Football, Football

It was quite the weekend for football, especially if you are a fan of my teams. First, I have to give props to the Arizona Cardinals for clinching their first division championship since 1975, when I was a freshman in college. It's the first division championship in their entire stay in Arizona, only the second time they've made the playoffs while calling Phoenix home, and the first time they will host a playoff game since 1947. That's no typo, 1947, sixty-one years ago. Unbelieveable. The defense looked awesome today against the Rams, the offense was good enough (except for one bone-headed Kurt Warner interception), and as a whole, the team looked like a legit playoff team. It's a big day for Phoenix sports fans.

Yesterday was a big day for Tucson sports fans. The University of Arizona football team had gone ten years without a winning season, ten years without a bowl game, and this year's senior class had never beaten arch-rival Arizona State. That all came to a screaching halt last night at Arizona Stadium in Tucson. Mike Stoops' team came into the game with a 6-5 record, already qualified to go to a bowl game. Dennis Erickson's ASU team had been ranked #15 in the nation pre-season, after last year's ten win team. After winning the first two games this season, the Sun Devils reeled off six losses in a row. They managed to beat the dregs of the Pac-10 conference (Washington, Washington State and UCLA) to come into last night's game with a 5-6 record, a win away from being bowl-eligible. At stake last night was the Las Vegas Bowl to the winner.

The U of A kept shooting itself in the foot in the first half last night. Penalties, dropped passes, missed opportunities, and then one of the biggest bonehead plays I've ever seen led to an ASU 10-7 halftime lead. The bonehead play? The U of A punter dropped down to one knee to catch a low snap from the center, obviously forgetting that by putting a knee on the turf, he was then automatically down, the play was over, and ASU got the ball right there on the UA 19 yard line. Talk about stupid, it looked like once again the U of A would under-achieve and lose to ASU.

The second half, however, was completely different. Arizona dominated the line of scrimmage and scored two touchdowns on long drives in the third quarter. ASU was stopped on a three-and-out on their next possession, punted to wide receiver/kick returner Mike Thomas, who proceeded to run the punt back 60 yards or so for the third Wildcat touchdown of the third quarter. Ballgame over, the first winning season in Mike Stoops' Arizona head coaching career, and a berth in the Las Vegas bowl on Dec. 20th. And, oh yeah, a losing season and no bowl game for the hated Sun Devils. All in all, a very sweet night for the UA football team and their long-suffering fans.

However, it's never totally good news for my football teams. Two weeks ago, the New York Jets had won their fifth in a row, and had beaten the Patriots and Titans in consecutive weekends on the road. For all intents and purposes, they looked like the team to beat in the AFC. Then, they got dominated last Sunday by the Broncos at home, and inexplicably lost to the 4-8 San Francisco 49'ers today. I don't know the details of that game (it was mercifully not broadcast here in Arizona), and I don't want to know, all I know is that the Jets are now tied with both the Patriots and Dolphins (although they do hold the tiebreaker against both teams) and have looked very bad in the last two games. The Jets better put it together real quick if they expect to be successful in the postseason. I want to cash in that bet I made in Vegas, and if that's going to happen, they will probably need to win at least two out of the next three games, and that won't be easy. Seems to me that the Jets have become a victim of their own success. After beating New England and Tennessee and hearing all about how they would meet up with the Giants in the Super Bowl, apparently the Jets felt that all they had to do was show up, and the other team would keel over in deference to their superiority. They obviously forgot all the hard work it took to beat those two elite teams on the road. They need to get back to the work ethic that got them to the top of the division if they still want to be there at the end of the season. If they win out, they win the division. Simple enough. But if they don't, either New England or Miami can take the division (wouldn't it be ironic if Miami, with Chad Pennington at quarterback, beat out the Jets for the division?). The way it looks now, there won't be a wild card from the East, so it's either win the division or stay home. Why do I smell a Jets collapse coming?

And, finally, a few words about the Giants. Before today, the reigning World Champs were the consensus pick as the best team in football, by far. So, what happens? They lose to the Eagles at home, and are thoroughly dominated. If not for a fluke blocked field goal, run back the other way for a touchdown, the Giants would have been shut out until the last minute of the game. Regardless, they looked decidedly mortal and beatable today, and you can't help but wonder if the off-field turmoil created by Plaxico Burress hadn't snakebit the team. The Giants will still win their division, and are still the favorites to reach the Super Bowl from the NFC, but for the first time in a long time, they look beatable. That has to be the biggest surprise of all the games today.

All in all, another fun week in football, both pro and college. I look forward to next Sunday.