Greetings Tipsters
I took the private jet to Goolwa Aerodrome for Christmas, Perky Girl and I and partied at Russ and Charlotte’s place, there was a bunch of cool people there, Sally made awesome mojitos, it was fantastic.
One week of regular season left to play. The #1 seed in the NFC and winner of the NFC North will be decided by the last game of the season when Detroit Lions host Minnesota Vikings. The winner takes a week off, the loser will be a 14 win Wild Card playoff team and travel to play a 9 win team who won a weak division, like Tampa Bay, then on the road every game, if they win. No wonder some folks think the entire season is scripted.
See, seven teams make the playoffs per conference. The four division winners and the best three other teams. So lousy divisions, like NFC South, will produce a 9-8 playoff team while mostly good divisions, like NFC North, will have three teams with at least 12 wins – and, likely this season, three playoff teams. Tampa Bay won the Superbowl from a wild card slot five years ago but they had Tom Brady under centre and the SB was scheduled for their own stadium.
Regular season form doesn’t always continue during the playoffs. The games are faster, harder, more intense. Young teams that have run on youthful energy and high spirits will get smacked in the face. Old teams find that experience isn’t enough. One dodgy penalty can make or break a season.
For some, the tension is about to ratchet up. For others, it’s a merciful ending. For several coaches, it’ll be time to start tidying up the CV cos Black Monday is only a few days away. Sombre announcements will be made, cardboard boxes will be left on desks, the fans will start scanning the draft prospects and rewatching college games and perhaps bemoaning that late season win that saw a potential #1 pick become #4.
Like the New York Giants, f’rinstance. No-one expected an unheralded journeyman quarterback like Drew Lock to play a game like that, stats up with the best of the century. So people bemoan the win cos “Aww, the draft pick…”
Geez, that annoys me. Players and coaches are competitive beasts, they did not reach the pinnacle of their profession by being losers. You do not create a winning culture by deliberately losing.
Drew wasn’t the only backup to have a good week. Eagles starting quarterback, Jalen Hurts, was out so they started hapless Kenny Pickett who threw for three Tuddys before being injured, then third stringer Tanner McKee threw two more. Even better, the legendarily weird and formerly great Aaron Rodgers was benched with his team down 40-0. The very unheralded Tyrod Taylor came on and the Jets scored two Tuddys.
To further the agony for Giants fans, Patriots now hold the #1 pick. Given that they already have a good rookie quarterback in Drake Maye and very little else, that’d be traded for multiples. Word is that this draft class is thin on elite talent but has a lot of good players. Hey, I won’t take your first rounder but if you can’t come up with at least four second and third rounders then I’ll look elsewhere.
I’ll be sacking Doug and Trent Monday and hoping to raid the Lions, Aaron Glenn for HC and Ray Agnew for GM. It’s important to have some sense of continuity in the midst of blowing everything up. The worst part of sacking the dozens of coaching staff is that some bring their cute-as-a-button kids in when they clean out their offices, who’ll stand around and stare at me with big innocent eyes.
Well, flip those coaches. If you can’t handle being fired in the Not For Long you better go coach a high school team.
Cheers Tipsters
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Freelance gardener, I’ve thousands of books, thousands of records, one fast motorcycle and one gorgeous smart funny sexy woman. Life’s pretty darn neat.
Thanks for this Earl. As a country boy, I enjoy the wish-fulfilment of a Goolwa resident owning an NFL franchise. Have I said too much?
The dual conference and multiple divisions model often shows its flaws. It’s frustrating how if the two best teams are in the AFC (for example Chiefs and Bills) then they’ll never met in the Superbowl. The championship games then become precisely like our preliminary finals (the people’s finals) and are sometimes better spectacles. My Broncos might sneak in but would be lucky to survive the first week.
Sometimes talk of adopting conferences in the AFL pops up but is quickly and rightly dismissed.
Happy New Year!
Enjoying reading these. Just caught up with the last six posts. Very handy for someone who has been too busy to follow this comp.
Mickey, conference championships are, like prelims, often better games. Div and Conf playoffs four years ago was the best sequence of six football matches, of any code, that I’ve ever seen.
Broncos all over Chiefs today – one team playing for a playoff, the other not taking risks ahead of playoffs.
Daryl, thanks, but I’m not sure you should rely on me to follow the NFL. If you don’t have much time, at least check Mike Tanier, he’s got a great style and is a professional.