A day after, there's still some recovery to be had from all the games that were played yesterday. It was definitely an interesting end to an interesting season. I didn't get to watch all of them, as I don't have that many pairs of eyes, but I tried to keep an eye on some of them and these were pretty much my reactions.
1. Ravens vs. Bengals - Holy hell. Watch out for Cincinatti.
2. Chiefs vs. Chargers - NFL refs say they botched the final call, which would have given the Chiefs the ball at 36 yards for a punt, changing the game entirely (of course, kicker would have to make it, but 36 yards isn't too bad. I've seen less missed, but we will never know now). That's unfortunate, as Pittsburgh needed a win out of the Chiefs to advance to playoffs. Sadly, I'm not sad as I don't really like the Steelers. Of course, I was rooting a little for the Chiefs too. I'm a Rams fan. I see lots of bad seasons, and the Chiefs were the same way until this year.
3. Jets vs. Dolphins - Rex Ryan is doing good at trying to keep his job secured. The Jets fan in the bar was REEEEALLY annoying about his win.
4. Bills vs. Patriots - Didn't watch, but it went how it was expected and I imagine my father-in-law wasn't happy.
5. Lions vs. Vikings - Whaaaaat. And coaches for both teams were fired I heard. Vikings have been a train wreck all season, and Lions were actually good in the first half of the season. No idea where it went, but it looks like the GM knows where the problem lies, and has alleviated it.
6. Jaguars vs. Colts - Shouldn't be a shocker.
7. Browns vs. Steelers - All that hard work and Pittsburgh still didn't make playoffs, thanks in part to the botched call from Chiefs/Chargers game. Eh, you should have won more games during the regular season instead of putting your hopes on someone else to get you there. Guess you'll have to try for your seventh or eighth Lombardi trophy next year. Oh, that's if you get a halfway decent team, and maybe even a coach who won't step on the field in the middle of a return. Jackasses. Speaking of true unfairness, really Cleveland? Firing a coach after his first year? You do realize it takes more than a year to build a good team, right? This is why the Browns will continue being piss-poor. You don't have any patience.
8. 49ers vs. Cardinals - After last week, you were possibly looking for the Cardinals to bring down the hammer on the 49ers for another surprise upset, but it didn't happen. I wanted the Cardinals to do it, but at the same time, Seattle needed a loss from the 49ers, not a win. Actually, had the Rams won, Seattle would be sitting with No. 5 seed, not No. 1 right now. Oh well.
9. Eagles vs. Cowboys - God, even without Romo the Cowboys can't pull it off.
10. Texans vs. Titans - Eh.
11. Redskins vs. Giants - Nobody had a chance to go anywhere in playoffs so this game was pretty irrelevant. Well not completely, coaches and players were playing for job security. And Mike Shanahan caught the ax. Good.
12. Panthers vs. Falcons - A true shame that Gonzalez's final game ended with a loss.
13. Buccaneers vs. Saints - Another no brainer, and the final score backs that up.
14. Broncos vs. Raiders - I didn't have to watch the game to know that the Broncos were really kicking Oakland in the nuts. The Raiders fans in the bar were quiet through the entire game.
15. Packers vs. Bears
This game welcomed back not only Aaron Rodgers, but Randall Cobb, and those two worked together flawlessly. I really wish Cobb would have caught for returns, but instead, we had to continue to watch Hyde muck up returns. Jordy Nelson wasn't as big on his game, but Eddie Lacy proved helpful as always in his running game. The big kicker, naturally, was the last score, when the players pestered Coach McCarthy to "go for it" on a 4th and 1. He was apparently planning a punt. If he hadn't listened to his players (sounds like he needs to do it more often), Kuhn wouldn't have made 1st down, and Cobb wouldn't have wound up in the end zone. Another big play was the fumble recovery in which the play wasn't whistled stop, and Rodgers told Boykin to run it into the endzone, giving the Packers a nice and easy touchdown. The Bears defense couldn't stop the Packer's offense, luckily, because the Packers defense is as hole-filled as swiss cheese, and sadly missing some great players like Clay Matthews. Also what might have helped the Bears was McCown. Cutler is decent, but McCown is like an underestimated and underappreciated gem.
16. Rams vs. Seahawks
What a MESS. The penalties alone were atrocious. There were missed calls on both sides, as well as botched calls on both sides. The biggest piece of drama was Langford's ejection after accidentally knocking a referee's hat off. Note where I say ACCIDENTALLY. It was a bullshit call to eject him when you walk right into his hand. It's heat of the moment, accidents happen, but unfortunately, the Rams paid for that accident. Trump up some more unsportsmanlike calls thanks to trolling from Seattle afterward, and there you have it. Seattle wins thanks to penalties.
While I'm on the subject, watching this all unfold in a bar full of Seahawks fans isn't easy. There's actually not much you can say without adding in "disgusting," "vile," and "pitiful" when it comes to their attitudes. We actually had a female Seahawks fan (I detest them the most as they are the bandwagony fans who don't know squat about the game, except who they should cheer for - you know - because it's their man's team) who was half watching the Packers/Bears game (probably because it was overall a better game with even bigger things to play for), watch the Bears make a great offensive play that ended with a TD and look at us with pity and say "where's a flag when you need one?" THAT'S the kind of mentality that most Seahawks fans have. If the opposing team scores, there must be a flag somewhere. The opposing team apparently can't do something on their own merit. I was disgusted, and seriously itching to slap her right in her piehole. And with each flag thrown in the Seattle game, and the ejection, they were cheering loudly. Why? Because those flags, right or wrong, brought them an easier touchdown. And THAT'S why they won't make it in the Super Bowl, and why they might not even make it TO Super Bowl. Flags take you only so far, and if you're a heavily penalized team (I think it's quite possible at this point that the Seahawks are the most penalized in the NFL at this point), those penalties will wind up hurting you, kind of like how they hurt the Seahawks vs. the Cardinals last week.
But I can't be 100% angry with the Seahawks or their fans, because my Rams didn't show up for the game. They did in the first half, actually, their defensive line successfully containing Marshawn Lynch. Defensively on both sides, it was a great game. It's the second half that got sloppy, and the Rams simply just seemed to give up. I was hoping that Jeff Fisher would breathe some life into the youngest team in the NFL, but it's just more of the same mediocrity that we've seen in past years. It's a little better, but it's simply not enough. Where did you guys go after the first half? Did you just hop a plane and fly home? That's what it looked like.
But Seahawks shouldn't be as cocky as they have been. The Cardinals showed them that they can be beat at home, and some of these NFC teams that will be showing up in Seattle will be most definitely watching film, looking for weaknesses (yes, the Seahawks have them), and will show them that playoffs aren't the same as regular season.
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