I once had a college philosophy professor open a seminar with a question for the class.
“Why do we put people on pedestals?”
Thought provoking as it was, I was quick to assume it was because they had done something extraordinary that earned praise. He had a different reason.
“Because we so much enjoy knocking them off.”
That was a rather negative way to view human nature but, as I have lived my life, I have seen a lot of examples to support he was right. Even in my chosen profession of football I have seen fans elevate teams to mythical levels, only to boo them when they stumble. This season alone we have seen a number of teams hailed as potential Super Bowl winners only to have those aspirations come crashing down in a matter of weeks.
This season started with the Philadelphia Eagles the favorite to repeat as Super Bowl Champions and no one was dismissing their chances after they won their first four games. After opening with a win over the Dallas Cowboys, in second week action their pedestal perch was elevated when they beat the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
Their third win was pure luck, overcoming a 26-7 second half deficit to the Los Angeles Rams at Franklin Financial Field only to have the visitors in position to retake the lead on the last play of the game with a field goal. The kick was blocked, and the Eagles returned it for a touchdown to extend their winning margin beyond how the game was played. A narrow triumph in Tampa Bay notched a fourth straight win but they haven’t been on the right side of a final score since.
Two weeks ago, a meltdown in front of their home fans caused some grumbling in the stands as Nick Siriani’s team surrendered a 17-3 fourth quarter lead enroute to a 21-17 loss to the Denver Broncos. Those grumbles turned to a flurry of complaints on Philadelphia sports talk shows this week after the Eagles lost to the lowly New York Giants last Thursday night.
I can’t help but to notice that the Eagles fans seem to take joy in knocking their team on the radio. Let's call it pedestal dumping.
The Green Bay Packers were elevated to Super Bowl shoe-ins in some circles after they opened the season with wins over two quality teams, the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders. Their only win since was a victory over the woeful Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday.
Pedestal perch undercut.
The Buffalo Bills opened the season with a dramatic come-from-behind home victory over the highly regarded Baltimore Ravens, 41-40. That was the first of four straight wins, and the Bills were the last team in the league to fall from the unbeaten ranks.
But a pair of losses in primetime, two Sundays ago at home against the New England Patriots and last night on the road versus the Atlanta Falcons, has Bills fans grumbling. This is a fan base that rooted for one of the best teams in the league while Jim Kelly was running their offense in the 90’s but suffered through the disappointment of four straight Super Bowl losses. They haven’t been back since they lost their second straight Super Bowl to the Dallas Cowboys in agonizing fashion. The year before they got crushed in Super Bowl XXVII, 52-17, but this was their chance for redemption and they had a halftime lead before losing to Dallas again, 30-13.
The result was mocked by David Letterman on Monday night when he dedicated his top ten list to the Bills defeat and I remember one of the lines attributed to what the Bills said at halftime, “Hey, save some of that champagne for after the game.”
After two losses in a row, Buffalo fans are not preaching this is their year to win it all, but more likely fearful that this is another season the Bills will ultimately disappoint.
The Los Angeles Chargers, who have what many consider one of the best quarterbacks in the league with Justin Herbert, won their first three games. In their last three, they lost twice and edged the suspect Miami Dolphins. Early season praises that this was the team head coach Jim Harbaugh was going to land in the Super Bowl have been replaced by concerns that the Denver Broncos may be better and who can forget the team the Chargers beat on opening week to spike their enthusiasm, the Kansas City Chiefs.
The past three games have seen a severe drop in the Chargers pedestal standing.
How about the Indianapolis Colts? They have a record as good as any in football with five wins in six decisions. Last season, it was the Minnesota Vikings that benefited from a quarterback that came into the league with high expectations not yet realized when Sam Darnold led them to a 14-3 regular season mark. This year, the Colts are enjoying parallel success with Daniel Jones running their offense.
Jones was a first round draft selection of the New York Giants and had some good and bad times in the Big Apple. But, late last season, the Giants released Daniels and after a brief stay with the Vikings he signed during the offseason with the Colts.
He is now playing at a level that has statisticians comparing his six game stats with what Peyton Manning achieved with the Colts. He comes out ahead by some accounts and after they suffered a narrow loss to the Rams in Los Angeles came back with a 40-6 win over the Las Vegas Raiders and a shootout victory last Sunday over the Arizona Cardinals.
This team is currently on a pedestal … watch out.
Then there is the Kansas City Chiefs, a team that should never be left out of a Super Bowl conversation as long as Patrick Mahomes is lining up behind center. They took all sorts of incoming criticism after losing their first two games to the Chargers and Eagles.
While losing to those two quality teams, the Chiefs handed out the punishment against another elite squad Sunday night while downing the Detroit Lions, 30-17.
It was the second time this season the Lions have been limited to a point total below 30. They lost their opener in Green Bay, 27-13, and now come up short in Kansas City. Over the past two seasons, the Lions have averaged 33 points a game.
Does this mean their fans are going to knock the Lions off their pedestal?
No. It puts them in position to file into Ford Field on Monday night and behold another offensive explosion from Dan Campbell’s juggernaut. After their low scoring game in Green Bay, the Lions scored 52, 38, 34 and 37 points in their next four games … all wins.
It can be expected that they enjoy a similar result this week when a player many have perched as the leading candidate to win Most Valuable Player, Baker Mayfield, leads his Tampa Bay Buccaneers into an ambush.
Qoxhi Picks: Detroit Lions (-5½) over Tampa Bay Buccaneers