'Twas two nights after Christmas, well not really at night
The Pack and the Cards were preparing to fight.
The sellouts counted their profits without a care,
And the faithful knew the enemy soon would be there.
The stadium was vibrant, with greens equaling reds,
Plus the visitors donning their ugly cheeseheads.
And BA in his kangol, and Michael in his suite,
Had just settled in to watch the NFL’s elite.
When out of the tunnel, Big Red did lead,
The NFC West Champs, looking for the number-two seed.
Electricity surged through the crowd in a flash,
Wolfley was jacked and so was Dave Pasch.
With Aaron Rodgers at the helm, the visitors had a chance
To celebrate scores with the “Discount Double-Check” Dance
Shutting him down was key, if the day was to be won…
Hey, did the Jumbotron just cut to Olivia Munn?
Don’t count out the Pack and their “referee’s luck”
And also the one-sided coverage from Aikman and Buck!
But fielding seven Pro Bowlers, and more with a claim,
The Cardinals were favored to win this big game.
"Now Deone! Now, Bethel! Now, Minter and Peterson!
On Calais and Frostee! Bring the whole savage season!
From the low of the trenches, to hawking the ball!
Now dominate, dominate, dominate all!
Tested they were, through five prime time games,
Yet they still hadn’t found any national acclaim.
It’s easy to leverage disrespect to get through this,
When ESPN claims your team is still from St. Louis.
The coin toss was brief, and I couldn't hear the call.
Not that it matters. Cards will take the ball.
With Carson under Center, why would they not?
It wouldn’t be long until they took a deep shot.
But first came the Big Red Siren, shrill and loud.
Then rose the frenzy from the divided crowd.
Finally, in an instant, I heard all the drums.
Kickoff approached against those Midwestern bums.
Yet for all of the adrenaline and all of the glee,
My thoughts then turned to Tyrann Mathieu’s knee.
He really should be here. It isn’t fair, it’s absurd
That our heart will finish the year on Injured Reserve.
Oh, how we will miss him, and how he flew through the air!
Too small for the League? Bah! Honey Badger don’t care!
Losing teammates before, it always did sting,
For a consolation, how about a championship ring?
That journey starts now, the playoffs are here,
Or at least it feels like a sudden-death atmosphere.
One more win for a bye, that is the goal,
Then we are two away from the Super Bowl!
It has been a season of wonder, one for the ages.
As I counted the fallen records in the program’s pages,
The realization suddenly came over me,
This is the best Cards team we may ever see.
So sit back and enjoy the ride, my Cardinal friend,
You never know how this season will end.
As BA would say, during his locker room mass,
"Team on three and let’s go kick some Wisconsin ass!"
