The success of the National Football League can be attributed to its relatively short season compared to the other major sports in America. The regular season comprises 16 games played between September-December, and the playoffs are held during January leading to the Super Bowl on February 1st.
Last weekend was probably my favorite weekend of the season when we are reduced to four divisional games with eight teams competing for the right to play in the two Conference Championship games; the winners of which compete in the Super Bowl.
An NFL team win or loses on the performance of the quarter back. He is the guy who pulls the strings and executes the plays devised by the coaches. Itemized below is my potted assessment of the roles played by the eight QBs on display last weekend:
- Baltimore and Joe Flacco, threw for 4 touchdowns but also incurred 2 interceptions. Should have controlled the clock better to deprive the Patriots of a comeback. Not once but twice!
- New England and Tom Brady, imperious and showed the world why he is one of the greatest QBs of all time.
- Carolina and Cam Newton, “superman” deterred by a kryptonite defense.
- Seattle and Russell Wilson, solid performance by Wilson, and with the help of a great running game, did enough to ensure a comfortable win.
- Dallas and Tony Romo, probably the most overrated QB in the league. Nearly a match for Rodgers on this occasion because Rodgers was playing virtually on one leg.
- Green Bay and Aeron Rodgers, courageous performance by the regular season’s MVP. Hop- a- Long Cassidy pulled the strings in the second half for a memorable win.
- Indianapolis and Andrew Luck, the evolution continues with Tom Brady next in his gun sights.
- Denver and Peyton Manning, the old warhorse has finally been beaten by father thyme.
The regular season may only last four months, but the off the field circus continues unabated for the rest of the year. The carousel of hiring and firing of coaches takes center stage at the end of the season quickly followed by players’ free agency and the four day draft of college players. Assessing the draft by the sports’ talking heads has developed into an art form.
My team, Atlanta Falcons, fired their coach Mike Smith following a disappointing 6-10 season. For some reason, the favorite to replace him was the boorish Rex Ryan recently fired from the New York Jets after posting a 4-12 losing record. The local sports media supported his appointment for some reason, but we dodged a bullet when he accepted the head coaching job at Buffalo Bills.
The NFL coaching fraternity resembles a good old boys network because no sooner does one of their own lose his job he is inevitably hired by another team. Half a dozen candidates have recently completed the circuit of teams with coaching vacancies while Mike Smith maintained a low profile. However, it is rumored he will be offered the Defensive Coordinator job at the Oakland Raiders by his friend and former boss Jack Del Rio who they recently appointed Head Coach.
Meanwhile we are down to the wire with four teams remaining:
Green Bay @ Seattle
Indianapolis @ New England.
