2014 NFL Offseason

[Green Habit]

Keep fighting the good fight, Jim Kelly.

And now Ralph Wilson has died. Sad few days for Bills fans.

[Mecca]

[Self]

So Belichick's not a union guy either? He really makes it way too easy for people to hate him--not that he cares.

[Green Habit]

Heh, nice.

So, it looks like the playoffs are going to expand to 14 teams--if not this year then 2015. I've long been opposed to this, but after doing some research on the teams that would have made it as #7 seeds...I'm not sure now. I crosschecked those teams with FO's DVOA rankings and there were some decent teams that got left out. I've only looked at the seasons from 2000 onward--maybe I'll keep going back if I feel like it. Here are some of the real notable teams (parentheses are the team they would have traveled to:

--2000 Packers (Vikings): Oh man, I didn't realize how much this season sucked for the Packers in the end. They missed the playoffs despite sweeping the Vikings (including the HE DID WHAT? play) and DVOA saying they were the better team (this was also the season the Giants vaporized the Vikings 41-0 in the playoffs). This would have been a great playoff game.
--2001 Redskins (Bears): Martyball's only season in DC--does a playoff berth keep him there? Probably not.
--2002 Broncos (Titans): Should have made the playoffs in real life over the Browns. NE and MIA were better too.
--2002 Saints (Bucs): Do the Bucs still win the Super Bowl if they have to play this game, since the Saints swept them that year? I sure hope so.
--2003 Vikings (Rams): Paul Allen's blood-curdling scream on one of the worst moments in Vikings history never happens.
--2005 Chiefs (Broncos): Yikes, this would have been a good (and scary) game. DVOA had the Broncos and Chiefs as #2 and #3. It would have been in Denver so the odds would traditionally favor the Broncos. Then again, they won in 1997 at Arrowhead, and I'm sure the Chiefs would have loved to return the favor.
--2005 Vikings (Bears): Does Mike Tice get fired immediately after a playoff game like he did in real life? Also, these two teams would have played in back to back weeks, except the Bears sat their starters in the regular season.
--2006 Broncos (Ravens): Darrent Williams is probably still alive today.
--2007 Browns (Colts): The New Browns team with the best record doesn't get shut out of the playoffs. Ironic that in real life they didn't make it because the Colts sat starters against #6 seed Tennessee.
--2008 Patriots (Steelers): Obviously this 11-5 team had to make the list. Only problem is that the eventual SB champion Steelers destroyed them at Foxboro that year.
--2008 Bucs (Panthers): Jon Gruden might not have been fired despite losing the last four games of the regular season (boy, did he and Shanny both choke their jobs away that year), especially if he beats a rival here.
--2009 Steelers (Chargers): They beat the Chargers in Pittsburgh that year, and they'd likely turn Qualcomm into a home playoff game...
--2010 Giants (Bears): DVOA had them #9 and better than the Bears. If they won this game you would have had NYG/ATL and SEA/GB as your divisional games. Could the Giants have created more playoff heartbreak for the Packers?
--2011 Bears (49ers): This was the infamous season where they started 7-3 and then Cutler got hurt and lost five straight, including being the victim of the craziest of the Tebow victories. IIRC they were hoping Cutler would have been healthy for the playoffs--who knows what could have happened?
--2012 Bears (49ers): Could Lovie Smith still have the Bears job if he made the playoffs at 10-6 instead of missing them?
--2013 Steelers (Patriots): Ryan Succop's missed FG only means that PIT gets screwed out of traveling to CIN instead of NE, not missing the playoffs altogether.
--2013 Cardinals (Panthers): ARI beat CAR 22-6 in the regular season. If they do it again, they travel to Seattle, the only team to win there that year. Could they beat the Seahawks again? I sure hope they could.

[Lament]

--2010 Giants (Bears): DVOA had them #9 and better than the Bears. If they won this game you would have had NYG/ATL and SEA/GB as your divisional games. Could the Giants have created more playoff heartbreak for the Packers?

The day after Christmas 45-17 pasting the Packers dropped on the Giants suggests not.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/b ... 260gnb.htm

It was during this absolute annihilation that I thought "Holy shit...this Packers team really might win the Super Bowl..."

[Green Habit]

--2010 Giants (Bears): DVOA had them #9 and better than the Bears. If they won this game you would have had NYG/ATL and SEA/GB as your divisional games. Could the Giants have created more playoff heartbreak for the Packers?

The day after Christmas 45-17 pasting the Packers dropped on the Giants suggests not.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/b ... 260gnb.htm

It was during this absolute annihilation that I thought "Holy shit...this Packers team really might win the Super Bowl..."

The Giants took down the 15-1 Packers the next season. Shit happens in the playoffs, and it seems to happen more frequently when a Tom Coughlin team gets in. I can sympathize with Packers fans on this front.

