But now that's done and whew, what a burden has been lifted off this season. It hasn't been a great NFL year, what with the sloppy games, endless injuries, clownish officiating, and constant reminders that the NFL is morally bankrupt. At least there's the comforting knowledge that it won't end with a Pats 19-0 season.Yes, yes, Tom Brady, tell me how upset you were!"It was a very hard loss," Brady said. "I don't think I've ever been so visibly pissed off after a loss. And I think everyone felt the same way. Hopefully we can use it as motivation going forward. Like I said, there's things that we could have done better. And it's certainly not to leave it up to a call here or a call there or one player. There's things across the board that we need to do a better job of and we can do a better job of. And that's what the focus is going to be this week."Aw yeah, that's the stuff. The subtle hint at being miffed about the officiating makes it even more delectable.Read More: Chip Kelly, The Eagles Mess, And The Triumph Of The Peter Principle
/Sad Charlie Brown music plays. — Photo by Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
The two-point conversion squad, featuring Landry Jones as Doof. — Photo by Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
In general NFL attendance tends to wane toward the end of the regular season. This makes sense for several reasons: the weather sucks, fans of bad teams lose interest, the NFL gameday experience is not particularly good and it somehow takes some people 10 weeks to remember that.Surprising number of empty seats just before kickoff here for an 8-2 team… — Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner)November 29, 2015
So often, idiot fans look toward a quarterback's significant other when his team starts falling apart midseason. For example, Seahawks fans crying about Ciara and Packers fans claiming Olivia Munn is making Aaron Rodgers' arm fall off. This is dumb and sexist and generally very bad. And, though it may be a product of Matt Ryan not having a romantic interest that anyone is aware of, Falcons fans are instead blaming YouTube star MattyB for the team's collapse, as the Falcons have not won since he performed at halftime of a home game. This is no less dumb and only slightly less mean-spirited, but I'll be damned if I don't enjoy it. Way to strike just the right chord of regressive fun, Falcons fans.hate to do this again butthe atlanta falcons haven't won a game since they allowed this halftime performance — Ashley Holcomb (@ashleyxholcomb)November 22, 2015
The 10th anniversary of the legendary 4th-and-26 play that enabled the Eagles to get past the Packers just to lose one week later to the NFC champion Carolina Panthers has already passed. Despite the lack of chronological news peg, now's an interesting time to revisit, because as of today three players who figured prominently in the play will all be in jail. Donovan McNabb is in for his latest DUI. Freddie Mitchell is doing time for tax fraud. And of course Darren Sharper is doing not nearly enough time for being a serial rapist. What a lovely trio bonded through marginal sports history.Weird thing about 4th and 26: Donovan threw it, Freddie caught it, Darren Sharper defended it. And they're all in jail right now.
— Reuben Frank (@RoobCSN)November 29, 2015
Because football games are strange rituals in many ways, some of which even I don't entirely grasp, the Denver Broncos recently set out to establish a world record for the most people in one place wearing a fake mustache, in this case an orange one. A Google search reveals this was done to raise awareness for a bevy of men's health issues, so thank you, Broncos. My prostate salutes you.Fan of the WeekWhen the Broncos win, the orange mustache is permanent!! — Donald Frei (@donfreimd)November 30, 2015