Hole Punch Sports

The games today were predictable (AFC) and sloppy (NFC), and only one moment (the Saints' FG) was as cool as Carmelo's OT free throws Saturday, but here are my brief thoughts on what we've learned about the teams: New York Jets: None of the teams whose seasons are over did more with their potential this year than the New York Jets. Their foundation was less solid than anyone else in the final four. Mark Sanchez is limited as a quarterback, particularly in his rookie season, but the team asked just the right amount of him, especially in the postseason. Their defense and running game are very good; will Sanchez get better quickly enough that the team returns to this point next year? And will teams like the Ravens and Patriots not improve enough to challenge them? It's too early to call next year, but Jets fans have a team to be proud of. Indianapolis Colts: In the second half of the NFC title game, it hit me: the Colts are almost surely winning the Super Bowl again. I h...

Yes, that is seriously a football team’s name. Anyway, it’s official that the greatest coach in Denver Broncos history is heading to the overexposed NFC East. I twittered about this a bunch tonight so you can hit the link to the right if you want to see what I said. I appreciated more the sentiment from my Sunday Ticket host, who texted, “I feel like my ex-gf just got married.” And go Nuggets! Crazy win against the Warriors tonight .

You wouldn’t put a fork in them, because you wouldn’t want to consume —you wouldn’t want to savor—you wouldn’t even want to think about this painful season one second more than is necessary. I’ll be brief. Last season the Broncos ran out to an 8-5 start. Not unstoppable, but dangerous on offense, which for some reason makes a team look a lot better than when they’re just average on both sides of the ball with the same record. Wonder if there’s anything to that. Anyway, we just needed one win—any win—in the last three games to clinch a playoff spot. Instead we fell apart , losing by twenty to Carolina, by a touchdown to Buffalo, and by a ton to San Diego in the last game of the season, a painful and sad loss. That loss was so bad that it felt like a big factor in the dismissal of our Hall of Fame coach, Mike Shanahan, and the team’s overall letdown was surely at play in our trade of Jay Cutler, too. This year we busted out of the gate to a sparkling 6-0 mark. However, we faltered, a...