It was as obvious as the birthmark on Drew Brees’ face.
The New Orleans Saints were going down, and they were going down hard. Anyone who knows anything about the National Football League was betting the house and kids on the Washington Redskins.
And that talk about Rex Grossman being a weak link? You knew it was nothing more than a minor setback. You knew he’d be back to lead the Chicago Bears into the playoffs. Didn’t you?
Welcome to the National Frustration League, where every truism gets debunked faster than you can say: “The Tennessee Titans are toast.”
Remember when the Dallas Cowboys were everyone’s favorite Super Bowl surprise? Yeah, that lasted one week. A one-sided loss at New Orleans sent all that talk of a Romo Empire into the distant past.
Then the Saints became America’s team, just in time for their not-so-surprising loss to the Deadskins.
The state of NFL teams fluctuates so often that you’d think they were Anna Nicole Smith’s waistline.
You don’t have to look far for examples. The Seahawks had all but won the West after back-to-back wins against Green Bay and Denver, only to come falling back to earth with losses to inferior competition from within their own division.
(And speaking of Denver, didn’t the Broncos have the best defense in the history of football earlier this season? Yeah, that changed pretty quickly as well.)
Few teams have been spared of the league’s wrath of frustration. The Indianapolis Goliaths have run into far too many Davids as of late. Da Bears have had a new problem every week – from Grossman’s struggles, to defensive injuries, to ex-Huskies getting arrested.
Then there are the New York Giants. If there were a book commemorating the 2006 NFL season, Tiki Barber and the boys may well be on the cover.
They were left for dead after going 1-2 in September. They were talking Super Bowl after a perfect 4-0 record in October. They fell back to earth with four consecutive losses in November and early December. And just when the world was ready to give up on them, the Giants beat Carolina and moved within a game of the NFC East lead.
A week later, they lost to Philadelphia.
It was the kind of drama that had to leave Bronx fans pulling out their mustache hair:
“The freakin’ G-men are toast!” “Eli’s da man!” “I’m never watchin’ dese clowns evuh again!” “We’s gettin’ hot at the right time, Pauly!”
(Sigh) “Fuhgitaboutit.”
While the Giants have gone up and down all season, most of the NFL has been a tale of two halves.
Just look at the AFC, where the powers have shifted so dramatically that not even John Nash’s calculator fingers could keep up. Buffalo, Miami, Pittsburgh and Tennessee were a combined 7-21 in September and October but have gone a combined 20-8 in November and December. Conference favorites Indianapolis and Denver, meanwhile, have gone from 12-2 over the first two months to 7-7 over the past two.
And in the NFC, Arizona, Tampa Bay and Green Bay are playing as well as anyone right now, while the Seahawks and Carolina Panthers look like they’re jockeying for draft position.
But it’s not always how you finish but how you start, and so the Titans and Packers might have to shut the machine down come playoff time.
It’s all about parity, baby. Parity is what led San Diego coach Marty Schottenheimer to tell Seattle reporters this week: “The system that we operate in is designed to make everybody 8-8.”
If that’s the objective, the system is working just fine in 2006.
The National Frustration League is having its way, but this roller coaster ride is starting to make the rest of us dizzy.
Scott M. Johnson is The Herald’s pro football writer.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
