NFC North Champions! Again!

• The Green Bay Packers are NFC North champions for the fifth time in six years, and have now made the playoffs eight years in a row!

• The game started a bit lifelessly for both teams -- four consecutive punts and a missed field goal. There was probably a bit of an emotional letdown with both teams knowing that they were in the playoffs, regardless of outcome. Detroit came alive on a pretty two-minute drive just before the half to go up 14-7, but the Packers were able to drive up the field in the remaining 23 seconds and kick a field goal to cut the lead to four, then scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half. 

• The highlight of the game, of course, was Rodgers’ touchdown throw to Geronimo Allison. Early in the fourth quarter, up three, the Packers really need a score to get a bit of breathing room from the Lions. A steady march down the field brought the Packers to Detroit’s 10-yard line, facing a 3rd-and-9. Then, Aaron Rodgers happened. I try to tell my non-football fan friends that Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback to ever play the game, but they all think I’m just some homer. They don’t get that no one else can do this. Bee-yoo-ti-ful.

• It was nice to see some role players step up big. That was Allison’s best game, with 91 yards and the above touchdown, and fullback Aaron Ripkowski led the team on the ground with 61 yards. Jared Cook hasn’t had any statistical out-of-this-world games, but it’s refreshing to actually have a tight end for the first time in years! Cook is such a fantastic third-down weapon. (And he finally made the playoffs after eight seasons! Yay!)

• People are trying to make Geronimo Allison’s nickname “G-Mo,” but you can’t give him a nickname that’s less cool than his real name. When your name is Geronimo, you don’t need a nickname.

His face is astoundingly skinny.

• I hate it when they have to pull out the backboard on the field. It’s so scary. Packers cornerback Quinten Rollins landed oddly on his neck/shoulder and was taken from the field to a local hospital. I hope he’s okay and it’s just precaution. The Packers do not have a great track record with terrible neck injuries. (Good news: Rollins was back in Green Bay and doing well after spending the night at a Detroit hospital.)

• Rollins’ injury made the paper-thin secondary even thinner. Demarious Randall was already out with a knee injury, and even backup-to-the-backups Makinton Dorleant was on the sideline, also with a knee injury. Someone named Marwin Evans came in at safety, and Morgan Burnett, Micah Hyde, and Kentrell Brice -- all safeties -- had to play corner.

• Detroit head coach Jim Caldwell’s mustache looks like he had glued on a fake mustache, then ripped it off, but the glue remained.

• Aaron Rodgers edged out Atlanta’s Matt Ryan to finish the season #1 in passing touchdowns. Jordy Nelson (who else?) finished #1 in receiving touchdowns. Davante Adams tied for #2 in receiving touchdowns. Has a team ever had the top TWO receivers in touchdown for a season? (Though this has a lot to do with the sorry state of our run game.)

No one cares about those other two guys.

• Detroit’s running back is Zach Zenner, who, as Al Michaels’ helpfully related, is the only player with the initials ZZ to ever play in the NFL. Much more unusual, he’s a white running back! Also, he kind of looks like Christopher Walken.

How is this man an NFL running back?

• Aahh look what someone who loves me sent me for Christmas!!

I'm never eating these; I'll just treasure them forever.

• Even though both teams knew before kickoff that they were playing in the postseason, it was still nice to send the Lions to the playoffs with a loss.

• Aqib Talib’s new year resolution should be to try to stop being such an @$$hole all the time. Here he is ripping a chain off from around Michael Crabtree’s neck. Here’s what Talib said after the game: "He's just been wearing that chain all year, man, it's just been growing on me. I said if he wears that chain in front of me, I'm going to snatch it off. So he wore it in front of me, so I had to snatch it off." Oh, okay, then. Perfectly reasonable explanation for your behavior.

• The Washington Redskins should be ashamed of themselves. They needed a win to get into the playoffs and they were facing the New York Giants, who had nothing to play for. And the Redskins came out and managed … 10 points total. With their season on the line, Washington scored zero points in the first half, gained only 248 total yards, and turned the ball over thrice. 

It'll be another interesting offseason for Cousins.

• I tend to stress out over Packers games, so I was relieved that the Redskins’ loss guaranteed a postseason slot for\Green Bay, but it did kind of ruin what was going to be a crazy good game.