[Lament]

Yeah, but the 2011 Packers barely squeaked by the Giants in the first week of December (they won on a last second field goal) and never really got their mojo back after that game. They destroyed Oakland the next week, but then lost to Kansas City, won a very ugly game against the Bears, and won the Matt Flynn shoot out with Detroit. In 2011 it was the Giants game that first made the Packers look like they weren't a sure bet after the big win in Detroit the week before (and showed the Giants, when on their game, could easily hang with the Packers). The 2011 teams were far more evenly matched than the 2010 teams, and I think the two December games attest to that (every bit as much as the January 2012 playoff game proves it).

[Green Habit]

Yeah, but the 2011 Packers barely squeaked by the Giants in the first week of December (they won on a last second field goal) and never really got their mojo back after that game. They destroyed Oakland the next week, but then lost to Kansas City, won a very ugly game against the Bears, and won the Matt Flynn shoot out with Detroit. In 2011 it was the Giants game that first made the Packers look like they weren't a sure bet after the big win in Detroit the week before (and showed the Giants, when on their game, could easily hang with the Packers). The 2011 teams were far more evenly matched than the 2010 teams, and I think the two December games attest to that (every bit as much as the January 2012 playoff game proves it).

Maybe you're right, and 2010 NYG/GB in January is another blowout. Still, I think the NFL would have been quite happy with the prospect of that game, which could be one of the reasons they're expanding the playoffs in the first place. It doesn't have the cachet that GB/CHI did, but still...

Another reason why I think I'm softening up to this inevitability is that it slightly lessens the injustice of a mediocre team getting in by winning a bad division, since there's one less better team getting pushed out. The NFL still needs to stop giving division champs automatic home games in the first round, though. Unfortunately, if they didn't change it after the 7-9 Seahawks got the 11-5 Saints in their foreboding house, I don't know what it will take to get it changed.

[Coach]

What's wrong with the current playoff format? I know expanding it = more $$ for the NFL, but I like that some teams get "screwed" every year. The current system puts more emphasis on winning the division and overall divisional match-ups, since you win your division and you're in.

[Lament]

The automatic home game really doesn't bother me at all. I know a lot of people hate that rule, but on a purely philosophical level it makes sense to me.

I don't really have an opinion on the extra wild card yet. I would probably lean towards not liking it, but honestly I'm pretty indifferent so far. I'm sure at some point I'll come across some argument about it that sways me one way or the other, but nothing has yet.

[Mecca]

might as well just burn the record books! everyone'll get into the playoffs pretty soon!!!

[verb_to_trust]

What's wrong with the current playoff format? I know expanding it = more $$ for the NFL, but I like that some teams get "screwed" every year. The current system puts more emphasis on winning the division and overall divisional match-ups, since you win your division and you're in.

Mark Cuban is right..... the NFL is getting too big and it will ultimately damage the product.

[Simple Torture]

How exactly would the extra wildcard work? Only one team gets a bye and then the three other division winners play the three wild cards?

[Green Habit]

How exactly would the extra wildcard work? Only one team gets a bye and then the three other division winners play the three wild cards?

Yep, 2/7, 3/6, and 4/5 matchups.

[warehouse]

the eagles release desean jackson less than an hour after an article linking him w/ gang members is published online

here's the article: http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2014 ... ubles.html

[Harry Lime]

And Cooper gets the huge contract

The eagles are RACIST!

[Green Habit]

the eagles release desean jackson less than an hour after an article linking him w/ gang members is published online

here's the article: http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2014 ... ubles.html

I knew there was something fishy going on....

http://forums.theskyiscrape.com/viewtop ... 49#p266749

Serious question: why on earth did DeSean Jackson have $250,000 worth of cash in his house? I hope it's just because he's a moron (which seems likely), because that would actually be the best case scenario....

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/244247 ... um=twitter

[epilogue]

@AlbertBreer: Per a Raiders source, Oakland has agreed to a three-year deal with Maurice Jones-Drew, pending a physical. (As @AdamSchefter said)

Thought GH might get a kick out of:
@fbgchase: The Raiders may not be great this year but watch out for this team in 2009

[Green Habit]

@AlbertBreer: Per a Raiders source, Oakland has agreed to a three-year deal with Maurice Jones-Drew, pending a physical. (As @AdamSchefter said)

Thought GH might get a kick out of:
@fbgchase: The Raiders may not be great this year but watch out for this team in 2009

Yeah, I thought about that earlier when I realized that MJD and McFadden were now on the same team. All they need to do to keep that trend going now is to sign DeSean Jackson! If Al Davis was still alive you know he would have already done that by now.

[warehouse]

my buddy actually told me oakland was one of the teams interested in jackson. jets, seahawks, 49ers were the others. sleeper is KC.