Sixteen Years of the NFL: Ranking the Wild Card Games, Pt. 1

Tier I – It’s Just Bad (sometimes just by one team), Boring Football

64.) 2002 AFC Wild Card – (A5) Colts 0 @ (A4) Jets 41

Review: This is the largest blowout since the new playoff format began. Oddly, it was also the very first playoff game since the new format began, so it really a case of “it can’t get any worse.” In a game that was 17-0 by the time Manning went back to throw his 4^th pass the Jets dominated in every way, outgaining the Colts 396-176, with Pennington going 19-25 for 222 yards and 3 tds. Manning was admittedly bad, but the Colts defense and run game was worse, in a game that marked the high-point of the Herman Edwards/Chad Pennington era. For them, it was mostly “it can’t get any better.”

Interesting/Memorable Fact: This was the Jets last playoff game in the Meadowlands, and the last home playoff win by either team that called the Meadowlands home.

63.) 2010 AFC Wild Card – (A5) Ravens 30 @ (A4) Chiefs 7

Review: To describe this game in one line, it was Matt Cassel against the Ravens defense. It should be no surprise that Cassel went 9-18 and somehow in those 18 passes managed to throw three interceptions. That said, this was the only time that Flacco played well in playoff game in his first three seasons, going 25-34 for  265 yards and 2 tds. The Ravens had a yardage edge of 390-161, and ran 78 plays versus 40 against a horribly outmatched Chiefs team that coasted to the AFC West Title mainly because of god-awful special teams by the Chargers.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: This was the 3^rd straight time the Ravens played the 1pm Sunday game in the Wild Card round. All three were Ravens wins on the road, and in the three, they outscored their opponents 90-30.

62.) 2015 AFC Wild Card - (A5) Chiefs 30 @ (A4) Texans 0

Review: This game was over after one play. One special teams play. We didn't have to see one real 'snap' before the game was essentially over, as Kniles Davis ran the opening kick-off back for a touchdown - running it back 106 yards. The game after that was more sad than anything to watch, an old school blowout where the Texans never really had any life. Brian Hoyer was never removed and left out to suffer a 15-34 game with 4 INTs, for a nice 15.9 rating. The Texans defense did nothing, with JJ Watt triple-teamed most of the game. It wasn't a complete domination to the level of the first two games, but it was more sad that it was being done to the home team.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: This was the earliest into a game the winning score was recorded, so in every other shutout in playoff history, the opening score by the winning team was scored later than this. Not a huge surprise, I guess, this being the opening play.

61.) 2005 NFC Wild Card – (N5) Panthers 23 @ (N4) Giants 0

Review: Stop me if this sounds familiar, this was a snoozefest where one team dominated the proceedings, outgaining the loser 335-132. The scariest part of this one, though, was that the Giants were the 4^th highest scoring team in the NFL in 2005, and the Panthers made their offense look amateurish. Eli Manning was awful in his playoff debut, matching Matt Cassel in throwing 3 interceptions In just 18 throws. Steve Smith was Steve Smith, but the real story was that defense that held Tiki Barber (off of an 1.860 yard season) to 41 yards on 13 carries.

Interesting/Memorable Plays: Steve Smith had a rushing and receiving touchdown in this game, which was the most recent time a receiver has done that in the same game.

60.) 2007 AFC Wild Card – (A6) Titans 6 @ (A3) Chargers 17

Review: For the first time, the losing team wasn’t held to under 200 yards. It might seem odd to rank a game that was only ended at an 11 point difference this low, but all you need to know about the game was that the Titans QB was Vince Young and the Titans RB was Chris Brown. That is how good Albert Haynesworth was in his prime, that his defense could carry a team with those skill players to the playoffs. Rivers had a nice game going 19-30 for 292 yards, but he could have done less and just let Vince Young screw it up some more.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: The Titans actually led this game 6-0 at the half. It is sad they didn’t pull it off, actually, because then the Chargers wouldn’t have beaten Indy the following week, plus we would have gotten that mess of a playoff team in Tennessee against the 16-0 Patriots.

59.) 2012 NFC Wild Card - (N6) Vikings 10 @ (N3) Packers 24

This game was essentially over the second it was announced that Joe Webb was starting in place of Christian Ponder. The only thing that saved this game from being last on this list was the first Vikings drive, where Webb had a nice read-option run and they drove it down and come close to getting a TD to take a quick 7-0 lead. Of course, the Packers held them to a field goal, and then started just systematically taking over the game. What hurt even more for this game was that the Vikings defense did a good job against a listless Packers offense, holding them to seven(!) straight three-and-outs in the 2nd half, not even allowing a fun blowout. 

Interest/Memorable Fact: Joe Webb set a new record for the fewest starts in the regular season for a playoff starter with zero, a rare unbreakable record. Even Rob Johnson, in 1999, started a game, as did Rex Grossman when he came back from injury late in 2005.


58.) 2005 AFC Wild Card – (A5) Jaguars 3 @ (A4) Patriots 28

Review: In classic Dynasty-Era Patriots fashion, what is a close game by yards somehow became a total joke of a game because of some long touchdowns. Asante Samuel, as he is known to do, returned an interception for a TD right after Ben Watson of all people broke a couple tackles for a long TD. Brady, in classic Brady fashion, completed just 15-27 passes, but threw for 3 TDs. In more classic Patriots fashion, Willie McGinest somehow had 4.5 sacks in this game. What I’m saying is that if you could draw up a classic Dynasty-Era Patriots blowout, this is how that game comes out.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: This was the last playoff win by a defending Super Bowl Champion. The 2006 and 2009 Steelers didn't make the playoffs. The 2007 Colts, 2008 Giants and 2011 Packers all had great seasons (13-3, 12-4, 15-1) but lost their divisional round home game, and the 2010 Saints lost to the Seahawks.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: This was the last time a non-Super Bowl Patriots playoff game was called by anyone other than Jim Nantz and Phil Simms (because they couldn’t, because it was on ABC). That streak will end probably sometime around 2020.

57.) 2016 AFC Wild Card - (A5) Raiders 14 @ (A4) Texans 27

Review: This was a game about as dreadful as everyone expected, with the Raiders forced to start Kevin Cook after Derek Carr broke his leg in Week 16, derailing a potential #2 seed, and then backup Matt McGloin, who could have lead a win over a bad Houston team (starting Brock Osweiler) got hurt in Week 17. Connor Cook was every bit as dreadful as people figured he would be - going 18-45 with three picks. The Raiders actually made it 10-7 late in the first quarter, but the Texans scored 17 straight points to remove any bit of drama that the game would have. The Texans weren't great, Osweiler too  was 14-25 with a pick, but at least you had some fun with the Texans defense. In the end, the game was inevitable.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: This marked the fourth time the Texans made the playoffs in their history, and the fourth time they made it as AFC South Winners. Each time, they were gifted the much maligned 4:30pm Saturday time-slot. At least they've made well, going 3-1 in those games.

56.) 2005 NFC Wild Card – (N6) Redskins 17 @ (N3) Buccaneers 10

Review: This game happened right before the one right above it, and is easily among the worst one-score playoff games in my lifetime. The Redskins won the game, but did it with a record-low 120 yards, and a record-low 25(!) net yards passing. Mark Brunell went 7-15 for 48 yards, while Chris Simms (remember him – he was the starting QB for an 11-5 team) went 25-38 for just 198 yards. Sean Taylor (RIP) returned a fumble for a touchdown, and that and a disputed non-catch that would’ve been the tying touchdown by Edell Shepard (again, who?) marked the only two interesting things to happen.

Interesting/Memorable Play: Sean Taylor, after his TD, was ejected for allegedly (but pretty clearly) spitting in the face of Cadillac Williams.

Interesting/Memorable Fact II: I was babysitting for a friend during each of these two 2005 Saturday Playoff games. We started playing NFL Blitz in the middle of the Pats game. Way more fun than the alternative.

55.) 2006 AFC Wild Card – (A6) Chiefs 8 @ (A3) Colts 23

Review: We return to Standard Protocol here, with the Colts winning by running 80 plays to the Chiefs 45 and outgaining them 435-126. That was the 3^rd largest differential in NFL playoff history. The big story was the historically shitty Colts run defense limiting Larry Johnson, when he was still good, to 32 yards on 13 rushes. By the way, those other two games ended 41-0 (NYG def. MIN, 2000) and 62-7 (JAX def. MIA, 1999). This was one obviously much closer, and that is because Manning threw three interceptions, marking the first time a QB was ever, half-correctly, criticized in a game where he went 30-38.

Interesting/Memorable Play: Lawrence Tynes, the man who would in his 2^nd career with the Giants make two field goals that won NFC Championship games in overtime, missed a 23-yard field goal; the game was played in a dome.

54.) 2014 AFC Wild Card - (A5) Bengals 10 @ (A4) Colts 27

Review: The Colts won their 2nd straight Wild Card game, but unlike the previous year that needed a furious comeback (a game way, way up this list), this time the Colts walked over a sleepless, overmatched Bengals team. The Bengals were missing AJ Green, and were going back to a place they lost 27-0 earlier in the season. In that sense, I guess you can say the Bengals kept it closer, but their offense was overmatched. Andy Dalton once again had a poor playoff game, completing 50% of his passes for under 10 ypc. Andrew Luck was brilliant, if a little controlled, as the Colts repeatedly got stopped in the red zone, but this game had little doubt in terms of who would win.

Interesting/Memorable Play: The only real highlight from the game was a patented 'Oh My God, Andrew Luck is amazing!' TD that he threw to Donte Moncrief. It was a 40-yard strike thrown as he was getting hit and being taken to the ground. It was an amazing play that got lost in one of the more boring playoff games in recent years.