• Tampa Bay running back Doug Martin, who was a surprise inactive last week, revealed that he has been suspended for four games for failing a PED test. He also announced that he won’t appeal and will enter a treatment facility to “receive the help I truly need.” The Bucs said they supported his decision to seek help and that “right now, he is working through issues that are much larger than the game of football.” Wait, I’m confused. I’m not trying to be flippant and I really hope he gets the help he’s seeking, but he failed a PED test, not a regular drug test, so he’s … addicted to PEDs??

• HOW was Ndamukong Suh not ejected for this??? He’s awful.

• Ugh is it any wonder that no one likes Richard Sherman? Three weeks ago, in their blowout victory over the Los Angeles Rams, the Seattle Seahawks, at the one-yard line, decided to pass the ball, and it was nearly intercepted. (You may recall that Seattle had some bad luck throwing the ball at the one-yard line in the Super Bowl they lost.) Sherman did not agree with the call and began screaming at offensive coordinator for Darrell Bevell and head coach Pete Carroll to express his disapproval with the play call. "We throw an interception at the one[-yard line]," Sherman said. "Luckily it went incomplete, and I wasn’t going to let them continue to do that." Oh no? I hope the head coach heard that his cornerback isn’t going to let him continue to call plays. By the way, they ran on the next play for no gain, then threw -- yes, from the one-yard line -- a touchdown on third down. Sherman’s sideline theatrics led to a meeting with Carroll during the week, and everything was declared good. Yet at his next news conference, Sherman said he had no regrets about his behavior on the sideline. Carroll expressed disappointment that Sherman did not apologize: “I thought he would. I thought he would more than he did.” The next week, a reporter continued to bring up the incident, which led to Sherman threatening to “ruin” the reporter’s career by having his credentials pulled. This week, Sherman decided to forgo his usual midweek presser from the podium, answering questions from his locker instead. When asked about his reasons for doing so, he reminded the media that “it’s a privilege to have me up there.” Oy. This is literally why everyone hates you, Richard.

No, YOU be quiet!

• So Carson Wentz bought all his offensive linemen custom Beretta shotguns. You know every one of these guys’ agents is probably pissed at Wentz and just holding their breath that their client doesn’t end up shooting himself (or someone else).

• In the final game of his career, Colts' defensive great Robert Mathis had a strip sack and fumble recovery. That’s a fun way to go out!

• Terry Bradshaw stirred the pot last week by going after Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin for seemingly no reason, saying Tomlin is a “a great cheerleader guy,” but “[not] a great coach at all.” I’ve always loved Tomlin for his no-nonsense attitude ever since his post-game interview after the Steelers’ Super Bowl loss to the Packers in which he completely shut down the reporter’s vain attempts to pull out a moral victory. (Tomlin was asked to assess his quarterback’s play in the Super Bowl: “It was a losing performance, just like mine.”) Tomlin responded to Bradshaw’s criticism in his typical fashion. He thought the comments were unprofessional, but went on to say, “I certainly don't think that my résumé to this point reads as great. But very few coaches' résumés read as that at this point. Guys like Bill [Belichick] in New England probably can say that, Pop [Gregg Popovich] down in San Antonio. I think the rest of us are just working stiffs, to be quite honest with you." See? How can you not love a coach like that?

• Minnesota quarterback Sam Bradford set the all-time completion percentage record in a season. 

• Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott have been amazing, no doubt, and one of them will win Rookie of the Year, deservedly. If I had a vote for ROY, though, I think I might have to give it to Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill. He had yet another punt return Sunday, outrunning the entire Chargers' special teams and stiff-arming his own blocker out of his way.

• What’s with the Philadelphia Eagles’ press conference room? Tony Romo looks like he’s in a one-man play.

I'll bet it's a sad play about a man who gives and gives his health
and life to his employer, only to be mistreated and
unceremoniously cast aside for a younger employee. I'd call it 9 Lives.

• Phil Simms is in postseason form.

• You’ve got to watch this with the sound on. Pittsburgh Steelers’ safety Mike Mitchell was beside himself when he got a flag for face-masking his opponent when he himself had been face-masked. He earnestly pleaded with the refs to consider his case. “PLEASE LOOK AT IT, SIR.”

