It seems that around the National Football League we could call this the year of the underdogs. With a few exceptions like Seattle and Kansas City (who may well be the season’s biggest underdog surprise of all) who have stayed hot all year we’ve seen a lot of teams struggle and are now fighting their way back to the top, back into play-off hopes. It’s hard to believe that we are already discussing and planning for play-off season.
The NFC North and East have changed leaders weekly it seems; each game depending on who wins and who loses to determine that week’s division leader. The NFC North has a long history of rivalry between Green Bay and Chicago and this year Detroit are really making themselves known as genuine contenders. The NFC East seems to always come down to the final week, a divisional game in the past often between Dallas and New York fighting for the last spot in the play-offs, but right now, it is Philadelphia who sits on top after winning their first home game in over 400 days at the weekend against Washington. The AFC North right now has three teams tied with a 4-6 record. The Steelers, who started with a four game losing streak suddenly smells hope; the Browns who themselves haven’t been in contention for quite some time are also alive with the same hope.
This could all come down to one bad divisional game to see those Wild Card hopes disappear. Fans see it happen every year, their team is so close they can taste post-season play and yet suddenly after week 17 fans instead either plan who they will cheer against or for, or perhaps consider who they hope their team drafts to make sure the season extends late into January hopefully even February.
As a competitor and a fan this is the best situation. Who wants to play week after week knowing that the team will remain in last place? As a fan, it makes the situation extremely tense; is the team good one week and the next week it is hard to recognize them? We’ve seen teams lose that should’ve won and watched other teams who we were sure would win almost lose in a nail biting situation that sometimes end up in overtime.
It’s that time of the season where the claws come out; most teams are fighting for a chance at making the play-offs but find themselves facing a team in the exact same situation. The players start to tie their shoes a little tighter; practice just a few minutes longer, look over the playbook one more time before getting some much needed sleep. It is the part of the season where fans stop talking to friends, avoid co-workers and even show their spouse the couch if they dare to cross the team.
It’s tense, exciting and sometimes heartbreaking yet none of us would change it for anything. We believe in our superstitious behavior and when it doesn’t work, we make adjustments. As a favourite commercial of mine says “It’s only weird if it doesn’t work.”
For many fans it started as a season of heartbreak but slowly and surely their team chugs along giving hope that they can still have a good finish. Carolina are riding high on a 6 game winning streak looking to rise above the Saints and take first place. There have been lots of surprises around the league this year. Making for a very interesting year, who wants to see the same top teams win all the time? That’s what the off season is for, right? Making the team better and gaining that top spot. The team once doubted is on the rise, the underdogs attempting a come back, never count a team of competitors out; that’s like sleeping on the enemy!
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