53.) 2016 AFC Wild Card - (A6) Dolphins 12 @ (A3) Steelers 30

Review: The 2016 Wild Card Playoffs were a disaster, mostly due to the imbalanced QBs. In the AFC, both the losers (the Raiders in the game ranked worse than this) were playing backups. For Miami, making their first playoffs in eight years, it was losing Ryan Tannehill late in the regular season and starting Matt Moore - not as much of a downgrade as Derek Carr to Connor Cook, but it was still dreadful. Matt Moore actually played decently, but most of that occurred after they were already trailing big. The Steelers scored TDs on their opening drives, both catch-and-run's by Antonio Brown, which more or less ended the game right there. Roethlisberger took most of the second half off, with the team just relying on Le'veon Bell. This too seemed inevitable, and it ended up being so.

Interesting/Memorable Play(s): On the Steelers third drive, where they scored a third straight TD to take a 21-3 lead, the Steelers ran 10 plays, each a run by Le'Veon Bell. On the first eight, Bell gained at least 5 yards on each, and gained 82 yards. That took Pittsburgh to 1st and Goal on the 1 yard line. Two Bell plays later and the game was definitely over.

52.) 2004 AFC Wild Card – (A6) Broncos 24 @ (A3) Colts 49

Review: Since I placed the Episode 1 of this two-part movie quite a bit higher than it probably should, I am downgrading this game for being a bad sequel. Instead of accentuating what was fun about the first iteration of this playoff game, the Colts did the opposite. Their long TDs came via YAC instead of bombs by Manning. Manning threw a pick which allowed him to avoid another perfect passer rating playoff game. The Broncos actually played decent against a prevent in the 2^nd half this time, making the game seem slightly closer than it was the first time. All in all, the least enjoyable Manning blowout win ever.

Interesting/Memorable Play: Marvin Harrison did little in this game as Champ Bailey blanketed him (while Roc Alexander did the opposite of blanket Reggie Wayne), but he did lay a hellacious block on Bailey on Wayne’s 2^nd touchdown.

Tier II – Meh… I won’t rewatch, but at least I didn’t want to stop watching.

51.) 2011 NFC Wild Card – (N5) Falcons 2 @ (N4) Giants 24

Review: Just imagine if the Falcons convert either of those two failed 4^th-down conversion (I believe the scores were 7-2 and 10-2 when they happened), this game could have been higher up. It was oddly defense-heavy in the 1^st half, but the Giants started dominating. Eli Manning finally put up a great playoff game at home, going 23-32 for 277 yards and 3 tds, after two destitute performances in his first two. Hakeem Nicks was the real hero, though, breaking off a long TD to make it 17-2 and slam the door on any chances the Falcons had. One thing: why are there so many QBs that get caught doing illegal grounding in the End Zone?

Interesting/Memorable Fact: This was Matt Ryan’s 3^rd playoff game, and the 3^rd out of those three games that he has failed to have 10 yards per completion or throw for 200 yards. He had 199 yards on 24 completions in this game, after having 186 on 20 in 2010 and 199 again on 26 in 2008.

50.) 2008 AFC Wild Card – (A6) Ravens 27 @ (A3) Dolphins 9

Review: In one of those incredibly predictable games the Ravens did all of those Raven-ish things, like win by forcing five turnovers against a team that had only 13 on the season, and picking off Pennington four times after he threw just seven picks on the year. The Ravens won when their QB completed just 9 of 27 passes. The only reason that this game is high is because watching the Ravens do Raven-type things is usually quite fun. WatchingEd Reed picking off two passes is fun. Watching Haloti Ngata, Ray Lewis andTerrell Suggs dole out hellacious blocks on Reeds TD return was awesome. At their best, the Ravens defense is easily worth the price of admission.

Interesting/Memorable Play: On Ed Reed’s second interception, he basically sprints the second the Dolphins snap the ball to a spot to cut off a slant, and starts this well before Pennington even looks to that side, and easily picks off a pass. If ever you can describe Ed Reed in one play, that one is it.

49.) 2014 NFC Wild Card - (N5) Cardinals 16 @ (N4) Panthers 27

Review: 78. That's the only real takeaway from this game. That number represents the number of total yards the Cardinals had in this game. That's a little skewed as they lost about 20 yards on the game's final play - a lateral-o-rama, but still this was the most dominant defensive performance in a long time. Of course, the Cardinals were starting a hapless Ryan Lindley - who threw his first career TD pass in this game. The Cardinals actually led at halftime because of a bad Cam Newton pick and good special teams play, but it was inevitable the Panthers would take over. The final stats for Lindley was two picks and 82 yards (on 16-28 passing), and with the four sacks they got 51 net passing yards. The star for the Panthers was, unsurprisingly, Luke Kuechly, but it was a total team domination of a hopeless offense.

Interesting/Memorable Play: To me the play of the game was Luke Kuechly's leaping interception near the goal line. This came right after a sack-fumble by Cam and a return by the Cardinals to the 8 yard line. Despite the putrid offensive performance, the Cardinals were 8 yards away from making it 27-21. On the first play of the drive, Kuechly made his interception, capping a brilliant day for him in particular.

48.) 2008 NFC Wild Card – (N6) Eagles 26 @ (N3) Vikings 14

Review: This is the first game on the list that I didn’t watch live and didn’t go back and watch at any point other than brief highlights. Not much to share here. It was a close game in a way, and featured some big plays, like a long touchdown run by Peterson, a 76-yard screen pass for a TD to Brian Westbrook. And of course, like the sun rising and taxes, Asante Samuel returned an interception for a TD in a playoff game. Also, this game was notable for the fact that it provides evidence that Tarvaris Jackson started a playoff game. He had a most-Tarvaris like day, going 15-35 for 165 yards and a pick. The scariest thing is that if he wins the starting job, Tarvaris has a shot at starting another one with Seattle.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: The Vikings leading wide receiver on the day was the one and only Bobby Wade. It is odd that he hasn’t played since 2009, considering he put up decent depth receiver type numbers over the course of his career.

47.) 2003 NFC Wild Card – (N6) Cowboys 10 @ (N3) Panthers 29

Review: I was in Italy during Wild Card Weekend in 2003, so I know little of these games as well, especially this one. What I do know is the Panthers dominated, outgaining the Cowboys 380-202, but were forced into five field goals by John Kasay. Jake Delhomme started his first postseason game and played well, with one perfectly thrown deep fade to Steve Smith for a TD. As for the Cowboys, all you need to know is somehow the combination of Quincy Carter and Troy Hambrick couldn’t score enough points. Actually, given that it was them, I’m surprised they got to 10.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: This game set an NFL record for most sub-40 yard field goals, as all six field goals kicked in the game were from under 40 yards.

(I totally made this record up, This game could very well have it, but who knows – overall, I couldn’t think of anything interesting or memorable about the game).


46.) 2013 AFC Wild Card - (A6) Chargers 27 @ (A3) Bengals 10

Review: Well, they all can't be good. The three other games on Wild Card Weekend in 2013 were all great, and appropriately way higher up the list. This was a sad game, really. Hard to watch. The Bengals were a really good team, with probably one of the 3 most talented rosters outside of their starting QB. Well, sadly for them the starting QB is important. Andy Dalton had his 3rd straight bad playoff game, this time with two awful 2nd-half turnovers including a back-breaking pick when the Chargers retook the lead. The Bengals defense finally seemed to miss Geno Atkins and Leon Hall, as they had no real answer for the Chargers offense, who were at their most efficient. Rivers did not have to do much, but he was solid. Dalton was not. And the wait for a playoff win continues for the Bengals.

Interesting/Memorable Play: The game turned when, tied 7-7, the Bengals were driving for a TD to go up 14-7 and Gio Bernard fumbled at the 3-yard line. The Bengals never got that close to a TD again.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: The Bengals made it a 5th year in a row that a team that went 8-0 at home in the regular season lost a game, joining the '09-'10 Pats, '11 Packers and '12 Broncos.

45.) 2007 NFC Wild Card – (N5) Giants 24 @ (N4) Buccaneers 14

Review: The Giants started their march to the 2007 Title a lot like how they started their march to the 2011 title, with a solid win over a good but not great team from the NFC South. In both games, the Giants scored 24 points, and Eli Manning had multiple TDs and no picks. The weirdest part of the game was the fact that the Giants had -1 yards of offense in the 1^st quarter, with no first downs, and still won the game rather easily. I guess that is what happens when the other team has an offense that features a guy who the Giants cast off in 2004 (Ike Hilliard) and Earnest Graham.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: Michael Pittman caught 5 passes for 62 yards, being the Buccaneers best receiver on the day. What is interesting about this: Michael Pittman is a running back who had just one carry on the game, and also the fact that I was shocked Michael Pittman was still in the league in 2007.

44.) 2009 AFC Wild Card – (A5) Jets 24 @ (A4) Bengals 14

Review: The Jets have a way of following the Giants. In 2002, they matched the Giants 41-0 playoff score. In 2009, they matched the Giants 24-14 score from two years previous. This game could easily have been tight had Shayne Graham not shanked two field goals from inside 40 yards. Either way, Cedric Benson and Shonn Greene both had good days, but only one of the two QBs did. Carson Palmer was undone by drops and the power of Darrelle Revis. Mark Sanchez was brilliantly efficient, going 12-15 for 182 yards and a TD.