• Here’s Eli Manning’s face when he realizes he’s going to be compared to Aaron Rodgers all week:

• Bring on the Giants!

Whoop-Di-Doo. We Won a Game.

• I’m happy, I really am. It was nice to see the Green Bay Packers beat the Philadelphia Eagles. It was good to see the offense clicking. And the defense wasn’t atrocious the entire time, but I’m just not getting my hopes up. I totally believe in Green Bay and am with them all the way, but they’re still below .500. There’s nothing to celebrate. Not yet. But this could be a start. 

• Hopefully the offense will keep on going. Not only does it keep the poor defense off the field, but playing with a lead does so much for the Green Bay defense, which has allowed more points in the first quarter than any other team.

• Aaron Rodgers had a nice line: 30-for-39, 313 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, zero sacks. He also had 46 yards rushing. It’s not exactly a surprise, but Aaron Rodgers is Green Bay’s leading rusher since Eddie Lacy went down. 

💪💪#GBvsPHI #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/S2SyvAt6WL

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) November 29, 2016

• The Packers came into the game down two starting inside linebackers (Jake Ryan and Blake Martinez), which pushed Clay Matthews into the inside linebacker position. When Matthews left temporarily with a shoulder injury, they had to have safety Morgan Burnett step in at inside linebacker. Yeesh.

• The Eagles tried to troll the Packers by having “4th & 26” on the scoreboard before the game, referencing a 13-year-old game wherein the Packers lost by failing to defend a 4th-and-26. But I ain’t mad because we’ve got bigger problems to worry about. We’re 4-6 coming in, so there are more pressing concerns than a 13-year-old memory.

• Davante Adams, whose relationship with Packers fans is, uh, tenuous, has had a very nice season thus far, and added a nice game to his resume on Monday night: five catches on six targets for 113 yards and two touchdowns. He’s had big plays in several games, and more than a few difficult catches, like this lovely touchdown.

• It sure did help that almost all of the Eagles receivers and running backs were injured. 

• Ha Ha Clinton-Dix had another interception! Yay!

• The Packers, who have not been good on third downs, were 10-for-14 on third-down conversions, which I think is the the most important offensive stat in this win. Great job, team! (You cannot even begin to imagine how often you will see this video from now on.)

• How bout Jordy on this key third-down conversion!?! That’s my boo.

Oh, @JordyRNelson. 👀#GBvsPHI pic.twitter.com/oNH4J5zA4R

— NFL (@NFL) November 29, 2016

• The most intriguing part of the game was when Rodgers ducked into a mysterious tent that the Packers just happened to have on the sidelines.

• But in all gravity, Rodgers went into the mystery tent for treatment for a hamstring injury. Pleeeeeaase let him be okay! And please let the Packers fire their entire training staff because it’s absurd how half the team at any given time is nursing hamstring injuries. 

• SIIIIIIDELIIIIINE NIIIIINJA! To. Seal. The. Game!

• New Packers running back Christine Michael’s name is pronounced “Kristen,” apparently. It’s odd to give your son one girl’s name and then have it pronounced as another girl’s name, no?

• I loved Charles Woodson representing with the gold ascot.

• So the bad news: Sam Shields and Eddie Lacy are both shut down for the season. I think Sam Shields needs to retire, which is very sad. I’ve always been a huge Shields fan, but I hope he doesn’t try to keep playing since his brain is probably scrambled eggs right now and he shouldn’t risk making it worse. Eddie Lacy’s contract is up at the end of this season. Given his injuries and weight issues, I’d be shocked if Green Bay offered him more than a one-year deal. The question is if other teams will offer him something better. I’m hopeful that the Pack can re-sign Lacy because I thought he looked fantastic at the start of the season and I really want him back!

• Despite being down to the Tennessee Titans 27-7, the Chicago Bears didn’t give up, they kept on trying. Well, some of them kept on trying. Here’s a video of the Bears receivers dropping everything thrown their way. (Tee hee.)

• Ooohhh but that video was played before the final minute. It actually got worse for the Bears. (Tee hee.) Chicago actually came back to get within a touchdown of Tennessee. They had first-and-goal from the 7-yard line with 47 seconds left, and then here’s what happened. (Tee hee.) No, watch the whole thing -- it happens more than once.

