NFL Season Ends with a Bang

I was all set to debut my first "Theory" article today, but with all the happenings yesterday in the NFL, I just had to cover some football this morning. First, some breaking news:

As expected, the Browns' Romeo Crennel was the first coach to receive a pink slip this offseason. Also not surprising was the Lions decision to let Rod "0-16" Marinelli go as well. The only semi-surprising move is the Jets firing of Eric "Mangenius" Mangini after a 9-7 season. Mangini had led a middle-of-the-pack Jets team to the playoffs two years ago but fell off dramatically last year. This year, the Jets went on a spending spree in the offseason and even booted Chad Pennington for an aging (read: old) Brett Favre and it became playoffs or bust. With the Giants steamrolling the NFC on their way to the #1 seed, the Jets needed to do something big to keep up with their roommates in a brand-new $1 billion plus stadium set to open next year. Instead, the Jets started 8-3 before collapsing at 1-4 down the stretch and falling to division rival Miami in a must-win home game to end the season.

Now, let's take a look at yesterday's games and what it all means.

Atlanta 31, St. Louis 27 - This was a must-win for the Falcons as they entered the game with a shot at the #2 seed in the NFC. For the Rams, this was a must-be-present game, but to be fair the team has shown for much of the season that they will play for pride, even if they can't play for "victory" or "success." In the end, the Falcons were just too much for the Rams, and this Falcons team is a true NFL Cinderella story (not often you see an 11-5 Cinderella in the NFL playoffs, but this year we get two!), although they'll have to go on the road to win in the playoffs thanks to the next game.

Carolina 33, New Orleans 31 - Dan Marino must have been terrified that Drew Brees would forgo the long-bomb on the final play of regulation and just throw a dump off pass for 15 yards to break his single-season passing yardage record. Instead, Brees threw down the seam to Lance Moore who inexcusably had stopped on his route, and the ball fell incomplete summing up the Saints roller-coaster 8-8 season. Brees finished just 15 yards short of the record, and thanks to late Carolina heroics, the Panthers pulled out the win to finish 12-4 and clinch the #2 seed, a bye and a home game in the second round of the playoffs. That's the bright side if you're a Panthers fan. The glass-half-empty perspective is that they allowed 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter before rallying for the go-ahead field goal.

New England 13, Buffalo 0 - On Must-Win Sunday, this one was a must for the Pats who needed to win to go 11-5 and still needed help to make the playoffs. Matt Cassel and Co. did their job on a nasty, windy day in Buffalo, but the later game results would prove unkind. Cassel may well be the first backup QB in NFL history to receive the franchise tag this offseason as the Pats should be very leery of letting him walk when they don't know if Tom Brady will have that same ability come September. What this likely means is someone is not only going to give Cassel $30-40 million next spring, but they're also going to give up two 1st round draft picks, too. Sorry, Lions fans.

Cincinnati 16, Kansas City 6 - If a football game happens in Cincinnati and no one's there to see it, did it really happen? By the way, looks like more bad (maybe good?) news for Chiefs fans: LJ wants out.

Green Bay 31, Detroit 21 - Speaking of Lions fans, congratulations on one of the worst years in sports history. Unfortunately, you're not the biggest losers of 2008 (see Seattle below), but with the historic 0-16 season cemented at the hands of a 6-10 Packers team, and with your big-payroll Tigers tanking in this year's baseball season, and with the Pistons trading their best "team" guy (Chauncey Billups) for a "me" guy (Allen Iverson) and some cap room next offseason, you certainly could make a case. Too bad your Red Wings had to go and spoil things by winning the Stanley Cup this year.

Indianapolis 23, Tennessee 0 - Who wasn't enthralled by the fantastic Jim Sorgi/Vince Young matchup yesterday!?!

Minnesota 20, NY Giants 19 - Congrats Vikings fans, Tarvaris Jackson has officially led you to the playoffs. Maybe now you won't be the team to throw money at Matt Cassel! Seriously, though, this was a great win for the Vikings who avoided the dreaded "backed into the playoffs" moniker and made a case for being a team to watch out for in the postseason (even if it took a last-second 50-yard field goal to beat a David Carr-led Giants team). So, yeah.

Pittsburgh 31, Cleveland 0 - With a dead man walking the sidelines for the Browns, there was little doubt who would win this game. So why in the world was Ben Roethlisberger still in the game late in the second quarter? And will the entire city of Pittsburgh be holding its breath for two straight weeks until Big Ben comes out for that first playoff game?

Oakland 31, Tampa Bay 24 - Listen, I love Chuckie as much as the next guy, and clearly he's a quality coach. But shouldn't he at least be on the hot seat after his team collapsed for the second straight year? Last year they backed into the playoffs only to get beaten at home by the Giants. This year? They backed right out of the playoff picture with a loss, AT HOME, to Al Davis's fighting sea monsters. If this wasn't Gruden's most humiliating loss of his career, I don't know what is.

