$.01--This is ostensibly an NFL column, but the football story of utmost significance came an hour before the NFL kicked off on Sunday. The second edition of the College Football Playoff released the lineup.

 

The four teams are not a surprise. Clemson, Oklahoma, Alabama and Michigan State all won their Power 5 conferences. Clemson is undefeated, the others all have just one loss. The other Power 5 conference champ, Stanford from the Pac-12, had two losses and one of those was to an Oregon team Michigan State handily defeated. There was no possible rational argument for any other team to crash the football final four.

The committee, which includes former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, Clemson Athletic Director Dan Radakovich, former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and legendary Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese among others, did make an interesting decision in the seeding. Clemson deserved the No. 1 seed as the only undefeated team and with three strong wins (Notre Dame, Florida State, North Carolina--more on that game later).

Putting Alabama second is where the controversy kicks in. The SEC was unquestionably weaker than the Big 10 or Big 12 this year. The only people who will argue that reside in the former Confederacy and probably have Paul Finebaum memorabilia prominently displayed in their foyer. Michigan State beat three teams (Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa) which wound up ranked higher than any team Alabama beat. The highest-rated team the Crimson Tide played, Ole Miss, beat them. I’ll grant that Florida looked a lot worse because of the QB suspension issue, but that SEC Championship Game was a joke.

Oklahoma has the worst loss, dropping the Red River Rivalry game to a 1-4 Texas team. And the Big 12 lost a lot of luster when Baylor’s quarterbacks (yes, plural) went down with injuries, though both Oklahoma State and TCU would have handily run away with the SEC East or Big 10 West.

In the end, the teams get to play it out and prove it. And that’s better than the old BCS system, where the winners of the Orange and Cotton Bowls wouldn’t have faced off. It’s still not perfect. Eight teams would be better, the champions of all Power 5 conferences, the top-rated non-Power 5 winner and two at-large teams. This year that would include Stanford, Houston, Ohio State and Iowa.

My gut reaction on the games? I like Michigan State to beat Alabama thanks to its proven run defense, and I think Clemson proves the bookies wrong and beats Oklahoma even though the fourth seeded Sooners are favored. No matter what the outcomes, and I have zero rooting interest, New Year’s Eve will be a lot more fun this year.

$.02--Any Given Sunday, Week 13 Edition: The Philadelphia Eagles go into New England and stun the Patriots 35-28.

The Eagles had lost their last two games 45-17 and 45-14, both to teams with losing records at the time. Even though the Patriots lost at Denver last week, they still stood at 10-1 and atop the AFC standings. All the significant injuries weren’t supposed to matter for New England. It’s the friggin’ Pats with Tom friggin’ Brady at the controls. Bill Belichick versus Chip Kelly. C’mon now, this is not supposed to happen.

And yet it did. The Eagles scored three touchdowns with their offense on the sidelines, a punt block, a punt return and a 99-yard pick-six from Malcolm Jenkins. With no Gronk, a dilapidated offensive line and an extremely limited receiving corps, not even Tom Brady could overcome.

With the improbable upset, the Eagles rise to 5-7 and are amazingly still very much alive in the horrific NFC East. Sam Bradford returned under center (technically, even though every Philly snap I saw was in the shotgun) and avoided the catastrophic mistakes and gruesome injuries which are the hallmarks of his career. He only threw for 120 yards but didn’t turn the ball over and was sacked just once.

Aside from all the injuries, the Patriots are in a bit of a coaching slump. Belichick tried to get cute with a drop kick and a surprise onside kick. Both failed. Trying to throw at the end of the second quarter instead of just running out the clock cost them the blocked punt TD in a situation with an extremely low likelihood of offensive success.

The game really did turn on the drop kick, a throwback play to the time of leather helmets.

 

It was a smug act of derogatory intentions, and it backfired. The Eagles players rightly saw it as a disrespectful taunt, of New England’s supreme overconfidence. Belichick messed with karma, and he paid the price.

It’s not time for the Patriots to panic even with the consecutive losses. Danny Amendola returned to the lineup, but Gronk and Julian Edelman both remained out. Backups littered the lineup all over the field. They will get healthier, and they will still have Tom Brady. They did lose the top seed in the AFC to Cincinnati with the loss, but are still in line to get a much-needed playoff bye. 

$.03--In the Battle of the Big Apple, the Jets knocked off the Giants in the home stadium for both. New York beat New York 23-20 in overtime, and the Giants have only themselves to blame.

