We’re officially in the month of December which means the NFL season is officially winding down into the final weeks. Such a sad shame, but fortunately that just means the playoffs are on the horizon and there’s nothing more fun in the world of sports than playoff season. Again though, the sad misfortune of being the fan that I am, my teams are likely to miss the playoffs again this year. The Browns certainly look out of the picture, and the Cowboys can likely put a bow on their season as well now following the TNF loss to the Lions. Since I’m already about to roll down that road and go on that tangent, let’s just get into my teams first then shall we?
The Cowboys likely missing the playoffs this year is what hurts me most of all in my fandom though. I admittedly didn’t have the highest hopes rolling into this season, you can just look back at some of my previous posts in this blog and figure that out, but I was honestly shocked at how good we did look for a majority of this season. Our offense has been stellar, the addition of Javonte Williams and George Pickens has opened up so much explosiveness to the overall unit and Dak has been on an absolute heater for a majority of the season. Then there was the defense, the straw that broke the team’s back and spirit so to speak, they couldn’t stop the run or any explosive plays for the first half of the season whatsoever and it was so frustrating to watch. The offense would put up 28 or more points in a game and end up losing. All the haters were being proven right that they should’ve never let Parsons walk out the door, until Jerry made some last-minute acquisitions at the trade deadline and added Quinnen Williams and Logan Wilson, then DeMarvion Overshown returned from injury as well and all the sudden this unit looked entirely fresh and new coming back from the bye. We went on a 3-game winning streak beating the Raiders and then shockingly beating the Eagles and the Chiefs in the matter of 4 days, before ultimately just losing to the Lions. If this was the unit we were bringing to the field every week since the beginning of the season, I truly believe we wouldn’t be in this situation right now, we’d have a couple more wins under our belt and be battling it out with the currently struggling Eagles for the division, but alas that’s not how this played out. Then, there’s the Browns. Oh, the Browns.
I will say though, kudos to Stefanski for finally letting Shedeur get out on that field. If nothing else, it brings some excitement and some intrigue to the team for fans considering the season is once again pretty much done. The only thing keeping me excited for the Browns is once again, Mr. Myles Garrett. The dude is such a beast and currently on a legitimate pace to break the all-time NFL single season sacks record. 19 through 13 games, 13 in the last 5 I believe? Michael Strahan is the current leader with 22.5 in a single season, so like I said, he’s on a very legitimate pace, and my God, I hope he does it! Myles has spent his years in the NFL in the trenches, being on a fumbling franchise like the Browns he’s literally been the only golden nugget on this team for a number of seasons, this season being one of them. I commend him and love him for it as a fan of the Browns because he’s a defensive monster and so fun to watch, but I’ve always wanted more for him as well because I know how good he is. Getting this sack record would cement him as one of the very best of all time though and that’s something that I and many others already know he is. Elsewhere on the team though, Sanders has brought some excitement. He led the team to a W over a very bad Raiders team and threw a couple very pretty passes in that game, and then got squished by the Niners a week later and made a couple very poor mistakes in that game. Typical rookie stuff really, they’re not going to hit the ground running or have it all figured out immediately most of the time, especially QBs, but I do think he at least has some promise. The Browns haven’t hit on a QB in forever though. 42 different quarterbacks have suited up for this team to start at least 1 game since the 1999 season, and the 1 time we did strike on a good one we let him walk out the door after leading us to the playoffs *cough, cough* Baker Mayfield. So, really only time will tell.