Interesting/Memorable Plays: In the game, Jets punter Steve Weatherford got hurt early, so kicker Jay Feely punted, and didn’t embarrass himself, with 7 punts with a 32 yard average.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: The game was stunningly called by the trio of Tom Hammond, Joe Theismann and Joe Gibbs. Surprisingly, Theismann was better than Gibbs, but overall it worked about as well as the Matt Millen as NBC Football Expert idea. NBC smartly replaced those two with Mike Mayock the next season.

43.) 2016 NFC Wild Card - (N6) Lions 6 @ (N3) Seahawks 26\

Review: The Seahawks went in the Russell Wilson era from playing a slew of great playoffs games to a steady diet of bad ones, this being way up the list. Russell Wilson was great, the Seahawks defense better, and the Lions never really had a chance. They did cut it to 10-6, but the game ended quickly thereafter with two Seahawks TD drives buttressed by two quick punts by Detroit. In the end, the Lions were in no real position to challenge Seattle. The Lions were outscored for the year, easily the worst playoff participant on the NFC half, and played like it.

Interesting/Memorable Play: The only truly memorable play in the game was Paul Richardson's circus catch on an early TD. It was just two yards, but featured a bit of patented Russell Wilson scrambling, him throwing up a lob to a fully covered Richardson, and Richardson going through a player to catch one on the back line. The Seahawks receivers have never been all that great - Doug Baldwin aside - but have made some special catches.


42.) 2012 AFC Wild Card - (A5) Colts 9 @ (A4) Ravems 24

Just like the other two miracle Giants runs, the Ravens started their four-game march to the Super Bowl in a slightly listless game against the Colts. The only memorable part of game was that it was the start of Joe Flacco's amazing playoff run. Flacco wasn't even that good in the 1st half, but facing a 3rd and 19 early in the 3rd quarter, he just threw one up to Boldin for 50 yards. On the next drive, he threw another lob up to Boldin for 46 yards. This would become a recurring theme for the Ravens in their playoffs, as were other things, like Ray Lewis' impending last games (this was his last home game), and Ray Rice fumbling. 

Interesting/Memorable Fact: With this win, the Ravens became just the sixth team to win a playoff in five straight seasons, the most recent being the 2003-07 Patriots (right behind them, the 2000-04 Eagles).


41.) 2012 AFC Wild Card - (A6) Bengals 13 @ (A3) Texans 19

In a rare playoff rematch, the Bengals and Texans met at the same place at the same time on the same network (NBC's kind of black-sheep 4:30 Saturday Wild Card Game), and despite this game being 15 points closer than last year, it was probably a little worse. Instead of the energy of the first playoff game in Reliant Stadium, the fans were dour as their assumed first round bye had slipped through their fingers. Instead of this being JJ Watt's coming out party (2011 Playoffs, when he pick-sixed the Bengals to break a 10-10 game), it was a relatively quiet game by Watt's standards. Instead of a dominant Texans effort, it was more about how awful Andy Dalton was on deep throws. Just a forgetttable game that is propped up because at least it was somewhat close.

Interesting/Memorable Play: It was during a play early in the 2nd quarter when NBC cutaway to Al and Cris at Lambeau to give us the news that Christian Ponder would not play against Green Bay, making this the first game to not only be boring, but to cause people to already dislike the game to come.

40.) 2015 NFC Wild Card - (N5) Packers 35 @ (N4) Redskins 18

Review: It seemed strange entering the game to see the Aaron Rodgers-led Packers as underdogs on the road against a Kirk Cousins-led Washington team, but it made sense given the way the two teams entered the game, and even more so when through the first 18 or so minutes, the Redskins sacked Rodgers for a safety, and put together two nice drives for a FG and TD to take a 12-0 lead. But 12 is not a huge lead, and by halftime it was gone. Aaron Rodgers finally got some protection, and more than that, relied on a resurrection from his running game. Both Eddie Lacy and James Starks combined for 120 yards on 24 carries, and they even used Randall Cobb out of the backfield. By halftime, it was 17-11 Packers and the game was basically over, a sad slow end for what was a really nice run for the Redskins.

Interesting/Memorable Play: The momentum seemed to turn when following the Redskins TD to make it 11-0, Dustin Hopkins missed the PAT. In the first year of the extended PAT, this would not be the last time it would wreak havoc in the playoffs.

Tier III – It wasn’t close, but it was still a Good Ride

39.) 2016 NFC Wild Card - (N5) Giants 13 @ (N4) Packers 38

Review: We finally finish our tour of awful 2016 games with the Packers stomp over the Giants. I put this in the category of it maybe being a good ride because for a half, it truly was. The Giants ballyhooed secondary was smothering the Green Bay receivers. Unlike the 2011 playoff game where Rodgers couldn't react to this type of coverage and pressure, in this one he was special. The Giants forced the Packers into five straight punts to start the game, but once Rodgers got hot, it was over, as the Packers got four TDs and the field goal in their next seven drives. For the Giants, they couldn't keep up the pressure or the coverage, and they petered out late with two straight TDs on their last two drives. In the end, it was somewhat similar to the game above, the Packers coming back from an early slow start against an NFC East team to eventually steamroll them.

Interesting/Memroable Play: Obviously, it is Randall Cobb's hail mary catch on the last play of the 1st half. Firstly, for Rodgers, this was the third in a three-part hail mary act that started teh year before against Detroit, then followed in the Divisional Round against Arizona. Secondly, it was sweet revenge for the Packers, who got back at the Giants who got a critical hail mary TD on the last play of the first half in their stunning 2011 upset.

38.) 2009 NFC Wild Card – (N6) Eagles 14 @ (N3) Cowboys 34

I remember this game turning on one (admittedly correct) overturned interception. After a back-and-forth dull 1^st quarter, the Eagles, with Michael Vick throwing a laser for a 76-yard TD to Jeremy Maclin, the Eagles appeared to pick off Tony Romo deep in Dallas territory. The stadium was damn silent at that moment, all thinking “here we go again.” In the end, the Cowboys somehow rattled off 20 more points in that quarter. The Cowboys played pretty perfect. Multiple TDs and no INTs by Romo? Check. Long run by Felix? Check. TD reception for Miles Austin? Check. Pound the shit out of the Eagles o-line missing starting center Jamaal Jackson? Check. It really was that simple.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: In what was Donovan McNabb’s last game as an Eagle, the Reid & McNabb Eagles lost their first playoff game for the first time, after not going one-and-done in 2000-2004, 2006 & 2008.

37.) 2009 AFC Wild Card – (A6) Ravens 33 @ (A3) Patriots 14

Review: The only thing wrong with this game was that the Ravens dominated the 1^st quarter so much that the rest of the game was more of a bore than a beatdown of the Patriots should have been. Just a quick reminder: The Ravens scored on the 1^st play of the game with an 80-yard TD. Brady was sack/fumbled, with the Ravens turned into a TD. After trading punts, Brady threw back-to-back interceptions which the Ravens turned into 10 more points, and it was 24-0 before 15 minutes were up. Julian Edelman replaced the ACL-ed Wes Welker admirably. Tom Brady seemingly played with no-ACL as well, as he put up a performance far worse than Manning has in any home playoff game.

Intersting/Memorable Play: Brady’s first interception (a scared throw into the middle of the field to an area where two Ravens and zero Patriots resided) was among the worst I have ever seen from a big-QB, yet that great duo of Nantz and Simms never once questioned the shittiness of the throw. Not even once. Had Mark Sanchez, or Philip Rivers made that throw, they would be talking about their "lack of poise" or some other Nantz & Simms derivative crap.

36.) 2002 NFC Wild Card – (N6) Falcons 27 @ (N3) Packers 7

Review: Michael Vick’s first playoff game started in style, with his team taking a 24-0 lead into halftime, courtesy of some solid play on his part, and the harbinger-of-an-upset blocked punt return touchdown (other than the Raiders doing it in Super Bowl XXXVII, I can’t remember a team getting one and not winning). Brett Favre was in top-form, with a 20-42 day with one td and two picks. If I do remember correctly, it was snowing during the game, making the play of the indoor team from Atlanta all the more stunning.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: This was the first time the Packers ever lost a home playoff game. Of course, since then, it has happened three more times (2004 Wild Card, 2007 Championship, 2011 Divisional), and the Packers have won just twice at home in that span.

35.) 2011 NFC Wild Card – (N6) Lions 28 @ (N3) Saints 45

Review: Here’s another game that went from a close game where an upset was brewing to a blowout because of one call, this one not so correct. The Lions sack/fumbled Brees and the ball was returned for a TD, but the play was blown dead. The score was 14-7 Lions at the time, and it would have made it 21-7. Of course, the Saints ended up scoring TDs on 5 straight 2^nd half drives (and ending the 6^th drive inside the 10) so it may not have mattered, but that run game might not have worked so well down 21-10 at the half. In other news: Brees threw for 466 yards and 3 TDs, while Calvin was Calvin.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: The Saints gained an NFL-playoff record 626 yards in the game, with 459 passing and 167 rushing. The game it beat was the Chargers over the Boston Patriots in 1964, where the Chargers put up 610 yards.

34.) 2004 NFC Wild Card – (N6) Vikings 31 @ (N3) Packers 17

Review: The Packers lost another home playoff game, and once again it was because they couldn’t stop a gifted African-American QB while Favre got pick-happy. Daunte Culpepper, fresh off of his 39 TD season threw four more (including a screen pass to Moe Williams, who was one of three interchangeable Vikings RBs along with the Whizzinator Onterrio Smith and Michael Bennett), while Favre answered it with four interceptions. This game was most notable for being the game where Randy Moss scored a TD and then faked mooning the crowd (or mooning the Lambeau Field goalpost).

