The Jets.
It had been one of those long football Sundays. The first kickoff was at 9:30 EST and that game was between the Titans of Nashville and the Ravens of Baltimore. They were playing in London. (READ MORE: The Curse: About Last Monday)
Of course they were.
Who could have been the Dolphins, 14-point faves at kickoff and down by 14 in the first quarter? How do you make up 28 points? Well, you tell Tua to fling it and score 42. Why not just turn the television off? Give football a rest. Go for a walk and catch the scores and highlights later.
But there was some ineluctable thing about the Jets game.
The team’s hopes for the season seemed finished after the offense had run a total of four plays, the last of which ended with Aaron Rodgers rupturing his Achilles tendon. The Jets had signed Rodgers for $37.5 million. He would, in return, lead them to glory as he had the Green Bay Packers. (READ MORE: Women’s Volleyball: A True Triumph for Women’s Sports)
But he was done, it seemed, for the season. After throwing one pass.
Which, by the way, went incomplete.
The Jets had, improbably, gone on to win that game, beating the Bills in overtime.
But that might have been a case of the football gods just goofing and having a little fun. The Jets lost their next three before beating the Broncos, a team that had given up 70 points the week before.
The Eagles were not the Broncos. They were Super Bowl material.
And the Jets were still the Jets.
Which meant that they could not score touchdowns against the Eagles. But they could kick field goals. Four of them.
And they could play some defense.
They were, improbably, still in the game in the fourth quarter. Down 14-12.
So, in spite of having watched too much football for one day, one got interested again and found himself pulling for the Jets even though he had no money riding on the game. And, anyway, if he had made a sporting wager, he would certainly have put his money on the Eagles.
Something stirred in him and it wasn’t just that the Jets were underdogs. That was only part of it.
The greater part was that they were not getting either the calls or the breaks. It seemed like the gods of football had decided they’d been too generous with the Jets in that Buffalo game and it was now a time for taking away.
And for giving to the Eagles, whose first touchdown might just as easily have been ruled a fumble in the end zone, recovered by the Jets. And then there was a penalty call on a pass play that would have put the Jets in what is known as “scoring position.” The call was for a “blindside block.” (READ MORE: Basketball Is No Longer America’s Game)
Which is one of those “judgment” things. This seemed, increasingly, to be judgment day for the Jets. Call it Karma. Or something. Instead of being inside the Eagles’ 10-yard line, first and goal, they were moved out of field goal range and forced to punt.
Still, they hung in.
And if you were watching, you started to feel like somehow the Jets just might do it. Their fans certainly felt it. The stadium was rocking.
The fan who had felt surfeited with football a few minutes earlier now felt the juices flow. The thing might just be there.
A field goal would put the Jets ahead. By one point.
And a touchdown … nah, they’d played the whole game so far without scoring one of those. Just hope for another field goal and then count on the defense. Which is, in truth, the sovereign way. If you want to beat us, then you have to come through our defense.
Think you can do that?
Let’s see what you got.
It is irrational and irresistible. You scream at the refs for missing a call. Only you are not screaming at the refs. You are screaming at the television. A piece of furniture.
Still, you can’t help yourself.
Less than two minutes to play.
Hurts drops back.
Throws.
And …
Interception.
The Jets have the ball in field goal range with less than two minutes to play. But instead of stalling and letting time bleed away, they punch it for a touchdown, giving the Eagles a last chance.
But not today.
The Jets win.
The football gods exchange high-fives and do a few chest bumps. They’ve done good work and they know it. That blindside block call was a nice touch, one of them says. If things had gone the other way, Jets fans would never stop bitching about it.
But instead …