BY JOSE FAUS
There is no more fitting an image for the end of an era than to see the aging Aaron Rodgers, he of the befuddling shakes and bakes, futilely chasing down Houston Texans’ defensive end Sheldon Rankins. If you didn’t watch the game, Rodgers lost on what could have been his last professional football game, after an ill-fated pass interception. Are there any other kinds?
And so, another vaunted star of the past rides into the sunset or the high beams of the artificial lighting that is prime time television. The cameras panned a little too long on the pained face of begrudging acceptance, otherwise known as the thousand-mile stare. Good-bye, sweet home.
He must feel a void, an emptiness similar but to an astronomical degree higher magnitude than anything I can feel in not seeing the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. Who’s to say though? Seriously. I’m just kidding. My pain in no way compares. It is a pain of a different kind the kind poets write about. Like when the mighty Casey struck out. The things tragedies are made of.
Little known fact but the first recorded account of a competitive sporting competition dates to the Garden of Eden when contrary to popular belief it was a close call as to who took the first bite out of the apple. Without the saving grace of instant replay, Eve got the short end of the apple. Due to biological factors, we can be certain that Adam got the biggest bite if not the first.
The Houston Texans sure looked good beating up on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Can’t say I blame them. Pittsburgh is just not a good team even if the Texans’ offense tried to give the game away. The defense knew the offense was not cutting it and took matters into their own hands making sure a pick-six on Rodgers was the nail on the coffin.
How about them Dallas Cowboys? They did not make it to the big game but no need to worry, the Philadelphia Eagles stepped right in and proceeded to take the crown of “promise and futility” with futility coming out on top. I don’t know what it is about Eagles’ quarterback Jalen Hurst, but his deliberate movements resemble a sloth on speed. Not quite a flash, more like a blur. I’m glad they have exited stage left.
What can you say about the 49rs. Good, the least said the better. Just kidding but not by much. The 49rs advance but I can’t tell how far they can go. They do not strike me as a team that can win it all. And because I’m so bad at predicting outcomes you can bet money that the opposite will hold true. If you bet, place five on a side bet for me, thank you.
The Carolina Panthers put a scare so big on the Los Angeles Rams that a visibly scarred and shaken quarterback Matt Stafford told his offensive teammates on the last drive down a score, “let’s go rip their hearts out.” And they did just that holding the pulsing heart in the air for all to see. It was brutal and quite fun at the same time. Rams look vulnerable. But who will step up?
It should be illegal to broadcast something as vicious as the hits Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert took and call it football when it more closely aligned with let-me-beat-the-hell-out-of-you-just-because sport. That was brutal and somehow a winner did manage to come out. The loser was my self-esteem for continuing to watch the futility.
I’m not ready to anoint the Patriots as the main contenders. I will never put the Patriots up there and I don’t see any reason to do so now. Wunderkinds come and go and I’m not jumping on another pretenders’ bandwagon. There is just something about the Patriot way that bugs me. Maybe it’s the times.
Now Bears and Packers was highly entertaining. There was no love lost there. The Bears can be the cardiac Bears all they want, and as great a story as it is, I just don’t think you can maintain heroic rallies all the way to the championship. They are due for a comeuppance. But they are fun to watch.
I’m not asking for much because as I look over the field, if the Chiefs had just gotten their act together this was as open a road to the Superbowl as your likely to find. In the absence of the Chiefs, I can only root for anybody that plays the Broncos. Come on Josh Allen, do your thing. I‘m looking forward to the Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills, and I will be most happy if the Bills take it all. But if that doesn’t work, I have plenty of soccer to watch and catch up on.
