Bay City Rollin

Week 17 of the NFL season was pretty much putrid in terms of quality of play. It's hard to fathom how New England and Pittsburgh managed to destroy their opponents while having absolutely no incentive to play the game. Lost in this sea of putrid viscera however, was the upbeat note the season ended on for four teams in proximity to the gentle waters, mostly but not entirely enclosed by land.

In Green Bay, near the aptly named Bay of Green Bay, the Packers did us all a national favor by beating the Bears. The possibility of both the horrible Giants and Seahawks in the playoffs would be too much to handle. As good a weekend as the Pack had, they are still an enigma. They could well be the best team in the NFC but they managed a win with a performance reminiscent of their loss to the Lions not the demolition of the Giants. They could also lose to the Eagles by 50, you never know with this team. Even still, for one Sunday, the Mettwurst was sliced freely by joyful (drunken) hands while cheap beer was swilled by all.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who incidentally play under the moniker of the Bay itself not the city that the Bay is in located in, Tampa) managed to end a magical season by beating the Saints in a game that meant something to both teams. Some preseason projections had the Bucs being the worst team in the league, yet they finished with 10 wins and could easily have had 12 had they not choked away some winnable games. Their underdog success, rising star QB and Doogie Howserish head coach are enough to make you forget that their best RB is a world class asshole who's most famous for sucker punching another player on live TV then challenging the crowd to a fight. Even frequently troubled Bucs rookie WR Mike Williams think Blount was out of line. Maybe we didn't all forget.

Oakland, located in that blighted area of San Fransisco Bay known as East Bay, wrapped up a confounding resurrection to respectability by sweeping the AFC West, going 2-2 in the NFC West and 0-6 against everyone else. How nice it is for all us Silver and Blackers that the bulk of Raider wins came against hated foes, demolishing the Broncos twice, costing the Chiefs the 3 seed in the playoffs and breaking the decade long string of futility against the Chargers. Add to that the long awaited dominance of Darren McFadden, the lusted after departure from the JaMarcus Era and everything tastes a little sweeter today. Even Tom Cable made it through Black Monday with a job. Everyone rejoice!

Even the much roiled San Fransisco 49ers, inhabitants of the shining, parade loving West Bay, had reason to celebrate. The interm head coach, whose name I can't remember and don't want to google, won his first and probably only game as head coach. Why should anyone care? This guy was literally living out of his car for a chance to volunteer to coach. Volunteer! And this wasn't Keifer Sutherland living out of his Ferrari while it was parked on his dad's estate, this guy was a vagrant, through and through. When asked why he would do that all he said was "I love football and I love to coach." The meek may inherit the Earth but the passionately persistent can evidently climb the ladder to the top of Bill Walsh's team. Feel good all around for a team that was a mess all year.