But that is not always the case and teams that do in fact have something to play for lay an egg on their way to the postseason. Many of the mighty have fallen, but can hold their heads up at the end of the day because they have earned the right to live another one.

The New England Patriots, who already had the AFC East sewn up, also could have clinched the number three seed in the AFC with a win at Houston, but the Texans kept their faint playoff hopes alive with a 34-27 win. Unfortunately, wideout Wes Welker was lost for the season and quarterback Tom Brady is banged up.

The first-seeded Indianapolis Colts dropped their second straight after coming out of the gate with 14 consecutive victories, following up a home loss to the New York Jets with a 30-7 pasting at the hands of the Bills in Buffalo. San Diego, the number-two seed in the conference, held on to beat the hapless Redskins by a field goal.

The Baltimore Ravens clinched a berth in the next round by narrowly edging the Raiders in northern California, and the Jets closed out Giants Stadium with a blowout win over the Bengals, setting up another meeting of the two teams next weekend in Cincy.

In the NFC, New Orleans maintained the top seed even though they lost their third straight. Quite a difference from when they were challenging the unbeaten streak 13 weeks into the campaign. The Vikings also earned a bye with their 44-7 whitewashing of the New York Giants, who finished with only three wins in their last 11 games after a hot start.

In a battle for the third seed and the NFC East crown, the Cowboys shout out the Eagles – who are going in as the final seed – in Dig D, and the Cardinals took a beating at the hands of their opponent next week, the fifth-seeded Green Bay Packers, when the rematch comes back to the desert.

Photo by William J. Hauser

Speaking of the Saints (13-2), they have now lost two in a row in the dome after the hapless Tampa Bay Bucs (3-12) came back from a 17-0 hole to win 20-17 in overtime. Also in the NFC, the New York Giants – after coming out of the gate 5-0 – all but put their postseason hopes to rest with a putrid 41-9 pasting at the hands of the carolina Panthers. This occurred in their final game at Giants Stadium, with the grand opening of the still yet-unnamed new Meadowlands stadium opening up in 2010. The Panthers (7-8) have been out of the playoff picture for quite some time while the Giants dropped to 8-7 and left their rabid fanbase wondering what happened.

In Indianapolis, possible MVP candidate Peyton Manning was pulled from the game in the third quarter with the Colts nursing a five-point advantage. Back-up Curtis Painter was not effective and allowed the Jets to get right back into the game.

Not only did Gang Green do the unthinkable after dropping a heartbreaker last week to the Atlanta Falcons, but actually control their own destiny if they can defeat the Cincinnati Bengals (10-5) at home next Sunday night. The Jets (8-7) needed a lot of help heading onto the day and by the time they kicked off at 4:15, much had broke their way.

Miami (7-8) dropped a 27-20 decision at home to the Houston Texans (8-7) while the Steelers (8-7) took care of the Baltimore Ravens (8-7), 23-20, in the Steel City. All of this activity coupled with Jacksonville losing and falling to 7-8, the Jets slid up into one of the wild card spots in the AFC. Denver (8-7) lost by a late field goal in Philadelphia after a big comeback, but still can get in at 8-7 with tiebreakers.

Photo by William J. Hauser

The only noticeable advertisement came in the form of  billboard along the New Jersey Turnpike near Giants Stadium, the location of the Sentinels’ first home game. On that Thursday evening at the end of October, the California Redwoods came into town and kept New York winless by taking a close contest, 20-13. The attendance was light and appeared even more so because of the capacity of the stadium. And it didn’t help matters any that the game was up against the second installment of the World Series in the Bronx.

But with more promotion, football fans who are shut out from Giants or Jets games would probably be more than happy to take advantage of the very affordable $20 tickets the UFL is offering. Couple that with the familiar names that adorn the rosters of the four teams and this thing may be a viable alternative during the week to the NFL.

“We had some guys here, like Simeon Rice, who had some injuries and are just looking to come back to play,” said Sentinels head coach Ted Cotrell, a former defensive coordinator for a number of teams including the New York Jets. “There are a few players like that and there are players coming up that just need a chance. It’s a win-win thing. If they do well, then we do well.”