Interesting/Memorable Play: What is more funny than Moss mooning the crowd was two incidents it led to:
1.) Joe Buck’s hilarious white outrage at that “despicable act” in a move where the only recourse for Buck is to say he was doing a Jim Nantz impression.
2.) Randy Moss’s impromptu interview during the week after the game where he responded that he would pay his fine with “straight cash, homey.”

33.) 2005 AFC Wild Card – (A6) Steelers 31 @ (A3) Bengals 17

Review: We all remember where we were when it happened, whenKimo von Ollhoffen, with great malice, basically ended the upward trajectory ofthe sports fastest rising star at QB. Carson Palmer was once the guy who would inevitably challenge Manning and Brady after a fantastic 2005 season. Instead, Ollhoffen did his thing, and despite a fun 1^st half where the Bengals took a 17-7 lead behind Jon Kitna, Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers won, went on to win the Super Bowl and it was Ben who challenges Manning and Brady to this day. The Kimo hit might be one of the five most memorable, important, “what-if?” plays of the 2000s.

Interesting/Memorable Play: The end-around pitchback TD throw by Ben to Cedric Wilson (who had a monster playoffs in 2005) was eerily similar to the pitch-pitchback TD throw by Warner to Fitz in the 2008 NFC Championship Game. The link: Ken Whisenhunt was the Steelers coordinator – where he earned the now-forgotten great nickname “Inspector Gadget.”

32.) 2017 NFC Wild Card - (N6) Falcons 26 @ (N3) Rams 13

Review: While the best 2016 Wild Card game featured an experienced playoff team beating a playoff newbie (first Giants' playoff appearance in five yearss), so too did 2017's worst, with the Falcons not making any mistakes, and the more talented Rams making all of them. Start with two special teams turnovers in the first half, gifting the Rams great field position. Todd Gurley also had a relatively poor game running into stacked boxes over and over again. The Rams never were able to mount much of a comeback, but kept it within striking distance the entire time, only put away by a great Matt Ryan to Julio Jones TD.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: This was the first playoff game in Los Angeles since 1994, occurring in just the Rams' second season back in Los Angeles. For the Rams, it was the first since 1989. The crowd was surprisingly good, only surprising since even in their big home games late in the year (e.g. New Orleans) the patrons had a higher than normal percentage of road fans.

31.) 2011 AFC Wild Card – (A6) Bengals 10 @ (A3) Texans 31

Review: The first playoff game in Reliant Stadium’s history gets extra points because it was just that. It was also a fun blowout because of the big-play Texans living up to that standard. Andre Johnson caught a long touchdown. Arian Foster had a long touchdown run. JJ Watt made an incredible snag of a Dalton pass and returned it to the house. It was a fun game in a raucous stadium that was built in the hopes it would one day have a game like that. The only sad part was that Matt Schaub (and Mario Williams) was on the sidelines while it happened, and instead we got TJ Yates, making this the first all-rookie QB game.

Interesting/Memorable Play: Marvin Lewis challenged the spot trying to make it 2^nd and 1 instead of 2^nd and 3 in one of the worst planned challenges I have ever seen. Of course, it wasn’t even overturned.

30.) 2006 AFC Wild Card – (A5) Jets 16 @ (A4) Patriots 37

Review: A lot of the talk before the game was about the handshake that would come at the end (yeah, that stuff started well before Spygate). In the end, after a nice victory, Belichick hugged Mangini in a “I’mdoing this to appease people, but you know I still own you” way. During the game, we saw the Patriots effortlessly take down a plucky, frisky Jets team that had the game at 23-16 early in the 4^th quarter. What followed next was pure Patriots football: Vince Wilfork recovers a lateral as he’s the only one who doesn’t think it was an incomplete pass. Patriots score a TD. Asante Samuel gets a pick-6. You can’t script things any better for that team.

Interesting/Memorable Fact: Peyton Manning apparently saw Brady quick-snapping the Jets a lot in this game and decided to utilize it against Baltimore, where it delivered mostly horrible results - Manning threw both his interceptions on plays where  he quick-snapped.

29.) 2007 NFC Wild Card – (N6) Redskins 14 @ (N3) Seahawks 35

Review: This was the final game in the Redskins emotional Todd Collins led run after the death of Sean Taylor. The game is mostly memorable because of the Seahawks relentless pass rush, keyed by the disappeared Patrick Kerney, and a rare back-to-back pick-sixes by Marcus Trufant and Jordan Babineauxm, which turned a 21-14 Seahawks lead into a 35-14 laugher. Of course, what made the game really special was that it was Joe Gibbs final game (and only the 2^nd time he went one-and-done), Mike Holmgren’s final playoff game, and another game for that incredible Qwest Field crowId.

Interesting/Memorable Play: The game was 13-0 before a Redskins TD. On the ensuing kickoff, the ball bounced before the returner caught it and went straight up and was recoverd by the ‘Skins – the rare deep onside-kick in essence. At that moment, who didn’t feel Sean Taylor was hovering over that game.

28.) 2003 AFC Wild Card – (A6) Broncos 10 @ (A3) Colts 41

Review: Yeah, it is high, but if you want to see QB beingplayed as brilliantly as it ever will be played, watch this game. On just 26 throws, Manning threw for 377 yards and 5 tds (on 22 completions). He had just the 2^nd perfect passer rating day in playoff history, and that all come when he had a Giant-sized monkey on his back having never won a playoff game. The game was notable for Brandon Stokley’s brilliance and the fact that the Colts won this game so easily (31-3 at the half) after losing to the Broncos in a meaningful game two weeks earlier in Indy 31-17 where they were outgained 465-183. Again, that was a meaningful game. Denver hammered Indy in Indy. Indy more than returned that favor.

Interesting/Memorable Play: On the game’s 2^nd TD, Marvin Harrison caught a pass around the 25 yard line and went down. A cabal of Broncos surrounded him but argued who should have had the play and none of them touched Marvin down, so Marvin got up and raced for the world’s easiest TD. It was that kind of day.

MLB Musings at the Midpoint

= Are we really headed to an inevitable AL that features three 100+ win teams? The Red Sox, Yankees and Astros are all on pace. All three have underlying metrics that back up their case (though in, ironically, reverse order to theri actual win percentage). The Red Sox and Yankees still have to play each other, but they also have to play the laughable Orioles and some of the other AL drek as well. We had two 100+ win teams last year, but a league has never had three. If so, then you may make the argument that you are better off being the #2 seed, getting Cleveland, instead of a juggernaut in the ALDS.

= Can Mike Trout keep the streak going? Mike Trout has never not led the AL in WAR in a season that he was healthy for. Now, I believe by baseball-reference, Josh Donaldson edged him slightly in 2015, but by Fangraphs, and by the average of the two, he still had the edge. Trout had a huge lead in mid-June, on pace for a 13 or 14 win season, something truly unseen. But since then he had a "weak" last thirty days, and sees both Mookie Betts and Jose Ramirez pull even with him at 6.5 WAR. Both players are truly great, can easily keep their pace up - we may see a first, with three different position players in one league have 10+ WAR. Trout is still easily the best player in baseball, but when limiting it to just 2018, that isn't assured.

= Are the Nationals going to turn things around? We came into the season basically knowing who five division winners were (Houston, Cleveland, LA, Chicago and Washington), and then had to flip a coin between New York and Boston. Of course, it was likely one of them would slip, and while LA dealt with all sorts of injuries (and still will be missing Corey Seager), and the Cubs were looking up to Milwaukee for most of the year, they closed the 1st half strong and are in first place. Washington is in 3rd. The Braves are not going away. Bryce Harper has a 0.0 b-ref WAR. Max Scherzer is just one guy. They are a better team than their record, but 90 games have been banked. There is a real chance they are playing in the Wild Card game, or even missing the playoffs.

= With the recently closed Manny Machado trade, and the healthy return of Clayton Kershaw, who quietly has been really good since his return, the Dodgers may be in for a great second half. They crept past Arizona on the last day of the first half. They're now set-up with a top player at SS, and pitchers coming back healthy. They were wrecked to an impossible degree by injuries that first half, so it is really good to see them make it through and get healthy.

= Scherzer and Sale. Both guys have a shot at 300 K's (it seems almost inevitable with Scherzer). Both seem like shoo-in's for the Cy Young, especially with Verlander's soft end to the first half. Both pitchers are so fun to watch. In reality, let's add both Verlander and Cole from Houston, and Jacob DeGrom, and the healthy Noah Syndergaard, and the aforementioned Clayton Kershaw, and Trevor Bauer, and so many others to the list. The one reason I never understand the hate on strikeouts is watching great pitchers rack up K's and dominate teams is incredibly fun to watch. We haven't seen this level of power pitching across the board since 2001-2003.

= Can the Red Sox really keep this up? This year has basically been the exact opposite of last year, when every Red Sox hitter struggled - including Betts. Now, everyone is great, and JD Martinez has a .330 average and 80 RBIs. Theri pitching may kill them in October, but for now, this is a special lineup, filled with really fun players. If only they weren't in Boston. Contrast to the Yankees, who are waiting for Greg Bird to get back, and hoping Stanton starts hitting HRs (though I was surprised to see him at 130 OPS+). It's been a while since we had a truly great AL East race, and this one will be awesome.

= On the other end, likely at least one of the Phillies/Braves/Brewers will not make the playoffs, and I really hate that fact. All three teams have been such breaths of fresh air - even if all three teams feature some ex Astros succeeding - the worst offender being Mike Foltynewicz. The Phillies and Braves are honestly a year early, but both have such great futures. Getting to watch Ronald Acuna has been fun, but getting to watch Aaron Nola become a bonafide ace has been even better. With Milwaukee, they arrived a year early last year only to lose the division the last week. I love they proved themselves not a fluke, and are seeing smart buys like the Yelich trade pay off. There is a scenario, especially if the Nationals don't rally, that all three make it - and two may even play in the NLDS. I want to live in such a world.

