Football for Normal Girls - Page 5 of 67 -

What it means to love a team

Most of you know that I’m a huge Packers fan. You might also know that the Packers lost in the wildcard round yesterday, putting an end to their all-too-brief playoff run. So as part of fulfilling the five stages of playoff loss grief, I’m posting something I wrote last season after the Packers lost to the 49ers in the playoffs. (Yes, again.) Apparently it was foreshadowing – it more ways than one (broken collarbone?!).

If you love a team, you might be able to relate to these sentiments. If you are on the fence about whether or not to become a football fan, hopefully this can sway you to go all-in. If you think loving a team is straight up crazy but someone you know is in the depths of postseason loss despair, maybe this will persuade you to be a little nicer to them today.

Because we really are crazy. There’s nothing quite like being a fan and loving your team.

(If you are looking for the lowdown on all of the weekends games, check out MMQB this morning. They always have great coverage of all things NFL. At The Water Cooler will return next week!)

Loving a team, when you really love a team, isn’t like having a favorite clothing store or a worn out take out menu. Loving a team is like being in love. When times are good, there is no joy that is paralleled. When times are bad, the lows will completely wreck you. You loathe those who betray you – the refs who make bad calls, the celebrating players on the other sideline, in your end zone. You couldn’t love those who help you more if they were members of your own family.

And really, the players and the staff do become like family. Because, like family, in the same second you can’t believe how much you love them and also can’t believe how they could make such mind-numbingly painful errors in judgment. You can point out their mistakes and inadequacies, but woe to the person who dares to speak ill of your team.

Loving football, in particular, is it’s own variety of passion. It sees your loyalty chips and raises you a lifetime of servitude. I’d say that it steals your time and sanity but it doesn’t – you willingly hand them over.

Football will take your hopes and crush them. Your #1 seed headed into the Divisional Round? Lost by 14. Season over. Your 10-point 4th quarter lead? Pick six. Then, touchdown. Lead lost. Your promising roster of feared veterans and dangerous rookie talent? Torn ACL’s. Broken collarbones. Inability to work cohesively as a unit. Not so promising after all.

But it will also take your hopes and elevate them. You are the underdog who beat the #1 Seed in the Divisional Round! You are the team that wouldn’t take no for an answer in the 4th quarter! You are watching the evolution of a unit that was all it was projected to be and so much more!

Every year, 31 teams go home disappointed. It’s a gnawing, desperate, unfulfilling feeling to know that it’s over. It makes you wear your pajamas for 48 hours and ignore the light of day. It makes you wallow in a gallon of ice cream and ask repeatedly, “What happened, you guys?” It’s all part of the mourning process, because you just lost something special. You won’t see your team take another snap for at least another 6 months. You may never see that same team take the field again. Players leave. Players come in. It’ll never be the same as it was this season.

But every year, one team goes home victorious. And it’s the sweetest, most elated, vindicating feeling. Your team defied the odds. Your team gets to bring the Lombardi trophy home. Your team gets to be feared and respected by all the rest for the next 6 months.

I’d say that it makes all of the hardship worthwhile, but it’s already worth it. What football gives you can’t be measured in wins and losses – even Super Bowl wins and losses. What it really gives you is a reason to hope for a few hours every weekend. To believe that this game could be your game. This year could be your year.

There’s nothing quite like it. And there are few things better.

What To Know : Wildcard Weekend

We know how the playoffs work and who the teams are, which is a great start. Here’s the next step: a short preview of this weekend’s wildcard games.

Kansas City Chiefs at Indianapolis Colts (Saturday at 4:35 pm EST, NBC)

If you knew this was going to be the matchup back in the midpoint of the season when the Chiefs were still undefeated and the Colts were starting to struggle, you’d call it an easy win for Kansas City. But that’s the magic of the NFL: things change. It’s not that the Chiefs aren’t good anymore (they are) or the Colts don’t still have their struggles (they do), it’s that this match has all of the makings of a barn burner – a match in which the Luck-led Colts are favored.

New Orleans Saints at Philadelphia Eagles (Saturday at 8:10 pm EST, NBC)

The same exact thing can be said about this game. Midseason, no one would have dared to pick the Eagles to top the Saints. And yet here they find themselves in the first round of the playoffs with a home game and a huge opportunity. The Saints are undefeated at home this season; they won a mere three games on the road. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that the Eagles have looked especially sharp in their big wins against Chicago and Dallas in the past two weeks. While it’s never wise to count Drew Brees out, this one has the potential to send the Saints home earlier than originally expected.

San Diego Chargers at Cincinnati Bengals (Sunday at 1:05 pm EST, CBS)

For the first time in three years the Bengals will not face the Texans in the first round of the playoffs. And for the first time in three years, they’ll be hoping for a win in the first round of the playoffs. That the Chargers are even in the playoffs is a testament to the unpredictable world of the NFL (they can thank the Bengals for doing their part in defeating the Ravens during pregame warmups). But how they got in doesn’t matter. What does matter is the fact that they may have scored the best matchup of Wildcard Weekend, and they look ready to take advantage.

