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This sadly has become as much of a December tradition for New York football fans in recent years as watching It’s a Wonderful Life, Die Hard or A Christmas Story.

As we approach Christmas later this week — not to mention Festivus (Thursday, for those who celebrate!) — it’s that most wonderful time of the year when we get to consider the reasons for followers of the once-again eliminated Jets and Giants to sit through the remaining games for each local squad on their respective schedules.

Clearly, the state of metro-area football is as grim as ever, at least since the dual dark days of the 1970s.