Wide Open NFL Playoffs; College FB's Ups & Downs

The great thing about the NFL playoffs, which began over the weekend, is that there is no clear-cut favorite.

No Indiana.

The perennial favorites--the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens--didn't even qualify this year. 

The defending champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, were just eliminated by the injury-riddled San Francisco 49ers.

It's the most wide open field I can remember in all of my years following the NFL, as evidenced by the down-to-the-wire nature of most of the Wild Card games.

Consider:

Rams 34, Panthers 31

Bears 31, Packers 27

Bills 27, Jaguars 24

49ers 23, Eagles 19

Patriots 16, Chargers 3

It's fun when there is no odds-on favorite, like the old Patriots or the recent Chiefs. So who has a chance to go all the way?

The Seattle Seahawks, led by well-traveled quarterback Sam Darnold, who humbled our 49ers a week ago and got the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

The Denver Broncos, who got the No. 1 seed in the AFC on the basis of a stellar defense and timely production from quarterback Bo Nix.

The always-close-but-never-quite-there Buffalo Bills, who pulled out a heart-stopper over fast-improving Jacksonville and can never be counted out as long as Josh Allen is playing quarterback.

The New England Patriots, rising from the ashes under coach Mike Vrabel and quarterback Drake Maye to go 14-3 and then completely shutting down Justin Herbert and the San Diego Chargers in the Wild Card round.

The Los Angeles Rams, lucky to survive against Carolina, riding an MVP calibre season from quarterback Matthew Stafford.

The Chicago Bears, ascending under former No. 1 pick Caleb Williams, are a long shot, as are the winners of tonight's Texans-Steelers game.

At this point, I'd expect either the Patriots or Bills to emerge in the AFC and the Seahawks or Rams in the NFC.

But how about those 49ers, who somehow came from behind to beat the Eagles yesterday, despite losing All-Pro tight end and team leader George Kittle to a torn Achilles?

The 49ers would be the best team in the league if everyone was healthy. Somehow, they posted a 12-5 record and made it through the first round of the playoffs without their two best defensive players--Fred Warner and Nick Bosa--who are also two of the best players in the league. Without stud rookie Mykel Williams. Without No. 1 receiver Brandin Aiyuk, who has bailed on his team. Without downfield threat Ricky Pearsall for half the year. Without $55 million quarterback Brock Purdy for eight games. Without Kittle for seven games, and now for any remaining playoff competition. Without the best offensive lineman in football Trent Williams, for the big season-ending matchup with Seattle.

But they do have Christian McCaffrey (above), who brings more to his team than any other back in the league. McCaffrey, who should be NFL Offensive Player of the Year, may be an even better receiver than runner, as evidenced by his 102 receptions this year and two TD catches Sunday. 

And they have defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, who has been working with a lineup of second stringers, castoffs, and reclamation projects, yet somehow held the defending champs to 19 points.

Consider that the Eagles' last gasp desperation pass, on 4th and 11 from the 49ers' 21, was broken up by a fellow named Eric Kendricks, originally signed to the practice squad two months ago, and the fourth player to line up at inside linebacker after Warner and his first two replacements were lost to injury.

It's been a wild, surprising, gratifying ride.

And now they must once again face the Seahawks, again on a short, 6-day week, as the NFL suits decided to schedule the 49ers on Saturday and give both the Rams and Bears--who played on Saturday--an 8-day Sunday window. 

Based on the 13-3 loss in week 18, you'd think the 49ers had little or no chance. But in that game Williams only played one play and McCaffrey's rare bobble on a deflected pass at the goal line--which would've cut it to 13-10-- instead resulted in an interception.

Who knows? Team of destiny?

Go Niners!

College FB Ups and Downs: It's been a season full of ups and downs in college football.

The most "up," of course, would be the Indiana Hoosiers, under coach Curt Cignetti, who inherited the all-time losingest program in college football and turned it into a powerhouse overnight.

Cignetti's 15-0 Hoosiers are coming off successive humiliations of Alabama, 38-3 and Oregon, 56-22, in the quarter-final and semi-final games. They will be heavily favored to beat Miami for the national championship on Jan. 19 (more on that in next Monday's blog).

Other "ups" would include the surprising ride of Miami in the playoff, registering successive wins over Texas A&M, Ohio State and Ole Miss; the performance of OIe Miss after its coach, Lane Kiffin, bailed on the team on the eve of the playoff; Texas Tech's Cinderella season, triggered by Texas oil NIL money and a ferocious defensive line; Notre Dame's 10 straight wins after two close opening losses, sparked by running back Jeremiyah Love; Vanderbilt's 10-win season fueled by quarterback Diego Pavia; BYU's outstanding 10-win season, spoiled only by two losses to Texas Tech; the hiring of Kyle Whittingham to take over a very troubled Michigan program; and three straight years without an SEC team in the national championship game.

Among the downers: Kiffin's departure from Ole Miss, followed by his attempt to keep the assistants he's bringing with him to LSU from coaching Ole Miss through the playoffs; Michigan coach Sherrone Moore getting fired for an inappropriate relationship with a staffer, followed by his arrest for breaking into her apartment and threatening to kill himself; Duke winning the ACC championship with a 7-5 record, due to a complicated tie-breaker, thereby ensuring that two Group of Five champs would be included in the CFP field; and Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. signing an NIL deal with the Huskies for a reported $4 million, then deciding to enter the transfer portal, then, after Washington pledged to hold him to his "contract," returning to Seattle.

For a sizable percentage of fans, the biggest downer is that the combination of NIL and the transfer portal has resulted in a money-driven environment where players seemingly transfer at the drop of a hat, or more accurately, the drop of a big check.

After the NCAA's obsolete notion of amateurism was cast aside by multiple courts, finally allowing athletes to share in the media millions generated by their labors on the field, there were no guide rails or rules in place.

The Wild West ensued.

So we have players transferring every year in search of greener pastures, hopping from one school to another, often after giving verbal commitments that aren't honored, making it difficult for coaches to sleep at night and for fans to follow ever-changing team rosters.

The current free-for-all atmosphere cries out for either collective bargaining, the best solution in my opinion, or federal legislation, which is very unlikely in the current political climate.

Yet as distasteful as they are at times, NIL and the transfer portal have leveled the playing field, given more teams hope, and made a story like Indiana's possible.

Never has there been so much hope for so many. The sport dominated for so long by the Alabamas, Ohio States, Clemsons, and Oklahomas, is suddenly welcoming schools like Indiana, Vanderbilt, Arizona State, Texas Tech and Ole Miss into the previously exclusive club of iconic programs.

And the games, well, they are still pretty amazing.