Parity at it finest in the nfl

[Box Cutta]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_NFL_season

That's tough luck for the Broncos but look...they lost both games to the Raiders....

Win those OT's and they make the playoffs.

Cleveland did what they knew they had to do since training camp...won their fukking division.

It's cold hearted. It's unforgiving. But that's just how it is. Everyone knows at the beginning of the season that their only guarantee of a playoff birth is winning their division.

You either win your division or your destiny is in the hands of other teams....

So people are fine with, hypothetically, a 6-10 division winner making it over an 11 win team?

If it were college football and a 8 team playoff I'm not sure how many people would co-sign the American Athletic Conference winner getting an automatic bid over SEC/Big 12/Pac 12 teams

College conferences are not synonymous to NFL divisions.

 

[FTBS]

lol @ a sports concept adopted by virtually every sport on american soil being a strawman argument. so theres something wrong with literally all sports? college hoops small conference teams can go undefeated all season and lose one game at the wrong time and some buttcheeks team makes the tourney with a 12-28 record. mlb teams annually get left out for division winners with better records. ditto for nfl teams. an nba team in the west would have first round homecourt in the east this year and will be watching the first round after a round of golf. lemme guess though its all good in college hoops and the nba because "those teams dont have a shot to achieve anything" if you cant win your division, and cant beat out 2 other teams for a playoff spot (both of whom this team in question got rolled the fukk up by), who really gives a fukk about that team being left out in the cold?

The strawman shyt is you suggesting that people are being inconsistent and only have an issues because it's the Cards when in reality nobody gives a fukk about the Cards . nikkas have an issue with the set-up because it's unfair.

Just because everybody does it doesn't make it right. There was a time when every sport on American soil didn't let black people play. Not comparing this to racism just making the point that just because something has been done and everybody is doing it doesn't make it right or fair (looks forward to this sentence being ignored). You can't compare college sports to pro sports purely because the gap between teams is so much wider. Every team that gets into the NFL playoffs has a legit shot at the SuperBowl due to A) parity and B) the fact that anything can happen in any given game. If you can't perform better over the course of a season than ALL of the teams you are getting a spot over do you really deserve that spot? Everyone is glossing over this point. You got nikkas getting a guaranteed spot over teams that had a better season than them and not only that they are hosting fukking playoff games.

Play in a weak/average division so you can host playoff games at 8-8 while 11-5 teams sit at home brehs.

 

[UserNameless]

Arizona beat....

Lions
Bucs
Panthers
Falcons
Texans
Jaguars
Colts
Rams
Titans
Seahawks


now only 3 of those teams actually have a winning record

now if only EVERY team got to play the same (weak) opponents they may have records that equal (orsurpass) that of the cards


and herein lies the problem, not every team plays every team in the legue. so you are rewarded by handling your own business.

your first goal every year is to win your division. then you win the conference then the super bowl

teams dont play to win a wild card spot.

People are confusing the idea of what a division winner means and what the rules and tie breaker procedures mandate. While I agree, the idea doesn't seem jibe with the procedure, that's just what it is.



What do we make of this???

The Cardinals are UNDER .500 verses their NFC West division (and still have an outside shot of making the playoffs) while Dallas is undefeated verses the NFC East, and have 1 game... 1 game to get in the playoffs.

Ideally, using a bare bones, eyeball test, Dallas should have clenched their division and be gauranteed a berth as a "reward" (as posted in the quote) for defeating all of the divisional foes placed in front of them. Philly is just 3-2 versus divisional foes, and could never close that gap.

Now...

Detroit, at 4-1 against divisional competition in the NFC North, will MISS the playoffs to either... the Bears or Green Bay — two teams whose record against divisional foes can only end as good as 1 game over .500.


So, the way some think about division winners — in a stripped down, traditional... amateur way — is not what the NFL is about.

And maybe that should be reconsidered, but any changes aside from maybe additional teams in the playoff picture would probably fukk up the money and shatter the illusion of hope some fanbases get year in year out throughout the season.



The NFL setup is somewhat reminiscent of a Ponzi scheme.
That's why the NFL is so intriguing to me... it truly is a microcosm of society in the United States on ALL levels.

All told. you just have to beat who's placed in front of you.

Divisional rivalry is what make the nfl special.

Again there's really no such thing as a "divisional rivalry" as it pertains to making the playoffs. Detroit beat ALL of their divisional rivals, and they're going fishing.

Divisional rivalry, outside of money making and opposing fanbase banter, is an illusion and that's why we have this thread and the bickering in it.