= This baseball season has been great, even if the Astros have blown too many close games, and the Red Sox are the team threatening 110 wins, and the Cubs have a clear chance at a World Series. There's still some dreck, like Texas, and most of the AL Central, and the Orioles, who have fully gone past that nice 2012-2016 stretch, but on the whole, there's a great mix of 'super-teams' - some of which haven't been close to super - and good young upstarts. And we're just getting started in a way.

18 Lasting Thoughts from the 2018 World Cup

18.) The final showed finishing still trumps all

Croatia played better in the final. France was better. Those two things should be dichotomous, but in a sport where scoring is still a fairly rare event, being better, and finishing better, is more important. France's win is something like Real Madrid's UCL win this year. They didn't play the best, but they were the best, with more talent, more clinical finishing, and, in the end, more results. I'm very happy France scored the 3rd and 4th goal, because the first came off a free kick after a dive, and the second on a dubious penalty (that said, had it been called in real time, would not have a huge issue with it). The third and fourth goals were all class, and France slowly dragged the life out of Croatia in the second half. France are worthy winners, even if Croatia appeared to play better.


17.) Sign me up for World Cup's version of March Madness

This tournament was so good in mirroring the best aspects of March Madness. There were big upsets, with the three betting favorites before the tournament all being gone by the SFs (Brazil did best, but Spain lost R16, and Germany in the group stage - your token #1 seed that goes down the first weekend). France was the 4th 1-seed, sent out West, but still talented enough to be a worthy champion. The other semifinalists were all good, if not 1-seed worthy. There were upsets, but those teams usually fell by the way-side in the end, despite playing great and pushing the best teams. You had a few Cinderella runs (Russia, Sweden), a few blue bloods finding new life (England), the talented underachiever making good (Belgium), and so many other stories that enliven every March. For a tournament so often dominated by blue bloods, was nice to see so much parity.


16.) The rise of the secondary nations

At least one of Germany, Brazil and Argentina had made every World Cup Semifinal since the knockout format begin in earnest. That didn't happen here. While we may look at France and England as powerhouses, they are not when compared to Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Netherlands, countries that have been successful decade after decade (France is more recent). We got good sides, but not as medalled ones. Countries like Croatia, or Belgium, or Sweden, countries that have had top players, been good at various points, all coalesced here to provide an excellent tournament. 40 years from now, we may see Semifinalists of France, Croatia, Belgium and England and think this wasn't a top tournament with top quality (contrast to 2014: Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Netherlands), but fear not, that was excellent stuff.


15.) The 'weak' half was a never-ending joy

Remember how England more or less threw their final group stage game to get the weaker half of the draw (even if their immediate next game would be tougher)? It worked - England reached the Semifinals, and nearly made the final. But that weaker half? It maybe provided some of the best games. That weaker half featured four different penalty shootouts, all fairly dramatic with multiple misses/saved shots by the losing team, two classic games in Croatia's wins over England and Russia, and so many classic moments. The winner came out of the stronger half, which makes sense, but that stronger half had maybe one classic game in Belgium's comeback over Japan, but while it had more quality players and stronger teams, the weaker half gave us higher quality games and more drama. I'll take drama over competency any day.


14.) The End of Spain & Germany

In a way, Spain kind of ended four years ago, but with Pique and Iniesta retiring, and Ramos likely following suit, this truly felt like the end - even if Round of 16 signaled an improvement over 2014. For Germany, it was the end, a loud thud. When we look back, the World Cup win was the end of something, not the beginning, as Lahm retired, with Schweinsteiger following, and certainly Kroos, Neuer, Muller, et al, not locks to make it going forward. Those two countries dominated World Football in a tidy duopoly from 2008 through 2014, and their downfalls were so similar. Both just seem tired, out of fresh ideas, trying to play the hits when the world called for a pivot, a show of innovation. It didn't happen, and the two nations so many people including myself grew up on are no more.


13.) Mbappe is a star, but let's not go overboard

The amount FOX pumped up Mbappe you would think he was the next coming of Pele. Granted, he had a great tournament, featured levels of speed few if any could match, and had some nice goals, but he was probably the sixth most important player for France (Kante, Griezmann, Pogba, Varane, Umtiti I would say are all more integral). I'll talk about this more when I get to France's chances at a dynasty, but four years is a long time. Four years ago, a 21-year old Mario Goetze, someone who was already playing for Bayern Munich, scored the World Cup winning goal. Four years later, he didn't make the Germany team. Mbappe's potential seems limitless, but there is a chance he peaks early. Of course, maybe he is the heir to Ronaldo & Messi as World's Best Player. It likely is somewhere in between. Let's not be disappointed if he isn't 2x Ballon d'Or winner by 2022.


12.) Africa is set-up so well going forward

Africa didn't get a team to the knockout round, though both Nigeria and Senegal came close. That aid, no African team did itself bad. Tunisia gave England a good game. Morocco on how it played during the games, probably could have advanced over either Spain or Portugal. Nigeria probably should have qualified if not for that late Marcus Rojo miracle they would have qualified. Senegal lost out only on fair play points. There was no infighting, stories of unpaid wages, just five calm teams that gave a great show. Nigeria and Senegal should both be great even four years from now. The toughest part for Africa is getting the same teams to qualify given how tough their qualifying set-up is, but if Nigeria can sneak back in, they can do damage in 2022.


11.) The world is getting smaller, and it helps us all

What was great about this tournament is no team was overmatched. The worst it got was either Saudi Arabia's 0-5 loss to Russia, or Panama's 1-6 loss to the UK, but for both losers, they made decent showings in the other games (even a win, for Saudi). Every team scored at least two goals - a World Cup first. Every team played like a team deserving to at least be there. Overall, we saw the level between the worst team at the World Cup and the best continue to decrease, partially due to talent proliferation, partially due to the interesting, almost tactic-free style being played by so many. It created a World Cup with just one 0-0 draw in the entire tournament (France, ironically, drawing Denmark in their 3rd group game when both teams were fairly settled), and generally games where even the losing team had a few chances. Hopefully, this only continues going forward.


10.) FOX did an OK job, all things considered

I get that it is easy to shit on FOX, because 1) people love shitting on FOX, and 2) they went with US announcers instead of the British-heavy approach ESPN used to follow. I, personally, liked a lot of FOX's coverage, including the best asset being the announcing teams. I don't get the criticism for FOX's in-game announcing at all. I thought John Strong and Stu Holden were excellent. I grew to like the second team of JP Dellacamara and Tony Meiola. I loved the two latin guys that did a few latin american games. The in-game work has to be improved, particularly strengthening their roster of guest stars (Guus Hiddink is 20% too ornery), but adding Kate Abdo really imprved their nightly show and made it something close to what ESPN used to have. Overall, FOX gave the World Cup the care it deserved. I await what improvements they bring to 2022, though I worry with them losing the Champions League in the US starting next year they won't have many attempts to test things out in real time.


9.) VAR on balance, was OK

The biggest complaint people had with VAR, mostly even before it was actually implemented, was that it would slow down the game. That didn't happen. It is quick, it is effective technology. I do like the fact that clear errors were overturned, clear penalties were given, clear non-penalties were un-given. But I do still have two issues with VAR: first, it is a bit inconsistent and dependent on the ref using it well (I would have prefered a fully unbiased reviewer), and secondly, often times I think they use it to make the call, instead of checking if the call they made is defensible - most notably the penalty given in the World Cup Final as well. This is a problem notably in the NFL, too, where last year many calls were being adjudicated and overturned using replay, where the 'indisputable video evidence' was thrown out the window. Fix those two issues and VAR can be a very useful tool.


8.) Enjoy it now, because 2022 will be a mess

Even putting aside the significant humanitarian issues with Qatar (it's not like Russia, or even the US, is not guilty of some humanitarian problems), everything about the 2022 World Cup seems like a recipe for disaster. It will be from November to December, stopping the club league's for a month. It will be played in a country about the size of a small US state, but will be host to seven stadiums, and millions and millions of people, more than doubling the country's actual population. Then there are all the restrictive laws for people in the country - where even if some of these (especially alcohol) are relaxed, it won't be the same. Finally, Qatar has zero football history. That was my biggest issue with South Africa as well. Just keep it in countries that care about the game, that have legitimate domestic league's, that have national teams that may be able to qualify on merit. By the way, the US doesn't meet most of these, and other than convenience not really a fan of the US hosting either.


7.) Luka Modric getting his due

Luka Modric was a great player years ago, but it has been so great to see him finally get his due the last 18 months, first being the key midfield cog of a back-to-back-to-back Champions League winner, and rightfully being seen as the best midfielder in the World, and now winning the Golden Ball at the World Cup. Modric did slow down a bit in the Final, but he was peerless before that, often getting stronger and faster as everyone around him got weaker late in those extra times. Modric is 33, and while he can age like a fine Andrea Pirlo-esque wine, it is hard to imagine him being too impactful in 2022. We should relish the World realizing how special that little master has been, even if anyone paying attention the last three years should have already known given what he's done at the Bernabeu.


6.) Adieu, Lionel & Cristiano

The 2006 World Cup was a seminal tournament for many soccer fans. It came at the perfect time, with such a great collection of stars and all time teams. The two most notable youngsters from that tournament were Lionel Messi, who was a bench player for Barcelona, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who was a starter, but not a top player, for Man United. 12 years later, with those two running the world throughout, it is now over. They are still the pre-eminent players, but it is more or less assured now that neither will retire as a World Cup Winner. 2006 was the closest Ronaldo got, with Portugal losing in the semifinals. 2014 was the closest for Messi. This time, both were bounced on the same day in the Round of 16, losing to more defensive-minded, talented, stronger teams. It is a true shame that their primes never coincided with their country's primes. You can make the argument the best Argentina team Messi had was the 2006 one as well.


