I hope you have been watching football in the last month or so. Let me repeat that—I truly hope you have been watching football recently because it has been spell-binding.
Whether it is the NFL (anyone but the horrible New York Jets) or college (any division), it has been a real treat for the fans. The sheer intensity of the level of play with so much on the line has been thrilling.
In the NFL, the final weekend of the regular season settled two final playoff berths and resulted in a number of coaches being fired (thus far). Playoff seeding and matchups were also determined even as some teams chose to rest starters. And the final order for the NFL Draft in April has been set.
The madness in the NFL began on Saturday afternoon. Carolina and Tampa Bay were meeting in Florida to decide which team would have an advantage on Sunday to win the NFC South. The Buccaneers had to win to keep alive any chance to get into the playoffs. Carolina could lose but still had a way into the post-season.
Both teams slogged through the regular season with modest winning steaks but in the end were at or near .500 as the game began. Appropriately, the contest was played in a deluge which drenched the Tampa faithful, while making playing conditions far from optimal.
This wasn’t an instant classic. Far from it. Yet the game’s outcome would be affected by a game on Sunday pitting NFC South rivals New Orleans and Atlanta in a game which meant nothing to either team except perhaps pride.
Tampa Bay QB Baker Mayfield, once a heralded prospect when he entered the league with Cleveland, performed well enough in the slog to lead the Bucs to the win by a 16-14 score. Mayfield began the season on fire, leading pundits to believe he was a viable M.V.P. candidate. His fall from his great performances mirrored the Bucs fall in the standings to the point that at 7-9, this was a must win scenario with no promises beyond that.
As it turned out on Sunday, Atlanta, behind the resurrected Kirk Cousins under center, defeated New Orleans. This created a three-way tie for the NFC South lead, although tie breakers did not permit Atlanta any hope of moving on. The 19-17 margin was just enough for the Panthers to secure the division title and to host a playoff game in the opening round. At 8-9.
Saturday’s second game had all of the hype. Seattle and San Francisco would meet in Santa Clara for the NFC West crown and the overall top seed in the conference. Many thought that the Niners were on a roll and would overtake the Seahawks in the standings. That SF QB Brock Purdy (“Mr Irrelevant” as the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft) would outshine Seattle QB Sam Darnold (3rd pick in the 2018 draft by the aforementioned Jets who screwed him up good before sending the former USC star on an odyssey through Carolina, San Francisco and Minnesota before more than landing on his feet in the Pacific Northwest).
Those who believed that the Niners, decimated by injuries on offense and defense were any match for the Seattle juggernaut were mistaken. The Seahawks dominated the Niners 13-3 era route to the NFC West title and the top overall seed.
This is a scary good team—Darnold seems to have matured as a quarterback and the defense is top notch. Do not underestimate Seattle in the playoffs.
Other games of note involved playoff teams which had been locked into the post-season but didn’t know their destination. And the top seed in the AFC was still up for grabs.
Jacksonville secured the number three slot in the AFC after Denver won its late game against the playoff-bound Los Angeles Chargers and New England romped over Miami in the Massachusetts cold. LAC would have to travel cross-country to play the # 2-seeded Patriots.
The Jaguars drew Buffalo as their opening round opponent.
A good Houston team had to wait until Sunday night to know if they were traveling to Pittsburgh to face Aaron Rodgers and company or Baltimore for crab cakes and Lamar Jackson. The final game of the season, in the Western Pennsylvania cold night air, would decide which team stays alive.
In a game which defied logic, Rodgers engineered a 37th game-winning drive to put the Steelers ahead 26-24 with 55 ticks left on the clock. Then reliable place kicker Chris Boswell, who had nailed a 57 year field goal earlier in the game along with one from 25 yards out, did the unthinkable—he missed an extra point for the first time in eons.
Those last seconds were enough for Jackson to put together a drive which placed the Ravens in position to win the game with a field goal. Kicker Tyler Loop let his right leg swing just a bit “thin” as he called it, and the ball missed the uprights to the right.
Delirium ruled in the Steel City. Dejection was immediate in the Inner Harbor. The shocking loss may have been the final blow for Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who, after 18 seasons and one Super Bowl win, was fired.
Don’t feel that things are so secure for Steelers head man Mike Tomlin. Like his fierce rival Harbaugh, Tomlin has a Super Bowl win on his resume. Except that while the Steelers keep having winning records each year, it isn’t translating into much playoff success. A loss to Houston might spell the end of Tomlin’s time with the franchise as it reboots and searches for the next great quarterback.
Back to the NFC. Besides Seattle, things became clearer as to who faces who on Sunday. With the Niners loss, the Rams went out and pasted the Cardinals, thereby clinching the number five seed and a return trip to Carolina where on November 30th, LAR lost to the Panthers 31-28, ending the Rams’ six game winning streak. LAR QB Matthew Stafford was outplayed by Carolina’s Bryce Young.
San Francisco lost its home field throughout the Super Bowl possibility with the loss to Seattle. The Niners now travel to meet an up and down Philadelphia squad looking to defend its Super Bowl win.
Even with a second loss to eliminated division rival Detroit, Chicago managed to cling to the second seed. For their troubles, a third grudge match with NFC North cohort Green Bay looms.
The end of the season brought about coaching mayhem. In addition to Harbaugh’s spot in Baltimore, there are seven other head coaching vacancies in the NFL as I write. The former skipper in Baltimore will have his choice of where to land. As would Tomlin, if he gets axed.
