Welcome to this very special edition of Rabbit Punches. With Christmas fast approaching I like to add a little spice to my eggnog and review this week in the NFL in the immortal poem Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore (actual title, A Visit From St. Nicholas).
Twas the Sunday before Christmas, when all through the league,
The playoff picture was shifting at baffling speeds.
Ugly numbers were hung on opponents with care,
Embarrassing playoff hopeful teams, most notably Bears.
The Broncos were nestled all sung in their bye,
With visions of Meadowlands behind wishful eyes.
The last game in Candlestick features a young man named Kaep
Versus Falcons who’ve just settled in for a long winters nap.
When in the NFC North arose such a clatter,
All three Divisional hopefuls could not have played flatter.
Rogers with his clavicle, and Cutler McCown’ed
One of two backups could end up playoff bound.
Losing 58 to zero the last time in Seattle,
The Cardinals were faced to with a daunting division battle.
They handed The Twelfth Man their first home loss in the last 14 attempts
And some help from Carolina keeps the Cards on the fence.
Romo almost added to the legend of bad Decembers
But when you win on forth and goal that’s all anyone remembers.
Romo to Murray, the goal line did break the ball,
To set up next week with the Eagles, a winner take all.
In Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs seem to have stumbled
As Smith threw two picks and added a fumble.
The Colts won in a previewed of this playoff match up
And exposed some holes the Chiefs need to patch up.
In St. Louis, players donned jerseys thrown back
Quinn’s 18 leads the league after adding three sacks.
While in Jacksonville another game with no meaning was played
How meaningless you ask? To a veteran center a screen pass was made.
Bengals reach the playoffs each of Dalton’s three years,
But red hair and Green put Dalton at the butt of some jeers.
But one seed above, the Pats hurt the Ravens playoff hunt,
Blowing out the birds, with two TDs from Blount.
Santa is cold in the North, while things heat up in the South,
The Panthers came out and punched the Saints in the mouth.
Panthers make the playoffs for what seems like the first time since Nixon,
On a game winning pass from Newton to Hixon.
Now Chargers! Now Ravens! Now Steelers wait to see who still gets in,
Because Tannehill found the ground, every time Bills were blitzin’.
To the top of the wild card, one more week of football,
Til all but one’s hopes are dashed, dash away all.
He sprang into action, from the season’s first whistle,
51 touchdowns, controlling the ball like a heat seeking missile.
Manning was heard to exclaim, in reference to his numbers out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, before I tell the NFL good night!”
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