5.) Russia was a great host

Let's separate Russia the federal entity, with Russia the people, the culture, and the country for a minute. Sure, Russia the federal entity probably bribed their way to hosting this tournament, and they are corrupt and everything else, but that should not make us turn a blind eye to Russia the people, a group that was welcoming, that became ardent third-party supporters during non-Russia games, that made this tournament so memorable. The British media pushed the hooliganism line so much, but there wasn't nary a fight during the games. It was a joyous month to celebrate this game, and have so many visitors get to experience Russia at its best.


4.) So many Bangers

This was the World Cup of set piece goals, reaching an apex (or a nadir, depending on your perspective) in the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals, where seemingly every goal came from a set piece. It was the World Cup of Own Goals, with a record 12 of them. But it was also the World Cup of bangers, of scintillating goals, starting right from the beginning with Cheryshev's outside foot curler against Saudi Arabia, and Nacho's spellbinding goal being answered by Cristiano's free-kick the next day. We had so many, even down the final with Pogba's curler. None to me, though, was better than Benjamin Pavard's screamer, a goal coming from an out of position right-back, a goal that was both so fast it burned air, but slow enough seemingly that it stopped time. It was a true beautiful moment for sport. This World Cup had a half dozen of those.


3.) Croatia's Golden Generation will never be forgotten

I hate that people thought of Croatia as a Cinderella (especially harping on their population - as if that ever mattered; hello, China). Croatia's center-back starts for Liverpool. Their right back Atletico Madrid. Their striker Juventus. Their midfield maestros for Barcelona and Real Madrid. They were supremely talented, but also had the heart and mettle of an underdog - how else to explain three straight extra time wins. The best part of Croatia is how connected they seemed as a team - all around their captain, Luka Modric, who seems to be one of the most respected captains I've seen. Ivan Rakitic fawned over him endlessly - in this case, the Croatian blood running through them meant more than Barca vs. Real. Overall, Croatia had a special run, and more notably so given how many of these players grew up during the break-up of Yogoslavia. This was a special team, who earned as much in defeat as France did in victory.


2.) France has a clear path to being a Dynasty

It happened with Spain in 2010 (who were already mid-dynasty). It happened with Germany in 2014. It is happening now with France. Are they the next dynasty? Admittedly, no recent winner apart from 2010 Spain shapes up better. They had the second youngest team ever to win a World Cup. Their key players are all 27 or younger - apart from Hugo Lloris. Varane is 25. Pogba is 26. Griezmann is 27. Kante is 25. Mbappe is notably 19. All should be still good contributors four years from now. And who knows who else France has up their sleeves, as the kids who watched their 2006 run become of age (like so many who watched the 1998 run did the last few years). Four years is a long time, but if any team has the ability to make it, France is as sure a bet as any.


1.) This was the best World Cup I've seen

Let's end with what was on track to be true after teh Group Stage, a whirlwind two weeks that featured just one goal-less draw, so many close games and so many late goals. At that point, 2018 was on trajectory to be one of the best World Cups ever. Then again, so was 2014, before a host of 0-0 or 1-0 games ruined it. This was different - we should have known when the first Round of 16 game ended 4-3. There was so much drama, so much intensity, so many great games. We had the exacting brilliance of Brazil vs, Belgium, but also the heart and emotion and crazy, NHL Playoffs-like drama, that was Croatia vs. Russia. On the talent on the pitch, I would still rate 2006 sligthtly higher, but on the product that we all got to witness, 2018 was the best. Qatar 2022, if you're listening, you can redeem a lot of the ill will people have towards you by topping that - sadly, it will be an extremely high bar to cross.

Nadal v. Del Potro

While the world, including those that were in the stadium just hours before, turned their attention to England coming home without the trophy, the best sporting event was taking place before our eyes. On Center Court in Wimbledon, two stars put on a show worthy of a final. Rafael Nadal’s win over Juan Martin del Potro was tennis ecstasy, with a setting eerily reminiscent to the Greatest Match Ever Played (Nadal d. Federer) ten years prior – the match ended under similarly dimming twilight, and both matches took the same 4:48 to complete. While even Nadal mentioned in his post-match presser that it was not a final, you could not be faulted for considering otherwise. That high was the quality of the match, including a dramatic, pulsating fifth set featuring multiple large men splayed all over Center Court. It ended with Nadal on top, but ended more fittingly with Nadal and Del Potro embracing.

For Del Potro, this was the latest confirmation of his ultimate comeback, hopefully one that begets sustained health and success. Behind Federer’s and Nadal’s resurgence the last year-and-a-half, quietly Juan Martin del Potro has done the same, the longest sustained period of success for him since his first wrist injury in 2010. He was always the ‘what-if?’ of the last ten years in tennis, but interspersed throughout his various injuries have been some fantastic matches that he has taken part in, and this is just the latest one. Sadly, Del Potro has lost most of those, but arguably no player is able to gain as much love, support and additional legacy points in defeat as Del Potro.

Shockingly, though, this might be more meaningful for Nadal. His woes at Wimbledon the last six years were well documented, never making it to the Quarterfinals, losing four straight years to players ranked 100+ (admittedly, one was a young Nick Kyrgios). What made it more shocking was the six years before that, he made the final all five times he played the event, winning twice. Yes, Nadal went six years making five finals, and followed it with six years of flameouts. He often said he had not forgotten how to play grass. That just last year he felt he was ready to do great things before losing 18-16 in the 5^th set to Gilles Muller. It was getting hard to believe him though. When you pull back, Del Potro, despite all injuries and pain, had made the Wimbledon Semifinals more recently than Nadal, doing so in 2013. For Nadal, six years of horror are over.

The match itself was played at an insane level from both players – each had well more winners than errors (Nadal nearly 2:1). Del Potro’s forehand was firing on point the entire match, and his backhand showing a level of power we haven’t seen in a while. Nadal himself continues to pound that backhand, being able to redirect with depth many times over. Nadal had his usual ridiculous gets, hopping around Center Court the way he used to. Del Potro caught a second wind in the 5^th set, tracking down Nadal’s repeated drop-shots, especially during a dramatic, 12-minute war that was the game with Nadal serving up 4-3.

Nadal’s performance was so interesting, turning to grass court tactics more than ever before, like the drop-shots (doubly effective with the low bounce), perfectly carving them time and time again, and volleying excellently. The match had a scary level at times, one that drew back Del Potro’s win over Nadal in the Rio 2016 Olympics. What was interesting was Nadal was answering power with power. In most of the great Nadal wins, we picture him running down ridiculous shots and hitting incredible passing shots or sharp angles. He did that here too, but also just overpowered Del Potro at times, penetrating the court in a way he’s been able to do so well everywhere but Wimbledon.

When the match ended, with Del Potro flung out on the floor for one last time, Nadal hopped the net and embraced Del Potro in a sense that even seemed more meaningful and emotional than most for Nadal. There is a lot of respect, not just between the two players in isolation, but in what each brought that day. There had to be a loser, but in reality there are two winners. In reality, there were millions of winners: each and every person who watched the match. It was a special contest, everything we could have hoped for. Even as a Nadal fan, I would have been 100% fine if he had lost to Del Potro. I never thought I would see Nadal in a pressurized, second week, Wimbledon match against a top player again. We got that, and we got five sets, nearly five hours, and hundreds of thunderous points of it, and it was all glorious.

2018 World Cup Semifinals Review

Player of the Semifinals: Hugo Lloris

Belgium vs. France easily could have been a higher scoring game, with a frenetic pace in the first 30 minutes with multiple close calls, and quality saves throughout. Hugo Lloris pitched a clean sheet with multiple great saves stopping Belgium the few times they mustered any real potent attack. In a World Cup that had great goal-keeping throughout, he continues to be exemplary.

Runner-Up: Mario Mandzukic || There’s no one hero for Croatia, but symbolically let’s give it to the elder statesman who has worked so hard for a goal the entire tournament, getting the biggest one in his country’s history. It was somewhat a broken play, but that is what a great striker does, be in position to capitalize on broken plays. When an opportunity presented himself, he banged it home and ruined a nation’s hearts which is always great.

Goat of the Semifinals: England’s Midfield

Croatia was always going to win the battle of midfields, but I never expected it to be so one-sided, particularly in England’s time on the ball, the midfield was a disaster. Jordan Henderson went missing, not able to make any statement in the game through Croatia’s press. Delle Alli was disappointing, so were the others. Bigger issue is Southgate did not even reactively change up to add an additional body, with England almost capitulating the middle third. England was always driven by its back line and set pieces, but when they needed some strength in the middle, it was nowhere to be found.

Runner-Up:  Romelu Lukaku || Belgium as a team had a few different players disappoint, but I’ll give it to Lukaku who went missing. He had an excellent start to the tournament, but got progressively worse in the quarterfinal and semifinal, and was able to get maybe a couple half chances and could do nothing with them. Belgium as a whole felt a bit flat (more on it in a second), and the worst offender was the big man up top.

Surprise of the Semifinals: Croatia’s Endurance

Croatia surprised everyone by being the livelier team against Russia when playing their 2^nd straight 120-minute game. Of course, so was Russia. This time against England, it was even more shocking to see Croatia get stronger as the game wore on. It will be doubly surprising if it holds up against France, who has played a whole game of time less and has an extra day of rest, but I wouldn’t put it past them. Croatia’s players just don’t seem to tire. They seemed better against England than even when playing Russia.

