The Week In Football: The College Football Playoff Heats Up, Manning's Dead Duck, and Tattoos on Santa

On Saturday night, the Tennessee Vols got their 6^th win of the season, making them bowl eligible for the first time since 2010. They also ended Vanderbilt’s embarrassing two game winning streak against them, allowing the Commodores to finish the year 0-8 in the conference. Not a great first year for Derek Mason in Nashville. So much for Vandy “not missing a beat” without James Franklin. That school has a ton of smart fans, but they did their best dumb Alabama fan (Harvey Updyke or Phyllis) impression by blindly declaring that they didn’t need Franklin to continue their level of recent success. Really? Vanderbilt, like I expected, quickly returned to mediocrity and unimportance, just like they’ve been for most of their history. Franklin was a game changer for them, and probably didn’t get enough credit from the rest of the country (or the Vandy fans) for how great he was down there. I mean, he won 9 games in back-to-back years at Vanderbilt. I’ll probably have grandkids or be dead before that happens again.

 

But back to the Vols. Making a bowl game was huge for this team, and for Butch, because there’s no way he could’ve allowed Derek Dooley to have more success in his first two years than he did (Dooley went to a bowl game in year 1). They’ll get some extra practice time, another game on television, and some added momentum to carry into next season. They still have more holes on the offensive line than the plot of the Star Wars prequels, but they showed enough signs at the end of the year to get me excited for next season.

 

Now, onto the rest of the weekend…..

 

Tossed out of the Cornfield

 

Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini got the axe on Sunday morning, as he was fired, despite winning 9 games for the 7^th straight season. He went 67-27 in his seven years in charge of the program, though they never won a conference championship, or played in a BCS Bowl. Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst’s reason for the canning was simple; “We weren't good enough in the games that mattered… I didn't see that changing at the end of the day.”

 

My question is, what are they expecting? They’ve won 9 games every season he’s been in charge, and they’ve been in the conference title race pretty much every year. This isn’t Nebraska of the ‘70s, ‘80s, or ‘90s. The landscape of college football has changed, as it’s really hard to convince kids to come to Lincoln, Nebraska (which is in the middle of nowhere), with it’s bone-chilling winter temperatures. The state produces almost no legitimate Division 1 football players, and neither do any of the states that border them. They’ve got fan support, and an administration that is fully committed to winning, but so does 25 other programs. Honestly, I think Pelini’s done a pretty good job there, considering all the obstacles. Plus, this was probably the worst off-season to make a change, because Nebraska is the 3^rd best job opening. Florida is way better (in state talent, warm weather), as is Michigan, which borders Ohio, only one of the most fertile recruiting areas in the country. Two names stand out to me as potential replacements, at least right now: Mike Gundy and Jerry Kill. Assuming both of those guys get passed over for the Florida and Michigan job openings, I think Nebraska would (and should) be really happy if they got either of those guys.

 

ACC Dominance?

 

It wasn’t a good day for the SEC on Saturday, at least on the surface, as the conference lost all of their in-state rivalry games to schools from the ACC. Never mind that these were the combined records for the teams heading into those games:

 

SEC: 26-17

ACC: 36-8

 

You had the horrible and offensively inept Gators, the “we can’t stop a nosebleed” Gamecocks, Kentucky (they’re so bad they don’t even need a qualifier), and Georgia, who blew their game against Georgia Tech. Besides the Bulldogs, this wasn’t exactly the class of the SEC this year. It’s not like the ACC teams beat Alabama, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss on Saturday. The fact is, their undefeated team, the one that will be favored in this weekend’s conference championship game, FSU, struggled mightily for 4 quarters at home against Florida, a team that plays offense like a bad Pop Warner team. On paper, the ACC had the best team in 3 of these games (FSU-UF, Clemson-South Carolina, and Louisville-UK), and got Georgia’s best Clemson impression in the Tech game that allowed the Yellow Jackets to escape Athens victorious. How in the world do the Dawgs lose that game? You have a three point lead with 18 seconds left! Tech can’t consistently throw the ball down the field. If they kick the ball deep, instead of squib kicking it, they win that game 99 times out of 100. Instead, because they kicked it short, Tech started their possession close to midfield, which allowed Yellow Jacket QB Justin Thomas to get them in field goal range by simply breaking contain and rushing for 21 yards. What a head scratching and game-costing decision.  Again: THIS TEAM STRUGGLES TO CONSISTENTLY THROW THE BALL DOWN THE FIELD. You should know this, because they spent almost the entire game running the ball. Georgia allowed Tech to get into field goal range without even completing a pass. Just boot the ball deep, cover the kick, and make them beat you chucking the ball down the field with the little time they had remaining. I’m frustrated with this game and I’m not even a Georgia fan. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I rooted for them.

