Karma is a concept that goes deeper than the intellectual class of this blog, but let’s humour ourselves for just a minute and try to explain why karma killed the Denver Broncos this season.

We won’t get all theoretical on your asses, but the basic premise of karma is that what goes around comes around. In week 2, as we all know by now, a bad call from referee Ed Hochuli cost the San Diego Chargers a victory.

The benefactor that day: the Denver Broncos.

The Chargers went on to have a season that was, for the most part, sour. They finally got things together in December, in time to set up a rematch with the Broncos with the AFC West title on the line.

And although there’s no way to believe that karma played a role as San Diego pummeled Denver on Sunday night, the result absolved Hochuli -- otherwise a pretty good official whose career would have forever been tainted -- of most of his guilt, while making the football gods smile.

Things seem right now.

From the realists out there, you’ll hear that this had nothing to do with this metaphysical concept. Karma’s premise is that the effects of all deeds affect future events. With that, we’re getting all Butterfly Project on you, but all that really matters is this: according to believers, you can have good karma (things are primed to break your way), or bad karma (your luck’s about to run out).

The Broncos couldn’t have had good karma. The Chargers, who were screwed by Hochuli 16 weeks ago, then had to spend the next two months trouncing around the globe (including an unhappy visit to London) thanks to a nearly impossible schedule, were practically swimming in the good stuff.

Those realists will argue that the Chargers were simply the better team, and that they just barely had enough time to prove it before the regular-season clock ran out.

They’d be right. Prior to Sunday night’s game, the Bolts had scored 38 more points than the Broncos while allowing 70 fewer. San Diego’s done that without its best defensive player in Shawne Merriman. The Broncos, on the other hand, have what many talking heads have called the worst defence in the league.

And let’s face it, if you had to bet your life on either the Chargers or the Broncos next weekend against the Indianapolis Colts, picking Denver could land you on suicide watch.

Another argument that this was all about brawn and not about mystical theories is that the Chargers didn’t need a lucky break or botched call to beat the Broncos Sunday. They played the most complete game of their season, leaving no crucial decisions for the zebras to fumble.

No, this was just a good old fashioned whopping. And regardless of whether karma was on their side, the right team is in the playoffs. Football fans can take solace in that.

And for the first time in 105 days, Hochuli can relax those muscles.

Week 17 one-liners

• One thing the Rams can be excited about, aside from having a top-three pick in the draft, is the way Steven Jackson finished the season.

• The NFL would have had a whole new controversy on its hands had those Ralph Wilson Stadium goal posts moved during a field goal attempt.

• Once upon a time, the Bills were 4-0.

• The Pats are 42-0 on their last 42 games when leading at the half.

• If only Andre Johnson could do on the road what he can do at home…

• It’s tough to tell who the Vikes are better off with, Tarvaris Jackson or Gus Frerotte. We’re betting Jackson starts next weekend, but there’s a lot of uncertainty there for a playoff team and division winner.

• Bears players reportedly had their BlackBerries out on the sideline, trying to find the score of the Vikings game. Turns out they should have been paying more attention to their own.

• Derrick Ward could be a playoff hero.

• Drew Brees: easily the ugliest 5,000-yard season we’ve ever seen.

• Passing yards are overrated anyway. You get most of ‘em because you’re trailing or have no running game.

• You do have to give Brees credit for what he did this year with a bad defence, bad running game and injuries to the receiving corps.

• Notice how three of the four bye teams are predominantly rushing teams?

• Sophomore mistake from Mike Tomlin, letting Ben Roethlisberger stay in the game that long.

• Yes it’s early, but we’re thinking Michael Bush is better than Darren McFadden.

• We’re also thinking Jeff Garcia has played his last game as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer.

• Monte Kiffin decided to leave Tampa to join his son at the University of Tennessee four weeks ago. The Bucs never won again.

• Cadilllac Williams worked so hard to come back from what was thought to be a career-ending injury, so we’re praying the knee injury he suffered Sunday won’t send him back to long-term rehab.

• Had the Colts not taken a five-yard delay of game penalty on their first drive, Peyton Manning wouldn’t have reached the 4,000-yard mark. Unless of course Tony Dungy tossed him back in the game for an extra play or two.

• Jim Sorgi’s a pretty solid backup. At least against backups.

