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Sucked Into the NFL’s Black Hole, Week 14

Dec 8, 2008, 2:57 PM UTC

Everything on this planet is soon going to disappear into a massive black hole. Each Monday, we’ll present those football-related elements that have already been swallowed into the abyss. â†µ
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Giants-Jets Super Bowl.

Two weeks ago today, the storyline de jour was an all New York Jersey Super Bowl. With the Jets having just crushed then unbeaten Tennessee, the possibility of this match-up seemed feasible, although unlikely. But now, I’m ready to declare a Jets-Giants Super Bowl impossible, mostly because the Jets aren’t even going to be participating in the playoffs.â†µ

â†µAfter losing to those pesky AFC East worldbeating 49ers yesterday, Brett Favre & Co. are now 8-5, tied with the Pats and Dolphins atop the division. All three teams -- Jets, Pats, ‘Fins -- have an extremely soft schedule ahead of them. If I’m picking one of those three to win out and take the East, I’ll go with New England. Although the thought of a postseason sans Patriots pleases me almost as much as Favre playing in January would annoy me. â†µ

â†µâ†µOh, and I suppose it’s also worth mentioning that Giants lost at home to Philly. I blame it on the wind, or something. Whatever. That loss doesn’t matter: New York will more than likely hold up its end of the All Jersey Bowl and be playing in Tampa on February 1st. â†µ

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â†µRedskins' Offense. Through their first eight games, the Skins averaged 20.6 points per game. In their last five, that number’s been cut in half, down to 10.6. Not coincidentally, Washington was 6-2 in those opening eight, and is 1-4 since. There are several places where Skins fans could look to lay blame for this midseason implosion -- Jason Campbell’s struggles, Jim Zorn’s passing offense, Clinton Portis’ injuries, etc. -- but the real problem is obvious: The offensive line is awful. It’s an old, overmatched group that has been completely man-handled against above average defenses, such as Pittsburgh, New York and, last night, Baltimore. â†µ

â†µâ†µIf you want to play the blame game (and as a Skins fan, I do) look no further than VP Vinny Cerrato, who continues to destroy this team one failed draft day at a time. This year, with glaring needs on both sides of the line, Vinny went with two wideouts and a receiving tight end with the team’s first three picks. Washington will never return to glory so long as Cerrato is in charge of personnel decisions. â†µ

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â†µFOX’s Locker Room Speeches. Someone should really let the people at FOX Sports know that the locker room -- particularly following a game -- is where athletes tend to get naked. My eagle eyes spied Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe live and in the buff on FOX’s postgame show yesterday. Although, granted, it was difficult to miss the large naked man standing in the background amongst all those clothed people. â†µ

â†µâ†µAs you’d expect, FOX was immediately apologetic:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“It obviously was an oversight on our part and we apologize,” said FOX Sports vice president of Communications Dan Bell.â†µâ†µJanet Jackson really doesn’t understand what the fuss is all about.â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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