San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers (Sunday at 4:40 pm EST, FOX)

It might be a new year, but not when it comes to this game. The obvious answer would be that it’s still 2013 – the year when this same game was played on different turf – but it actually feels more like 2010 to me. That was the year the Packers limped into the playoffs and made a highly unlikely run all the way to winning Super Bowl 45. Now, there are some differences, the greatest of which is that the Packers defense is significantly (significantly) worse, but it has the look and feel of another potential Super Bowl bid. Of course, the 49ers are no doubt thinking that they are going to party like it’s 2013 all over again – the year when they ~~slaughtered~~ beat the Packers and ultimately advanced to the Super Bowl. Which explains why I’ve had traumatic visions of Colin Kaepernick dancing in my head all week.

The 12 Posts of Playoffs : 10 Yards

Did you know that all progress on a football field hinges on advancing 10 yards at a time?

True story.

It’s time to talk about everyone’s favorite aspect of football…the down system!!!

If the phrase “first down” makes you twitch a little bit because you have no idea what it means or why it pertains to football, this post should help.

The offense has four chances, called “downs,” to advance the ball ten yards. If they do, they receive a new set of downs and the opportunity to continue trying to reach the end zone to score.

Once the offense starts their drive, they have four chances, called “downs,” to move the ball 10 yards from where they started (this place is called “the line of scrimmage”). Each play is then calculated by what chance (down) the offense is on and how many yards they have left until they reach 10 yards total. Once they reach or exceed the 10 yards in one set of downs, they get a new set – four more chances to move the ball 10 more yards.

This is the reason why 10 yards is the distance that makes the football world go round.

Here’s an example. Let’s say the offense is starting their drive on their own 20 yard line. The offense needs to reach or exceed the 30 yard line, which means they’ve gained at least 10 yards total from where they began (at the 20 yard line), over the course of the next 4 downs to receive a new set of downs and therefore another opportunity to score. You will know how far the offense needs to go to gain a new set of downs thanks to the magic of technology: they need to reach or exceed the bright yellow electronic line on the field, which indicates how far the offense has to go to get a first down.

The first play is called “1st and 10,” because it’s the offense’s first down (chance) and they still have 10 yards to go to get a new set of downs. Every play after that is calculated by what down it is and how much further the team has to go to reach 10 yards total. So if on the first play (1st and 10) a team gained 3 yards, then next play would be 2nd and 7 – it’s the second down, and they still have 7 yards to go to reach the first down marker.

Got it? If you need any extra help and lots of other examples, check out the Basics of Offense post.

The 12 Posts of Playoffs : 11 Men

There are a whole mess of people on the sidelines of a football field, but too much of a good thing on the playing field will lead to a 5-yard penalty.

Each unit is allowed to have 11 players on the field. They can field less (if they want to find new and creative ways to lose), but they can’t field more. Too many men on the field is a 5-yard penalty.

Who are the 11 players on each unit? On offense, it’s usually five offensive linemen, one quarterback, and five offensive “skill” players – tight ends, runnings backs, and wide receivers. It looks something like this:

On defense, things are a little more flexible. A standard defense will usually be composed of three or four defensive linemen, three or four linebackers, and between four and six defensive backs (safeties and cornerbacks). It might look something like this:

On special teams, the unit that comes out for kicking plays, different players come out for different types of plays. I don’t have a visual for that, but I do have this post.

A peek into the future: next season we’ll be doing a whole series on special teams because they’ve gotten the shaft for the past ~~history of football~~ two years here. Sorry, guys.

Final note: have you ever heard of the 12th man? The phenomenon in which the fans are so disruptive that it’s like their team has an extra player on the field? That expression exists because of the 11-men-per-unit rule.

(P.s. Happy New Year!!! Have a wonderful day, everyone!)

The 12 Posts of Playoffs : 12 Playoff Teams

I know that we are a few days removed from the start of the 12 Days of Christmas, but how about the 12 Posts of Playoffs? Because who doesn’t want more to celebrate?!

The 12 Posts of Playoffs will be a series that runs for the next four weeks (conveniently also the duration of the playoffs). Each post will feature a lesson that coincides with the number of the day. Kind of like Sesame Street, but helpful for knowing what’s what on a football field.

Today’s lesson: the 12 playoff teams.

The playoff schedule is set. Twelve teams have advanced. But how did they make the cut? Let’s review.

We recently went over how the 12 teams are selected. Here’s a refresher:

Within the NFL there are two conferences, the AFC and the NFC. Each conference has four geographic divisions: the North, East, South, and West. Each division has four teams. So the AFC North, for example, consists of the Bengals, Browns, Ravens, and Steelers.

Teams advance into the postseason by the merit of their regular season record. The team with the best regular season record within each division gets an automatic playoff spot. That’s 8 teams. Two additional teams from each conference also advance. These “wildcard” teams are the two teams with the best record among the non-division winners from the whole conference (AFC or NFC). That’s 4 total wildcards teams. In total, that makes 12 teams that advance into the postseason.

