Pinch Me

Week Six in the NFL was surreal.

The Texans upsetting the Bengals in Cincinnati? The Eagles losing to the Raiders? The Jets getting upended at home by the Bills? The Chiefs winning? Strange business!

Things got back to normal in Week Seven, however. The Bengals dominated at home, the Eagles won, the Jets annihilated the Raiders, and the Chiefs lost. Ah, now that's a more familiar landscape.

Of course, football fans are naturally given to extreme reactions. A baseball team will play 5 games in the span of time that a football team plays 2, and its season lasts for six months. Baseball fans, therefore, are less reactive -- they keep the big picture in view. A single loss is hardly devastating in a game where the best teams are going to lose 50+ games.

In football, however, each win and loss is so important. We can talk about "it's a long season," but still something within us jumps to dramatic conclusions after just a couple of wins or just a couple of losses.

"What's wrong with the Giants?" "The Bears stink!" "Are the Texans for real?" "The Saints are unbeatable!" These are the broad brush questions and hasty conclusions to which the football fan is inclined.

Well, the Giants have lost 2 in a row and the Bills have won 2 in a row, but I still think I'd rather be a Giants fan than a Bills fan this season. So, we'll take a deep breath, try to rein in our overreactions, and calmly watch the season unfold.

(That said, Green Bay has won their last two games by a combined score of 57-3... Super Bowl bound, Baby!)