Runner-Up: People not hammering Olivier Giroud || It helps that they are in the final, and maybe the negative reaction comes if they lose to Croatia, but I have been impressed that the general commenteriat has mostly not harped on the fact Giroud hasn’t scored yet. He’s held up play really well. He was an asset on defense tracking back well against Belgium. He’s been a workhorse like the rest of the team. Giroud is not along for the ride, he has been an integral part of the team despite not scoring. And I’m so happy people have largely credited him for this, and not just focused on the ‘0’ by the Goals column in his stat-sheet.

Disappointment of the Semifinals: Belgium’s plodding

Again, Belgium was just so uninspired after a good first 20-30 minutes. The whole second half France ceded possession and Croatia could do little with it. Hazard was great, but De Bruyne disappointed, the backline struggled, players like Chadli and Vertongen who were great coming forward in earlier games did nothing. They weren’t played off the pitch, but the lack of creativity to slice through France, however strong they may be, was surprising given Belgium’s success in previous rounds. If this was the best chance their Golden Generation will have, it is a sad way for it to finish.

Runner-Up: England tiring || Again, why was England so fatigued against a team that had to play back-to-back 120 minute matches. England basically conserved energy sleepwalking through the Sweden game, and looked like they were the ones who had finished a grueling game against Russia. Their strategy basically devolved to long ball after long ball to tired frontline players who were meek in traffic. England is not a great team, one that got here basically because they could execute set plays staggeringly well, but I wanted a better showing than that.

2018 World Cup Quarterfinal Review

Player of the Quarterfinals: Luka Modric

Yes, Modric got exceedingly lucky on his penalty. It was a good shot, but Akinfeev guessed right and got a palm to it, but happened to hit it off hte post and in. That said, prior to that moment, Modric was brilliant. While everyone else played extra time at half speed, lugging for breath every second, Modric was flying around the field. He was masterful, moving from spot to spot, distributing perfectly, and in some cases putting on the jets and running by Russian defenders. Just a great performance by someone finally getting his due.

Runner-Up: Raphael Varane || This is a nod in honor of France's defense as a whole, a unit that snuffed out any chance that Uruguay had. Varane was great as usual on defense, with a good sense of positioning and even better command in the air. Of course, his beautiful header was what clinched it - a perfect, powerful shot that emulated what his captain at Real Madrid does so often.


Goat of the Quarterfinals: Neymar

There's no huge goat, so we'll go with the 'best player' remaining who was fairly absent throughout that loss. He had a few moments, including a couple close shouts late, but while the rest of the team was throwing caution to the wind, and putting together chance after chance, Neymar was too often slowing things down and losing one-on-one runs. He's still a great player, and his scoring rate for Brazil is impeccable, but this was a disappointing finish.

Runner-Up: No Idea || Honestly, no one was truly awful. I guess I could say Fernando Muslera for bungling the shot that ended up as France's second goal, but I don't think Uruguay was coming back anyway.


Surprise of the Week: Russia's Heart

Look there are things we can't just put aside with Russia at the moment, with all the 'they helped Trump steal the election' of it all. That all said, Russia the team, Russia the people, Russia the fans, they have all been great. Watching that Russian team that had no expectations put so much effort into these games was amazing. Seeing them score the tying goal with three minutes to go was heart-stopping. Seeing their emotion after the game was beautiful. Seeing the Russian fans sing their hearts out during the game and after was incredible. In the end, they lost where they should, but I won't forget how fun it was to root for Russia, even if we all still want to hate RUSSIA.

Runner-Up: Belgium's Sense to Counter || Belgium is arguably the most talented team left (the only argument is the team they are playing on Tuesday - man that Semifinal should be great). They have so many players who are great on the ball. But they played smart against Brazil, letting the Selecao hold the ball, and wait for their moment. Countering is deadly when you have the players who can do it, and Belgium's ability on the break is second to none (or one, in France).


Disappointment of the Week: Uruguay's Sad End

It was somewhat inevitable when Edinson Cavani went down that Uruguay would not be long for this world, but still, what a way for their Golden Generation to go out. Uruguay played this entire tournament with so much passion, and their ruthless style worked again, to the tune of four straight wins before the loss to France. In the end, they aren't as talented, but for a tiny country in South America, making the Semifinals, Round of 16 and Quaterfinals in three straight World Cups is pretty amazing. That said, for them to have no answers was a bit sad. I wish Suarez put one in, even if I hate him during the club season. I wish Godin had one last header. I wish Cavani could play. I wish, or rather I hope, Uruguay can manage to push this even further in a post-Suarez/Cavani/Godin world.

Runner-Up: Sweden's Slow End || Sweden is not a great team. Sweden was the worst team (host-team Russia aside) in the quarterfinals; that is why England wanted that half of the draw so bad. That said, they looked overmatched in that game. They were so disappointing in their lame, porous performance. Sweden lacked any urgency, any drive in that match. And while Pickford did make a few good saves, they didn't bother England's susceptible back line at all. Just a terrible performance.


Storyline that will be Beaten Down: It's Coming Home

Really, I'm over it. England barely beat Tunisia, then hammered poor Panama with the help of multiple penalties and fluke goals. Then depressingly more or less threw a game. Then they lucked out against Colombia, before beating the aforementioned awful Sweden. This is not a great team. They may make the final, but they'll be worthy underdogs there. They are, in my mind, underdogs here. England semifinal appearance was nice, but ultimately it should be lost in history, like Uruguay in 2010, Portugal in 2006 or Turkey in 2002.

Storyline that Should be Beaten Down: Golden Generations Uniting

I mentioned this last week, but now we are one match away from Belgium vs. Croatia, which would be the most unlikely, unexpectedly great final ever. These are not premier countries, but ones that have been good in past, and jfinally got their Golden Generations together. Belgium has been shouted for a while now, and has finally put everything together with their talent at all levels. Croatia was not so ballyhooed earlier, but the duo of Modric and Rakitic is the world's best, and their backline and goalkeeping has been incredible. Both teams are the bookies underdogs, but I really hope we get Belgium vs. Croatia and a deserving, amazing, surprising, first time winner.

2018 World Cup Round of 16 Review

Player of the Round of 16: Kylian M'Bappe

For a guy who is still just 19, M'Bappe has been around and hyped up for a while, starring for Monaco in their run to the Champions League semis last year. That game was something else though. The first goal was set-up by Mbappe literally running at a different speed than anyone else before being dragged down in the box. M'Bappe's first goal was slightly lucky, but that second was all class. We were waiting for France's stars to show up, and while Griezmann has still been noticeably quiet, M'Bappe, and Pogba as well, have stepped up to put France's true might on display.

Runner-Up: Edinson Cavani || I'ts a shame that Cavani may have to miss the Quarterfinal, because he has been fantastic all tournament, and was amazing in the Round of 16. The first goal was put on a silver platter, but his header left no doubt. The second was so fluid, so smart, going back across goal on a quick counter. Hopefully he can make a last minute recovery, because I don't want this Golden Generation of Uruguay's to end with Cavani on the bench.


Goat of the Round of 16: David DeGea

This is more a tournament-wide achievement for DeGea, who made just one true blunder - Ronaldo's second goal in the opener - but also allowed 6 of 7 shots to go in during open play, and did not save any of the penalties shot his way. DeGea also failed in playing out of the back when asked, and overall just looked a bit shook all tournament long. Against Russia, they needed one save, be it the penalty during the game, or any of the PKs, and DeGea went missing, again.

Runner-Up: Javier Mascherano || In reality, it could be anyone from Argentina's backline. They were atrocious against France, repeatedly getting caught upfield despite their lack of pace necessitating them taking a more cautious approach. Mascherano himself is emblematic of what is wrong with Argentina - they are just too old, too out of ideas, and overmatched.


Surprise of the Week: England Staying Calm

I watched this game at a pub next to a few England supporters in Montreal. There was pure agony when Yerry Mina scored in the 93rd minute. I was all ready to see them crumble, giving up the late lead before heading to PKs, a place where England has not fared well in. Yet, England rose to the occasion. Their PKs were great. Even Henderson's miss was more a great save by Ospina. Nothing shows England's new mentality more than Dier, not even someone who was slated to take a PK, calmly bang one home. I don't know what this portends for England, but it was a great mentally strong performance.

Runner-Up: Japan, in defeat || I didn't even watch Belgium vs. Japan live, assuming it would not be close, and wanting to do some daytime tourism in Montreal and not just watch World Cup during the day. Anyway, needless to say that was a bad idea. Japan was great, creating tons of chances, losing because they sent men forward trying to steal the game and got caught (similar to Real Madrid's loss in the 2017 Clasico when Messi scored and took his shirt off and held it up). That was a great performance by a lesser team. 


Disappointment of the Week: Spain's flame flickering out

Expectations for Spain should have been lowered ever Julen Lopetegui, but even then, it was disheartening to see them so souless against Russia. They retained as much possession as ever, completed over 1,000 passes, and basically did nothing with it. Tiki-taka works, but works a lot worse when you don't have incisive passers, and most of the passes are between the back four and holding midfielders. No stat was better than Isco, heretofore one of the more offensive minded players, completing ~150 passes, just 20 of them forward. Spain needs to turn the page.

Runner-Up: Mexico's energy meter running low || Mexico started the World Cup so well, but maybe we all took that game for more than it was worth due to Germany just not being as good as expected. The real issue for Mexico is their frenetic style wore them down. They showed signs of slowing down late against Korea - giving up a costly goal late, and then their awful performances against Sweden and Brazil. I went from hoping Mexico could avoid their 7th straight Round of 16 loss to expecting it fully and feeling that El Tri thoroughly deserve it.


