The first day of the year 2012 was also the last day of the NFL season for a bunch of teams. As the season of giving wound down today, the NFL season also followed suit. It was an interesting feeling having both Christmas and the New Years on a Sunday this year. I liked it more than waking up on New Years and watching the college Bowl games. But not sure if the Raiders and the Cowboys liked what happened today. Both had a "win and you are in" situation and both blew it. Raiders had a set of more complicated options entering the day, but it boiled down to an elimination game as the day progressed. And they got eliminated even after Tebow was exposed and the Broncos lost. The Raiders have had a tough season with the demise of Al Davs, the injuries and renewed hope when they got Carson Palmer, but they just were not good enough to win a bad division. They could not stop the Chargers today on defense and didn't score enough TDs on offense. Palmer threw for a good game, but they still stalled a lot in the red zone. And of course the special teams did it's bit by letting the Chargers score a TD as well. Overall, a tough loss and a rough season for the Raiders given how the other teams in the division gave them all the opening they can to help them.
Raiders had some ugly losses late in the season, but the killer ones were the home losses to bad divisions teams in Kansas City and Denver in the middle of the season, around the bye week, coming off of a season ending injury to Jason Campbell. With Campbell or even with Palmer at practice for a couple of weeks, they win both those games. If they win those "easy" games, they finish the season 10-6 and the story is different. The week 17 Chargers were a lot more challenging than those 2 teams back then, but the Raiders just were not dealt the right hand those 2 games. So after going 6-0 in the division last year, they went 0-3 at home and 3-0 on the road in division. Thats strange and a typical Raiders stat. Speaking of typical Raiders stat, they have to fix the penalty situation. They beat all kinds of records with penalties this season and the top 10 all-time infamous list is littered with Raiders teams from all eras. It's an amazing contrast to see the discipline of the niners under Harbaugh across the bay and this Raiders team, which is probably more talented than the niners on paper. Of course, they need McFadden on the field to prove that. I am excited to see Palmer with a full training camp next year, but there was some karma at work here this season as he refused to suit up for the Bengals and they are now in the playoffs with the rookie Andy Dalton at QB while Palmer will be sitting at home watching.
Denver lost ugly and still backed into the playoffs. Tebow looked horrible and there is just no way Pittsburgh gets beat by him next week - at home, on the road, in Iceland, it don't matter. Denver has a home game due to the weird NFL rules, but Big Ben and Polamalu will be ready. Seattle might have upset New Orleans last year at home, but Pittsburgh V Denver is just too lopsided. If he wins next week, Tebow magic is for real. I am looking forward to a couple of upsets in the playoffs next weekend. Cincinnati Bengals should be able to beat the Texans on the road. Texans are a better team when healthy, but they never are. The Giants eliminated the overrated Cowboys today, but the Atlanta Falcons come into town next week and that will be a whole different ball game. The Falcons are on a roll and if the Giants blink, they will be joining the other New York team - the Jets, at home. It feels good not hearing the loud mouth Rex Ryan and the Jets in the playoffs. They are a overrated team with an overrated quarterback and they better improve and shut up if they want to take the next step. Mark Sanchez is a decent guy, but just not a good QB. Darrelle Revis said he doesn't know who Giants receiver Victor Cruz was a couple of weeks back. Cruz first helped eliminate Revis, Ryan and the Jets. And today, helped kick out Rob Ryan's Dallas Defense out of the playoffs. Now the Ryan brothers should be seeing Victor Cruz in their nightmares all off-season and rightfully so.
The wild card round starts Saturday and I expect the Saints to take care of the Lions at home. The Lions are good, but they have the unenviable task of stopping Brees in his house and that ain't happening. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati should join their division rival Baltimore the week after in AFC's final 4. The other game is a "pick em" for me as I wouldn't be surprised if Atlanta wins at NY, though Matt Ryan has trouble on the road. Green Bay will be playing everybody at home down the road, but looking at their defense, I am concerned. I think the Saints can shock them in the NFC championship game, but they have enough offense to beat anybody else including the niners who have the best defense in the NFC. It's more of a tossup in the AFC with the Ravens, Pats and the Steelers. I like the Ravens to join the Packers in the Super Bowl when it's all said and done. A Saints or Patriots appearance there wouldn't shock me either. It's a different playoffs without Manning and the Colts. The Colts locked up the top pick in the draft. Let's minimize the drama and pick Andrew Luck right away. That will give them time to decide what to do with Manning if and when he comes back. He should come back and may be play for another team. The way the game is these days, both Luck and Manning might throw for 5000 yards next season. Two dudes, Brady and Brees beat Marino's mark this season and Stafford threw for more than 5000 yards as well. There were more 5,000-yard passers in the 2011 season than there had been throughout NFL history prior to this season. Rodgers sat out today. Otherwise, there would have been 4 QBs with more than 5000 yards. I'd say Marino's record still stands just like Hank Aaron's in baseball, though for different reasons.
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