Sounds like a good plan but for that to come true, the UFL has to get its name out there more. With the three other teams employing head coaches like Dennis Green (California Redwoods), Jim Fassel (Las Vegas Locomotives) and Jim Haslett (Florida Tuskers), instant credibility is brought to the table. Plus they have a television deal with Versus and HDNet, so the coverage is there if the fans choose to tune in.

In any situation where a new product is released, there will be trial and error periods. Such is the case when the Sentinels changed the location of their next home game from Citi Field (the Mets new ballpark in Queens) to Hofstra University on Long Island. A much smaller venue is more appropriate in a town like New York where it is very difficult to catch on when you have to deal with the likes of the Giants and Yankees garnering all of the headlines.

A short eight-week schedule commencing with the UFL championship game on November 27 will wrap up a campaign that the UFL can hopefully build on. They intend on adding teams and games in 2010 but need the capital to do so.

Other football leagues have had a difficult time surviving in what has become an NFL-monopolized sport. The WFL, USFL, AFL, XFL, WLAF and NFL Europe all dot the landscape of failed attempts to at least share a piece of the pigskin pie. Hopefully the UFL can stay off of that list.

Two other teams played in the same venue and took credit for both states. The Knights of the WLAF and Hitmen of the XFL actually called themselves ‘New York/New Jersey’ during their short tenures in their respective leagues.

Even the one team that actually did play here in the New York is gone, maybe forever. The Dragons and the rest of the Arena Football League will sit out the 2009 season with the hope that by the time next year rolls around, the economic state of the league and its fans will be better.

All hope is lost, right? Maybe not, with the creation of the United Football League. The brand new outdoor league that is scheduled to kick off this October with four teams includes one in New York to be coached by former Jets defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell. The big question is where will they play? According to the league’s website, www.ufl-football.com, mentions a few possibilities, some more reasonable than the others. Just for window dressing, the page for the New York franchise states that both Citi Field and the new Yankee Stadium would be “ideal for a UFL team.” Fat chance that either place would ever see a football game, especially one from a league in its maiden season.

Figure on one of the next set of places spoken about to be the eventual location. Laurence Wein Stadium at Columbia University in Manhattan or James M. Shuart Stadium at Hofstra on Long Island both seat less than 20,000, a number attainable from an unknown entity than the 45,000 or 53,000 at the Mets and Yanks new surroundings.

Bringing football back to New York will probably be a good marketing tool, but of the team ends up in either of the other locations listed (Rutgers Stadium, Princeton Stadium or the future home of the MLS Red Bulls in Harrison, New Jersey) then they will have to come up with something different.

The other UFL teams will be in Las Vegas, Orlando and San Francisco and all have former NFL head coaches leading them. Jim Fassel (Giants), Jim Hasslet (Saints, Rams) and Dennis Green (Vikings, Cardinals), respectively, will give the league instant credibility and known names, at least on the sidelines.

Just who will don the uniforms of these four teams remains to be seen. There is no question that there will be a wide pool to choose from with the AFL and NFL Europe no longer an option, but quantity does not exactly mean quality. There has been some speculation that Michael Vick may be destined for the new league if no NFL teams want to touch him once he’s eligible to play again.

During a press conference, UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue said, “The first UFL game will take place on October 8 at AT&T Park, the home venue of the San Francisco Giants,” which has been the only stadium announced. He further said,” We will commence (that week) for a total of seven weeks which will conclude with our championship game in Las Vegas,” which will take place during Thanksgiving weekend. Huyghue also stated that the cable network VERSUS will broadcast weekly games.

Certain games will also be played in neutral markets such as Los Angeles and Hartford, in all likelihood potential expansion cities for next season.

Will they be successful, especially going head-to-head against the NFL? Most critics have said that any league would be better off playing in the spring, such as the new USFL plans to do in 2010.

But with a chance to finally land a team in New York, are we in any position to be picky?

The New England Patriots don’t have to worry about the Giants this time going after one of their accomplishments. The last team to repeat as Super Bowl champions will have their consecutive titles from 2005 and 2006 stand at least for one more season following an upset 23-11 win by the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC Divisional game.

Having home field throughout the playoffs by being the number one seed in the conference, the Giants were unable to take advantage of that and had a lackluster performance in the most important game of the season. The Eagles, who needed everything to break right for them to even qualify for the postseason in Week 17, came into Giants Stadium and let the Giants stop their running game. They just took it to the air and were able to beat the defending champions with the right arm and feet of quarterback Donovan McNabb.