Leading 20-10 and in strong position to put the game away, Tom Coughlin made one of the more ponderous decisions of a coaching career increasingly full of them. On 4th and goal with just under nine minutes to go, Coughlin opted to go for the conversion instead of kicking the gimmie field goal. As is his custom, Eli Manning threw a red zone INT to backup safety Rontez Miles and all of the sudden the Jets only needed a touchdown and a field goal instead of two touchdowns.

It came into play on the next Jets possession. The Jets were able to kick a field goal and not get off schedule, instead of having to go for the touchdown. Ryan Fitzpatrick (a huge day with 390 yards passing) hit Brandon Marshall for the tying touchdown with under a minute to go, forcing overtime. The Giants defense collapsed…

 

Randy Bullock made a 31-yard FG at the end of a long, time-consuming drive to start overtime. When Giants kicker Josh Brown missed the answering attempt from 48 yards, the net effect was Tom Coughlin giving the Jets a win.

After the game he doubled down on his bad decision, like Skip Bayless blaming the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Lebron James. As quoted by ESPN,

If we scored there and fourth-and-2, then we push the score up to where maybe they can't beat us with whatever," Coughlin said. "So we're up 17. I stand by it.”

Coughlin has already taken a lot of heat this year for poor in-game decisions and clock management. This was a must-have game, a chance to get even at 6-6 and perhaps back into first place in the NFC East if Washington loses Monday night. Instead, he bolstered the Jets chances in the more wide-open AFC and condemned his Giants to needing a lot of help to sneak into the playoffs.

Giants fans have to wonder if Coughlin belongs as coach beyond 2015. He’s a worthy Hall of Famer with two Super Bowl titles, but the magic appears gone. As the headline on the New York Post website blared, Coughlin just gave Giants the perfect case to fire him. Agreed.

$.04--Thursday night was a tumultuous one for Lions fans like myself. If you saw the game in real time, you know why.

The Lions beat the stuffing out of the visiting Packers in the first half, racing out to an easy 17-0 lead and dominating both sides of the ball. Matthew Stafford was throwing lasers. The Detroit defense was easily thwarting Aaron Rodgers and a receiving corps that could not get any separation. On the heels of the Lions winning three in a row and annihilating the Eagles 45-14 a week earlier, fans were at fever pitch.

It turns out it was too easy. As a Lions fan, I should have known better. Heck my wife even told me just before halftime that “you know they’re going to lose, why do this to yourself?” as I pranced around merrily, hugging my kids and feeling like I just won the Daily 3 lottery.

I should have known when Green Bay scored its first touchdown by recovering their own fumble in the end zone. The very next play from scrimmage, Julius Peppers stripped the ball from Mathew Stafford and the Packers recovered. A couple of plays later, Davante Adams of all people caught a touchdown pass and the 20-0 pasting morphed into a 20-14 sign of inevitable doom. The Lions buttoned up the offense, while Green Bay managed to tighten the score to 23-21 when Aaron Rodgers scampered untouched around left end.

Detroit still held its destiny in its own hands. Head Coach Jim Caldwell played not to lose, and his passive strategy nearly worked. A desperation last-gasp Packers play involving several laterals as the clock expired ended far short when Rodgers was bowled under by Devin Taylor. Alas, Taylor’s thumb grazed Rodgers’ facemask ever so briefly but enough to draw a flag. Still, the Packers had to get the ball in the end zone from 61 yards away with no time left.

This (courtesy NFL Network) is what happened. I suppose the Packers deserve some credit; Aaron Rodgers throws a beautiful bomb, and the receivers do a masterful job of creating a wall to keep the defenders from getting anywhere near Richard Rodgers, the man who leapt up and made the nice catch. But this is far more about Detroit’s absolute ineptitude in defending the one-in-a-thousand shot. The Lions did so many things wrong. Here was my attempt to surmise it in real time:

 

That omitted yet another major gaffe, one which Caldwell admitted to in the post-game interview. Ziggy Ansah and another defender were both stationed at midfield to try and prevent a run or another lateral. They both remained there for the entirety of the play. Caldwell wasn’t expecting the Hail Mary and took two potential pass rushers or pass defenders out of the play on purpose.

If there were any doubt Caldwell will not be Detroit’s coach next season, this cemented it. His ineptitude allows Packers fans to overlook the rather significant coaching problems in Green Bay. The Packers are 8-4 and will almost certainly make the playoffs, but this is not even close to as formidable of a Green Bay contender as the prior 2-3 seasons.