 

My 4 Team Playoff

 

1. Alabama. Despite three interceptions from their quarterback Blake Sims, the Tide were still able to score 55 points. Who else in the country could do that? And what other team could survive Auburn QB Nick Marshall’s best game ever, as he passed for a school record 456 yards? The process for getting into the playoff is simple for the Tide; win Saturday’s SEC Title Game, and they’ll be in. And honestly, I hate that. I don’t think I’ve taken enough time in this space to let everyone know the level of disdain I have for the Crimson Tide. I’ve taken more shots at Clemson and UCLA this season, schools I don’t even hate, than I have at Alabama, a program I wouldn’t root for against the Soviets. The only thing more annoying than the Tide’s recent success is how angry their redneck fans get when their number of claimed national titles is called into question (I’m sorry, but they don’t have 15 legitimate national championships), or when their fans get equally angry when people mention that their head coach, hero, and God, Nick Saban, is a surprisingly short 5’6.
2. Oregon. The Ducks took care of business in the Civil War this weekend against Oregon State, and now face an Arizona team in Pac 12 Championship Game that has beat them two straight times. Just like Alabama, the playoff formula for Oregon is simple; win, and they’ll be in. Also, on a side note, take a look at this Marcus Mariota picture:
   
   That’s the greatest in-game Heisman pose since Desmond Howard's punt return against Ohio State. However, I’m not Alabama (meaning dumb) enough to let a single cool photo change my opinion on the Heisman race. Melvin Gordon is still the best player in college football, and should win the award.
3. Florida State. With Mississippi State’s loss in the Egg Bowl, and Baylor’s narrow victory over Texas Tech, I moved the ‘Noles up a spot this week. Jameis Winston was terrible on Saturday (4 picks), and FSU allowed a bad Gators’ team to hang around for way too long. I’ll be rooting like hell for Georgia Tech to knock them off this weekend in the ACC Championship Game, though I realize it’s probably not going to happen. As bad as the Seminoles have been for long stretches in games, they always seem to find a way to squeak it out at the end, or catch a lucky break. I hate that this team gets to struggle every week in that cupcake conference, and I can’t wait for them to get in the playoff and be blasted by Alabama or Oregon in the semifinals.
4. Baylor. Bryce Petty’s concussion in the 3^rd quarter against the Red Raiders was concerning, though he has vowed to play in next week’s showdown at home against K-State. Assuming he can go, I think the Bears should get into the playoff with a win on Saturday. They’d be conference champions, and they’d have the head-to-head win against TCU. Then again, I’ve been saying this all season, and the committee has still been putting the Horned Frogs ahead of them. So what do I know?

 

I’d rank TCU 5^th, Ohio State 6^th, Arizona 7^th, and Mississippi State 8^th. I don’t think the Bulldogs can’t get back into the playoff race after their loss this weekend. They don’t have any games left on their schedule to impress the committee, and they, unlike everyone ranked ahead of them, cannot win their conference title. So as great and memorable as their season has been, it’s probably over.

 

TCU can get into the playoff if they win, and K-State beats Baylor, or someone else above them loses (like Florida State). They’d have one loss, be conference champions, and have some impressive wins (K-State, West Virginia, Minnesota, Oklahoma, etc.) under their belt. Ohio State will get in if they win the Big 10 Title Game against Wisconsin, and two teams above them lose. I can’t see them, without star QB J.T. Barrett, making a strong case to the committee unless two teams lose. That Barrett injury was as damning as it was disappointing. His rapidly improving play was one of the main reasons people were arguing that they should be in the playoff. Now, without him, they don’t stand a chance without catching a few breaks in the last week of the season. They aren’t going to jump anyone that wins this week.

