On Saturday night, the Detroit Lions play the New Orleans Saints. I've got my baby carrots and Nicorette lozenges, which translates to me being really excited. Why the hyped-up state when I have no rooting or gambling interest? Well, you know how people say football is a results-oriented business? You know how people say that to you in, like, the bank? Well, it's not. It's about the journey. It's about how things unfold and the road you take to get to where you're going.
Here's where I get into trouble: I fixate on how I think the narrative of a football game should play out and I get upset when things deviate from that. So for my sanity and your entertainment, here are three different (all totally plausible!) ways this Lions and Saints matchup could down that I would find acceptable.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Monday.
On Monday Night Football, the Jets beat the Dolphins 24-6. Despite threatening to get ejected in the second quarter, Brandon Marshall lasted the whole game, catching six passes for 109 yards. (Internal monologue: But, but … I could have sworn Marshall would live up to his promise and get ejected. Oh well. I guess he's just crazy … )
While much of the news out of the San Francisco 49ers 25-19 win over the Detroit Lions centers around the Jim Harbaugh-Jim Schwartz handshake-of-doom, there is another storyline to consider: The 49ers' close win. The victory was another step in the resuscitation of 49ers quarterback Alex Smith's career, which is not a complete surprise given that his coach, Harbaugh, was once an NFL quarterback himself. Yet Harbaugh hasn't brought a quarterback-dependent throw-it-around-the-stadium type of offense to San Francisco. Instead, he's doing what he did to rejuvenate Stanford, which seems to be to channel his old college coach Bo Schembechler's tough, physical approach to the game. And against the Lions, Harbaugh's 49ers didn't get their yards by running outside or getting the ball in space. Instead, the game plan was simple: run the ball right at Detroit's vaunted defensive line, led by Ndamukong Suh.