$.05--On Friday during my shift from 3-6 on ESPN 96.1 in Grand Rapids (shameless self-promotion; follow me on Twitter to find out when I’m on WMAX on iHeart), my co-hosts asked me which fan base had it worse, the Lions or the Browns. As a native Clevelander who has been a Lions fan since Billy Sims wore No. 20, I feel somewhat uniquely qualified to answer.

As awful as it’s been to be a Detroit fan--even this week--the Browns are the true Factory of Sadness. Cleveland has made the playoffs just once since reincarnating in 1999, while Detroit has been three times. Neither has a playoff win since 1991, which represents Detroit’s only playoff win in the Super Bowl era.

Go back a little deeper. Cleveland lost three AFC Championship Games in four years, all to the same Denver team that featured John Elway and about five other guys who would have started for the Browns. Cleveland has pet names for their gut-wrenching losses. The Drive. The Fumble. Red Right 88. They couldn’t win with Bill Belichick, the best coach of the Super Bowl era, and legendary executive Ernie Accorsi running the team.

Detroit’s painful losses haven’t meant as much. Sure, the NFL has rewritten two rules directly because of recent Lions miscues. But the Matt Millen era extinguished all hope for so long. Detroit accomplished the legendary feat of a winless season. As maudlin as it sounds, that’s a source of pride. Nobody has ever been worse!

In this case, it’s better to have never loved at all than to have lost at love. Those dalliances with success raised expectations in Cleveland, which makes the letdown of the last 15 years even worse. While the Lions have had some bad quarterbacking and terrible draft picks, Cleveland tops them on the one-up meter in both.

Austin Davis became the 24th QB to start a game for Cleveland since 1999. By way of comparison, Matthew Stafford has started every game since 2011, 76 in a row and counting. Davis wasn’t the only problem in Cleveland’s 37-3 annihilation by the visiting Bengals, but he’s not the guy who is going to close that gulf between the two Ohio teams either. Detroit is 4-8 but can realistically sell both the fans and a new management/coaching regime they are close to being a playoff contender. They were 11-5 in 2014 and had the Cowboys beat in the playoffs until the officials decided otherwise. The Browns are now 2-10, the only team with 10 losses in 12 games this year. They don’t have a QB, or a No. 1 (or No. 2) wide receiver, or a starting-caliber running back, or a single difference-maker on defense. With Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate, Ameer Abdullah, Ziggy Ansah and Darius Slay, the Lions most certainly do.

Of course it’s my lot in life to have these two teams intertwined with my fandom. While I’m not a Browns fan, most of my loved ones are and I want them to be happy. As a fan of the other Cleveland teams and a proud native and 25-year resident of the 216 (and 440 and 330), I sorely want the Browns to be a winner. My allegiance of more than 30 years is with the Lions, however. And they’re a lot closer to being a good team and tasting real success than the Browns are right now…or will be anytime soon. 

$.06--At various points during the season, the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings have both appeared to be very solid NFC playoff teams. The Falcons raced out to 5-0 before crashing and burning. They’re now 6-6 after Sunday’s 23-19 loss in Tampa Bay, a decision which puts them behind the Buccaneers in the chase to finish second in the NFC South. For all intents and purposes, the Falcons are done.

It’s not as dire for the Vikings, who are still 8-4 and tied for first in the North with Green Bay. However, the manner in which Seattle improved to 7-5 in pasting Minnesota 38-7 has to be disheartening for Vikings fans.

Seattle so completely dominated the game it almost seemed unfair. The Minnesota offense had no chance:

 

The 125 yards of offense is the lowest in the NFL this year. Minnesota managed just 9 first downs and never got the ball into the red zone. Their only points came on a Cordarrelle Patterson 101-yard kick return. Seattle’s defense appeared to know what was coming on every snap, like they were correctly guessing the play on the old Tecmo Bowl game. Teddy Bridgewater is not equipped to overcome that.

The marauding Seahawks had no such trouble on offense. They cranked out 433 yards and 25 first downs. Seattle went 9-for-13 on third down, and they picked up one of those missed conversions on fourth down. Russell Wilson was once again majestic, making all the right reads and exploiting the Vikings’ holes in coverage. Thomas Rawls topped 100 yards on just 19 carries, and he and Wilson both found the end zone once. Even the troublesome offensive line held relatively tough for the visitors from the Pacific Northwest.

