip Kelly is a great coach and he drug them from the abyss (the LeGarrette Blount punch game against Boise State) to a near loss at Oregon State for a chance to play in this very game.

The problem is that as much as I like the Buckeyes they are carrying an underperforming Quarterback who has yet to live up to even a fraction of his own hype.  Let’s not forget that Terrelle Pryor brought this on himself by having his own little press conference to announce where he was going to school like it was newsworthy.  (In essence, he’s getting every bit of criticism he deserves.  I know he’s a kid, but he’s a kid who’s going to school for free {who doesn’t want that for their kid} who wanted the spotlight and now that he’s got it he isn’t performing.)

There’s something about the scrappy nature of the Ducks that makes me want to pick them.  I’ve ridden the Buckeyes to shame in the past (especially that humiliating loss to Florida in 2006 when EVERYONE thought they were going to win their 2nd national title since 2002) and I just can’t bring myself to ignore their recent failings in bowl games.  You combine that with the intensity and “scrappiness” of Oregon under Chip Kelly and you’ve got the makings of an Oregon blowout.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl – Two lame duck teams in Florida and Cincinnati take the field in disappointment on both sides.  The Gators have a coach who’s going on indefinite leave and Cincinnati’s former coach Brian Kelly already ticked off every player on the team when he sprung the “I’m bouncing for Notre Dame” speech on them.  This is Tim Tebow’s final college game and it will be under Urban Meyer whose life Tebow has clearly changed.  (Meyer cried when describing Tebow’s impact on his life for Pete’s sake!)  Tim Tebow will be emotional, ready to end with a bang, and ready to prove to the NFL that he’s worthy.)

The Cincinnati players are ready to back up the talk they gave to the media after Brian Kelly broke them down with the Notre Dame news.  Mardy Gilyard was the most vocal when he basically told the press that the players made the plays and they were going to show Brian Kelly that they don’t need him.

Here you have a clash of the titans with a team ready to usher out one of their greatest players with a win and a team angry and ready to spit nails.  I still don’t think Tebow was “all there” during the SEC Title Game and I have no idea if he’ll be “there” on New Year’s Day, but I DO know that he has a lot to prove and he’s a fighter.  Disgruntled players (like the ones at Cincinnati) play well in spurts, but I don’t know if they can overcome such a good player as Tebow when they are playing purely on emotion (emotions they’ve had bottled up for about a month.)  I don’t think it’s wise to try to beat a team as good as Florida like that so I’ll have to take Florida because the spurts of emotion you get form Cincinnati will not be enough for a very good/well-seasoned/veteran team like the Gators.

Tim Tebow is a life-changer and though he did not deserve to be in New York for the Heisman ceremony he is STILL a great player and over-looking him is a bad deal.  Remember, the Crimson Tide had to stop HIM in order to win the SEC.  Nobody else, just Tebow.  That says a lot. and I’m not tangling with a dude like that, are you?

Tune in Thursday for the picks for the final week of the NFL Regular Season, a look at how the playoff races will shake out (yes, I figured out all the tiebreakers by myself) and what that means for the race to the Super Bowl…as always, love me or hate me at genxxlgeneral@gmail.com

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Posted by The General on Dec 29th, 2009 and filed under American Football - NFL, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response by filling following comment form or trackback to this entry from your site

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