Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below decks of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark is busy consoling Karl the Kraken, who has returned brokenhearted from his recently concluded fling with a South Sea sultry squid named Serendipity. It seems the tentacled siren surreptitiously seduced Karl only to throw him overboard for a sea serpent named Snarkton. Let’s check in on Karl …
Yeah, he’ll be fine.
Anyway, given how this is Christmas week, Sammy and Karl will have to content themselves with watching something other than hockey for a few days. Once upon a time, the NHL had a blockbuster schedule of games for Boxing Day (December 26), as said occasion is a big to-do in the Great White North. That ended after the 2011-2012 season. All teams now have December 24 through 26 off as far as game action is concerned.
The NBA and NFL have no such compulsion, with the NBA having for years assembled a lengthy slate of games on Christmas Day with marquee matchups and, as of late, the NFL following suit. The latter can prove problematic, as this year, the scheduling machinations required have forced the teams involved, most noticeably the Kansas City Chiefs, to play three games in eleven days. This doesn’t seem terribly healthy, and the league should be ashamed of itself for the excessive travel requirements it has thereby placed on Taylor Swift.
Seriously, given that the NFL has become not Last Man Standing territory but rather Is Any Man Left Standing territory due to the number of injuries, aside from the naked greed and money grab (“Hey, look — we’re on NETFLIX today!”), what genuine purpose does this serve? I’m quite confident that even the most rabid pro football fan can take a day off from live action to enjoy even livelier action with the family. If not, they’ve got issues. Also, right now, Patrick Mahomes is the unquestioned star of the NFL. You might want not to try and run him into the ground scheduling-wise.
The two games played on December 25 were nothing to write home about. Kansas City started strong and coasted to a 29-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the win, the Chiefs clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, while the Steelers should be very glad they’ve already clinched a playoff spot, as they’ve been dreadful the past three games. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Ravens embarrassed the Houston Texans 31-2. With the win, Baltimore now has first place in the AFC North.
The NFL playoff picture is still muddled, but at least some certainties are known. In the AFC, along with Kansas City and Pittsburgh, Buffalo has clinched a playoff spot by winning the AFC East. They will likely be the #2 seed behind Kansas City. Baltimore has clinched a playoff spot along with Houston, the latter having won the AFC South. Currently, the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos hold the last two playoff positions. The Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, and Cincinnati Broncos are mathematically alive. The Broncos and Bengals play each other on December 28. If Denver wins, they are in; if not, things become potentially interesting.
In the NFC, the Detroit Lions can clinch the NFC North title and home field throughout the playoffs with a win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday, December 30. The Lions have already clinched a playoff berth, as have the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles (winners of the NFC East), and Green Bay Packers. Everything else is up in the air. In the NFC South, while the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers sport identical 8-7 records, should the teams end the regular season with identical records, the Falcons would win the division courtesy of having defeated the Buccaneers in both matchups this year. In the NFC West, the Los Angeles Rams have a one-game lead over the Seattle Seahawks, with the two teams meeting in the season’s final week. Stay tuned and hang on.
Enjoy the rest of the week, everyone.
