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I think any discussion of the NFL Playoff format has to begin with the fact that the system is flawed but is probably the best it can be.
Conference seedings (perhaps ideally with best of three playoff series') would satisfy purists but would also change the definition of what it means to be the NFL Champion.
Now, the NFL Champion is the team that does well-enough in the Regular Season to make the Playoffs and then plays very well in January and February with a little help from Officials' calls, weather conditions and good old-fashioned luck (I hasten, this morning, to add that I mean "luck" with a small letter "l" ). For example, this morning, the last team I want to come into Foxboro next weekend is the Colts. They are hot and they are on a roll.
The Champion is not necessarily the "Best Team" on paper or on the field for 17 weeks during the regular season (just ask the 2001 Rams and the 2007 Patriots, among others), but it is the "Best Team" as defined by the rules today. Teams build their rosters and coach their players with the knowledge that the 53rd player can be as important to winning a SB in January and February as the League MVP (just ask David Tyree, who never played another down in the NFL after he glued that goddam ball to his helmet with Rodney on his back).
The game is so physical and violent that a full week's break between games when a Championship is at stake is necessary (I also think that Thursday games after a Sunday during the Regular Season are a very bad idea, as apparently do many players, but that train left the station a long time ago). This means that "best of three" playoff series' would extend the Season into April.
Division rivalries are an important part of team and League marketing. Pats-Jets. Steelers-Ravens. Packers-Bears. Seahawks-'niners. Every team in the NFC East against every other team in the NFC East. Etc. The prize of winning the Division has to be worth something. Hosting at least one Playoff game is a reasonable incentive.
So, we're left with an "all or nothing" prize, unlike the other three major sports where your regular season finish only gets you one more game at home out of a potential five or seven.
The Saints took a lot of air out of the argument for changing the format last night. The odds-makers think that San Francisco will do the same this afternoon in Green Bay.
Moreover, in recent years, the SB winner has at times just snuck into the Playoffs and then battled it out on the road to get the right to play for the Lombardi. I kind of like that...almost as much as I hate it.
Conference seedings (perhaps ideally with best of three playoff series') would satisfy purists but would also change the definition of what it means to be the NFL Champion.
Now, the NFL Champion is the team that does well-enough in the Regular Season to make the Playoffs and then plays very well in January and February with a little help from Officials' calls, weather conditions and good old-fashioned luck (I hasten, this morning, to add that I mean "luck" with a small letter "l" ). For example, this morning, the last team I want to come into Foxboro next weekend is the Colts. They are hot and they are on a roll.
The Champion is not necessarily the "Best Team" on paper or on the field for 17 weeks during the regular season (just ask the 2001 Rams and the 2007 Patriots, among others), but it is the "Best Team" as defined by the rules today. Teams build their rosters and coach their players with the knowledge that the 53rd player can be as important to winning a SB in January and February as the League MVP (just ask David Tyree, who never played another down in the NFL after he glued that goddam ball to his helmet with Rodney on his back).
The game is so physical and violent that a full week's break between games when a Championship is at stake is necessary (I also think that Thursday games after a Sunday during the Regular Season are a very bad idea, as apparently do many players, but that train left the station a long time ago). This means that "best of three" playoff series' would extend the Season into April.
Division rivalries are an important part of team and League marketing. Pats-Jets. Steelers-Ravens. Packers-Bears. Seahawks-'niners. Every team in the NFC East against every other team in the NFC East. Etc. The prize of winning the Division has to be worth something. Hosting at least one Playoff game is a reasonable incentive.
So, we're left with an "all or nothing" prize, unlike the other three major sports where your regular season finish only gets you one more game at home out of a potential five or seven.
The Saints took a lot of air out of the argument for changing the format last night. The odds-makers think that San Francisco will do the same this afternoon in Green Bay.
Moreover, in recent years, the SB winner has at times just snuck into the Playoffs and then battled it out on the road to get the right to play for the Lombardi. I kind of like that...almost as much as I hate it.