So this past week has been an interesting one. The fights not on anymore, there are no more unbeatens in pro football, I mean, did anybody get what they wanted for Christmas? I’m still going to watch the playoffs, but the magic is almost completely gone. What do we have left? We have the Patriots and the Eagles as my dark horse picks for the Super Bowl. Floyd Mayweather is afraid of Manny Pacquiao that much is obvious. Pacman is suing which is kind of surprising. I would say they should fight about it, but they’re boxers and that’s what got them into this mess.
Almost perfect?
So Indy hangs it up just past the midway point and gets rolled by Jets with just a few games left to go before the playoffs. A lot of people are disappointed with that outcome and I think I’m one of them. I feel robbed, not because they lost, but how they lost. On the other hand it might not be that big a deal. I’ll explain.
I don’t buy the idea that going undefeated is necessarily more important than winning the Super Bowl, because they don’t take in to account the level of competition for undefeated teams. But that doesn’t mean you shut it down because you can afford to lose a game when you’re that close to the prize. The Colts only had a handful of games left; you might as well win them all right?
Not playing the full season should go against some sort of league bylaw and the coach’s and GM should all be fined by the league. What do the fans buy tickets for anyway? Those things aren’t cheap. The Colts really let me down this weekend, they are supposed to be the prize of the NFL and that was nothing short of cheap.
In fighting!
Brett Favre and Brad Childress had a bit of a tiff on the sideline. Luckily no one panicked across the sports world but there were some questions asked. My biggest concern is based on the same concern I had for the Colts. Is it ever a good idea to shut it down? Ultimately injury is a part of the game, you could hold a player out now only t see them hurt the first time they take the field in the playoffs.
I seems like Favre doesn’t want to change the way he’s been playing, doesn’t want to get out of his rhythm. Since he’s won a Super Bowl it might be god for Childress to defer to his quarterbacks wisdom in this regard, but you never know.
To Childress’s credit he is dealing with a quarterback that struggled last year in December and technically disappeared on his team at the end of the year. He saw his player taking a lot of hits and decided to pull him. In the end they were likely both wrong in their decision making, but Favre more because he’s not the coach.
So, who will win?
I still contend that this is a dream season for the NFL. Even if the Colts tanked and the Saints got complacent, the race for the big game is still one of the most exciting ones in recent history. All of the top teams have been exposed in one way or another, even the mighty Vikings have been humbled in the last few weeks. This is good news for football fans because the competition will be stiff from here on in.
In the NFC folks had better keep an eye on the Eagles, who still seem to hold the key to the gates to the Super Bowl. They win when they have to and have the explosiveness to beat just about anybody. The Cowboys are still alive despite a weird December superstition, but will either team be able to deal with the wounded Saints? I think it will be the Eagles who ultimately prevail.
The AFC is even tougher to call with a lot of teams still mathematically in the race. All I’ll say is that New England is dangerous. Plus the Chargers have a chip on their shoulder like you wouldn’t believe. Look for one of those two teams to take over the show come the post season.
