To Tell the Truth

Do you remember the old television show called “To Tell The Truth”?  Evidently it has been on in various forms over many years.  My recollection of it, though, is the very old black-and-white version from my childhood.  Kitty Carlisle comes to mind. 

As I remember it, the premise of the game was to introduce to a panel of judges three individual who all claim to be the same person.  The judges are then permitted to ask the candidates questions until, at the end, each judge casts his vote to indicate which one he or she thinks is really the person that they all claim to be.  Then, at the end, the emcee famously says, “Will the real _______ please stand up!”  That is the moment of truth.  That is when the suspense ends, as the two pretenders stay seated, and the actual person is revealed. 

One of these days, “the real” best team in the NFL will need to stand up.  Each week for the past several weeks, we’ve thought we’ve known who it was.  And then another week passes and, ooops, we were wrong!

Going into Week 13, the Houston Texans boasted the best record in the league.  They were a gaudy 11-1, and folks generally assumed that they were the best.  By the end of Week 14, however, the New England Patriots were the consensus pick for the best team, having drubbed those Texans on Monday Night Football 42-14.  Ah, but in Week 15, the 49ers impressed the football world by going into New England and beating those Patriots 41-34.  But then, in Week 16, the Seahawks mauled those 49ers, 42-13.  

If the pattern persists, expect the 7-7-1 Rams to go into Seattle this Sunday and manhandle the Seahawks.

So who is the best? 

That’s one of the favorite debates right now on TV, on radio, and on the web.  The Packers can certainly make a case, having won 9 of their last 10 games, including this past Sunday’s dismantling of the Tennessee Titans.  And, for the moment, they are at least ranked second-best in the NFC playoff hunt, thanks to the aforementioned victory by the Seahawks over the 49ers. 

Of course, no one really gets to claim to be the best until they have the Lombardi Trophy in hand.  And any one of those teams that have performed so well in recent weeks is a legitimate candidate.  But, as we have also seen during these weeks of so much changing of the guard, on any given Sunday…