By Jennifer Eisenbart
Sports Editor
As Christmas Day has come and gone, so have a number of different gifts and celebrations.
But one where would we be without acknowledging one of the best Christmas carols ever – done, of course, with a little bit of a sports twist?
Prepare yourself: it’s the “12 Days of Christmas” done by the NFL.
“On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…”
• 12 playoff teams: Of course, it’s only fitting that a handful of the playoff spots in the NFL come down to the final week of the season. When you have four division winners and two wild-card spots and a heck of a lot of parity, it’s almost a given.
Which is what makes the situation in the AFC all the more funny. All six playoff spots are decided. And while four of the six are decided in the NFC, the only spot that’s not going to change is Atlanta’s top spot with a first-round bye.
So much for parity?
• 11 players injured: Running them off for the Green Bay Packers – Charles Woodson, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Alex Green, James Stark, C.J. Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Crabtree – and injured reserved entries Bryan Bulaga, Cedric Benson and D.J. Smith.
Oy.
• 10 wild stories: It’s been that kind of year in the NFL, with everything from a tragic murder-suicide involving a player to another being charged with intoxication manslaughter after getting into a car accident while allegedly drunk and killing the teammate who was riding with him to Chuck Pagano successfully navigating cancer treatment and returning to coach his team – which is playoff bound – the final week of the regular season.
Talk about stories both on and off the field…
• Nine endzone dances: And the resulting flags that seem to be going with them.
NFL=No Fun League. Enough said.
• Eight milking headlines: It seems like every NFL player wants more than his 15 minutes of fame, but really, can you argue with Tim Tebow being the worst offender right now?
First he’s benched, then he’s really benched. And now, he’s not making any of the calls people said he was.
Enough already, God boy.
• Seven rotten eggs laid: Actually, there were probably more than seven really, REALLY bad games in the NFL this year, but the Packers were a part of two of them.
The first was the loss to the New York Giants. The second was last week’s drubbing of the Tennessee Titans.
Toss in San Francisco’s pathetic effort against Seattle, and a few other gems (Jets vs. Titans, anyone?) and you get my point.
• Six sucky calls – actually, more like six hundred, most of which came in the first three weeks of the season with the replacement referees that spawned a new phrase: Fail Mary.
• Five idiot coaches: Please, somebody take Rex Ryan, Jim Schwartz, Tom Coughlin, Andy Reid and Mike Mularky, stick them in a room and lock the door.
Perhaps by the time an hour or two has passed, a bright idea may surface between the five of them. However, it’s not likely.
• Four lost games – to San Francisco, Seattle, Indianapolis and the Giants, courtesy of the Green Bay Packers.
Of course, it should be just three, hence the spawning of the phrase “Fail Mary.”
• Three classless moves, all from Seattle coach Pete Carroll. First he won’t concede that Green Bay got screwed by the replacement refs, then he blows out opponents and swaggers while doing it.
I’m not sure what the third thing is, but I’m sure he’s done it.
• Two benched QBs: Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow. Just who is Greg McElroy, anyhow?
• And a kicker who is still on the team … even though he’s missed more field goals than most people can count, makes an extra point look like an adventure and has been the subject of more jokes than Tim Tebow…
Yes, I mean Mason Crosby. Just in case anyone had any doubt.
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