The Sunday Evening Post: Week 15

Football, according to about four hundred grizzled sportswriters, is “a game of inches.” This would, theoretically, distinguish it from every other “game of inches” in the sporting universe by simple declaration.

Except, in today’s NFL, it really does sometimes come down to inches.

If Mike Wallace had been an inch further to the sideline -- or if Ben Roethlisberger’s pass is a few inches wider -- do the Steelers finish the comeback against the Packers and preserve their slim playoff chances? If Mason Crosby’s first-half miss is a little further left? If the onside kick illegally touched by Ike Taylor before it traveled ten yards goes a little further?

These inches are the things that keep football fans coming back for more.

Green Bay and Pittsburgh’s instant thriller was the best example of the extreme parity that makes every game in the NFL this Sunday, but it was far from the only one.

Move Tim Dobbins’ helmet a few inches up or down on his hit on Andre Caldwell, and the ball might not squirt away; Cincinnati might have enough time to run the clock out and kick a tying field goal, or continue a drive that was effectively sideswiped by a twenty-yard loss and take the lead for good, instead of ultimately losing.

How about this: If Darren McFadden can get 36 inches and score a touchdown late in the Broncos-Raiders game, the Raiders may never bring JaMarcus Russell in, Russell may never win the game, and Gus Johnson might not compare him to Johnny Unitas.

Say Josh Cribbs or Jerome Harrison are an inch closer to a tackler on their big plays? Bye-bye, record days. If one Jay Feely field goal curves in, the Jets may win and stay alive in the muddle AFC wild card race. And if, going back to Saturday night, the ball that hit Devery Henderson in the hands is a few inches higher off the ground, the Saints might still be celebrating today.

Basically, all these inches add up in football, more than any other sport, and in the NFL, with various factors -- free agency, revenue sharing, more freak injuries -- conspiring to create closely-matched teams playing every week, tight games are the norm, and those inches are more important than in any other league.

I wouldn’t have it any other way. Those inches are what get me inching forward in my seat every Sunday.

↵