The Justice

Media Credit: StringerUSA/Reuters

ESPN anchor Chris "Boomer" Berman has a phrase he regularly employs. "That's why they play the game," Berman often says. He uses this phrase to describe upsets and last-minute heroics, as well as unusual circumstances. Boomer has had to use that phrase a lot this year.

It has been a wild, wacky and incredibly unusual season in the National Football League thus far. Coming into this season, I really thought we were going to see a New York Giants-Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFC Championship and a Tennessee Titans-Oakland Raiders AFC final.
I really thought my hometown team, the G-Men, had a chance to win the Super Bowl with their high-powered offense complimenting their always tenacious defense.

I thought the Bucs were going to continue on the same path as last year blasting opposing teams with hard-nosed defense and pounding the ball on the ground.

I thought the Oakland Raiders were finally going to continue their progression - losing in the AFC Championship game then losing in the Super Bowl - to finally winning that elusive title.

And I thought Steve McNair and the Titans' defense were going to roll all over their AFC competitors. The only guess I was right on was the last one. At least the Titans give me some faith in the NFL.

The worst part about it is that I'm in a pick league. Parity is now the name of the game in the NFL, and it would seem logical not to bet on point spreads with that factor in mind. But no. There's something about the Raiders being 12-point favorites against the Bengals in Week Two and being 11-point underdogs in Week 12 against the Chiefs.

The irony is that the Bengals have actually beaten the Chiefs, while the Raiders beat the Bengals, so shouldn't the Raiders actually be favored against the Chiefs by the communitive property? Or is that the associative?

See, it's all too weird and confusing. The Chiefs were the best team in the NFL, seemingly destined to go undefeated after starting 9-0. Then the ultimate sports curse occurred: they got put on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Poof, they lost to the Bengals. The Bengals that were 2-14 last season, good for not only dead last in their division, but dead last in the entire NFL. The turnaround has been so dramatic, that with Week 12 approaching, they were tied for first in their division.

And they weren't the only worst-to-first story. Dallas (5-11 to 7-3 as of Week 11), Carolina (7-9 to 8-2 as of Week 11) and Kansas City (8-8 to 9-1 as of Week 11) all went from last in their division to - at least a tie for first. And two other teams, Seattle and Minnesota, were leading their divisions in Week 11 after finishing with losing records last season. Only one division leader, Indianapolis, even made the playoffs last season.

Continued...

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