This ain't pop warner, high school or college or any other sport. It's the NFL. And there's money to be made. And fans to fool. That's why it stands alone.

With that said, can't wait 'til Sunday!

 

[FTBS]

That's tough luck for the Broncos but look...they lost both games to the Raiders....

Win those OT's and they make the playoffs.

Cleveland did what they knew they had to do since training camp...won their fukking division.

It's cold hearted. It's unforgiving. But that's just how it is. Everyone knows at the beginning of the season that their only guarantee of a playoff birth is winning their division.

You either win your division or your destiny is in the hands of other teams....

None of this makes if fair or logical though. No one is suggesting that that's not how it is or that teams are unaware of the set-up. People are saying that it's bullshyt and doesn't make sense. You are basically saying that a team that plays in a weak divsion and puts up 7, 8, 9 wins is more deserving and has proven themselves more than a team that happens to play in a division with another really good team or two and wins 10, 11, 12 games. There is no logic whatsoever in that thought process.

 

[MooseMouthMthafuga]

no, the whole concept of the playoffs is take the division winners and give them a chance to win the conference.



this isn't like the NBA or NHL or other leagues where every team plays pretty much the same schedule.


what makes a division terrible?
or better?


IMO four 8-8 teams is alot tougher division then a division with 2 teams at 12-4 and 2 teams at 4-12

The NFC West will more than likely be

hawks 13-3

49ers 11-5

Cardinals 11-5

Rams 8-8


That's a lot tougher division than four 8-8 teams.


Cardinals fans gotta be sick right now.They're on the way to having their best record in like 70 years and they still might miss the playoffs

Their only hope is for the Bucs to beat the Saints in New Orleans.....slim to none

 

[FTBS]

People are confusing the idea of what a division winner means and what the rules and tie breaker procedures mandate. While I agree, the idea doesn't seem jibe with the procedure, that's just what it is.



What do we make of this???

The Cardinals are UNDER .500 verses their NFC West division (and still have an outside shot of making the playoffs) while Dallas is undefeated verses the NFC East, and have 1 game... 1 game to get in the playoffs.

Ideally, using a bare bones, eyeball test, Dallas should have clenched their division and be gauranteed a berth as a "reward" (as posted in the quote) for defeating all of the divisional foes placed in front of them. Philly is just 3-2 versus divisional foes, and could never close that gap.

Now...

Detroit, at 4-1 against divisional competition in the NFC North, will MISS the playoffs to either... the Bears or Green Bay — two teams whose record against divisional foes can only end as good as 1 game over .500.


So, the way some think about division winners — in a stripped down, traditional... amateur way — is not what the NFL is about.

And maybe that should be reconsidered, but any changes aside from maybe additional teams in the playoff picture would probably fukk up the money and shatter the illusion of hope some fanbases get year in year out throughout the season.



The NFL setup is somewhat reminiscent of a Ponzi scheme.
That's why the NFL is so intriguing to me... it truly is a microcosm of society in the United States on ALL levels.

All told. you just have to beat who's placed in front of you.



Again there's really no such thing as a "divisional rivalry" as it pertains to making the playoffs. Detroit beat ALL of their divisional rivals, and they're going fishing.

Divisional rivalry, outside of money making and opposing fanbase banter, is an illusion and that's why we have this thread and the bickering in it.

This ain't pop warner, high school or college or any other sport. It's the NFL. And there's money to be made. And fans to fool. That's why it stands alone.

With that said, can't wait 'til Sunday!

I agree with much of what you said. Especially the bolded.

Only thing I take issue with is the idea that you just have to beat whose place in front of you. That isn't the case. If that were the case teams the beat who was place in front of them the most times would get spots rather than teams who beat who was place in front of them fewer times but happened to be surrounded by even worse teams. You points about money and the illusion are spot on though. They got nikkas so brainwashed that they will defend their every practice to the hilt and sit up and take pride in TV ratings and revenue as if they get a cut. Well put breh.

 

[UserNameless]

I agree with much of what you said. Especially the bolded.

Only thing I take issue with is the idea that you just have to beat whose place in front of you. That isn't the case. If that were the case teams the beat who was place in front of them the most teams would get spots rather than teams who beat who was place in front of them fewer teams but happened to be surrounded by even worse teams. You points about money and the illusion are spot on though. They got nikkas so brainwashed that they will defend their every practice to the hilt and sit up and take pride in TV ratings and revenue as if they get a cut. Well put breh.

