Missed opportunities come along how many times in an NFL game? Dozens, maybe hundreds of times. Usually, they’re invisible to you and me, little imperceptible plays that could go one way, but veer toward the other at the last possible moment. You’ve heard of this before. It’s Tony D’Amato’s speech in Any Given Sunday, the one about “inches” accumulating in your favor. That’s a very real thing, except it’s like watching the sun drift across the sky in real-time. You can’t see it move, but you damn well know it’s happening.
This is how NFL games are decided, which means we sometimes get weird, incompatible results, the glitch in the Matrix made real. This happens all the time, and the team that can avoid the majority of these results is the one which hoists the Lombardi Trophy at season’s end, but man alive there always seems to be those losses where you get that feeling like this one you really couldn’t afford. We had a few of these in Week 9, the Hump Day of the NFL season. It’s all downhill for every team now, but one of these losers might be headed downward. If anyone’s got access to a big fat History Eraser Button, push it now.
St. Louis loses to Minnesota, 21-18, (in OT) — The Rams had every opportunity to move to within a game of idle Arizona (6-2) in the NFC West, but instead they fall two games back at 4-4. With Todd Gurley (566 rushing yards the past four games), this should’ve been cake for Jeff Fisher’s club. And thanks to Lamarcus Joyner’s dirty hit on Teddy Bridgewater (seen below) early in the fourth quarter, all the Rams had to do was beat a Shaun Hill-led offense, but they couldn’t even do that. A three-and-out to start overtime begot a Vikings field goal in OT that sealed a dismal day for the Rams. St. Louis still has a game against Arizona at home on Dec. 6, but the bigger loss Sunday might’ve been to put a smidge of distance between themselves and Seattle, whom they play on the road in Week 16.
New Orleans loses to Tennessee, 34-28 (in OT) — Man, did the Saints deserve better in this game. They’ve had a weird, up-and-down season, but now that Drew Brees has gone back to playing like Drew Brees, it seems when he’s on, New Orleans can do no wrong. But even with 389 passing yards and four total scores from Brees, the Saints had some lousy luck (two defenders going for a pick in the first quarter directly led to a fluky Titans TD, as seen below) and a sloppy second-half secondary that ultimately doomed them. The Saints (4-5) could’ve kept pace with the other NFC Wild Card hopefuls, but now they’re on the outside looking in at a crowded field and may not ever get the separation they need for January football.
Green Bay loses to Carolina, 37-29 — Okay, this wasn’t quite as unexpected as maybe the others on this list — the Panthers are, after all, now 8-0 — but it was regrettable for Green Bay in the sense that the Vikings, by virtue of their win, moved to 6-2 and are now tied with the Packers for first place in the NFC North. And this now puts the Panthers in the driver’s seat for NFC home-field advantage going forward. At this point, there is a very good chance that the road to the Super Bowl will have to go through Charlotte. That sounds kind of crazy to say out loud, but Carolina is very good at football right now, and everyone else in the conference is in the rear-view. Green Bay could have saddled up in the front passenger seat with a win, but now the whole road trip just got a lot more agonizing, especially if the team is going to be fighting with itself the whole ride:
Denver loses to Indianapolis, 27-24 — Something about the Broncos felt like this kind of result would come around sooner than later. Was the defense really that good? Would Peyton Manning really be able to keep this offense afloat with the prowess he’s historically shown? Could Adam Vinatieri still make 55-yard field goals when it mattered? Well, that last part was something somewhat unforeseen, but the Colts never acted like a team that would go away in easy defeat, and the Broncos looked terrified to lose in that fourth quarter. Now, Denver (7-1) is squarely behind both New England (8-0) and Cincinnati (8-0) for AFC playoff positioning. Both teams remain on Denver’s schedule — New England in Week 12, Cincy in Week 16 — and both will be coming to Mile High, so the Broncos still somewhat control their own destiny, but the margin for error just got a lot thinner. And hopefully we won’t see any more of this kind of nastiness down the stretch:
Atlanta loses to San Francisco, 17-16 — [deep breath] So, here’s the good news for the Falcons: They’re still 6-3 and one of only five teams in the NFC with at least that many wins. But 7-2 would look a whole lot better than 6-3 right now, and they only have Blaine Gabbert (who hadn’t started a game since October 2013) to blame for this predicament. Gabbo wasn’t great, but when your defense holds Devonta Freeman, the NFL’s leading rusher, to 12 yards on 12 carries, he didn’t need to be. And when he scrambled for first down on third and 4 before the two-minute warning, effectively sealing the win for San Francisco, he might have also sealed the NFC South for Carolina, which ventures to Atlanta in Week 16.
Dallas loses to Philadelphia, 33-27 (in OT) — On the one hand, Greg Hardy is human garbage and should never be allowed to play another professional down, let alone win another football game, so this result feels right, with Dallas falling to last place in the NFC East and beyond all hope of the playoffs even if Tony Romo comes back for a late-season push. On the other hand… nope, that’s about it.