• The Detroit Lions have trailed in the fourth quarter of all 11 games this season, yet, somehow, they are 7-4. (What’s the opposite of ‘tee hee’?) In six of those wins, they trailed in the last two minutes! Impressive, but has to be worrisome to Detroit fans. That luck can’t hold, right? Right??

• Faithful followers will know that I’ve long been a Matthew Stafford believer, and here’s why. Check out this window.

• Since the Minnesota Vikings are in free fall, I can spare a little sympathy for their injury situation. Their biggest problem has been their offensive line and things got worse when they had two offensive linemen drop out during Thursday's game. This was when they were were already without three of their top players in Stefon Diggs, Marcus Sherels, and Terence Newman. That’s rough.

• Woo-hoo, go Bucs! Don’t much care for Tampa Bay or their uniforms, but when they beat the Seattle Seahawks, they have my fandom for the week. 

• I hate to praise the Dallas Cowboys if it can at all be avoided, but I can’t help but love this Terrance Williams toe-tap touchdown. 

• Dez Bryant had a solid game on the field, but it was his catwalk strut that was really on point.

• He wasn’t done preening for the day, either. Bryant, fresh from planting new geraniums in his garden, had words for Washington Redskins cornerback/loudmouth Josh Norman:

"Washington need to get their money back."

Dez talks Norman following #WASvsDAL.https://t.co/ddDhiHW4Oq

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) November 25, 2016

• All that strutting must have been catching, because even a punter on a 5-6 team was feeling it.

• All week, I’ve seen headlines like: “In honor of the butt-fumble four-year anniversary, here are the top 4 moments Mark Sanchez probably isn’t proud of.” When are we going to be done humiliating the guy for a bad-luck play? The guy is a third-string quarterback -- why do we need to roll out a lowlight reel for him?

• After playing against Baltimore Ravens' Steve Smith last week, Dallas Cowboys rookie corner Anthony Brown said he “lost all respect” for the legendary receiver, echoing another rookie corner, Jalen Ramsey, who said the same thing after he faced Smith. Smith wasn’t too upset.

Smith is a jackass -- but an entertaining jackass.

• Sources say that the NFL will consider limiting or eliminating Thursday Night Football after the TV contracts ends in 2017. I’m not holding my breath that those greedy misers will willinging relinquish revenue, but a girl can hope.

• Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas played his first snap on September 10, 2007. Since then, he has played 10,000 snaps -- 10,000 consecutive snaps. In his 10-year career, Thomas has never missed a snap.

^I guess if you don't laugh, you cry, and in Cleveland, well, you
probably have to laugh a lot.

• Please,  please CBS, stop letting Bart Scott do the game updates and recaps. I might as well just run the garbage disposal while watching highlights for all the coherency he provides.

• Vontaze Burfict might be the least likable player in the league. In addition to being a dirty, dirty player who should be thrown out of the league, he’s also a punk. Here he is flopping to draw a penalty (successfully). 

• You know who else is a jerk? Aqib Talib. After his teammate muffed a punt that resulted in a turnover, Talib greeted him on the sideline with a shove. His teammate. What a jerk!

• Look, I understand it is ridiculous for me to be criticizing NFL players’ pain tolerance from the comfort of my couch, but Derek Carr’s complete lack of concern for the football he fumbled when he hurt his hand is surprising. I’m sure he was in a lot of pain that I cannot even imagine, and I understand not wanting to dive into a scrum with an injury, but he didn’t even look to see who recovered the ball. He just walked off the field. (In his defense, it sounds like his finger was dislocated in two places. But still.)

• I just read about how Carr’s son almost died when he was born, and now I feel very emotionally invested in Derek Carr’s success and really want him to do well. (Don’t worry, his son is fine and healthy now!) This is how I get attached to players. I feel bad for questioning his toughness. (But still.)

• Why on earth, Carolina, is your backup middle linebacker covering Michael Crabtree?? I guess because you normally have Luke Kuechly in that position and Luke Kuechly can do anything.

That lucky bitch.

• It was a really fun game between the Carolina Panthers and the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders jumped out to a huge lead and were up 24-7 at the half, but after Carr's injury, the Panthers went on a 25-0 run. Then Oakland scored and converted the two-point try, so the score was 32-32. The Raiders forced a punt, then hit a a field goal. Then Khalil Mack happened.

