NFC forecast and a Letter to the NFL

So, a few weeks ago I did my slant column early in the week, not accounting for the night games. That week I wanted to examine the AFC, and NE-Jets, BAL-Steelers were on those nights. I feel like that experience was productive (I crowned NE, called Pittsburgh good but still lacking, Baltimore good but showing it was going nowhere, and the Jets as horrible, and that has worked out to be true). Well, this week I saw the same situation occur with the NFC.

Monday Night had New Orleans and Atlanta squaring off. In my opinion, these are the two most likely candidates for the Super Bowl. Before the season and after this game, I had the same impression: New Orleans is just a lot better. The Monday Night game showed me what each team was missing.

New Orleans is missing a tough defensive presence. This will limit them, and tougher teams can out muscle them. However, I am simply not worried about this. First, this was their problem last year, and they won the Super Bowl. Second, there are only a handful of teams that this matters against. It won’t matter against the Eagles, Bears, Packers, or apparently, the Falcons.

Atlanta is missing spirit, a heart. At no point this year I have said “there is the fire!” with them. To be fair, Atlanta hasn’t had many opportunities to do so. They are frequently just a better team than the opponent and get out ahead early. They won the first matchup with the Saints because Garrett Hartley missed two field goals, not because they seized it. And they lost this tilt because New Orleans took it and Atlanta did nothing to put them down. Two interceptions fell in their lap, they only allowed 3 scores to one of the best offenses in the league, they were playing in one of the best home arenas in the league, and they STILL couldn’t finish it. Perhaps they were holding back, knowing they only needed the Panthers next week to get the #1 seed. But, this is a game they easily could have had. And they didn’t STOMP on it like they needed to. And, I am not sure they have that “it”. Matt Ryan is Matty Ice, cool, calm, and collected. The problem is, sometimes you need a little dog in you too, a fiery sense of “eff you”. Brady has it. Peyton has it. And Brees DEFINITIVELY has it. Same with Belichick and Sean Payton, they have that ability to pounce. Not sure Mike Smith has it. And I think Atlanta fails because of that.

The other game I was interested in was the Eagles and Vikings. The Vikings are done, and while watching Webb is somewhat interesting from a scouting perspective, what I really wanted to see was if the Eagles could pounce all over a hapless team. We all know what happened. It was clear that while the Eagles are dangerous, they can easily be clipped if the other team gets physical with Vick and runs it right at them on defense. The big play cannot be displayed on command. It is understandable to only grind out a victory in an odd game like the one on Tuesday night, but to be beaten that badly (and it could have been worse, Vick should have had about 3 more picks) shows true problems with your team.

So, the NFC is much clearer to me. The best team has to be the Saints. After that, I have to take the Packers because they can dominate, and fight despite injuries and bad games. And that is exactly what I see happening, with the Saints going to the Super Bowl. And yes, I just picked the two Wild Card teams to go to the NFC title game. Oh Boy.

So, NFL, I want to have a few words with you.

-You got a lot of flack this week about moving that Eagles-Vikes game. But, I somewhat understand. The highways would have been really bad. You are trying to say you are concerned with safety. You know, not enough to really prevent concussions for the players, but concerned about the paying customer, of course. Is it true that Vince Lombardi would be laughing at us for postponing a game due to weather? Probably, he would. But overall, this wasn’t a huge deal. It gave us another day of football. So, this didn’t get me that mad.

-Then you fined Brett Favre $50,000 for his actions. No suspension. This was the decision, after all that activity the last few months. After he did something that he was clearly guilty of. Because, before all else, you have to protect the shield. Nothing can put a black mark on the NFL. Nothing can stop Favre’s Hall of Fame ceremony in five years from being a joyous occasion. You know what? Let’s just wipe all of Brett Favre’s interceptions from the record too! After all, he can do no wrong. Maybe leave a few on the record so announcers can joke about “Favre the gunslinger” and how he “tries so hard sometimes his own guys just can’t catch the ball”. And you know what? Let’s waive the 5 year rule and put him right in the Hall of Fame. He deserves it, right? Then he could come back and be the first ever active Hall of Famer still playing! But, the truth is, Brett doesn’t matter anymore, so I didn’t get that upset.

-Okay, so then I noticed that the NFL has a straight, simple week 17. No Thursday night, no Saturday night, no Monday night. I’m fine with no MNF, playoff teams need fair rest time. But we should have games on AT LEAST Saturday night. So, I looked it up, and we have had those games in past years. Then I realized, this week the Thurs-Sat night games would conflict with NCAA Bowl Games. You know, those pointless things that everyone hates because of the system, and also because the NCAAF season ended like 2 months ago? Right, those. So, basically, it seems the NFL has a secret handshake agreement not to double book football with the NCAA.

-I wouldn’t be so upset about this, but the NFL has already screwed up the schedule already. They are playing with fire, manipulating everything for the best possible ratings. Now if a game has an impact on another game is played earlier (like if the Saints game was played before the Falcons game, for instance), other teams would rest starters. And the NFL cannot have that. But, the schedule is set at the beginning of the season! Keep it the way it is set. If a team knows its fate from an early game, it shouldn’t matter. So, you lose one game of interest as Matt Brunell sees extended playing time. But, that is not your hand to force.

-This is topped by the fact that if you do flex a game to 8pm, DON’T MAKE IT SEATTLE-STL! Make it a good game. I know, I know, that game is guaranteed to mean something (who wants to be the first one out of the playoffs?!). But, have a team over .500 in the game you flex for week 17. Or, even a team AT .500.

-Finally, let’s not be worried about Brett Favre, or flexing games, or anything else. How about we make sure we have a season next year? You know, work on a CBA?

BLISS