The NFL playoff picture is gradually beginning to take shape with a week to go.
Six days after stumbling on Christmas vs. Las Vegas, the Kansas City Chiefs claimed their 8th straight AFC West title in beating North division contender Cincinnati, which was eliminated from post-season play with the 25-17 loss, in which the Chiefs came from behind, something they couldn't do against the Raiders.
Not only was Taylor Swift in attendance to root on her honey, Travis Kelce, but Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson, a KC native, was part of the pre-game ceremonies.
But, just the same, get the waaaaambulance ready for Bengals fans. Seems some folks went on social media accusing the referees of-----what else?-----throwing the game for Kansas City because of a questionable intentional grounding call against Cincinnati QB Jake Browning. NFL officials have been ragged upon all season for curious, often controversial penalties, calling their integrity into question. With the NFL having taken on sports betting sites like Draft Kings as advertisers, it creates paranoia in fans who'd long suspected things were a little fishy with certain teams.
On Saturday, the Detroit Lions thought they had a game winning 2 point conversion, but ref Brad Allen had a Mr. Magoo moment, and got two Lions linemen mixed up, leading to a penalty on Detroit, which helped Dallas preserve a 20-19 win and a perfect regular season record at home.
Suffice to say, some of today's refs seem to have taken the advice of "Weird" Al Yankovic:
Also on Saturday, Dallas owner/GM/egomaniac in chief Jerry Jones finally patched things up after 30 years or so with former coach and current Fox analyst Jimmy Johnson by inducting Johnson into the Cowboys' Ring of Honor. A move long overdue, which speaks more to a fracturing of a long time friendship between Jones & Johnson.
Back in LA, the Fox NFL Sunday crew welcomed the People's Movie Star, Dwayne Johnson, and business partner/ex-wife Dany Garcia, on Sunday to formally announce the merger of XFL 3.0 and USFL 2.0 into, well, UFL 2.0.
Wait, you're saying. UFL 2.0? Yep.
The UFL was another short-season league that had not only a short life, 3 seasons, but lacked a national television deal nearly 20 years ago, something that was not mentioned during this segment, as Curt Menefee, Jay Glazer, Michael Strahan, & Howie Long join "The Rock":
But, that wasn't all. Johnson also paid a call on Jimmy Johnson, complete with his original National Letter of Intent......
The last time Jimmy was moved to tears was when it was announced he was going to the Hall of Fame a couple of years back.
By the time the Green Bay-Minnesota game ended Sunday night, the NFL finally revealed the full schedule for Week 18. ABC had already spoiled things a little bit by announcing they had a doubleheader on Saturday, but couldn't reveal the teams & times until the league made it official.
So........
Saturday on ABC/ESPN:
Pittsburgh @ Baltimore, 4:30 pm.
Houston @ Indianapolis for the AFC South title, 8:15 pm.
Sunday on NBC:
Buffalo @ Miami for the AFC East title.
CBS gets the rematch between Philadelphia & the Giants at 4:25 pm, effectively swapping the Jets-Patriots game with Fox (1 pm).
Saturday's Orange Bowl provided more evidence that the transfer portal should remain closed until the season's over.
Previously undefeated Florida State, missing more than a dozen players due to opt-outs for the draft and/or transfer portal or injuries, was bludgeoned by Georgia, 63-3. The Seminoles never had a chance, just like TCU last year in the national title game.
It paints the players that didn't play as selfish at the wrong time. I get that there are some hard feelings after getting snubbed by the College Football Playoff committee last month, but these kids still have an obligation to finish out the season. Opting out to protect themselves for April's NFL Draft is one thing, but this is ridiculous. I'd imagine the game ended up with poor ratings. ESPN deserves that for a change.
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