The Philadelphia Eagles are limping into the playoffs as a fifth seed against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is because of their terrible performance against the New York Giants, where the entire team did not show up. They were down 24-0 before halftime, and because of that, the starters were unceremoniously benched for the second half to "prepare" for the first round of playoffs.
I don’t know why ESPN has picked this game between two of the worst teams in the NFC playoffs to be the Monday night game and the last playoff game for this week. Hopefully they will surprise us and play a game that makes up for all the lousy ones of late.
For weeks, I have been complaining about how bad the defense has been for the Eagles, but the offense wasn’t much better this week. If the Eagles get dominated by the Buccaneers, I think Nick Sirianni's job as head coach will be in jeopardy. There will definitely be offensive and defensive coaching changes next year regardless of the outcome of this next game.
I think the four best teams in the NFL are the Cowboys and 49ers on the NFC side, and the Ravens and the Bills on the AFC side. The Bills have been the total opposite of the Eagles in the last six weeks. They’ve won five straight games to secure the No. 2 seed, after being doubtful to even make the playoffs. I hope they can continue their momentum.
Michigan beat Washington by a score of 34-13 for their first college football championship in close to 30 years. Michigan's offense was able to run the ball up and down the field at will from the very start of the game. Washington was only down by one score at halftime, but Michigan was able to overwhelm them in the end. I hope this kind of performance is sustainable for Washington and they’re not just a one-hit wonder school, because it was nice to have a non-SEC school in contention for the national championship.
It will be interesting to see if Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh decides to go back to the NFL where he was a controversial coach for the San Francisco 49ers making it to the Super Bowl in 2012. He faced and lost to his brother John and the Baltimore Ravens. There are significant rumors this is going to happen. Also, Bill Belichick has decided to move on from his 24-year coaching job with the New England Patriots. He is one of the best coaches in NFL history.
In other college football news, Alabama football coach Nick Saban has decided to retire. He is one of the best college football coaches of all time. He has six championships, and for at least 10 years Alabama has had the best recruiting class every year. They’re a real NFL player factory on defense.
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
