Not going to lie, I don’t even pay attention to the NFL anymore. Not because I have some sort of moral stance against all the guys kneeling or anything, and especially not because I don’t like football, quite the contrary, I just happen to like college ranks more than the NFL. I really don’t have much of a reason for it, except maybe that I’d rather spend my Sundays doing other things than watching NFL games these days, like catching up on the hundreds of television shows or movies I have ear-marked as wanting to watch, or playing video games, or going out and doing things.
Whatever though, in spite of how ambivalent I may have become towards the NFL, there are days like this one where the NFL captures the imagination of everyone who didn’t see it live but watched the replays of the pivotal moment on a litany of outlets and are proclaiming it the greatest play in the history of the game like fucking idiots. But the Minnesota Vikings pulled off a last-second touchdown play that allowed them to come from behind and beat the New Orleans Saints and advance to the NFC championship, one step away from the Super Bowl.
I understand why people are acting like it was a miracle, because frankly, professional sports are excruciatingly difficult, and to convert a play like that with five seconds left really does take a tremendous amount of luck. But the reality is that the corner whiffed on the Vikings wideout* worse than the Huffington Post predicting the 2016 election, resulting in a really easy catch and run to the end zone to cause bedlam in Minneapolis.
*not even going to pretend like I know these guys’ names, much less exert the effort to find out
It wasn’t like a miracle, one-handed fingertip catch over three defenders in the end zone, it wasn’t even a hail mary distance. It really was as simple as a defender blowing his coverage, and the wide receiver getting an easy catch out of it, and scoring on the play. The fact that it happened with five seconds to go in the fourth quarter with the Vikings behind a score was incidental.
But it was still cool, because shit like this doesn’t happen on a regular basis, much less during the playoffs. Usually incompetence doesn’t make the playoffs, but as freaks of physical nature football players are these days, they’re often times dumb as bricks inside the noggin.
As a result, the NFL playoffs is narrowed down to four. After the Vikings vanquished the Saints in dramatic fashion, and the Atlanta Falcons continuing the statewide tradition of falling short against the Eagles despite being at the 2-yard line with ample time, it’s down to the Vikings versus the Eagles in the NFC, and the New England Patriots against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC.
Honestly, if I had to bet money on this field, I’d put it on the Patriots. As I’ve stated numerous times, I have no beef with the Patriots, nor do I hate them with the fury of five internets. But this really is New England’s Super Bowl to lose right now at this point, and by all rights should go all the way, to make everyone who despises them fake-mad again for another offseason.
But because I still prefer to see chaos, I have to root for a Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Minnesota Vikings Super Bowl. I mean, just verbalize that statement: Jaguars versus Vikings in the Super Bowl. Doesn’t seem remotely possible, right?? Which is precisely why I’d want to see it happen.
Man, nobody outside of their respective fanbases would give two shits about that kind of matchup. Frankly, I’m not really convinced that Jacksonville would care about it either, their fanbase is really that lukewarm and apathetic to begin with. Sure, it’s an unfair advantage if the Vikings make it, because this year’s Super Bowl is going to be in Minnesota, but think about the irony right there: Super Bowls are often set to neutral grounds which are coincidentally homes to teams that aren’t necessarily always good. Which is why Super Bowls are always in places like Miami, Arizona, Detroit, and lol, Atlanta, because it’s usually a safe bet that the home team won’t even sniff the playoffs, much less make it into the Super Bowl.
But here we have the Vikings, a win away from the opportunity to play for a championship in their home stadium. The Eagles are very much vulnerable ever since their Jesus quarterback Carson Wentz** went down and they’ve been running with backup Nick Foles (yet still managed to hang on while the Falcons beat themselves). And a Vikings win would almost be like a big middle finger to the NFL for not having any hope in them, and then they’d have a ridiculous home field advantage in the Super Bowl of all places.
**ok, I looked that one up.
And the Jaguars?? They haven’t been remotely good since like Natrone Means was on the team and ran over everyone in the 1996 playoffs. Seeing them in the Super Bowl would be a wtf as when the Arizona Cardinals were there a few years ago.
And if these two teams were to meet, it would undoubtedly be a game of extreme urgency, because there’s really no way either of these teams are embarking on some sort of dynasty or something. They’ll have just kind of lucked their way onto the grandest stage, because the Steelers didn’t show up, and the Eagles always choke.
I’d have to pull for the Jags in this dream matchup, because they’d undoubtedly be the underdog playing in hostile territory. And just the thought of “World Champion Jacksonville Jaguars” would be pretty hilarious to see, and it’s kind of funny that they’re this close while I’m watching The Good Place, where Jian-Yu is a diehard Jacksonville Jaguars fan in only a hilarious manner that Michael Schur could whip up.
All this said, as much as I’d like to see it, I just know it’s going to end up being Patriots versus Eagles, with like the Pats beating them in the Super Bowl again. And it won’t be as fun, because there will be no Donovan McNabb barfing all over the football again, and the Patriots have already won a hundred Super Bowls already, and the fans are getting restless because nobody seems capable of rising up and unseating Tom Brady from the throne.
But we can wish, though. Go Jags, go Vikings! The Super Bowl nobody, including the NFL wants to see happen!
