NFL Week 13 Status Update: The Home Stretch

Mickey: Tis the season of giving, thanking, and remembering, and I found myself thinking about that sentiment quite a lot this past Sunday during the Week 13 slate. The Panthers were putting the finishing touches on an ugly, Silver Foxian 16-6 win against a 1-win team with a rookie quarterback who flinched every time he put himself in position to have success. This win — this win in December, when football wins are supposed to mean more — didn’t feel good. This win didn’t elicit the conquering, Gladiator emotions you’re supposed to feel after a December win.

But instead of moping, instead of wrestling with (once more) how disheartening it is to root for such a stubborn head coach, and instead of nonsensically trying to get myself to believe that 5-7 means we can go 9-7, if we just take it one game at a time, I decided to think back to those long, hard, soul-crushing months when we don’t have football to take up our weekends. I long for NFL Sundays and college football Saturdays with a whimsical spark in my eye. I daydream about afternoon drinking and hangover-curing meals and reveling in the joy of consuming football.

And that thought to remind myself to appreciate football — whether that’s a 5-7 team with a brutal home stretch schedule or a 3-9 team that finds new and hilarious ways to gift games to other (better) teams or an undefeated college team going for defined greatness getting thoroughly whupped — kept my soul smiling as I went to sleep on Sunday night.

Because at the end of the day, it’s still football. Glorious, glorious football. And there’s only so much precious time left.

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Mickey (cont’d): Patented Brethren bulleted thoughts:

- Hey John Fox, if you want to see if the one back-up quarterback you’ve “groomed” over your past 7 seasons as head coach is actually worth a damn, you may want to, ya know, test drive him. This was the perfect opponent to let Matty Moore try to finish some drives in the second half. Instead you kept playing for field goals and infuriating me even more.

- Smokey pointed it out last month — but watching a football game with our momma is quite the exercise in staying connected to the Web 2.0 world. The woman is on Twitter the entire game, txting friends after any important (or not important) moment, and trying to check into her flight home via her Crackberry Storm. My day job requires me to be in this “web 2.0″ world during the week and so my trip to the bar on Sundays is meant for getting back to my non-digital self, to pounding my fists and pounding some beers. My momma takes her Sunday NFL watching to the other extreme — fingers constantly flying over her mobile phone’s touch-but-more-like-press-firmly screen. And neither of us is wrong.

- I had to text our buddy Ace to make sure he was still alive after that devastating Skins loss. He was more concerned with getting over the apparently epic prank/dranking fest he and Joey participated in on Saturday night, but that may be because he’s seen that “Skins gift a game away” script one too many times.

- I’m venturing into Massholeland this weekend for the Panthers-Pats game. I anticipate lots of Tom Shots and I anticipate lots of hate to be spewed my way. Thoroughly looking forward to it!

Smokey: With the passing of Week 13 we’ve officially entered the home stretch of the 2009-10 season. Power rankings may have jostled and playoff pictures shifted but the cream of the crop remains strong. By this time next month the regular season will be over and the post season looming.

The Panthers season has been a long, hard slog and, comically, we’re entering the hardest part of the schedule. There’s a decent chance the win against the Bucs this past weekend could be our last of the season. Especially if you believe that Sean Payton’s gonna keep his foot on the gas. Should be a rousing good time for the holidays.

Fans across the nation pretty much know where their teams stand, so it’s time to settle in for the holiday run to the post-season.