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A staunch Eagles defense were able to hold the Giants by stopping them twice on fourth down and holding them to only three of 13 conversions on third down. That, coupled with two missed field goals (46 and 47 yards) by John Carney, opened the door for McNabb, who was for all intents and purposes run out of town in Week 12, being benched at halftime in a blowout loss in Baltimore that dropped the team’s record to 5-5-1.

It has all been uphill for the Syracuse product since then, including a win in Minnesota in the wild card round. As many times that McNabb took advantage of opportunities in this game, the Giants did the exact opposite.

Even a 65-yard return by Ahmad Bradshaw on the opening kickoff only resulted in three points for the Giants. That was followed by the first of two Eli Manning interceptions, which set up the Eagles first touchdown on a one-yard sneak by McNabb for a 7-3 lead.

The Giants cut into that when Justin Tuck rushed McNabb and he committed an intentional grounding penalty while in his own end zone. The safety made the score 7-5, and Carney hit another field goal to give Big Blue a slim one-point lead with 1:38 left in the first half.

Perhaps the Eagles’ next drive set the tone for the rest of the game. McNabb drove them down the field to the Giants’ 7-yard line before having to settle for a 25-yard David Akers field goal. Heading into the locker room with a 10-8 lead meant a lot for a team that had only 34 yards of total offense before the two-minute drive.

“I think it played a big role as far as knowing what we needed to do to change,” McNabb said.

The teams traded field goals in the third quarter before Philadelphia went on a 10-play, 63-yard drive that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brent Celek on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 20-11 lead.

A questionable decision by Giant head coach Tom Coughlin came when running back Derrick Ward was stopped short in third down and three. Coughlin challenged the spot even though it was clear from replays that the spot was indeed accurate. The Giants lost the challenge and a time out, and compounded the problem when Manning was stuffed on fourth and one. The Eagles – who will face the Cardinals in Arizona next week in the NFC Championship Game – had the play read and Manning barely bent down low enough to even have a chance.

“We did tell Eli he might have to go out in the B gap rather than the A gap because you know they would be in the A gap.”

The Giants defense stopped the Eagles and gave the offense the ball back with just over 10 minutes remaining. Once again, running up the middle did not work and the Giants turned the ball over on downs following running back Brandon Jacobs attempt on fourth down and two.

Another interception by Manning and a fumble by wideout Steve Smith took away any hope for the Giants, who lost four of five after starting the season 11-1. “I think we are very disappointed,” Coughlin said. “Very, very sorry to see the season come to an end. Lots of remorse for opportunities lost.”

Too many to overcome on a day that the opponent didn’t have the same problem.

At least Jose Canseco is up front with us. He came right out and said that he needs money – in a hurry due to a bad divorce. He put up a challenge to anyone and everyone for a celebrity boxing spectacle in Atlantic City. The taker? Probably the smallest football player this side of David Meggett. No lineman, linebacker or even a tight end. No, Canseco lucked out with a return specialist, all 5’9″, 190 pounds of him.

Since hanging it up, Vai Sikahema has been a sportscaster in Philadelphia, where he played a good part of his career. Now the 45 year-old is a former Pro Bowler, as well as an ex-Gold Gloves participant. We all recall when he brought one back all the way at Giants Stadium and proceeded to throw combinations at the goal post padding with the home team logo.

Sikahema will receive $5,000 for the bout, courtesy of the Canseco’s challenge purse. To make the sideshow even more ridiculous, the match will not take place at one of the many casinos in town, where real boxing can be seen, but rather at a minor league baseball stadium, of all places. Bernie Robbins Stadium will hold more than America’s Pastime on July 12.

There have been no reports if the 6’4″, 240-pound former slugger turned two-time author will come onto the fight following a cycle. Readers of “Juiced” and “Vindicated” have to lean towards Canseco doing so, judging by his attitude towards performance-enhancing drugs.

For anyone who decides to attend these shenanigans, two former athletes should be able to entertain better than previous attempts at celebrity boxing, match-ups such as ‘Danny Patridge’ taking on ‘Greg Brady’ and Paula Jones versus Tonya Harding a few years ago.