This is Covid-19’s year. The virus has dominated the news cycle, as well it should. We’re closing in on 300,000 deaths in this country, and while vaccines are on the way, they have not yet arrived.

Professional sports have tried to adapt in the face of what’s happening. Some have done so better than others. 

The NBA created a bubble and finished their remaining games, crowing a champion. Major League Baseball modified its schedule dramatically and managed to play the whole postseason without any massive outbreaks.

Now, in December, the NFL dominates most sports commentary. The league is trying to forge ahead, and all indications are that it will make it through the rest of the season. For all the football junkies out there, let’s look at some of the biggest storylines to watch as the playoffs approach.

Covid-19 Versus the League

Covid-19 has to be one of the biggest NFL storylines. It was back in Week 1, and it still is now. If you look at the way the pandemic is changing sports, you must acknowledge two things concerning the NFL. 

They are:

• The NFL decided to proceed with no bubble like the NBA set up
• The league has pushed through, even though there have been significant outbreaks

Realistically, not playing football this year would have been the smartest thing to do. The NFL decided that setting up a bubble, like the NBA did, was impractical. That meant they’d have players flying all over the country and then playing a game where they slam into each other with no masks on.

Outbreaks were inevitable. The Baltimore Ravens have experienced the biggest one to this point. Two weeks ago, they had over twenty players and coaching staff members on the Covid-19 list, making them unable to play, practice, or even visit team facilities.

Other teams have had outbreaks as well. Every Denver Broncos quarterback on the roster participated in a team meeting, and the league determined that one of them had risked Covid-19 exposure.

The NFL top brass banned all of them from playing for a week, and the team had to start a wide receiver at the quarterback position. The team lost by 31 points.

We’ll see how big of an impact the virus has for the rest of the season.

Will the Jets Go 0-16?

Up till earlier this week, there were two questions for NFL fans and talking heads. They were:

• Would the Steelers go 16-0?
• Would the Jets go 0-16?

Last night, the Washington Football Team went into Pittsburgh and stunned the previously undefeated Steelers, beating them 23-17. Washington had not won at Pittsburgh since 1991. They defeated the presumptive AFC North Champions with a stifling defense, capping off their efforts with a fourth-quarter tipped-ball interception, effectively ending the game.

This leaves the question of whether the Jets will run the table in the opposite direction, losing the remainder of their games. They seem fully capable of doing it. They flirted with a victory against the Raiders this past weekend but snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, getting their defensive coordinator fired in the process.

Conventional wisdom indicates that the Jets will tank at this point, intentionally losing their remaining games to get the number one draft pick. However, while that makes sense, it’s humiliating to go 0-16. We’ll keep an eye on that situation as well.

Brady and Belichick’s Success

After last year, the unthinkable happened: Tom Brady left the New England Patriots after twenty years. He left with six rings and the GOAT moniker, Greatest of All Time. No other quarterback has more than four Superbowl Championship rings.

The question everyone wanted to ask was: would coach Bill Belichick have more success staying in New England without Brady, or would Brady have more success with his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Up to this point, Brady’s Bucs are 7-5, while Belichick has guided the Pats to a 6-6 record with new quarterback Cam Newton, a Carolina Panthers castoff.

It’s hard to say who will come out on the winning side until the year’s end. At 43, Brady isn’t what he once was. However, he has many offensive weapons around him, and he might play his best football the rest of December and make a deep postseason run.

Belichick has a diminished Cam Newton who can’t run like he once could, and the Bills are dominating the AFC East this year. Either the Bucs or Pats, if they make the playoffs, probably won’t make it past the first round, or maybe the second. But it’s hard to bet against either Brady or Belichick in the postseason, even if they’re no longer together.

Can the Chiefs Repeat?

The last story to watch is whether the remarkable Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs can repeat as Superbowl Champions. The last repeat champion was the Brady-and-Belichick Patriots back in ‘03-04.

This year, the NFL has changed the playoff format. Only the number one seed from each conference will have a first-round bye.

The Chiefs currently have an 11-1 record, matching the Steelers, who lost last night. If the Chiefs can lock up that first-round bye, that makes them an even better Superbowl pick.

Simply put, the smart money is on Mahomes and the Chiefs to repeat, and Vegas agrees, pandemic or no pandemic. Mahomes is changing the quarterback position. Everyone else looks pedestrian, while this guy is putting up video game-like numbers every week.

The AFC Conference game might well be the Chiefs and Steelers, with the Chiefs coming out on top. On the NFC side of things, the Saints and Packers seem to be rounding into form at the right time.

It could be Aaron Rogers and the Packers versus Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, with the two State Farm insurance spokesmen facing off. If so, expect a Chiefs victory. They have the better-rounded team and the irrepressible Mahomes under center, which should make all the difference.