New York Giants fans hope that a savior coach emerges. Jets fans are left wondering if Aaron Glenn is the right man for season 2, especially when Glenn, a defensive back in the NFL, could not get his team to pick up one interception in 17 games—a record that nobody wants.
Is the NFL done with the coaching firings? Who knows? I do know that 8 franchises are looking for new guidance towards The Promised Land of being consistently in contention.
Moving over to the colleges, excitement reigned on Thursday night as the University of Miami came back to stun Mississippi in a thrilling fourth quarter. The Hurricanes have now vanquished two very worthy opponents in #2 Ohio State and #5 Ole Miss. They look formidable.
The late score by Miami propelling the team to victory was almost handed away. Mississippi QB Trinidad Chambliss benefitted from loose Miami pass coverage and led the Rebels to attempt one more play to win the game.
The Ferris State transfer, almost an afterthought for Mississippi but who blossomed when summoned to lead the offense, did what he did best under pressure. He’s got the arm and the accuracy; his running skills are good, too. I saw glimpses of Robert Griffith III and Lamar Jackson in this kid who was stuck at the Division II level with definite DI skills.
Chambliss, to whom on Friday the NCAA refused to give a sixth year of eligibility as a medical redshirt, lofted a pass into the end zone on the final play. There was plenty of jostling and holding between the Rebs’ receiver and the ‘Canes DB’s. No pass interference was called—almost a long overdue reversal of fortune for Miami fans who saw the team lose in the Fiesta Bowl on a last second pass interference call which allowed Ohio State to score on a free play and head to a National Championship in double overtime.
The other side of the bracket featured the third rematch of the CFP. First, Alabama got revenge over SEC foe Oklahoma. Then Mississippi took down Georgia, another SEC rival.
Then Big Ten members Indiana and Oregon met for the second time, this time in Atlanta at the Peach Bowl (I saw my only major college bowl game in 1996 at the Peach Bowl when LSU and Clemson tangled; this is a far better and more consequential matchup). Coaching wunderkind Curt Cignetti and Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and a heady bunch of Hoosiers had downed Oregon 30-20 on the road on October 11. That was the Ducks’ sole loss in 2025.
The game was supposed to showcase the top two quarterbacks in a high profile game—Mendoza and Oregon’s Dante Moore. Except nobody told the IU defense. Moore’s first pass was picked off and returned for a touchdown. And the annihilation never stopped. The final score of 56-22 didn’t really reflect how much of a defeat Oregon suffered, nor did it represent how dominant Indiana was.
Indiana is the real deal. Cignetti can really coach. Mendoza is an elite passer. And one genuinely smart young man (he was headed to Yale before he landed at Cal). The defense is superb. There is very little wrong with this Hoosiers team. Mark Cuban, an IU grad, invested well with his significant donations to the athletic department. The 60,000 fans present inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium were roaring from the get go.
It’s going to be a fun game on January 19th. Can Miami defend its home turf? Or is Indiana really the team of destiny and one of the best ever? We’ll find out then.
Speaking of Ferris State, the Bulldogs won their fourth Division II title in the past five seasons with a 42-21 triumph over Harding. Chambliss led the Bulldogs to the 2024 win, combining for five TD’s in the rout of Valdosta State.
Representing the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the team has been coached by Steve and Tony Annese for the last 14 seasons. Ranked number 1 in the polls for the entire season, Ferris State became the first DII school to go 16-0.
This team was a true powerhouse. They set NCAA and program records by scoring 844 points (that’s an average of 52.75 per game). Ferris State is the second school to win four DII titles in five years; Grand Valley State was the other one. They are tied for the third most titles in Division II with Grand Valley State and Valdosta State, behind Northwest Missouri State (6) and North Dakota State (5). This win was the 30th consecutive triumph for the men from Big Rapids, Michigan.
Division III saw Wisconsin—River Falls capitalize on mistakes by perennial power North Central to upset the number one team and walk away with the championship. This was North Central’s sixth straight appearance in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. The Cardinals are now 3-3 in title games. Led by Gagliardi Trophy winner Kalab Blaha (that’s the DIII equivalent of the Heisman Trophy), the Falcons repeatedly stymied a really good North Central in the cold night air of Canton, Ohio.
The six appearances in the DIII finals puts North Central third all-time. Mount Union has gone to the championship game 23 times, winning 13 times. Wisconsin-Whitewater, River Falls rival in the WIAC, made 10 trips to the finals, coming away with 6 victories.
In the Football College Subdivision playoffs, upstart Illinois State tangled with favorite Montana State. Nobody told the Redbirds they weren’t supposed to match up well versus the Bobcats. It took a walk off fourth down touchdown and extra point in overtime for MSU to prevail.
This game was the third most-watched game in FCS history. The #2-ranked Bobcats topped off an impressive season with 14 straight wins after opening the season with a pounding by the aforementioned-Oregon Ducks in Eugene followed by a home loss to South Dakota State.
This was a thrilling game, with the Redbirds trailing 21-7 at the half, only to turn the tides by the same margin in the second half to tie the score. Illinois State dominated the time of possession while Montana State capitalized on big plays. In the end, it was two blocked kicks by Montana State—a field goal attempt and the extra point in OT—which proved to be the difference.
ISU-MSU may have become an instant classic. People may have a very negative opinion of college football, according to a recent poll in The Athletic. Pro football’s image may be tarnished by the off-the-field actions of a few and the grandiosity of owners who cannot get their acts together.
I disagree. I found this football season to be uplifting, no matter the controversies. Then again, who doesn’t like competitive chaos?
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