Super Wild Card Weekend in the books...
And we have lost six of the 14 playoff teams. So, this year, let's write a political post-mortem on each.
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia
These two have a lot of things in common:
- They were the #7 seeds
- They are from Pennsylvania
- Neither had a damned right to be in the playoffs
- Even fans of their own team said they sucked this year
- This is a clean money-grab by the NFL to even have 7 a conference in the playoffs.
- Just... no.
- Next!!!!!!!
Las Vegas and Dallas
These two also have at least one thing in common.
There's going to have to be a major cleanup in both of these franchises -- probably top to bottom.
Dallas:
At least in Dallas' case, they probably have gone from "The league needs to get rid of Jerry Jones.." (Which I have said in the past) to "They're still way too far in the doghouse for the NFL to have the Cowboys represent them as champions."
That's not necessarily the best thing, but it does represent a significant improvement over the last several years.
And yet, it ends with fairly blatant indiscipline and probable Refball.
The fact is, Dallas needs a housecleaning, Jones on down. Prescott isn't going to be the answer. Zeke isn't going to be the answer. McCarthy sure as fuck isn't going to be the answer.
And until Jerry Jones basically excises the indiscipline (on and ESPECIALLY OFF the field!!), none of this is going to change.
I can go all the way back to the "Dez Caught It!" motif, and it's the same goddamn story every year:
- Best ratings in the game on TV
- Most loyal fans with merch
- Name QB who's just on the cusp of cashing in and REALLY hitting it big
- Usually about one and done in the playoffs due to some sort of complete indiscipline, on and off the field.
- And an owner who just... doesn't... fucking... get it.
The thing is, Dallas is the boy's street gang team. And that blends into the fandom and the merch you see all over the country.
Kinda reminds me of another franchise...
Las Vegas:
In this case, the NFL MUST STEP IN and MUST STEP IN NOW.
This isn't just a function of trying to prop up a new team in a new town and a flashy new stadium.
There are serious, existential problems with the Raider organization that have already polluted the legacy of a once-proud Super Bowl-winning coach.
There are serious existential problems with the Raider organization which have all but killed one person and who knows how many more DUIs before anybody gets the clue.
This is Las Vegas, and they'll put up with a lot over there.
The fact is, though, the NFL needs to step in, with the Gruden incident (and someone might wanna ask ESPN, with whom he was employed at the time, on the way through), at least two DUI's, one fatal. It's clear that there are serious problems getting the players to conduct themselves with any degree of decency, especially in a city where decency is in rather short supply!
The NFL needs a real look at the franchise, and whether it is finally time to relegate the Davis family to the dustbin of NFL history. There are some major problems with this team, and have been for some time -- and they must be addressed.
Arizona:
This one is far shorter: How did anyone even think that even a 7-0 Arizona team is going to flourish when there really aren't enough fans to support it?
What happened tonight is ZERO SURPRISE. None.
New England:
This is the shocker of the weekend.
But there is one thing to keep in mind: The only reason I thought what I did and Edelman laid that $100,000 is because we both thought this was a package deal.
In the reality of the NFL, this team did far better than it "should have", but, at the end of the day -- to what end???
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