Storyline that will be Beaten Down: The Inevitable March to Russia vs. England

We are one match away from a titanic off-the-field matchup of Russia vs England, bringing out shouts of hooliganism - something the British press tried to push as an inevitable scar for Russia 2018 and something that has not happened at all, to the political tensions between the two nations. England did not not intentionally lose to Belgium to get into the weaker half, but it paid off, and we are very close to them, or Russia, making a final. Of course, Russia has to pull another upset, this time against a more organized team, and England has to avoid a letdown.


Storyline that Should be Beaten Down: Croatia & Belgium, the rise of Europe's Secondary Teams

Football has been ruled in Europe by the Colonizing countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, England, Portugal. We may finally see the rise of two of the secondary European nations, with teams that are as dominant as any. Croatia played too nervous against Belgium, but hopefully that has subsided now. Their midfield can dominate. Their back-line is so strong. Mandzukic is a star up top. That team is having their moment, and has a fairly clear path to the Final. Belgium was touted for years with their ludicrous talent, and it is finally coming together. They are on opposite halves, and have tough games to come, but we really could be seeing the rise of a lesser European team, and I can't wait to see if it happens.


Quarterfinal Picks:

France defeats Uruguay 2-1
Brazil defeats Belgium 2-1
Croatia defeats Russia 2-0
Sweden defeats England 1-1 (on PKs)

2018 World Cup Round of 16 Picks

(A1) Uruguay vs. (B2) Portugal

I fear this game will be a long 120 minute slog, a type of game that both sides seem to want to make every game. For Portugal, it is a way to play when you have to hide the fact that the only player with much offensive creativity is Ronaldo. For Uruguay, it is somewhat the same, but also where their strengths lie with Godin, Muslera and Co. I'll go for Portugal in PKs, but can easily see this go the other way. I'll be optimistic and say each side gets a goal in the 90 minutes, but I have a harrowing feeling we're in for 0-0 - something that happened just once in the group stage.

Portugal def Uruguay 1-1 (on PKs)


(C1) France vs. (D2) Argentina

If the France we all expected to show up in this World Cup does, they should win easily. If the France that has showed up in the World Cup does, they should be favorites, but it will get tricky. To me, the best move France could make is sit back and let Argentina have the ball. Given their team, France should be deadly on the counter, especially against a slow, porous Argentina defense. Argentina also can get a bit aimless if they have possession but aren't finding space. I do think that the France we all expected to show up will do so, and get the win here, potentially big as well.

France def Argentina 3-1


(E1) Brazil vs (F2) Mexico

This should be a great game, and Mexico has a habit of playing Brazil very well (case in point the 2012 Olympics, which Brazil took seriously enough to play most of their top players). My worry is Mexico has gotten progressively worse in the tournament, and while they weren't as bad as the 3-0 score against Sweden, they looked tired. This is not a deep team, playing a collection of 15 or so guys. They run a lot and counter a lot, which is likely to happen here as well. Ultimately, I think that does it for them. They deserve better than a 7th successive Round of 16 exit, but I don't see how it doesn't happen against a Brazil team that seems to be hitting their stride.

Brazil def Mexico 2-1


(G1) Belgium vs (H2) Japan

I get why the media was so into the idea that Belgium and England would rather lose their last game than win it, to enter the ostensibly easier half of the draw. The problem with that logic, is while Belgium is on the harder half, they also have the significantly easier (to me at least) Round of 16 game. Japan has played well, but probably should not be here with Senegal here instead. Belgium has been great so far, finally playing up to their potential - I don't think it ends yet. We can start worrying about the tougher half of the draw next match.

Belgium def Japan 2-0


(B1) Spain vs (A2) Russia

I get it was fun to see Russia get humbled in their last game, but overall I've found them, and their fans, great and I do hope they put up a good show. Given that Spain hasn't impressed even in their win over Morocco, I can easily see Russia hanging with them. I do think there will be some more freedom for Spain having navitaged through the group stage. My only real hope is that Russia scores a goal; I want to see that stadium explode when they score, even if it ultimately is a fruitless effort.

Spain def Russia 2-1


(D1) Croatia vs (C2) Denmark

Croatia to me was the best team of the group stage; either them or Belgium. Their midfield can just dominate teams, and I think the same will happen against Denmark, a top heavy team who probably should not be here if Peru had even average finishing. This might be, wen you consider form of the teams, the most one-sided game we'll get.

Croatia def Denmark 2-0


(F1) Sweden vs (E2) Switzerland

I have no idea about this game. Both teams would rather be without the ball, but I do think Switzerland can do better than Sweden if forced to retain possession. Sweden will depend on set pieces and countering, but I like Switzerland's ability to limit chances and the break. To be honest, I have no idea what I'm saying, but I don't want to pick all Group Winners.

Switzerland def Sweden 1-1 (on PKs)


(H1) Colombia vs (G2) England

Part II of why the England intentionally not trying to win might have been shortsighted: Colombia is really good. They may have won all three games had they not had the (well deserved) handball four minutes into their opening game. If James misses the game, I'll probably lean slightly towards England, but even then not by much. Colombia is a great side, and I think people overreacted to England's 6-1 win that had multiple penalties, atrocious set play defending, and of course Kane's third goal that was a lucky deflection. Aside from that, they nearly drew with Tunisia and we can throw out the last gmae. I think this will be the most open game - and I think Colombia knocks England out, rendering the decision to settle for the 'weaker half' moot.

Colombia def England 3-2


If these are right, it would set-up a QF slate of:

(C1) France vs (B2) Portugal
(E1) Brazil vs (G1) Belgium
(B1) Spain vs (D1) Croatia
(E2) Switzerland vs (H1) Colombia

That would be three great games, and one not so great game, but still could set-up some mouth-watering Semifinals.

What the Hell Just Happened at the World Cup

Where to begin; where to effing begin. So much has transpired in one of the more fascinating 3rd match-days that I can remember, in what is increasingly becoming one of the better World Cups that I can remember.

Should we start with how on back to back days, Argentina and Mexico advanced to the knockout rounds despite losing one of their three group games 3-0? Or that Mexico advanced despite losing their last game 3-0? Or that Germany, a nation that let alone has never not made it out of the group stage, but has made the quarterfinals every tournament since 1954, would lose to Korea, and get knocked out.

A Zlatan-less Sweden won their group. Croatia is the only 3-0-0 team so far. France easily waltzed to a group win and no one cares. Argentina won because their left back scored a 80th minute banger with his off foot. Germany DIDNT GET OUT OF THE GROUP STAGE.

What hasn't the World Cup given us.

There's been more penalties, more own goals, and more 90+ minute scoring than any World Cup through the group stage. We can rue the amount of penalties, but all have been deserved. We can rue the own goals, but let's remember the sheer number of bangers as well. The fight for goal of the tournament (so far) is an endless list of curlers, screamers, and everything in between.

Every team has scored. South Korea scored three goals, all past the 90th minute. The fact that Spain and Portugal had to fend off challenges from Iran and Morocco to clinch their spot, and that will be largely forgotten when the story of the 2018 World Cup group stage is written, speaks to how insane it has been.

Maybe it was due to the lack of truly great performances through two match days, but it seemed more was up for grabs this time - including multiple instances where we would need to potentially go to fair play points (who has less yellow cards) to decide who wins groups. It all came to a head these last two days.

First was Argentina's escape, with Messi scoring a great goal with his off foot, waking up from his two game malaise in one sudden Messi-esque flash. Of course, we had to see Bad Argentina, with Mascherano, looking way too old for this shit, giving up a terrible penalty that should have knocked Argentina out. The stadium never stopped signing, Argentina fans never stopped believing - despite this team being one that probably just extended their life a week. Marcus Rojo, a fullback, scored a Messi-esque goal, also with his off-foot. Let it be known that for once, Messi's teammates picked him up, even if they, and especially Mascherano, conspired to almost steal it away.

And of course, that drama doesn't come close to what we just witnessed today in Group F. All Mexico needed was to draw Sweden - they lost 3-0. Had Germany won, even 1-0, they would have supplanted Mexico, and we would have our first ever team to not make the knockouts with six points. There was a time where that label could have been given to Germany too - had Germany won 1-0, and Mexico lost 2-1, Mexico was going through on goals scored. Instead, Germany never got their goal.

I switched over to the Germany game after it was 3-0 Sweden, entering blindly not understanding how Germany had yet to score against a poor South Korea team. In the end, Germany embodied the worst elements of 2002 France, 2010 Italy and 2014 Spain, other defending champs that flamed out - relying too much on tired gameplans, tired locker-rooms, and old stars past their prime. There was no creativity, no direction, ultimately Germany was not impervious to the natural cycles of the sport, and South Korea pounced.

That first goal by South Korea was dramatic live, and more dramatic through VAR, a proper utilization of a technology that has done far more good than bad to date. It corrected a true mistake, something almost impossible to notice in real time, and gave South Korea their deserved goal. The second was icing on a cake that will be devoured through the streets of El Cuidad de Mexico for days to come.

We may see some awful play tomorrow - especially with England and Belgium, two teams that arguably are better off losing; the irony being if they draw it will be decided by fair play points, so we may even see a team try to get yellow cards. Anyway, what this tournament has been so far is a breath of fresh air. The crowds have been fantastic. The games have been better. There have been so few blowouts, with basically gall games being somewhat competitive. This is what the World Cup should be. Oh yeah, and GERMANY WAS FUCKING ELIMINATED IN THE GROUP STAGE?!