 

Arizona is an interesting team. If they beat Oregon in the Pac 12 Title Game, they’d have two victories over the Ducks, while also having two losses themselves. They’d also be champions of the second best conference in the country. Could you really justify putting two Big 12 teams in the playoff, or a Big 12 and Big 10 team in, without putting in the Pac 12 champ? That league, particularly the Pac 12 South, has been brutal this season. USC just got done mopping the floor with Notre Dame, and they lost 3 games in conference this year. And what if Baylor, Florida State, and Oregon all lose next week? Would the playoff be Alabama, TCU, Ohio State, and Arizona? How much would the committee penalize FSU for losing? And could Georgia Tech find a way to sneak into the playoff? There are so many unanswered questions going into the final weekend of the season, and ultimate chaos is still a possibility. Regardless, I can’t wait to see what happens this weekend.

 

Now, onto the NFL…..

 

SAN DIEGO SUPER CHARGERS

 

The Bolts, my AFC Super Bowl pick, made me look intelligent for siding with them for only the second time this season (the other time was their Week 2 victory against Seattle), as they played one of their most courageous games of the season, and won at Baltimore. And yes, I really do appreciate when I look smart, because it’s happened so infrequently this season. It was a gritty win for San Diego, and a game they had to have. They’ve still got a brutal schedule remaining (home against New England and Denver, and then at San Fran and Kansas City to finish the season), but they are 8-4, and at least game ahead of all the other AFC Wild Card contenders. The New England and Denver games should be difficult, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect them to win at least one of those games. At San Francisco looked like a tough game a few weeks ago, until you remembered that they’ve been pretty dreadful on offense all year (thank you Kaepernick!), and that the situation between Jim Harbaugh and the front office could implode at any time. And should they really be scared of Kansas City at the end of the year? They can’t complete any throws down the field, they haven’t been able to generate much of a pass rush the last two weeks, and teams have suddenly figured out how to gash them with running game (CJ Anderson had 32 carries for 168 yards yesterday). For the first time since they were 5-1, I feel good about San Diego. And now that I’ve said that, they’ll probably lose the last four. Please don’t.

 

Peyton and the Dead Duck

 

Manning had one of his worst games of the season last night in Kansas City (50% completions, 179 yards), and there were multiple times where his ball failed to cut through the wind and ended up dying in the air. It’s no secret that he doesn’t have the same zip on throws that he did five years ago (and that’s probably the case for every 38 year old), but in terms of arm strength, he’s a whole lot closer to Chad Pennington than he is to Aaron Rodgers. Denver didn’t need Manning to be great to beat K.C., but they’ll need him on his “A” game to win at New England, or a cold weather game in Denver against Indy or whoever they end up playing in the playoffs. It was 23 degrees at kickoff last night. What if it was 15 degrees in Denver or New England, with snow on the ground, or driving wind? How would Manning fair then? He’s never been great in cold weather, even when he was in his athletic and physical prime. Now? It could be disastrous. Thankfully for Denver, the defense seems to be hitting their stride again, and the offensive line has started to open up some holes for the running game. That will be enough for them to make the playoffs, but if they want to accomplish their ultimate goal, winning the Super Bowl, they’ll need Manning to be great. And I’m not sure he can be outside, in cold weather.

 

Green Bay cools off the Pats

 

The Pack handled their business at home against the hottest team in the NFL, New England, who hadn’t lost a game since September. Aaron Rodgers was, like always, great (368 yards, 2 TDs, no picks), and was amazingly able to stay upright for most of the game. It was shocking to watch how much time he had to stand back in the pocket and look down the field. There were multiple instances where Rodgers was able to reset 3 or 4 times in the pocket and continue to search for open receivers, before he was able to either complete a pass to one of them, or take off and run through and enormous hole in the defensive line. I’ll give Green Bay’s O-line a ton of credit for giving him all the time he needed. Basically, they did the exact opposite of what Tennessee’s offensive line has done for the Vols’ quarterbacks this season. Still, I think, at least right now, that these two teams are the NFL’s best, and I wouldn’t be shocked in they met in Arizona for the Super Bowl in February.

 

The Champs back on track, and the end of Niners?

 

Come back with me to Thursday night. The Seahawks have now won back-to-back slugfests against Arizona and San Francisco, and now sit just one game behind the Cardinals for the NFC West lead. They now look like the Legion of Boom, crazy pass rushing, Adderall-fueled (just kidding… hopefully) machine that they were last year. I would not want to play them in the playoffs, particularly if they end up getting a home game. That place is crazy; it literally melts other teams.

