We are down to
the final four of the ugliest NFL season I think I‘ve ever been witness too; in
a word meh. The taint from off the field stuff that dominated headlines right
up to opening kickoff threw an egg on the league’s face that dripped from its’
chin all season. The decision to call
more pass interference penalties gave the zebras too much influence in deciding
games; as if that wasn’t the case already. Parity achieved appears to be the
keyword to describe the season; a team with a losing record making the playoffs
falls right in line with push to have every team end at 8-8 to make the playoff
run more interesting. Not.
There were
some nice highlights in a season of lowlights and low life’s, with the commish
at the top of the second list. The biggest surprise out of the gate had to be
the Cardinals starting off at 9-1. Because they are essentially the Chicago
Cubs of the NFL they didn’t really get any respect, though they did make the
cover of SI. The possibility of a team playing a home game in the Super Bowl
for the first time had some legs until Carson Palmer’s knee betrayed him. Cardinal’s fans are left to ponder what may
have been.
The other surprise
team would have to be Dallas, who most experts predicted would be lucky to win
half their games with the defense they brought back. I doubt anyone suspected the
reclamation project that defense was would end up actually playing as well as it did. DeMarco Murray’s assault on the season rushing
record fizzled down the stretch, though it did add some excitement to an
otherwise drab season.
This was the
epitome of a season with no best team. There wasn’t one team that dominated
from the outset and the statistic that the best team only wins the championship
about 25% of the time in any of the major league sports won’t matter for this
season. There was no best team this year and the Super Bowl winner again will
be the team that peaks during the playoffs.
The awards
handed out at the end of the season will probably bring more drama than the
majority of the laundry fests that masqueraded as games this year. Does anyone think Houston would have won 9
games without JJ Watt? I don’t think so. I think he has a good chance to be the
first player since Lawrence Taylor to win both Player of the Year honors,
though being on a non –playoff team will hurt his chances. The others in the
mix like Murray, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady all had great years and they also
had a better group of players around them too. JJ gets my vote if I had one.
Odell Beckham is
a human highlight real and has to be the Rookie of the Year. No could ever
confuse me for a Giants fan; their games, just like NASCAR just won’t come in on my
TV, which is odd since I have satellite TV. This season though I had to gag
myself with a spoon, then sit and watch the Giants just to see this kid play;
he is special and has a ton of talent. Thanks Odell for helping me win a
championship in one of my fantasy leagues.
Bruce Arians gets
my vote for Coach of the Year for keeping the Cardinals in the mix all season
long despite losing some big time players even before the season started. It
was unfortunate to see the wheels come off as the season wound down; the
defense finally collapsed under the strain of having to be the offense too.
The season did
have its laugh out loud moments though with either the Jets, Redskins or
Raiders seeming to be perpetually in 3rd
down and LOL type situations each week;
unless of course you’re a fan of one of those teams then you have my
condolences for the mismanaged disasters those teams are. Fans of the Bears, Saints and Falcons should
ask for refunds on their season tickets for the half-hearted efforts those
teams put on the field.
I often found
myself this season with an internal debate each Sunday deciding if I was going to watch the
games; I don’t know any of these guys so why should it matter who
wins? Some habits are hard to break, and this has been one I’ve been
considering dumping for a few years, though I still allow myself to be sucked
in by each fall. I have no doubt I can
find something to replace it, though my sock drawer doesn’t need to be
reorganized on a weekly basis. My days of spending fall afternoons playing
touch football on a street strewn with leaves are long in the rear view mirror
and maybe it’s time to leave another fall tradition behind too..