When I use the somewhat cliched statement of "beat who's placed in front of you" it's in an ideal sense. The ideal sense that every team, every competitor has before the season starts, and hopefully during the season, too.

And if you come really close to that ideal, you better your chances of making the playoffs by accumulating more wins than everyone else.





The game is still played on the field and any team can win on any given Sunday, although some external factors can create some unfairness when it comes winning and making it to the postseason and winning it all.

 

[FTBS]

When I use the somewhat cliched statement of "beat who's placed in front of you" it's in an ideal sense. The ideal sense that every team, every competitor has before the season starts, and hopefully during the season, too.

And if you come really close to that ideal, you better your chances of making the playoffs by accumulating more wins than everyone else.





The game is still played on the field and any team can win on any given Sunday, although some external factors can create some unfairness when it comes winning and making it to the postseason and winning it all.

Unless of course everybody else plays in a sucky division and thusly gets a playoff spot before you and even a home game due to things that don't take place on the field (divisional alignment). The fact that any team can win on any given Sunday makes it all the more important that you ensure that the best of the best make the playoffs and get rewarded for what they did in the regular season, otherwise you pretty much make a mockery of the regular season and just reward whatever teams get hot at the right time from a sucky division.

 

[MooseMouthMthafuga]

but you don't understand that they don't play the same teams.
if you say they aren't equal then you have to agree that there are difference in calibres of teams.

so a team that gets to play a weaker division is gonna have a leg up on another division that plays against a tougher division.

looking at the final standings.
the NFC West had the easiest not division schedule in the NFL.

so clearly their records are gonna be inflated due to playing inferior competition.

b-b-b-b-but its not fair!!

It's too many variables that go into this shyt.

Cold teams get hot and start to surge.Jacksonville and Tennessee haven't been no cake walk the last 5 weeks.Especially in their home stadiums.

If you look at the Cardinals, you'd say "oh they beat the Jaguars and Titans..their record is inflated" but those were both road games, in a league full of parity, against two teams on a late season surge.

Any time you beat another NFL team on the road, that's a pure W.


shyt can change real fast in the NFL.At the beginning of the year, the Cardinals were ranked as having the #1 hardest schedule in the NFL...here we are at the end of the season and now some are saying it was weak

 

[G.O.A.T]

you are talking out your ass here. you talk about records, then talk about college football? y cant talk about better records deserving a shot then mention college football where they literally dont give a flying fukk about records. lets say northern illinois went unbeaten. youd rather see them in that playoff over a team like ohio st, stanford, baylor, oregon or ok state that would beat the fukking breaks off that shyt ass team? of course you wouldnt. you say you dont think anyone would want to see said northern illinois scenerio, then talk about the teams with the better records should get the shot

The college analogy was used mainly because of 'be the best out of your conf. and automatically get in' similarity. Yeah college is different because teams like NI vs OSU, Oregon are not playing the same teams or even same competitive level for wins to matter. The whole notion though that you should automatically get a spot because of where you are located I dont necessarily agree with in sports (NBA, NFL, MLB). With the NFL specifically, it would be hard to sschedule identical opponents

 

[Lakers Offseason]

Brehs, if you're not entertained by what's going on in this NFL season, then you're

 

[MooseMouthMthafuga]

they lost to the saints and niners, their direct wild card competition

It's still not over yet.They still have one more shot at the Niners at home.

If the Saints lose to the Bucs(Bucs always give the Saints problems.Beat them 3 outta the last 4 times they've played them) and the Cardinals beat the Niners, they get in.


I can't wait to see how it plays out.You catch teams either hot or cold.The Saints and the Niners caught the Cardinals when they were struggling earlier in the season.Looking at how teams have progressed through the season, I definitely think the Cardinals are a better team than the Saints, and just about even with the Niners.

Especially the Saints...they're fools gold

 

[SteelCitySoldier]

Y'all fools still arguing over this shyt...smh. I hope y'all had breakfast, washed your face and brushed your teeth before still arguing about this shyt. I just put in 10 hours at work, showered twice, ate breakfast and this shyt still going on. like homie said

Brehs, if you're not entertained by what's going on in this NFL season, then you're

but I got an even better solution

Brehs, if you're not entertained by what's going on in this NFL season, then

 

[Skooby]

I think it's time to get rid of divisions...in both the NBA and NFL. But NFL especially. Each year there is always an 11-5/10-6 team that misses the playoffs while a 9-7/8-8 team makes it.

A team shouldn't be penalized for playing in a tough conference.

 

[Big Boss]

@FTBS