THE WEEK IN CHAOS
Wow. I guess it makes sense. Most teams are eliminated right now so few have anything to fight for. But wow. This week might have featured the largest group of unwatchable teams I’ve ever seen. I simply could not choose the biggest stain on my retinas. On top of it all, the Giants were actually one of the watchable teams! What the fuck happened?

I watched 2 minutes of football on Christmas. My wife made me turn on Texans/Ravens so she could see Beyonce. I got to witness roughly 40 seconds of Texans football, and that was enough. The Texans have certainly been hit by injuries this year but this is more than that. The Beyonce halftime show was more elaborate than some Super Bowl halftime shows. Netflix was trying really hard to make this a thing. I hate it. Let the NBA have Christmas. The NFL has Thanksgiving. We do not need Christmas unless it’s already Sunday/Monday/Thursday. NFL games on Wednesday? Fuck off. I have no idea how the Chiefs game went. I assume it was about as fun to watch as every Chiefs game this year.

I did not watch Thursday Night Football. The Seahawks won 6-3. I am glad I did not watch Thursday Night Football.

I did not watch Saturday Football. Well, that’s not entirely true. While walking my dog past a bar that night, I got to see Kyler throw the game-sealing pick through the window. So I did get a solid laugh. I watched Nosferatu instead. If you like Robert Eggers movies it’s worth a watch. I’d still put it below the VVitch and Lighthouse though. I do wish I had seen Bengals/Broncos. Upon watching the highlights, that might have been the game of the week. The Bengals looked like they were going to do it again and give up a painful loss that Burrow fought so hard to win. Tee Higgins though…Tee Higgins. Joe Burrow should be MVP. The Bills would be bad without Allen, the Ravens would be fine without Lamar, the Eagles still good without Barkley. Joe Burrow has put up MVP numbers despite his defense giving up MVP numbers to every other team. I want to see Joe Burrow in the playoffs again. Bump Bonix or Tua. Put Burrow in there. We need playoff Burrow.

The Chargers put the Patriots into a woodchipper. The Eagles, without Jalen Hurts and later Kenny Pickett, put Dallas into an industrial grinder. The Buccaneers dissolved the Panthers in a vat of acid. Aaron Rodgers became the most sacked QB in history as the Jets were nuked by the Bills. The Dolphins, in a surprisingly balmy Cleveland, grinded out an expected win over the woeful Browns. The Titans lost (won?) the battle to see who is the worst team in the AFC South. The Raiders won a meaningless game against the Saints. I saw someone call Spencer Rattler “Patrick Mahomes if he was bad”, and I must agree. The Packers looked outmatched by the Vikings until the Vikings did Vikings things and let the Packers make it uncomfortably close. But Sunday Night ended in a fun thriller between the Falcons and the Commies. Penix managed to experience pure Falcons football and somehow defy the odds to tie it up late and set up a game-winning kick. But the Falcons shall not be defied. The kick was beautiful, straight, and hilariously short. The Falcons.

 

The Lions did typical Lions things and Brock Purdy did Brock Purdy things. I’m very curious how Purdy’s upcoming contract shakes out.

GIANTS CORNER
Last year I was very mad at all the people openly rooting for tanking. I’ve been more understanding of that mentality this year, as the team has gotten even worse. Unlike last year, winning a meaningless game this year was more of a setback. Moral victories do not help this current Giants team the way it might have mattered last year. But today, watching the Giants actually play fun football again, I was reminded that sports are supposed to be fun distractions. It was fun to see my team win a football game they “shouldn’t have won”. I got pleasure from this mistake. I briefly went back to the Giants subreddit, and the mood was another reminder that rooting for your team to be unwatchable garbage, wanting them to lose intentionally, is such a loser mindset. The anger and vitriol from fans furious at the people on the field who are fighting for their jobs, for their paychecks, for their families. Demanding them to lie down and take it so that we fans have a different chance at potentially being better in the future without many of them. It’s depressing, and it’s why teams do not tank. I understand why this win may in fact set the team back and damage them in the long run the same way the playoff win set the team back in the long run. I’m not happy about that. I also do not see the value in getting mad at the players or coaches for it. Those players and coaches went out there and did their jobs. They played hard. I wish they had done more of that this year. I lament that the Giants will now likely miss out on one of the two QBs in the draft, or have to trade up a ransom for one, but I do not direct fury at the people on the field for this. That’s misguided nonsense behavior. There is no guarantee of anything the draft promises, and accusing grown adults fighting for their livelihoods of ruining the season is negative self-wank about how much of a “true fan” you are. Be disappointed, but don’t be angry. Besides, we can all wallow in our misery next week when Saquon breaks the rushing record on us.

If you want to be angry at somebody, be angry at the fucking Colts. Playoffs on the line and you go out against the worst team in the NFL and play like that? You let Drew Fucking Lock score 5 touchdowns on you? You deserve all the pain and suffering you must endure, Indianapolis. Hit up your owner, he probably has something for the pain.


CHAOS OF THE WEEK
Not a great week for a chaos harvest. It was the Giants or the Falcons. Ultimately I’m going with the Giants because nobody would have expected the Giants to put up 45 goddamn points against a fringe playoff competitor fighting for their lives. The two teams looked like they swapped jerseys pre-game. The Colts laid a massive egg, the Giants threw themselves out of top draft pick contention for no reason, Drew Lock scored 5 TDs, Tyrone Tracy and Malik Nabers became one of the very few rookie duo’s to ever hit over 1000 yards. A fucking kickoff return. This was the most watchable game of the week for no reason at all. How stupid.

