Yummy.  The holiday food and sweets are all around.  Gaining weight(more) unfortunately has never been so easy.  Another food group heats up around Christmas and the New Year as well.  The NFL treats us to some wonderful nuggets as the regular season barrels to the  finish.  Enjoy them one at a time below.  And when you are done, please pass the pecan pie.

1. The NFL’s oldest head coach, Pete Carroll, is 67.  He’ll be three years older and still leading the Seahawks in 2021 as he agreed to a three-year contract extension yesterday.  This comes a day after his team secured a wild card playoff berth last evening.  Carroll’s Seahawks have made the playoffs for the seventh time in his nine years at the helm.
2. The New Orleans Saints secured the NFC home field advantage throughout the playoffs in a well contested, entertaining scrap with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Superdome.  Significant?  Very.  The Saints haven’t lost a playoff game in their Superdome home with Drew Brees executing what Sean Payton cooks up.  Ever.  In 2009, as the no. 1 seed they held serve at home, beat Indy in Miami, and hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.
3. Pittsburgh fought valiantly for 60 minutes and came up just short.  They went from being the leader in their division to currently being on the outside looking in at the playoffs.  This weekend they have to beat Cincinnati and hope that either a) Cleveland beats Baltimore, or b) Indianapolis and Tennessee somehow play to a tie.  Pitt is a tough team with a very good coach.  It’s hard to believe that they may be home for good after the holidays.
4. Raise your hand if you thought Cleveland might be playing in a meaningful game in late December.  The Browns are 7-7-1.  A win would give them their first winning season since 2007.  It would also possibly give Pitt postseason life.  And last but not least, it would give Gregg Williams a nice page or two to add to his PowerPoint presentation as he tries to get the word interim removed from his current title of interim head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
5. The Houston Texans lost to Philadelphia 32-30.  They also lost their hold on the no. 2 AFC playoff seed and with it a first round bye as a byproduct.  They actually even lost a chance to clinch the AFC South Division as surging Indy lurks oh so closely.  But, rest assured the Texans won when they drafted DeShaun Watson.  His brilliance almost took the Eagles down in their nest.  Watson dazzled the hard to please Philly crowd with 29-40 passing for 339 yards and two touchdowns.  He ran into the end zone for two more.  How he amassed those lofty stats was more impressive than those lofty stats themselves.  That Mahomes is getting national run is elementary.  But, Houston’s dear Watson isn’t far behind.
6.  The MNF Raiders’ game might have been the last one at the Oakland Coliseum.  Viva Las Vegas.  Speaking of Vegas every road underdog in the NFL either won straight up or covered the spread afforded them.  Betting the NFL from week to week is crazier than having money in the stock market right now.  Ouch, that hurt.  That game versus the Broncos also brought down the curtain on yet another MNF season of broadcasts.  The NFL wants all games this coming weekend to conclude by Sunday to level the playoff playing field.  If only that would bring down the curtain on Jason Whiten’s announcing career.  Ouch, that hurt.
7.  Quick quiz.  In how many of the last 16 NFL seasons have the New England Patriots won ten or more regular season games?  If you said 16 that would be correct.  Impressive.  Of course playing the Dolphins, Jets, and Bills a total of six times a year helps.  Of course so does having Tom Brady.  The next closest is Indy (thanks Peyton Manning) with 11.
8. The Vegas Raiders and the Mistake by the Lake Browns have only one ten win season each in those same 16 years.  The NFL structures their league to provide plenty of help to those that cannot help themselves.  We detailed those thoughts recently.  It’s hard to be that bad for that long in the NFL.  These two teams have a lot in common over that time.  They both have or had bad ownership, bad draft picks, bad cap management, and a revolving door at the quarterback position.
9. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t far ahead or behind depending on your viewpoint.  Sunday’s loss to America’s Team marked the seventh season in the last ten that the Bucs have lost ten or more. Jameis Winston’s rookie contract is up.  Will TB offer the available one year extension to it? This decision about one year has ramifications for many.  Perhaps a call to Nick Foles agent would help in the decision-making process.
10.  Baltimore was once 4-5 six games ago.  Enter Lamar Jackson at QB.  The Ravens are 5-1 since.  The only loss in that span was in a very hostile Arrowhead Stadium.  Saturday night the Ravens traveled three time zones to the left coast and held the hot Chargers to a stone cold 10 points, winning by 12.  If you are looking for a dark horse, or a dark bird, to make a playoff run look no further than the Ravens.  They run the ball very well and defend the run very well.  That’s a winning January combination.

Is a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream on top of the pecan pie a bit over the top?  Hmm.