Christmas brings four days of football

Last weekend, football fans from Saipan, MP to St. Louis, MO were treated to three consecutive days of gridiron goodness. Just when they thought that things couldn’t get any better, Santa Claus reached into his bag and delivered four days of pigskin pageantry for the holiday weekend.

Fans from all over the globe are cheering, as a plethora of teams are still in playoff contention with two weeks to go in the regular season. In the AFC, The Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Denver Broncos, and Baltimore Ravens are fighting for the final wild card spot tied at 8-6, as the New England Patriots, (12-2) Indianapolis Colts, (11-3) San Diego Chargers, (11-3) Pittsburgh Steelers, and most likely the N.Y. Jets, (10-4) have sewn up the other five.

In the NFC, only the Eagles, (13-1) Atlanta Falcons (11-3), and Green Bay packers (8-6) have assured themselves of the post-season, but the Minnesota Vikings (8-6) can win the NFC North if the beat the Packers at home this week. In the NFC West, there is still a possibility that either the Seattle Seahawks (7-7) or the St. Louis Rams (6-8) can make the playoffs with a losing record. While that’s nothing to be proud of, the fans in these cities still believe in their teams.

The only football people sporting frowns during this Yuletide season are the fanatic Eagles supporters in Philadelphia. With the loss of star wide out Terrell Owens, the Philly squad lost their leading receiver at least until the Super Bowl—but they still need to get there.

The Eagles were cruising through the competition en route to compiling a 13-1 record, but lost T.O. during their contest with the Dallas Cowboys. They were a noticeably different team without No. 81 on the field, and they will face their first test without him on Monday night in St. Louis.

Granted, the fans in Miami (3-11) and San Francisco (2-12) haven’t been overjoyed with the performances of their respective teams, but they knew early on in the season that this would not be their year. At least the Dolphins fans can revel in the fact that they knocked off the Patriots last week in thrilling fashion. The 49ers, on the other hand, can look forward to selecting the first pick in the 2005 NFL draft. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.