• Dallas hasn’t won its regular-season finale since 1999.

• Despite the loss, it was nice to see Tony Romo, Jason Witten and Terrell Owens making up … all within one play. Romo found a way to get both the ball when he tossed it back and across to Witten on a broken play. Witten went on to find Owens open down the field.

• Browns futility update: Cleveland scored a total of 31 points and had zero offensive touchdowns in its last six games.

• The Ravens didn’t give up 14 points in a single home game this season, the first time that’s happened in the Super Bowl era.

• Edgerrin James with 100 rushing yards! How ‘bout it, Mr. Whisenhunt, maybe the Tim Hightower era came on too quickly.

• How did the Redskins end up 8-8?

• Chad Pennington threw 12 less interceptions, threw for 214 more yards, and had a passer rating that was 12.4 points higher than Brett Favre.

• OK, so is Tom Brady ahead or behind schedule? It can’t be both, which has us thinking the Pats are up to some shenanigans.

• An 11-5 team should never be allowed to miss the playoffs.

• We wouldn’t be surprised if Jerry Jones did something drastic … soon.

Extremely early wild-card round predictions

AFC

(6) Baltimore beats (3) Miami -- Ultimately, who’s the better team here?

(4) San Diego beats (5) Indianapolis -- Indy’s hotter and better, but it has trouble against San Diego.

NFC

(6) Philadelphia beats (3) Minnesota -- Jim Johnson’s defence baffles whoever the Vikes use at quarterback.

(5) Atlanta beats (4) Arizona -- A rare no-doubter for the wild-card entry; we’re betting the Falcons are slight favourites, too.

The Final Ten

The Goal-Line Stand is off to Jamaica for a quick vacation sandwiched in between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs, so here’s the final edition of The Ten:

1. Tennessee Titans (hard to take week 17 into consideration)
2. New York Giants (same deal)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (without Big Ben, it’s over)
4. Carolina Panthers (survived)
5. Indianapolis Colts (wanna bet they were quietly rooting for Denver?)
6. Baltimore Ravens (impressive finish)
7. New England Patriots (but no playoffs)
8. Miami Dolphins (but can they beat the Ravens?)
9. Philadelphia Eagles (as good as done one month ago)
10. Atlanta Falcons (not a pretty performance, but another win)

You’ll notice that we have the four wild-card teams ahead of the four division champs they play this upcoming weekend, which is why this could be a wild January.

Team of the week: Philadelphia Eagles

Put your hand up if you saw the Eagles plowing Dallas by 38 points in a do-or-die scenario Sunday. Credit the Cowboys simply playing like crap, but some credit is still due to Donovan McNabb and the Eagles, who have been dominant in December.

And how about that defence? Philly’s D hasn’t surrendered a touchdown in three games.

Player of the week: Michael Turner

Falcons GM Tom Dimitroff has to get credit for the best offseason acquisition of 2008. Turner stepped up with rookie quarterback Matt Ryan struggling Sunday, and had 208 yards on 25 carries. Turner had 200-yard days to bookend his season, and falls one yard short of 1,700 on the year.

Settling the pace

• Brees finished just 16 yards short of Dan Marino’s all-time single season passing yards mark.

• Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware had no sacks against the Eagles. He finishes two and a half sacks short of Michael Strahan’s single-season sack record.

• The Dolphins finished the year with only 13 turnovers, the fewest ever in a 16-game season.

MVP watch

Hard to tell if there were a lot of good candidates this year, or just no standout candidates. By default (any other suggestions), Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is the NFL’s MVP. With him, Indy was 12-4. Without him, it would have been 6-10, maybe.

Player of the Year watch

We’re going to give the offensive player of the year award to Adrian Peterson, who really was the primary reason the Vikes survived to win the NFC North. The NFL’s leading rusher edges out Manning. Ware takes home the honours on the defensive side of the ball.

Rookie of the Year watch

Atlanta’s Ryan and New England’s Jerod Mayo wrapped up the offensive and defensive rookie of the year awards weeks ago.

Ray Edwards single-season sack record watch

Edwards, the little-known Vikings defensive end, said in the offseason he planned on breaking Michael Strahan’s single-season sack record of 22.5. We’ll track his progress here each week.

Edwards was held sack-less against the Giants. For the second straight season, he finishes with five sacks. Oh well, there’s always next year.