The four teams that win their division from each conference are ranked (“seeded”) according to their regular season record, 1 through 4. That results in eight teams total. The remaining four teams are the wildcard teams, and they are ranked 5th and 6th within their conference based on their overall record. When matched up throughout the playoffs, the team that is seeded higher plays at home; the lower seed has to travel.

Let’s put some flesh on all of that by seeing what it looks like this season.

The four division winners in the NFC are the Eagles (East), the Packers (North), the Panthers (South), and the Seahawks (West). The NFC Wildcard teams are the Saints and the 49ers (by merit of having the best regular season record among the remaining NFC teams). The division winners are seeded 1 through 4 (also by merit of their regular season record) and the wildcard teams are seeded 5 and 6:

Seahawks (West)
Panthers (South)
Eagles (East)
Packers (North)
49ers (Wildcard)
Saints (Wildcard)

The winner of the conference gets home field advantage throughout the playoffs (good luck with that, NFC). The top two seeds get a first round bye, which means the Seahawks and the Panthers don’t have to play this weekend. The remaining four teams play in the first round, Wildcard Weekend, and the higher ranked seed plays the lower ranked seed at the higher ranked seeds stadium. So the Saints will play the Eagles in Philadelphia and the 49ers will play the Packers in Green Bay (you can mail the Pepto Bismol directly to my house).

In the AFC, the Patriots won the East, the Bengals won the North, the Colts won the South, and the Broncos won the West. The Chiefs and the Chargers won the two wildcard slots. They are all seeded as follows:

Broncos (West)
Patriots (East)
Bengals (North)
Colts (South)
Chiefs (Wildcard)
Chargers (Wildcard)

This weekend, the Chargers will play the Bengals in Cincinnati and the Chiefs will play the Colts in Indy. The Broncos and Patriots have the week off.

Make sense? For much more on all things playoff, check out this post.

At the Water Cooler : Week 17

(Guess who forgot that there are actually 17 weeks in the season, not 16, when making these headers at the beginning of the season? This girl. Whoops!)

Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons (Panther won, 21-20)

This was the last game of legendary tight end Tony Gonzalez’s 17-year NFL career. He will be walking into the Hall of Fame in 5 years, for sure.

Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals (Bengals won, 34-17)

The reigning Super Bowl champs have officially been knocked out of playoff contention, making them among the masses of Super Bowl winners who don’t make the playoffs the following year. It’s an odd phenomena.

Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans (Titans won, 16-10)

The Texans won their first two games. Then they lost the remaining 14. The good news is that they did win the best losing season consolation prize: first pick in the 2014 Draft.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts (Colts won, 30-10)

The Colts aren’t slowing down in preparation for the playoffs. They looked great against the Jags on Sunday.

Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers (Steelers won, 20-7)

The Steelers were so close to nabbing that last AFC playoff spot. They needed a win and losses by the Ravens, Dolphins, and Chargers to get in. They got 3 out of 4.

NY Jets at Miami Dolphins (Jets won, 20-7)

A serving of season-ending redemption for the Jets: Geno Smith played about 8,000 times better than he did during the Jets first game against the Dolphins, and Rex Ryan is reportedly keeping his job as head coach (in my opinion, deservedly so). And a serving of plain old season-ending for the Dolphins, who had a chance to get into the playoffs with a win.

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings (Vikings won, 14-13)

In a fitting end to their season, the Lions lost by one point after a Vikings touchdown in the 4th quarter. Also, goodbye Metrodome.

Washington Redskins at NY Giants (Giants won, 20-6)

This game was the epitome of miserable. Metlife was subjected to an onslaught of rain/slush, and an onslaught of ugly play. Eli Manning added injury to insult with a high ankle sprain at the end of the first half, which is such an unfortunate way for his season to end.

Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears (PACKERS WON, 33-38)

Mr. Rodgers is back, and the NFC North is his neighborhood. The only thing I can say about this game is: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots (Patriots won, 34-20)

On 3rd and 32, Tom Brady punted. Because why not?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints (Saints won, 42-17)

And that’s a wrap in the NFC South. The Saints are in; the Bucs are glad it ended slightly better than anticipated at the halfway point of the season.

Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders (Broncos won, 34-14)

Peyton Manning threw 4 touchdowns. In the first half. Someone should just cut to the chase and overnight the 2013 MVP trophy to his house.

San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals (49ers won, 23-20)

The Cardinals are probably one of the best 10-6 teams to ever miss the playoffs. Watch out for them next year, NFC.

St. Louis Rams at Seattle Seahawks (Seahawks won, 27-9)

The road to the NFC Championship will go through Seattle. That should strike fear into all the hearts.

Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers (Chargers won, 27-24 OY)

This is unreal: 3 out of the 6 AFC playoff teams are AFC West teams: the Broncos, Chiefs, and Chargers.

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys (Eagles won, 24-22)

For what feels like the zillionth year in a row, the Cowboys finish 8-8. Which means the Eagles, who at one point this season were in the midst of a 10-game home losing streak, are the winners of the NFC East.