The NFL’s New Order
No such thing as a sure thing anymore
There are few ( if any) sure things in the NFL, or sports in general. When you find one, bet the shirt- tails off the sucker. So when bettors started laying heavy money on Tom Brady to be named Sports Illustrated’s “ sports person of the year,” the men who run the targeted online gambling house, www.sportsbook.com, became suspicious.
It turns out the alarm was justified. In a press release on the weekend, the bookies said employees of a New York advertising agency had apparently used inside information and were betting heavily on Brady. The same bettors allegedly were using inside knowledge to place bets on Time magazine’s choice for “ person of the year” — not a person at all, but Mother Nature. Both propositions were pulled from further wagering, although all prior bets still stand. Mother Nature (the various hurricanes, etc.) and Tom Brady (Super Bowl MVP, again) — what a couple, quite the parlay.
Brady is having, in many ways, his best personal season of so many. But his Patriots are in an unaccustomed struggle to nail down another playoff berth, let alone another championship.
Just to underline the aforementioned statement about sure things, the Patriots’ opponents in last February’s final, the Philadelphia Eagles, are even fainter shadows of their
formerly fearsome selves. They face the emergent 9- 2 Seattle Seahawks tonight in what might amount to the ( reluctant) passing of the NFC torch — circumstances conspired yesterday to clinch a playoff berth for the Seahawks.
Yesterday’s outcomes pointed to other teams on the rise, or the decline, as we head down the December stretch: The Colts — ta-da! and hohum! — became the first to clinch a playoff spot, going to 12- 0 with a routine 35-3 win over Tennessee. With four games to go — at 9- 3 wild- card contending Jacksonville, home to decent San Diego, at Seattle, and, to finish, at home to tepid Arizona — the main goal, aside from going undefeated, is to make sure nobody important gets hurt. More crucial and compelling, by far, were a clutch of clutch games among no fewer than 12 divisional showdowns, extraordinary scheduling. Perhaps most impressive was Cincinnati’s win over old AFC North nemesis Pittsburgh, 38-31, to improve to 9- 3 and take control of the division. ( As another footnote to the sure- thing thing — the Roethlisbergers, lest ye forget, went 15- 1 last year.)
Bill Parcells and his Cowboys could have been riding high today atop the NFC East but instead find themselves a game behind the 8- 5 Giants after a 1710 decision at the Meadowlands. Still alive is the possibility of an Eli vs. Peyton date in February. Oh, the hype! Ah, the horror!
Carolina, losers of two of their first three this season, beat Mike Vick for the first time ever, 24- 6, and find themselves in charge of the NFC South, one win up on on Tampa Bay ( who they face this week) and two up on Vick’s Falcons. Never mind all- Manning, how about an all- feline final — Panthers vs. Bengals? Bet on it: a cat- named team has never won the big one.
In a pair of all-NFC-North games, Chicago improved to 9- 3 with its win over Green Bay while Minnesota continued its comeback streak with a win over Detroit, to get to 7- 5. The Bears, winners of eight straight, are at the Vikings, winners of five in a row, on the final Sunday, Jan. 1, 2006.
In a must-win home game, Kansas City, now 8- 4, rode running back Larry Johnson over AFC West rival Denver ( 9- 3), to at least stay in the mix for an AFC wild card, along with Jacksonville and San Diego. As for Brady, he led the Patriots to victory over the AFC East alsoran Jets. At 7- 5, injuryplagued New England has a twogame lead on the Miami Dolphins, who they face in the final game of the schedule. This week, the Pats are at Orchard Park to play the Bills. Bottom line: You might not be able to bet on him for SI’s sports person of the year, but you’d be crazy to bet against Brady making more noise before the season is over.