As I was going back and forth between the Giants-Falcons and the Colts-Ravens game I experienced it for the first time. Then again and again and again.
What is it, you ask? It is that “Wait, what!?” -feeling that overcame me so many times this weekend. First when I mistakenly thought that the Giants-Falcons game was essentially over after the G-men were up by two touchdowns with 12:00 minutes left to play only to find out that Atlanta had battled its way back and forced the game into overtime. Wait what!? The Falcons come back after being as dead as the crowd at a Tom Cruise stand-up special (let’s pray that that will never ever ever happen, seriously take a minute and pray)!? You’re telling me Atlanta was able to pull even after the Falcons’ cornerbacks had been exposed like college chicks at “Girls Gone Wild”!? Once again, wait, what!?
The second time it happened when I realized that Pittsburgh had fallen to Kansas City in OT. Kansas City, really!? The defending champs lost to a team that released its starting runningback just two weeks ago and replaced him with somebody who owns two first names (Not that that’s a bad thing, just look at Ricky Bobby. Extending the Ricky Bobby analogy even further: Jamaal Charles also wanted to “go fast”, racking up 177 yards on five kickoffs and even taking one to da crib.)!? The puppies in black and gold had more than twice as many first downs as their detractors in red (27-13) and they still lost!? Are you kidding me!? I’m just glad I didn’t bet on any of the games this weekend otherwise I would have probably suffered more than one heart attack.
It happened a third time when I saw the highlights of the Lions-Browns game. Matthew Stafford does his best Terry Bradshaw impression leading his team to victory with one minute left while playing with a hurt shoulder!? Really!? A matchup (that was blacked out in Detroit) between two 1-8 teams actually being enticing and riveting to watch!? You gotta be freakin’ kidding me!? You know where I’m going with this: “Wait, what!?
Then it was déjà vu all over again when I checked the scores on Monday morning and discovered that Oakland had knocked off a Cincy team that had beaten Pittsburgh and Baltimore not once but twice prior to that. If you had told me before the game that Brad Gradkowski (who looks more like a bouncer of a semi-shady New York nightclub than an NFL quarterback) would engineer a last-minute, game-tying drive against a top five defense (currently ranked Nr. 3) I would’ve called you crazy and slapped you across the face Godfather-style. Furthermore if you had told me that a team (Cincy) that had commited 12 turnovers total prior to this game would turn over the rock a whopping four times to a team (Oakland) that currently employs a Takeaway/Giveaway differential of -7 I would’ve laughed you off, patted you on the back and advised you to cut back on the crack supply. Good thing you didn’t do either of those two things.
So that was only a small sample of a particularly wacky “Wait, what!?”-weekend, but there are also some more of these moments when you look at some stats and standings. Here are five just to list a few:
- The Jacksonville Jaguars are 6-4. Now that alone would be astounding enough especially considering the way they’ve been playing so far, but they have also only scored 199 points. Only Denver has scored less while sporting the same record and seven teams have scored more points than Jacksonville while winning less games. Huh?
- The Denver Broncos have been outscored by a grand total of 80 points in their last four games. (In a related story those four games have all been losses.) Nonetheless they have still allowed the 7th fewest points. How the hell does that work!?
- Here are the stats of the quarterback with the best passer rating (112.1) so far: 21 TDs, 2482 passing yards and 3 INTs. Who is that guy you ask? It’s none other than Brett Favre. (Let that feeling of nausea set in. Soak it up. I know I am feeling like I am on a roller coaster ride after eating a super-size Big Mac menu merely typing these words.) Who would have thought that a gunslinger who is notorious for turning the pigskin over would experience an MVP-type season when he is so old he probably rides the bus for free or at least receives a senior discount. I know I didn’t. Nonetheless I am sticking to my guns (albeit it a little more concerened than a few weeks ago when I compared Favre to an expired milk carton in my “Sunday Feast” post -> http://www.thefansperspective.com/2009/10/03/sunday-feast/): Favre will self-destruct in the playoffs. You’ll see.
- The Tennessee Titans started 0-6. Now they’re 4-6 and talking about making the playoffs and you know what!? I think they very well could. Call me crazy, call me a lunatic, call me Ron Artest, but I really think they could pull it off. I don’t know what they injected Vince Young with, but he is a different person and a different player now. Confident. Calm. Cool and collected. Patting refs on the butt and high-fiving them. Frankly, all the things you would want your QB to be and do. Plus their schedule is basically tailor-made for them to go on a big run. Here are their opponents from here on out: Arizona, at Indy, St. Louis, Miami, San Diego, at Seattle. They could very well win five out of those six. The other teams that are contending for that final playoff spot are the Jaguars, Steelers, Broncos, Ravens, Texans, Dolphins and Jets. So let’s run through them real quick: Jacksonville has a fairly tough schedule coming up (at San Fran, Houston, Miami, Indy, at New England, at Cleveland; so let’s say they win two out of those six) and Pittsburgh might not have a starting quarterback with clear vision the remainder of the season (Roethlisberger suffered his fourth concussion, so that can’t be good). Denver seems like they’re self-combusting at the wrong time (not that they’re is ever a good time for that). Who knows what to make out of Baltimore. The Titans just beat Houston and they have a chance to beat Miami leaving us with the Jets, a team that has a trash-talking, whinning jerk for a coach and a quarterback that get’s rattled easier than the token white guy in a war movie. (You know the one with glasses who is either a language specialist or a radio operator.) See, the Titans making the playoffs wouldn’t be all that outlandish. After all crazier things have happened.
- Did you notice that the AFC North, arguably the most competitive division in the AFC this year, got swept this weekend!? Every AFC Nort team lost to an opponent with 2 wins or less except Baltimore. Once more, with feeling, this time everybody together: ” WAIT, WHAT!?”
Alright, on that note let’s wrap things up with the ODS picks for week 12 and me wishing all of you folks a Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy one of the best holidays of the year and don’t forget to watch football while you’re doing it. Ok, enough sentimentalism for one post, on to the picks (home teams in caps, ODS numbers in parentheses):
DALLAS (8,213338891) over Oakland (1,93901129)
New York Giants (10,0506582) over DENVER (6,675157897)
Green Bay (9,714067745) over DETROIT (3,11293305)
ATLANTA (6,756740171) over Tampa Bay (2,84192305)
Miami (6,333455344) over BUFFALO (3,00282884)
CINCINNATI (8,175046043) over Cleveland (1,706410911)
Indianapolis (12,31225904) over HOUSTON (8,076334733)
MINNESOTA (8,446872395) over Chicago (5,533483634)
NEW YORK JETS (6,806948604) over Carolina (5,593120422)
Arizona (7,582251901) over TENNESSEE (4,768959553)
PHILADELPHIA (9,095397844) over Washington (4,487760558)
Seattle (5,608717896) over ST. LOUIS (2,485191437)
BALTIMORE (11,32534522) over Pittsburgh (10,72077607)
SAN DIEGO (8,415151043) over Kansas City (3,163672448)
SAN FRANCISCO (5,307786284) over Jacksonville (4,629980821)
New England (14,56941756) over NEW ORLEANS (10,64072175)
Last week: 12-4
Overall: 63-35