Listening to too much sports radio again.. some thoughts.
1) Roman Harper was correct and not taunting at all. If you look at it, with the exception of the second falcons game, the panthers have been doing the plug and play thing all season and have been successful with it. While not having extensive playoff experience, not only has Cam evolved and grown, so has the team as a whole. this leads to ...
2) Yes, the Panthers were the best team of the season, the complete season. And again, look at how they did it. Tell me another team that has won 15 games while having to plug and play all season. I'll wait. And, I say this not as just the best in the NFC, but in the NFL. Arizona is very close behind at the number 2 spot. Behind them, when you look at the whole season, no other team really comes close. Though KC has been the best team in the AFC for most of it, no AFC can claim best overall for the season.... which leads to...
3) At this time, the top three spots for best teams left are pretty clear. Panthers, Cards and Seahawks. People are getting on the kick of think that Harper qualified his comment to an extent that he didn't. He is not a trash talker and he has one hell of a football mentality. Are the Panthers the best team, yes. Are they significantly better than the Cards or Seahawks? No. 4th best team right now? KC. The rest of the AFC teams are dangerous (especially NE playing at home), but the Chiefs are the most focused and tightest unit of the bunch.
4) With respect to KC and NE, unless you break it down into chunks, there was not a clear cut best team overall in the AFC. The team that comes the closest, though? The Chiefs.
5) Will losses and wins from this point forward change any of this? Not at all. Being the best on the day doesn't take away the whole body of the work. The better team doesn't always win the day (and I can roll off so many examples to back that up). If you think otherwise, well, if you think otherwise you are either delusional or ignorant (as in either not knowing or just out and out ignoring) of the history of team sports in general, pretty much.
6) Congrats to Bama! Great win and I take nothing away from you. But, here my comment above about wins and losses comes into play: sometimes the best team doesn't take the day. I take nothing away from Bama, I am a long time fan (actually, Bama and Clemson were my first two college football teams to follow). I am just as happy for Bama as I would have been for Clemson (though to be honest, I am just as proud of Clemson even though they lost).
7) That was a hell of a game no matter how you look at it. Saban had to step completely out of his comfort zone to pull out the win.
8) With all due respect to Henry and the Heisman voters, The best college player of the year, and on the field, was Clemson QB DeShaun Watson. His play was the reason that Saban had to step outside his box.
9) I would agree that Saban is the best division 1 coach of the modern scholarship limit era. Overall, Rockne and Bryant were arguably the best of the older era. Both impacted the game and the sports culture in ways that are still being felt even with the changes.
10) I hope Saban coaches at Bama for a long time, because, unless things get hinky, Dabo is probably the successor at Bama. Dabo's coaching was also why Saban had to get uncomfortable to get the win. The way the O & D lines held up to the 'bullies' of Bama was a testament to how to have a team or unit take people by surprise, even when by all rights, they should have been talked about on the same level as Bama's. Even as the number one team in the country, most people didn't have faith in them. Amazing right?
11. With all due respect to the sports dynasty like no other talk because of 4 titles in 7 years, and while I was not a math major, I do believe that 5 titles in 5 years is more impressive. That IS a dynasty. To dominate on your level of play for 4 years in a row in any sport is incredible. Too bad there are so many people who have no idea who I am referring to.
12) Unless things get hinky or some player comes out of nowhere to take the sports world by storm, Watson will be the prohibitive favorite for most awards he is eligible for next season. As an extension of that, teams should be very afraid of Clemson next season. (and even after Watson moves on, Dabo's recruiting skill and coaching ability should make Clemson in the near future of the ACC, what FSU was when they first joined the ACC).
13) This has been a wild, weird and wonderful football season on the college and pro level. Here's hoping the whirlwind isn't done yet!
ADDENDUM 1: How could I have forgotten? Yes, Cam is indeed the MVP of the league. Carson is close. Brady, however, is not. Yes, the Pats had to do the plug and play thing also. However, look at the record and look at the wins. Also look at the fingerprints of each qb on their teams' games. Look at which qb elevated their players the most. And no, the loss to the Falcons doesn't make it closer.
ADDENDUM 2: Offensive player of the year... yep, he's got this one too.
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