I don't think you're getting a Super Bowl this year.
(EDIT TO ADD 10:20 AM PST 12/21/21: My anonymous friend makes a tremendous point. Too much money in the Super Bowl to completely cancel it -- they'd try to hold it July 4th if they could get away with it... Thing is, they may have to. One thing we do agree on: The odds of everything going to previous plan are evaporating by the day and hour.)
The NFL will do everything in it's damn power to do otherwise. Seriously.
BUT:
Tonight, the NHL has formally suspended play, as of the end of the two remaining games tomorrow night.
We'll see IF they can restart next Monday (as of right now, they are just extending the league's Christmas break).
The NBA has been rather decimated, but, as of right now, has only one further game postponed than what they already have.
But the big one for the NFL has been the decimation of Week 15 (and I'm talking COVID, not the Tom Bradys and the Patriots losing -- I think that is an effect, more than a cause), in that two full rosters worth of NFL players tested positive this week at some point in the equation, a figurative explosion not unakin to the likes of the state of New York and the like regarding an Omicron-led COVID Wave... Four, Five???
Now, think: Saturday is Christmas. You know what that means... And a lot of the bump in this wave of COVID was from Thanksgiving and the like...
Yeah, they're in deep shit. I've read more than a few calling for the cancellation of the NFL season, and, if Thanksgiving got this kind of a bump, just think what Christmas is gonna do.
And I do believe that, as an effect, it probably played into some of the things which happened this week -- see the losses by Brady and Belichick. I do believe there has to be some serious question, at this point, as to whether Super Bowl LVI takes place in February of 2022 at all!!
So I guess what I'll do this week (and probably will be in play for the rest of the season as well) is the implied asterisk that this is IF the Super Bowl takes place in eight weeks...
What makes the AFC damn near impossible at this point is the understanding there is only one team with four losses (and the very real possibility that one high-profile COVID case is the only real reason THAT team has only four losses), and THIRTEEN of them are 7-7 or better, meaning the NFL is going to probably machinate maximum chaos!
1) New England
I'm still going to put Brady vs. Belichick as the lead possibility -- but the problem here is simple: Even more so than any other "single Q-rating led teams" like Green Bay, Baltimore, etc. If a COVID positive were to hit Brady a few days before the Super Bowl, the entire season would be lost.
2) Kansas City
Being the #1 has it's privileges -- one fewer game, everything going through at home. Yes, there is the Mahomes Factor. But, again there is also what I believe to be the Britt Reid Factor -- so the league is going to have to show me, rather than tell me, about all that.
And then a fairly precipitous drop to...
3) LA Chargers
As much as there other teams in better kayfabe standings positions, the fact is that a couple levers here or there and Spanos will laugh in the face of all us detractors telling him to officially fuck off.
Teams to watch, in both directions:
Baltimore: Do you get now that this franchise, for the time being, is basically Lamar Jackson and a far-lesser supporting cast. That said, give it to a coach who has the guts to wanna win this game right damn now. Would you take your chances on Aaron Rodgers with 40 seconds and a timeout to get into field goal range?
Cincinnati, Henry-less Tennessee, Buffalo, Indianapolis... do you get the point here: Eek. Just, eek. I'm probably going to have some math fun with schedule and see what I can come up with.
AFC Dud of the Week
No, not Baltimore, not Harbaugh. All that is is an expression, as I said, of how much Jackson means to the franchise, both on the field and off of it. And be thankful your coach is not a coward, even if it's not working out.
You know what, AFC? MERRY CHRISTMAS. I can't see anybody really that deserving of Dud of the Week.
So COVID-19 AND THE OMICRON STRAIN WIN AFC DUD OF THE WEEK THIS WEEK.
There ARE deserving NFC candidates.
*stares in the general direction of Arizona*
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