Houston 31, Chicago 24 - The Texans are in that classic no man's land between being a perennial playoff contender and a perennial doormat. They'll look great in beating a playoff team one week (see this win and win over the Titans two weeks ago) and sandwich that with head-scratching losses to the likes of the Raiders. Interestingly, is there any doubt that if the Texans were in the AFC West, they'd be a division champ right now?

San Francisco 27, Washington 24 - It's the battle of the once and future coaches! Mike Singletary comes in with the ink still drying on his new contract to lead the 49ers, while questions swirl around the Redskins and what will happen to rookie coach Jim Zorn after his team fell apart in the second half of the season. Skins owner Dan Snyder isn't exactly considered the most patient owner in sports.

Baltimore 27, Jacksonville 7 - This result was devastating to two fan bases: the Pats' and the Jets'. By winning this game, the Ravens clinched a wild card and eliminated the Jets from playoff contention. Meanwhile, the Jets were busy letting the Dolphins salt away the AFC East in their own backyard, leaving the Pats the odd man out of the AFC playoffs at 11-5. It's a cruel world, this NFL.

Miami 24, NY Jets 17 - I bring you Cinderella #2! The Dolphins were the worst team in football last year with an atrocious 1-15 mark (sorry if I'm making Lions fans jealous). Now, irony of ironies, the Phins will host the Ravens this weekend in the wild card playoff round in a rematch of the only game Miami won in 2007. Special Cinderella mention to the Ravens, who themselves were just 4-12 last year and made a remarkable 7-game turnaround, but the fanfare surrounding last year for the Ravens was much less, and the turnaround less surprising because of the talent everyone knew that defense had. Meanwhile, is there any team more fun to watch right now than Miami and its high school-inspired offense? Yesterday was my first real glimpse of the Wildcat being run by the team that started it, and it was a beautiful thing.

Arizona 34, Seattle 21 - The NFL breathed a sigh of relief in this one as at least there won't be TWO 8-8 teams hosting playoff games. The Cards ended the season semi-respectably (it would be more respectable if 6 of their 9 wins didn't come against their awful division) and will be 9-7 when they host the Eagles next week. On the other side, no Gatorade showers for Mike "The Original Walrus" Holmgren in his farewell to the Seahawks head gig. It'll be interesting to see if this is in fact his last day coaching (maybe he'll jump to the front office like Bill Parcels has) or if he'll return once again. As for Seattle sports: your 2008 is over!!!!!!!! The worst sports year in recorded history for one city has finally come to a close. For those few who don't know, here's a recap: Seattle Sonics finish 20-62 in their final season in the Great Northwest; the Sonics then get hijacked to Oklahoma City (it was a couple years coming, but there was tiny hope that it could be avoided); the Mariners become the first team in MLB history to lose 100 games with a $100 million payroll; University of Washington football goes 0-12, the first winless team in Pac-10 history; and finally the Seattle Seahawks bid their most successful coach farewell with a 4-12 campaign. Enjoy the champagne on January 1, Seattlites, because 2009 just has to be a better year.

This is the portion of the program where I tell Cowboys and Broncos fans to avert their eyes...

Philadelphia 44, Dallas 6 - This game ended in the second quarter. The Cowboys had shown a penchant for giving up when the chips were down earlier this year, and when the Eagles got hot and got a couple breaks in the second quarter to lead 27-3 at the half, there was no question who would win. The Eagles' defensive TDs in the third were a mere formality; they were a "go ahead and take care of your errands and whatnot" message to Cowboys fans who likely couldn't stand to watch the remainder. Meanwhile, the Eagles bask in the glory of a tie game at Cincinnati to make the playoffs over Chicago, Dallas and Tampa. Look out Vikings, this team is good when it shows up.

San Diego 1,234,693, Denver 21 - This might as well have been the final score, because if this game had gone on forever, I can't say I believe the Broncos would force the Chargers to punt more than once. For eternity. If there was any game this weekend that I would have bet my life savings on, it was the Chargers (-9) to cover at home on Sunday Night. This was the most predictable result of the weekend, which as a Broncos fan myself made the result easier to swallow. I think it's finally time for Pat Bowlen to take a look at the man in charge (not himself, obviously) and see if changes need to be made. The Broncos organization is a laughing stock around football today after yet another monumental collapse. At least Mike Shanahan has saved himself the embarrassment of another home blowout playoff loss to the Colts.

Stay tuned later this week for my playoff predictions for this weekend and my BCS Bowl predictions as well.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.