At times, even the most die-hard football fans can be a little misguided.
Take Sunday's Raiders-Chiefs game, for example. The Raiders were leading 23-20 with 19 seconds remaining. Kansas City was at Oakland's 37-yard line—on the outskirts of the kicker's range for a possible tying field goal.
The Chiefs completed a short pass over the middle, presumably to work a few yards closer toward a makeable field goal. Running back Larry Johnson made the catch, and turned around to find—a surprising absence of black jerseys. Despite an obvious strategy to play for a tying field goal in that spot, Oakland chose not to cover a short pass to a guy who had already rushed for more than 100 yards. Whoops.
Johnson took off toward the goal line. Two tacklers converged on him and pulled him down at the 1-yard line, and the Chiefs called their final timeout with five seconds left.
It was decision time for Kansas City coach Dick Vermeil. His choices: Play safe and kick an easy field goal to force overtime, or run a play. Vermeil left his offense on the field and went for the win. His gutsy call became even gutsier when he called for a running play, rather than attempt a quick pass that might have left a second or two on the clock. Once quarterback Trent Green handed the ball to Johnson, it was do-or-die. Johnson dived into the end zone with the game-winning score as time expired.
The crowd erupted.
But their celebration was premature, because this was the exact moment where the drama was about to begin. All that other stuff —the long run, the gutsy call, the last-second touchdown—was just a prelude to the real nail-biter: the extra point.
You see, the Chiefs were favored by 312 points, and needed to make the extra point to cover the spread. So while all this annoying celebrating was going on, both on the field and in the crowd, I was silent and focused. This was the moment of truth.
The Chiefs had no urgency to attempt the point, apparently content, for some reason inexplicable to me, with simply winning the game. The league rules say you have to complete the conversion attempt at the end of regulation, so that was on my side, but what if the crowd spilled onto the field or all the players simply left? What would the referees do? Fear was starting to set in.
Finally, the referees cleared the field and the Chiefs lined up for the kick. Raiders quarterback Kerry Collins, not a guy you'd expect to see on a kick-blocking squad, was one of the 11 men Oakland fielded just to make it an official play. Gotta love those post-game interviews that keep some of the players hanging around.
Kansas City made the point, and covered the spread. I'm not sure what percentage of the emptying crowd noticed, but those who left early missed the biggest play of all.
My picks: I'll take the Panthers -9 against the Jets, the Seahawks-Rams over 51 and the 49ers plus 13 12 against the Bears.
Lance Burton (11-16)
Patriots -3 at Dolphins
Broncos -3 at Raiders
Cowboys +3 at Eagles
Danny Gans (12-15)
Raiders +3 vs. Broncos
Panthers -9 vs. Jets
Patriots -3 at Dolphins
Oscar Goodman (10-17)
Patriots -3 at Dolphins
Broncos -3 at Raiders
Steelers -8 vs. Browns
Clint Holmes (12-14-1)
Redskins -1 1/2 at Buccaneers
Patriots -3 at Dolphins
Colts -18 vs. Texans
Kevin Janison (14-13)
49ers +13 1/2 at Bears
Packers +9 1/2 at Falcons
Vikings +9 1/2 at Giants
Mark & Mercedes (10-15-2)
49ers +13 1/2 at Bears
Vikings +9 1/2 at Giants
Broncos -3 at Raiders
Wayne Newton (20-7)
Falcons -9 1/2 vs. Packers
Seahawks-Rams over 51
Cowboys +3 at Eagles
Penn & Teller (11-16)
Steelers -8 vs. Browns
Redskins -1 1/2 at Buccaneers
Eagles -3 vs. Cowboys
Rita Rudner (13-12-2)
Bills -2 1/2 vs. Chiefs
Lions -4 vs. Cardinals
Eagles-Cowboys under 39
Sal DeFilippo is second cousin twice removed to John Madden's bookkeeper.