• Khalil Mack is fierce. In addition to having a pick-six to end the first half, he came up huge in the final moments of the game. Down 35-32, Carolina Panthers had a minute-and-a-half left to try to kick a field goal to send the game to overtime or else score a touchdown for the win. The Panthers picked up 32 yards in two plays to get just past midfield, but were still shy of field goal range. On first down, Mack breaks through the line to force Cam Newton to throw away the ball. On second down, Mack and teammate Bruce Irvin pressure Newton, who again has to throw away the ball. Third down, incomplete pass. Fourth down, Mack gets to Newton for a strip sack. End of game. Mack’s final line: interception, touchdown, sack, forced fumble, fumble recovery. You don’t want to be across the line from that man.

• If I have to hear that “You don’t own me” song in one more commercial during an NFL game, I’m going to actually pay attention to what company that is and then boycott them.

• The New Orleans Saints, always classy. Up 21 points over the 4-6 Los Angeles Rams in the fourth quarter, the Saints thought it a good time to put in a trick play. The result was a 50-yard touchdown thrown by wide receiver Willie Snead. It seems that the Saints couldn’t miss the chance to show up their former defensive coordinator Gregg William (of Bountygate infamy), who now coaches for the Rams.

• By the way, what is up with New Orleans’ field? Why is it always so ugly?? It looks like an old carpet that was vacuumed without any concern for the vacuum lines. It always looks shaggy and unkempt.

• Jason Pierre-Paul had a nice game* for the New York Giants, registering three sacks and a defensive touchdown. (*It was against the Cleveland Browns, though, so it doesn’t really count.)

• The Denver Broncos-Kansas City Chiefs was a defensive struggle -- it started with eight punts and the first points came on a safety -- but ended up being quite the entertaining game, featuring a last-minute touchdown, a last-second two-point conversion to send it to overtime, a missed 62-yard field goal attempt, and a winning field goal banked in off the upright. Bill Barnwell has a really good piece in which he analyzes all the weird decisions the coaches faced in the game.

• If you’re on your way to scoring a touchdown and you have time to high-five your teammate, you’re doing a good job.

Best friends. 👏#KCvsDEN pic.twitter.com/T1M5zAifmX

— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2016

• More evidence that you’re doing a good job? You score all of your team’s touchdowns, including the one to force overtime. Rookie wide receiver Tyreek Hill carried the Kansas City Chiefs to victory overtime, where they beat the Broncos on this crazy field goal that hit the upright and bounced in. (Check out the Denver mascot’s reaction -- he’s behind the goal post. And all the Denver fans who think it was a miss. And the KC holder who thinks they missed.)

• The Packers are now 5-6 and face the Houston Texans. Onward and upward, right, Jordy?

I Guess Defense Does Win Championships

• So the Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl! I still don’t care, but at least it was a pretty good game. Both defenses were excellent, but it was Denver’s defense that was able to put points on the board.

This nice, studious looking gentleman is a monster.

• The Carolina Panthers, who averaged over 31 points a game in the regular season were held to just 10 points. Many of their wounds were self-inflicted, but Cam Newton and the offensive line were getting absolutely flattened all game long -- Denver had 13 quarterback knockdowns, four forced fumbles (recovered three), seven sacks, and an interception -- and somehow they looked even more dominant than those numbers indicate. (Here’s an interesting article on how Denver’s defensive scheme kept the Panthers in check all game long.)

• As good as the defenses were, the offenses were … not. Let’s start with Carolina. The Panthers amassed a total of 315 yards, but turned the ball over four times! They were 3-for-15 on third downs and gained 4.2 yards per play. It could have been a really interesting game if Carolina hadn’t continually shot itself in the foot with turnovers and penalties -- 12 for 102 yards!

Poor running back Mike Tolbert -- who hadn't fumbled in four
years -- fumbled twice in the first half.

• Eli and Peyton Manning already have a lot in common (playing quarterback, DNA, &c), but now they also share winning a Super Bowl on the backs of their defenses. For a fleeting, blood-chilling moment, I feared they might give the Super Bowl MVP to Peyton in some kind of maudlin gesture, but thank goodness it rightfully went to Von Miller.