 

I stupidly picked the Niners on Thursday, because I keep ignoring the fact that Colin Kaepernick, for all his talents, might be the most inconsistent QB in the league. He was so bad on Thanksgiving (55.2% completions, 121 yards, 2 picks), and really hasn’t been that great all season (15 TDs, 8 picks, only one game in which his team scored more than 30 points). Those two playoff wins against Aaron Rodgers seem like a century ago.

 

Is this the end of the Niners run? They sit at 7-5, out of the playoffs, with games left at Oakland, at Seattle, and home against San Diego and Arizona. They could easily go 1-3 in those games, finish 8-8, and miss the playoffs. And if that happens, then it’s the end for Harbaugh, who hasn’t been able to agree to a new deal with San Fran going into the last year of his contract. He might get fired, or he might take another job, but he won’t be back. And it would be a shame, because as great as they’ve been, I’m not sure there’s a team in sports’ history that’s had a more devastating end to three straight seasons than the Niners. They had the Kyle Williams' fumbles in the 2011 NFC Championship Game against the Giants; 4th and goal stop against the Ravens in the Super Bowl the next season; and then last year's excruciating pick in the end zone that sealed their fate against their heated rivals, Seattle, in the NFC Title Game. Devastating losses to end three straight seasons? Just brutal. The only NFL situation I can compare to this one would be the Buffalo Bills, who did lose in the Super Bowl four straight years, though only one of those games was actually close, the Scott Norwood missed field goal game in Super Bowl XXV. In other sports, the most comparable example would be the Detroit Pistons, who had two straight brutal eliminations, including losing the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals to the Celtics in seven games. In that series, they had the Game 5 choke job by Isiah Thomas, when his inbound pass late in the game was picked off by Larry Bird, who immediately flipped it to Dennis Johnson for for the winning layup. They also lost Game 7 in Boston by three points. They followed it up in 1988 by losing back-to-back heartbreakers (Game 6 by 1 point, and Game 7 by three points) in the Finals, in Los Angeles against the Lakers, including Game 7, in which the fans stormed the court before the game was even over. But their hearts were only broken for two years, as they won the title the next season by getting revenge on the Lakers and sweeping them. San Fran might not get their chance at redemption like the Pistons did, and what a bitter pill that would be for Niner fans to swallow. Heck, I was pretty mad when Tennessee lost to Missouri this season, a game that ultimately doesn’t matter all that much in the long term. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I went through gut punch losses to end three straight seasons.

 

Finally, my Angry Old Man, who, through his ramblings, has once again forced his way onto this page. He shot me an angry text on Saturday night; “We’ve lost the country! I just saw a commercial with Santa Claus, and this Jolly Old St. Nick had tats! Is nothing sacred! Why do we have to destroy every American icon? The disappointment I felt in that moment reminded me of the disappointment I felt every time you brought your report card home from school!”

 

As you can see, he’s riled up, like always. Personally, I don’t necessarily think there’s a problem Santa having tattoos. I’ll admit that when I saw the commercial later, that was the first thing I noticed, but it wasn’t necessarily a big deal to me. I don’t have any tats, and I don’t really have any interest in getting one, but I also don’t think it’s big deal if a person has one. There is still a certain rebel element associated with them, but I also don’t think that stigma will exist in 15 or 20 years. How many people on TV now feel like they can freely unveil their tats without any consequence. Adam Levine is on “The Voice”, and his arms are covered in them. I haven’t heard any controversy about that, and I think it’s an overall relaxed attitude that our culture has towards them. Society is more casual than ever, and I wouldn’t be shocked if you start to see more and more television reporters and media personnel freely showing off their ink in the next few years.

 

But back to the original question; is it a big deal for Santa to have tats? I guess it depends on how you feel about tattoos, and how passionately you feel about how Santa looks. I don’t necessarily care about either of those things, particularly not how St. Nick looks, because he’s a created character (I’m sorry, but it’s true), and I don’t necessarily think it’s a big deal if a character goes through minor physical changes through time, depending on what the culture and society deems appropriate and acceptable. As long as the characteristics of Santa stay the same (a nice, warm spirit, who chortles, brings presents, etc.), I’m fine with a few physical changes. Plus, it’s not like Santa suddenly becomes a bad guy if you throw a few tats on him right?

 

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Like always, enjoy the Monday Night Game. You deserve it.