CHAOTIC MOMENTS OF THE WEEK
Kenny Pickett pump faking himself into a front flip fumble might be my favorite cartoon pratfall of the year
THE TAMPA BAY DUCKANEERS
-Jake Bates, smokeshow

CACKLES OF THE WEEK
The Giants immediately running back the second half kickoff was the moment this game broke me open and I just stopped worrying about draft picks and let the enjoyment of football wash over me again
-The Falcons beautiful miss to send it to OT

BIG OOF OF THE WEEK
-Caleb Williams with the arm punt to seal the end of the quagmire that was the Bears game
-Kyler with a chance to win gets the pass tipped and picked off. Oooooooof.

CHAOS WATCH
Well, everything is almost set. At this point it’s mostly just seeding. The Vikings have a chance to steal the NFC’s top seed from the Lions at the very end. The Falcons could still magically muster a playoff appearance they do not deserve if the Bucs go stupid again. The Bengals, against all odds, might manage it if the Chiefs backups can embarrass Denver. Thank god we will still have some stuff to watch for in the final week.

 

FRAUD WATCH
If you retained any doubts as to the fraudulence of the Indianapolis Colts, you have been shown the light this day. Frauds to the end. Speaking of teams that lost to the Giants, the Seahawks have been eliminated for good now. Deserved. A team with such shame on their record cannot be allowed in the postseason.
The Steelers looked like a class of the AFC for much of the year after Russ came in. They’ve fallen back down and now look like another vintage Mike Tomlin playoff exit.

DISAPPOINTMENT DUCK
The Colts. My god. The Giants had the worst point average per game in the league. They held the #1 pick. A win was necessary to survive in the playoff picture. The Giants would score 45 points. They doubled their season’s INT total in one game. (Yes, okay, they only had 1 going into the game and then got 2 off of Flacco, but still). Nothing is worse than showing up to a must-win game against a putrid opponent and laying an egg.

 

MOST UNWATCHABLE TEAM OF THE WEEK
This was an impossible choice. The Browns? Putrid. The Panthers? Fetid. The Saints? Rotten. The Cowboys? Insulting. The Texans? Vile. The Titans? Repulsive. The Patriots? Abhorrent. The Jets? Sickening. The Steelers? Vomitous. A charcuterie board of shit. A Charpooperie board, if you will.

————————————————————

BETS FOR NEXT WEEK – USER SUBMISSION WEEK! This is your chance to shine. As like last year, I will pick the games, but I ask that YOU come up with the bets. Anything you want, as long as it suits the team winning. I will pick my favorite submission for each game as my bet. This was a ton of fun last year. A reminder: I tend to like simple, bold, and stupid. Do not request some fancy masterpiece with half a roster in it.

BROWNS @ RAVENS
The Ravens may rest some starters, but the Browns aren’t good enough to overcome anything anyway. A woeful end to a woeful team.
If the Browns win,

BENGALS @ STEELERS
The Steelers are in a late season cold-snap and the Bengals are red hot with everything to lose. I gotta pick my boy Burrow.
If the Steelers win,

DOLPHINS @ JETS
Dolphins have to win, Jets cannot win. Brick will soon cut Aaron Rodgers, and he will be right to do so.
If the Jets win,

PANTHERS @ FALCONS
This may be the Panthers big chance to spoiler a rival in a very funny way. But I have to go Falcons.
If the Panthers win,

JAGS @ COLTS
Somehow, the Jaguars enter this game with more dignity. I do not believe the Jaguars can win, but the Colts are a shameful bunch deserving of a loss.
If the Jaguars win,

COMMIES @ COWBOYS
The biggest reason to watch this game is to see if the Boys get embarrassed enough to save or fire Mike McCarthy.
If the Cowboys win,

TEXANS @ TITANS
The Texans have a notoriously awful record after clinching a playoff spot, fun fact. They looked worse than the Titans did this week. The Titans might actually do it. I’m taking the upset.
If the Texans win,

GIANTS @ EAGLES
A lot of people think the Eagles are going to rest their starters. They might, in the second half, after they are up by 30. You dismiss the petty douchebaggery that is Nick Sirianni. You think Barkley doesn’t want that rushing record? You think Sirianni doesn’t want to force-feed him the ball against the Eagles rival to do it? This is going to be a dance-on-your-grave type game by the Eagles, and it will be what gets Joe Schoen fired.
If the Giants win,

BEARS @ PACKERS
The Bears will finish yet another season without a 4000yd QB.
If the Bears win,

SAINTS @ BUCS
Bucs, have the good versions of you show up this time.
If the Saints win,

BILLS @ PATRIOTS
Bills will probably relish every opportunity to punt the Patriots into the dirt for the next decade or more.
If the Patriots win,

CHARGERS @ RAIDERS
You could watch this game, but I don’t know why you would, unless you root for the Chargers.
If the Raiders win,

49ERS @ CARDINALS
Two major NFC West disappointments battle for loser rights. A real Who Cares of a game. 49ers!
If the Cardinals win,

CHIEFS @ BRONCOS
This one is the real intriguing one. The Chiefs have nothing to play for except maybe sending a rival franchise home sad. The Broncos have everything to play for, and are at home. I pick the Broncos, but Chiefs black magic might win anyway.
If the Chiefs win,

SEAHAWKS @ RAMS
The Hawks have no reason to play but pride. Go Rams.
If the Seahawks win,

VIKINGS @ LIONS
I do not trust these Vikings. They may hold a good record, but they keep making games one score wins when they should be blowouts. It feels like a dam cracking at the edges, ready for a seam to fail at the worst moment. Lions win at home.
If the Vikings win,

A TIE
If we get a tie