Golden Nuggets: Next Stop, Senior Bowl

Welp, at least the Patriots won. I’m just not ready for the type of next-level hero-worship that Patrick Mahomes would have started receiving had he beat Tom Brady in the AFC Championship Game. Sure, he’s good and all - easily the best of the young QBs in the league - but it’s difficult to root against the tried and true performance of Tom Terrific, even as he gets up there in age.

Anyway, to the main course, the Saints blew it. Or, as everyone here in New Orleans is saying, the refs blew it. Which, apparently they did, as ESPN later reported that the NFL’s head of officiating informed Sean Payton after the game that it was most certainly a pass interference call that had been missed. Had the appropriate call been made, the likelihood of an alternate outcome jumps dramatically - the Rams take a quiet flight home, the Los Angeles bandwagoners quiet down for a few months, and I get to make fun of all my friends back home (read: aforementioned bandwagoners).

Instead, the Saints lost. The nightmare for me is just beginning, being behind enemy lines and such. Everybody in town was already plastered and emotionally incoherent, or incoherently emotional, which ever works better for you, by about 6pm (regardless of the federal holiday today), but the next two weeks are going to be absolute hell. I greatly look forward to hearing about how much the referees screwed the Saints and that the fix is in to drum up interest in the Los Angeles franchises. I’ve been compulsively watching that clip from last year’s Divisional round when Stefon Diggs put the improbable nail in the Saints’ coffin, hoping that it may just function as a screen saver while the neighbors talk my ear off. Aint’s gonna Ain’t. Time to break the paper bags back out, folks.

In other news, the Senior Bowl will take place next Saturday, providing the nation with some football as we patiently wait for Tom Brady to win his 6th Super Bowl ring/the impending collapse of the entire Los Angeles Rams franchise. Practices begin Tuesday, which are often the main course for observers during this process - meaning it’s just like training camp all over again, which, by the way, is still like 6 months away. Happy Monday!

Senior Bowl preview | Kawahara, SF Chronicle | Chan, NBC Sports Bay Area