Elsewhere in the league though, the Broncos and Patriots run the AFC currently and the Chiefs, Ravens, and Bills have seemed to lose their grip on that conference this season drastically. Not saying they won’t still all make it into the playoffs because I have a hard time believing they won’t until I officially see it, but it’s very apparent that they’ve all been experiencing some woes this year. The Chiefs are 6-6 and are currently behind the Broncos AND the Chargers in the AFC West, they’ve had the exact opposite luck that they had last year, and they’ve been losing all their close, 1 score games which has really put them in a bind. They basically need to win out the rest of the year now to claim a spot in the playoffs. The Bills are 8-4 and behind the Patriots in the East, they will not win that division at this point, but they’ll likely get a wild card spot still. They haven’t looked great at times this year though, Josh Allen has been making some of the mistakes that he used to make earlier in his career again seemingly, and they’ve lost some games to opponents they really shouldn’t have, so time will tell with them as well. Then the Ravens are just lucky they’re in a poor division this year and that Joe Burrow has been out with injury a majority of the season. They’re 6-6 and tied for 1st in the North with the Steelers currently, but the Steelers are quickly slipping away, their worry now should be Burrow and the Bengals because they’re going to go down fighting. Lamar Jackson got hurt earlier this year and tried to come back a little too quick I think because their team was stacking losses in his absence, but my goodness he has NOT looked like himself this year. He’s usually a contender for MVP every season just because he’s such a threat with his arms and his legs, but he hasn’t been that dual threat player in the same way this year and it’s hurt that offense in a big way. There’s some intrigue in the AFC South as well as the Colts (who started the season so hot) now find themselves tied for 1st in the division with the Jags, and the stout defense Houston Texans are just a game behind them both and quickly approaching as well.
On the NFC side, things are such a tight race across the board! There’s like no obvious front runners in this conference this season and it’s made things very intriguing to watch down the stretch. The Eagles are likely to take the East with the Cowboys loss this week, but they’ve struggled offensively all season (even more so in recent weeks) and have been bailed out by their very good defense a lot so that’ll be interesting to see how they fare moving forward. The NFC North is one of the most, if not the most, interesting division in football right now! Ben Johnson’s Bears currently sit in first at 9-3, the Packers are right behind them at 8-3-1, and the Lions are nipping their heels as well at 8-5. The Packers and Bears play each other this week in one of the most intriguing matchups of the year because whoever wins takes control of that division and whoever loses is kicked all the way down to the #7 wild card seed. Bears/Packers is one of sports oldest rivalries, but it’s been a while since one of their matchups has felt so impactful like it does this year. Both those teams are really good this year, but both also have QBs who struggle to perform to the highest of their abilities at times, so no one sleep on the Lions just yet. They’re one of the heaviest hitting units in the game so if they start firing on all cylinders again then the Packers and Bears both could still be in trouble. The Bucs seemed like a shoo-in to take the middling NFC South earlier in the season, but the Panthers have been on a bit of a roll, and I love to see it! Bryce Young is performing pretty well, their running game is one of the strongest in football this year, and their defense is holding up well, so they’ve shockingly beaten some pretty tough opponents down the stretch. The Bucs are 7-5 currently but just simply cannot stay healthy as a unit this year, and the Panthers are right behind them at 7-6 so time will tell. The NFC West is another extremely tight and competitive division this year that is anyone’s to take in these final weeks. The Rams are 9-3, the Seahawks are 9-3, and the 49ers are 9-4, and all 3 of those teams are highly functional and competitive units on both sides of the ball. If I had to give the edge, I’m giving it to the Rams because Stafford has been having a great season this year, in his twilight years in the NFL, Davante Adams and Puka Nacua are monster receivers, and their defense is young, healthy, and STRONG. Really all 3 of those teams are impressive this year though. Quick kudos to the Niners as well, because they’ve had a laundry list of injuries to many key pieces on their team this year and they’ve still continued to find ways to win games and stay competitive down the stretch. That’s not easy to do so that just speaks to their depth and their coaching on that team, well that and the fact that Christian McCaffery is such a stud football player that he’s like a cheat code.
Well, that about does it for this one though folks! I’ll be watching with bated breath in anticipation with the rest of you all as the final weeks wind down on the season and the playoff picture is more clearly etched out. Be kind to one another out there and make sure to give the page a like and follow on social media to stay up to date with all my latest posts!
