You Can’t Win Them All: Another Wild Football Weekend

Two teams I root for had bit games this weekend. Both teams–the Ole Miss Rebels and the Chicago Bears–have shown the kind of late game magic that fuels playoff hopes and even championship dreams. And both were involved in thrillers, taking fourth-quarter leads.

Ultimately, time ran out on Ole Miss, while the Bears held on to keep Super Bowl possibilities alive.

First, there was the college quarter finals game on Thursday. Frankly, Miami looked like the stronger, faster team. Suddenly a 73-yard touchdown run by Kewan. Lacy put Ole Miss ahead in the second quarter, but the Rebs trailed 17-13 at the half. Clearly, this game was going to be competitive.

After taking turns leading in the second half, Ole Miss went ahead 27-24 in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, there were still 3:13 left, and the Hurricanes drove for a crushing score, with quarterback Carson Beck strolling into the end zone with just18 seconds remaining.

A last-ditch drive by Ole Miss failed as Trinidad Chambliss’s final pass fell to the ground in the end zone. Was it pass interference? Maybe. But the analysts I’ve heard said that despite contact with the Ole Miss receiver, that call is rarely made.

And so ended a wildly exciting season. And once again, good riddance, Lane Kiffin.

It would be hard for Saturday night’s Bears-Packers playoff game to top that heartstopper. And yet, it did.

To be honest, the Bears sucked in the first half. The tackling was terrible, the secondary was too slow, the offense couldn’t get into the end zone and coach Ben Johnson made some fourth-down calls that failed.

Things looked bleak at halftime, with the Bears down 21-3.

In the second half, the Bears showed more life, narrowing the deficit to 21-16 in the fourth quarter on D’Andre Swift’s short touchdown run.

On the next drive, the Pack struck back, scoring a touchdown and somehow missing the extra point, to go ahead 27-16 with six minutes left. That left the door open for the latest in the kind of comebacks the Bears and Caleb Williams are becoming famous for.

Williams hit Olamide Zaccheaus for a touchdown with four minutes left and zipped a pass to Colston Loveland for the two-point conversion.

Packer kicker Brandon McManus missed a 44-year field goal attempt, and the Bears mounted the winning drive.

D.J. Moore caught a touchdown pass from Williams to put Chicago ahead and watching on TV went nuts.

Then we realized there were still one minute and 43 second remaining, and the Bear have had trouble stopping Green Bay’s offence all night. Fortunately, all those missed Packer kicks meant they needed a touchdown to spoil the Bear’s season.

And damned if they didn’t get close, driving the ball down to the Bears 23-yard line with 22 seconds left. But the Bears held on and when the last Packer pass fell incomplete, there was a mixture of relief and elation.

The hated Packers no longer own the Bears. Caleb Williams grated cheese to celebrate the victory on the Amazon Prime post-game show. Coach Johnson barely shook hands with Packers coach Matt LaFleur.

The Bears will do it again on Sunday at Soldier Field, hoping cold weather and cross-country travel will slow down the L.A. Rams.

A blowout by the Bears would be nice, someday. But I’m willing to risk cardiac arrest to keep this season alive.

JOE NAMATH ANNIVERSARY

Today, January 12, marks a special anniversary. On this day in 1969, The Jets won Super Bowl III over the Baltimore Colts, just like Joe Namath guaranteed.

Yes, I remember that game, at least the first half, I watched the first half and then went out to play football in the back alley with some friends. I’m not sure when I came back into the house, but I knew Broadway Joe and the Jets were champs. I probably still have the newspaper from the next morning.

That was the team’s one and only Super Bowl win. There have been high points (and more low points) since, but recently, its be hard to be a Jets fan. I still have the autograph Joe signed for me on a Polaroid picture sitting on the shelf over my desk. I hope they straighten things out soon.

We’re not getting any younger.

PROUD AS A PEACOCK

Last week, NBCUniversal held a presentation to get people who write about sports and TV excited about what it will be doing in February.

NBC Sports will be presenting the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics and the NBA All-Star Games, and they’re calling it Legendary February.

With those big events, NBC is expecting to reach two out of three Americans during the month.

NBC Sports President Rick Cordella said his team was ready for the challenge and will demonstrate “what NBC Sports does best: Make big events bigger.”

How do you do that? During past Olympics, NBC promised viewers every event will be streamed live on Peacock. This year, more of those big live moment will be broadcast on NBC. For example, the figure skating finals will air live in the afternoon.

Of course, NBC will be pulling out all of the TYV bells and whistles during the month. “Our mantra is we want to make the best seat in the house even better,” Solomon said. “This is going to be our most technologically innovative winter games ever.”

To get closer to the athletes there will be more drones. A special Rinkside Live feature will let viewers pick angles during figure skating competitions and hockey games.

And because during the Winter Games, many athletes wear goggles and other headgear, NBC cameras will be going to places before and after events where we can see their faces. Some hockey players, figure skaters and snowboarders will also be mic’ed up.

NBC will also have Stanley Tucci and Snoop Dogg on hand to elevate the atmosphere in Italy.

Advertisers have already bought in. NBCU announced that commercials are sold out for the Olympics and the NBA All-Star Game. Last year, it said the Super Bowl was sold out.

For the Olympics, NBCU said it generated a record-setting amount of ad revenue, topping the last Olympics in Bejing, which brought in about $900 million.

NBCU said there are 100 new advertisers in the game, showing the popularity of live sports.

Legendary February represents a change in strategy among broadcasters. Previously they wanted big events spaced out. Now, putting them all together seems to be the best way to ensure that sponsors can reach the most viewers.

Disney plans to do something similar next year, when it has the Super Bowl plus the College Football National Championship Game, the Grammys and the Oscars.