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iknowftbll
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It's been a while since I've posted any real content here. So many reasons and I'm not going to bore you all with them. I'll get right to the topic for discussion.
Do you think the league's addition of a 17th game combined with 7 teams in the playoffs makes a 10 or 9 win team a stronger contender than a 10 or 9 win team in the 16 game 6 playoff team era?
For the record, only 4 teams in that era finished the regular season 10-6 and reached the Super Bowl. Only 3 finished 9-7 and reached the Super Bowl. Worth nothing, those 4 10-6 teams are collectively 4-0 in the Super Bowl while the 9-7 teams are collectively 1-2. But how does a 10 win team fare in the 17 game era? 17 games with 7 playoff teams, meaning only the #1 seed gets a bye week. Does this formula over the long haul increase the likelihood a lower seeded team upsets a higher seeded team in WC weekend? Does that lead to more momentum from lower seeds, resulting in higher seeds being up-ended in the Divisional round?
Furthermore, does the additional wear of the 17th game mean few "standout" higher seeds? For example, are the 13 and 14, even 15 win teams a thing of the past? Is 12-5 the new 14-2? Will the changes result in even more parity? Where a 9-8 team is virtually the same as a 12-5 team? To a great extent, the NFL playoffs were always a place this existed, even before the changes. How many times did we see a 12-4 team get smoked by a 9-7 team in the first round? We all watched our own 8-8 Broncos take a 12-4 Steelers team to the woodshed in a thriller back in 2011. So already the idea of the playoff upset is something we're all used to. But will it be even more common? So common even that a #7 team at 9-8 beating on the road an 11-6 or 12-5 #2 seed becomes common enough that it is no longer considered an upset?
Personally I think it's coming. I think teams are going to rest starters in weeks 17 and 18 and we're going to eventually start seeing a lot of 11-6 #1 seeds year after year. I think the the changes may lead to a lot of excitement if your team happens to be a bubble team any given year and gets hot at the right time (or simply has the planets align for them). But I think after several years of data (seasons/individual team records) are compiled and we have an appreciable sample to analyze, football historians are going to conclude the product is a watered-down shadow of its former self.
The NFL is on the decline. I firmly believe it. Perhaps not for the owners: they'll continue to make a great profit. But for fans, it's definitely in a nosedive. These changes are great for business, awful for actual fans.
And hopefully that will circle around and become bad for business. But it probably won't. Because eventually guys like me will be replaced by fans who've never known anything but the watered down version of the NFL we see under construction today.
Nonetheless, Go Broncos. I still love my team. I loath the NFL.
Do you think the league's addition of a 17th game combined with 7 teams in the playoffs makes a 10 or 9 win team a stronger contender than a 10 or 9 win team in the 16 game 6 playoff team era?
For the record, only 4 teams in that era finished the regular season 10-6 and reached the Super Bowl. Only 3 finished 9-7 and reached the Super Bowl. Worth nothing, those 4 10-6 teams are collectively 4-0 in the Super Bowl while the 9-7 teams are collectively 1-2. But how does a 10 win team fare in the 17 game era? 17 games with 7 playoff teams, meaning only the #1 seed gets a bye week. Does this formula over the long haul increase the likelihood a lower seeded team upsets a higher seeded team in WC weekend? Does that lead to more momentum from lower seeds, resulting in higher seeds being up-ended in the Divisional round?
Furthermore, does the additional wear of the 17th game mean few "standout" higher seeds? For example, are the 13 and 14, even 15 win teams a thing of the past? Is 12-5 the new 14-2? Will the changes result in even more parity? Where a 9-8 team is virtually the same as a 12-5 team? To a great extent, the NFL playoffs were always a place this existed, even before the changes. How many times did we see a 12-4 team get smoked by a 9-7 team in the first round? We all watched our own 8-8 Broncos take a 12-4 Steelers team to the woodshed in a thriller back in 2011. So already the idea of the playoff upset is something we're all used to. But will it be even more common? So common even that a #7 team at 9-8 beating on the road an 11-6 or 12-5 #2 seed becomes common enough that it is no longer considered an upset?
Personally I think it's coming. I think teams are going to rest starters in weeks 17 and 18 and we're going to eventually start seeing a lot of 11-6 #1 seeds year after year. I think the the changes may lead to a lot of excitement if your team happens to be a bubble team any given year and gets hot at the right time (or simply has the planets align for them). But I think after several years of data (seasons/individual team records) are compiled and we have an appreciable sample to analyze, football historians are going to conclude the product is a watered-down shadow of its former self.
The NFL is on the decline. I firmly believe it. Perhaps not for the owners: they'll continue to make a great profit. But for fans, it's definitely in a nosedive. These changes are great for business, awful for actual fans.
And hopefully that will circle around and become bad for business. But it probably won't. Because eventually guys like me will be replaced by fans who've never known anything but the watered down version of the NFL we see under construction today.
Nonetheless, Go Broncos. I still love my team. I loath the NFL.