Then they would have had even more in common, because even Eli
knows his Super Bowl MVPs belong to Justin Tuck. 

• Everyone knows that the Denver defense won the game for them, but the numbers for Peyton Manning and the offense are truly ghastly. Manning was 13-for-23 with one interception, zero touchdowns, and a 9.9 QBR (that’s out of 100, kids). The offense as a whole only gained 194 yards! TOTAL! The only offensive touchdown came after their defense gave them the ball on the four-yard line (so I’m going to count that as a defensive touchdown). I was happy for Denver’s defense getting the well-deserved win, but typing out these offensive stats makes me mad that this team won! HALF of their 14 drives were three-and-outs! They were 1-for-14 on third downs!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you give a title to only part of a team?

• Maybe that’s what Eli’s dismay was for when the Broncos scored the go-ahead touchdown with three minutes left in the game.

• Peyton is now the winningest quarterback in NFL history with a nice, even 200 wins. He’s also the only starting quarterback to win Super Bowls with more than one team.

That's cool and all, but I'm still stuck on how
horrible and undeserving he and the offense were.

• So remember Thomas Davis? The Carolina linebacker who broke his arm two weeks ago and swore he was going to play in the Super Bowl? Well, he did. He took a picture of his arm after the game, and it was disgusting.

If this is actually real, 1) ew; 2) those doctors might
want to work on their sewing skills. 

• Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib had a rough game. He was called for three penalties in the first half alone (two of which were personal fouls, and he could have easily been called for offsides on Carolina’s missed field goal attempt). One of his penalties was for trying to decapitate a Panthers receiver -- a foul he admits he committed intentionally because it only cost the team one-and-a-half yards.

• Talib’s awful and a jerk, but doesn’t he look like Oscar-winning British actor Ben Kingsley?

• Cam Newton is getting a facing a lot of criticism for his postgame press conference, which lasted all of two-and-a-half minutes before Newton walked out. I feel for him, but two things, Cam: 1) you ticked off a lot of people with your celebrations and attitude all season. That’s all fine and good when you’re winning, but you have to be prepared for the comeuppance when you lose. 2) Having to deal with the media moments after your heart’s been broken is part of the reason your salary is in the millions. I feel for you, but my sympathy’s quite limited.

• Cam’s many haters are having a field day right now, but Peyton Manning is not among them. He praised Cam’s postgame behavior, calling him “extremely humble” and “very nice.”

• I’ll take Cam Newton’s postgame behavior over Manning’s. Immediately after the game, Manning was interviewed and could not help plugging for Budweiser, a company in which he owns shares. Good God, Peyton, take a break. How much effing money do you need? You just reached the pinnacle of your career and probably played your last game after 18 seasons, and your first thought is to shill some product like a two-bit snake oil salesman?? (Oh, and you better believe Papa John was on the freaking Super Bowl field with Peyton.) You’d think Manning’s kids were starving on the street the way he pursues his damn endorsements. I was kind of happy for Peyton winning up until that moment.

• After the victory, Annabel Bowlen, the wife of Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, took a moment to congratulate the, uh, team. She also served as a PSA to remind women everywhere to go easy on the plastic surgery.

Eek.

• In her defense, though, there must be a lot of pressure being the wife of an NFL owner -- some of them are dating women who are literally less than half their age.

I get so embarrassed and sad when I see these two.

• The NFL Honors aired the night before the Super Bowl. Charles Woodson won the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award (yaay!), andJJ Watt won his third Defensive Player of the Year award (duh!). The only other interesting thing was Antonio Brown winning the Fantasy Player of the Year, and thanking himself. His hair is pretty interesting, too, I suppose.

• Don’t ask me about any of the commercials because ohmygosh I don't care. And I definitely don't care about the halftime show. Also, I wish the media would stop colluding to try to convince me that Beyonce is so amazing and so cool and so incredible. She's not. Her music isn’t very good and she insists on wearing unflattering leotards all the time.

She was great in Destiny's Child, though. For real.

• Well, alas, the season is over, and now we turn to the slow summer months of NFL players getting fired and arrested. For obvious reasons, next season will be much, much better than this season.

• Now that the Super Bowl over, it's time prepare for the 2016 season, when Green Bay will reclaim its rightful place atop the league. I’m ready. Jordy, you ready?