THIS season the ‘No Fun League’ has been anything but, shaking off the label to wow and surprise us week in, week out this season. Cinderella stories like the Dallas rookie combo of Zeke and Prescott stole the imaginations of everyone daring us to dream. Hell, even the Browns won a game. Then Derek Carr broke his leg, literally shattering the Raiders chances of a SuperBowl victory, and to make matter worse then Marcus Mariota suffered an equally devastating injury.
DEREK Carr and the Oakland Raiders moved one step closer to a first round bye with their win over the Colts. They seemed poised to return back to the playoffs with their high octane offense led by Carr leading to him being mentioned in the MVP talks. The Raiders last appearance in the playoffs came in 2002 when they won the SuperBowl and fans were daring to dream that there would be return visit in as the 2016 draws to a close. Carr’s injury though derails any hope they had of making the coveted game, with a leg fracture keeping out for the rest of the year at least. Unfortunately despite their young exciting core their ceiling is now capped, with all their momentum and buzz they gathered gone in an instant.
Image from usmkb.com
ANOTHER team who was generating buzz and excitement was the Tennessee Titans. after their heart stopping win over the Chiefs last weekend, everyone was getting behind the young Titans left by their smash mouth running attack and young star QB Marcus Mariota. It was shaping up as though the final game against the Texans would be for the division title and a spot in the playoffs, a position that Tennessee never thought they would be in. But fate struck int he third quarter as Mariota was carted off along with any chance the Titans had of making a late fairytale run into the playoffs. Fighting for relevance over the past fortnight, many thought that the Titans were a team to watch, but without their young star play caller they lost to the Jaguars which, coupled with a Texans win, ruled them out of playoff contention.
EXCITEMENT machine Tyler Lockett wasn’t safe from the injury curse either. A broken leg for the Seattle speedster rules him out for the rest of the season, ridding the Seahawks of a valuable offensive weapon. Huge kick/punt return runs and eventual touchdowns helped Lockett make a name for himself an in his sophomore year he was progressing as a receiver. However we have now been robbed of seeing Lockett and such runs this postseason, as he completed the trifecta of gruesome leg injuries in the second quarter of their loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Three injuries have sapped the energy and positive vibes surrounding the league on the Christmas holiday, but we must remember these things happen and sometimes dreams don’t come true.
Banner image from bostonherald.com