This win makes Seattle the only 7-5 team in the NFC. Minnesota and Green Bay are both 8-4. Arizona remains well ahead of the Seahawks in the West at 10-2, while the Panthers have already clinched at 12-0. Barring a collapse by the Vikings, those five teams and the East champ are the NFC playoff picture. With four weeks to go it’s pretty easy to seed the NFC already. And highlight two-time defending champ Seattle as the one team nobody, not even the mighty Panthers, want to see in January. They’re in peak form as the games get more important. Bridgewater and the Vikings are still a quality foe but saw on Sunday just how far they have to go.

$.07--Bad officiating is certainly endemic in the NFL, but its nasty tentacles extend deep into the college game as well. A blatantly incorrect call decided the ACC Championship, ending North Carolina’s chance to continue with its momentum and come back on Clemson.

 

The Tar Heels were flagged for being offsides on this ultimately successful onside kick. As you can clearly see, nobody was offsides. Nobody was really even close to being offsides.

I’m generally the first to point out the patent absurdity of conspiracy theories. I use tin foil to bake, not as a helmet. But it’s hard to overlook the game situation and the larger picture. Those officials made a decision, conscious or not, which brought millions of dollars and unquantifiable prestige to their employed, the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Clemson is the No. 1 team in the nation. A Tigers win means the ACC is represented in the College Football Playoff. North Carolina entered the game 10th. A Tar Heels win means no CFB, as UNC has the worst loss (the opener to 3-9 South Carolina) of any team in the top 10. And Clemson was not making it into the playoff with a loss, either.

Were the officials on the field aware of this? That’s impossible to know. Here’s the thing though: it only takes one, and that one did indeed take the game’s fate into his own hands. Is it absurd to think the league had a patsy installed as a backup plan to ensure the most favorable outcome if the deciding play was subject to some influence? In my eyes, this is a scenario more easily manipulated than the NBA lottery.

We will never know the motivation here. Was it simple incompetence or part of a grander, more sinister scheme to prop up the conference? Either is believable. I’m not ready to put on the tin foil helmet just yet, but I’m not baking anything with that foil for a while either.

$.08--NFL Quickies

--Panthers coach Ron Rivera became the first man to ever play for and then coach a 12-0 team. Rivera was a member of the 1985 Chicago Bears, who started 12-0 on their way to the Super Bowl Shuffle. His Panthers moved to 12-0, though it wasn’t easy. Cam Newton found Jerricho Cotchery in the back of the end zone late in the fourth quarter to lift Carolina over the game Saints. Newton leading the final, ultimately game-winning drive helps cement him as a top 3 MVP candidate. Rivera belongs in that ranking in the Coach of the Year voting, too.  

--San Francisco won in overtime in Chicago in a game that was more entertaining that it should have been. Just when you thought the Bears might be a contender, they fall to the lowly 49ers. Perhaps they’re not so lowly, as just one game separates 5-7 Chicago from 4-8 San Francisco. A bad early pick-six from Jay Cutler really hurt, though to be fair it was a great play by Jimmie Ward to jump the obvious screen.

--

 

The Chargers, like the Vikings, never ran a single play in the red zone in the heartless 17-3 loss to Denver. They’re 3-9 with what appears to be a lame duck coaching staff in a lame duck city. Pencil them in for 4-12 and the No. 3 overall pick in next spring’s draft.

--Marcus Mariota had himself a day as the Tennessee Titans held off the Jacksonville Jaguars 42-39. In a game with 41 fourth-quarter points, Mariota threw for 268 yards and 3 TDs while also running 9 times for 111 yards and a score. That scoring run covered 87 yards, the second-longest by any QB in NFL history. Also a big game for fellow rookie Dorial Green-Beckham, who hauled in 5 catches for 119 yards and a TD.

--Miami scored 15 points in the second quarter. They did not score otherwise, but it was enough to beat what’s left of the Ravens 15-13. Note to Dolphins coaches: get Lamar Miller the ball more! 

$.09--College/Draft quickies

--I watched most of the American Athletic Conference Championship game, where Houston whacked Temple to advance to a New Year’s bowl. Much of my attention was on the Cougars’ outstanding CB William Jackson. Then again he was hard to miss. Jackson broke up at least 4 passes (I didn’t see the third quarter) and was all over any receiver sent his way. He’s got length, closing speed and quick reactions. On the downside, he is as hands-y in coverage as a horny 16-year-old dork on a date with a girl of ill repute. Jackson is a first-round talent in my book.

--Sticking with the Cougars, their great young coach Tom Herman signed a big extension to stay at Houston instead of moving to a Power 5 conference school like South Carolina or Maryland (to name two). Herman will reportedly make $2.8M a year for five years with the resurgent Cougars, who would have crashed the College Football Playoff had they not lost to UConn in a game they played without star QB Greg Ward. The point is, Herman can make just as much at Houston, which has gorgeous new facilities and a new stadium, than he can elsewhere. And he’s got a real chance to build a perennial 10-win team in the best non-power conference.

--Congrats to my alma mater, the Ohio University Bobcats, for making the Camelia Bowl! A strong 8-4 campaign and second-place finish in the MAC East earned Frank Solich’s crew a trip to Montgomery to face Appalachian State. It’s not a sexy bowl. In fact, it very well might be the least-watched of any of the 40 this year. Bobcat fans from my era, where we had the nation’s longest losing streak twice, and really the whole epoch from 1970-2000 will take whatever bowl we get. Go Cats!

--I am not a Heisman voter, but if I had a ballot it would look like this:

1. Christian McCaffery, Stanford

2. Keenan Reynolds, Navy

3. Derrick Henry, Alabama

I don’t think McCaffery, the electrifying Cardinal RB, will win however. The one game he played where those of us in the Eastern Time Zone got to see him before dark, Northwestern throttled him. Most of his amazing work came in games that started after most voters were already in bed. Even the primetime game Saturday against USC, nobody was watching; both the ACC and Big Ten games were on at the same time, and those games meant more on a national level. The PAC-12 really dropped the ball by not moving their title game to Friday night, where the only football competition was the MAC Championship (won by Bowling Green).

--I like Syracuse hiring Bowling Green coach Dino Babers, and I think North Carolina was smart to lock up Larry Fedora with a new 7-year contract. Virginia piques interest with luring Bronco Mendenhall away from BYU. I’m not wild about South Carolina hiring Will Muschamp, but it’s a better move than the “other” USC keeping interim coach Clay Helton. And I truly don’t know what to make of Miami bringing in Mark Richt, late of Georgia. He’s a Hurricane alum and proved he can recruit the southeast, but the expectations that killed him at Georgia aren’t even close to what The U will demand of him.

$.10--Sunday night marked Kobe Bryant’s last game in Detroit. Bryant announced his retirement earlier in the week, and now the farewell tour is in full force.

I have mixed feelings on Kobe. He’s one of the five best players of the last 25 years. He won five titles, two Finals MVPs, one season MVP, four All-Star Game MVPs in 17 career All-Star games, four first-time All-NBA. You get the picture, he’s an amazing player.

He’s also a polarizing one. From manipulating his way to the Lakers as an 18-year-old to arrogantly waving off Karl Malone in an All-Star game to announce a changing of the guard to his controversial rape trial, there have always been reasons to dislike Kobe.

There was real interest in the Motor City seeing him one last time. Tickets for the surrounding games were going on Stubhub for as low as $5. Third row, center court seats opposite the bench side were just $62 a piece for Friday’s win over Milwaukee. For the Kobe game, nosebleed seats went for $70 and those same premium seats topped $500.

Aside from not being able to afford those inflated prices, I had little interest in seeing a faded star. Bryant is arguably the worst player in the league this year, a guy who should have called it quits with the Achilles injury. He can’t drive anymore. He can’t shoot anymore, though it doesn’t stop him from trying. In this Pistons 111-91 win, Bryant shot 2-for-15 and scored 8 in front of a crowd full of purple and yellow admirers.

I hate seeing former greats playing out the decrepit string, even in the comfort of my own living room. I don’t want my son’s memory of Kobe being this Kobe. We already have this experience, albeit unintentionally, with Yao Ming. My Layne and I caught his penultimate home game back in 2010, a loss to the New Orleans Hornets where Yao couldn’t get past half court on a lot of defensive possessions and struggled badly. He was injured worse than anyone knew at the time, but his performance that day taints both our views of the great Yao. It’s unfair but it’s real.

Do us all a favor, Kobe: stop this self-aggrandizing victory lap and walk away. Pick a Lakers home game in a few weeks, quietly inform the team, and call it a game. Your legacy deserves it.