Nonstopdrivel
13 years ago
Now that the 9-7 New York Giants have made it to the Super Bowl, I think it's high time to trot out this oldie-but-goodie from CHFF. Click on the link to read the entire article. There are some interesting tidbits in there about your very own Green Bay Packers that you might not have known before.

Moral hazard and the modern playoffs  
Cold, Hard Football Facts for January 14, 2009

By Kerry J. Byrne
Cold, Hard Football Facts

If it seems odd that two nine-win teams will battle for the NFC title on Sunday, there's a good reason.

It is odd – as odd as the number on Donovan McNabb's or Kurt Warner's jersey (that would be 5 or 13, for those of you keeping score at home).

In fact, you have to go all the way back to the 1967 NFL championship game – better known as the Ice Bowl – to find a league or conference title game that pitted two nine-win teams. The 9-4-1 Packers hosted the 9-5 Cowboys at frosty Lambeau Field that famous day.

But at least those teams had an excuse: they played back in the 14-game era. Given two more games each, it's reasonable to expect that at least one of those teams, and probably both, would have won at least 10 games.

So, yes, the Eagles (9-6-1) and Cardinals (9-7) are a pair of rare birds. And no matter what happens on Sunday, the Super Bowl will feature a nine-win team for just the third time in history (the 1967 Packers and 1979 L.A. Rams are the others).

It's a nice a little story for those who enjoy football fairy tales about plucky little teams that threaten to win it all.

To the Cold, Hard Football Facts, it's a perversion of the natural order of things and the latest manifestation of a disturbing trend that has come to dominate, and diminish, the playoffs over the past four years. It's a trend that:

[list]

  • Calls into question the wisdom of four-team divisions and the realignment of 2002.
  • Calls into question the current playoff structure created by realignment.
  • Diminishes the importance of the brutal 16-game regular season.
  • Virtually destroys what used to be known as home-field "advantage" in the playoffs.[/list]
  • Put most simply, the NFL needs to take steps to create better and more just playoff system. Simply look at the chaos realignment created here in the 2008 NFL postseason:

    [list]
  • A 12-4 team (Indy) had to go on the road to face an 8-8 team (San Diego).
  • A 9-7 team (Arizona) hosts not one but two playoff games, both of them against teams with better regular-season records.
  • An 11-5 team (New England), which beat 9-7 Arizona by 40 points just a few weeks ago, is forced to sit at home and watch it all unfold on TV, missing the playoffs even though its record equaled or bettered that of three of the four title-game contenders.
  • An 8-8 team (San Diego) reached the playoffs while not one but four teams with better records across the two conferences did not (Dallas, Chicago, N.Y. Jets, New England).[/list]
  • Quite frankly, the widely criticized BCS offers a better system than what the NFL has given us since 2002.

    To put it most bluntly, the NFL acts as if it could hardly care less about the blood and shattered bodies scattered across pro football arenas for 17 weeks from September to December.

    http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Articles/11_2637_Moral_hazard_and_the_modern_playoffs.html 

    Kelly J. Byrne wrote:


    UserPostedImage
    Zero2Cool
    13 years ago
    Article has some accuracy issues. First one that I noticed the Giants in '07 were not the 6th seed, they were 5th and I think the Redskins were the 6th.
    UserPostedImage
    Fan Shout
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    dfosterf (6h) : Resulting in an actual drop of net revenue of 12.5%. She is from Minnesota. Just sayin'
    dfosterf (6h) : Any plans to hold Maureen Smith (CFO) accountable for a 95% drop in investment revenue?
    Mucky Tundra (7h) : In your face, HBO!
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    dfosterf (7h) : *cafeteria* I have hit my head also, so I sympathize
    dfosterf (7h) : Possibly hit his head leaning into the glass protecting the food in the cafateria
    dfosterf (7h) : Maybe a low flying drone
    dfosterf (7h) : Did Savion Williams run into a goalpost or something?
    Mucky Tundra (7h) : also, no bueno when a guy starts getting concussions right off the bat in his career
    Zero2Cool (8h) : Concussion is worse. Banks probably vet off day via back booboo claim
    Mucky Tundra (10h) : @AndyHermanNFL Jordy Nelson out at camp today. No word if he’s in play for one of the two open roster spots ; )
    dfosterf (10h) : Is that better or worse than Banks bad back?
    Zero2Cool (11h) : Savion concussion ... not good.
    packerfanoutwest (24-Jul) : Aaron Rodgers’s first pass of first team period was picked off
    Mucky Tundra (24-Jul) : tbh I didn't hear of his passing
    Zero2Cool (24-Jul) : Cosby Show. Malcom Jamal Warner I think is real name
    Mucky Tundra (24-Jul) : I was thinking of Ozzy and Hulk
    Mucky Tundra (24-Jul) : Who's Theo?
    Zero2Cool (24-Jul) : How is Theo alliteration?
    Mucky Tundra (24-Jul) : Bad week for people whose names are alliterations
    Zero2Cool (24-Jul) : Hulk Hogan gone too.
    Zero2Cool (24-Jul) : Oh, it's toe injury
    Zero2Cool (24-Jul) : Hope it's not serious. that would stink
    dfosterf (24-Jul) : Sounds like an ankle not a knee for Fields
    dfosterf (24-Jul) : Ya Flaccp on Browns
    Zero2Cool (24-Jul) : Maybe Tyrod Taylor instead
    Zero2Cool (24-Jul) : He's on Browns, right?
    dfosterf (24-Jul) : They would probably go with Flacco is my guess if Fields out
    dfosterf (24-Jul) : Fleece 'em again!
    Zero2Cool (24-Jul) : Malik Willis might be someone Jets come after
    packerfanoutwest (24-Jul) : Packers introduce 1923-inspired classic uniform, leather-look helmet
    Zero2Cool (23-Jul) : Both LB Quay Walker and Rookie DB Micah Robinson have passed their physicals
    Zero2Cool (23-Jul) : Happy to see site feels more snappy snappy
    Zero2Cool (23-Jul) : No sir. I did not.
    dfosterf (23-Jul) : You didn't get free childcare when you were at work?
    wpr (23-Jul) : These guys make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Pay for their own childcare.
    dfosterf (23-Jul) : 2nd issue. Number 1 issue was no gameday childcare. 1 of 3 teams not providing it
    Zero2Cool (23-Jul) : Suppose if locker room is main issue, we sitting pretty
    wpr (23-Jul) : I thought so Mucky. In those useless player polls GB always rates high overall. Locker is a part of it.
    Mucky Tundra (23-Jul) : Wasn't the locker room just updated like 6 or 7 years ago?
    Zero2Cool (23-Jul) : I have forum updated on different site. We'll see how this one goes before going to that
    Zero2Cool (23-Jul) : Elgton Jenkins has a back injury, is expect to end contract dispute
    wpr (23-Jul) : It's funny the PA complained about the locker room. It wasn't that long ago it was top shelf. Things change in a hurry.
    wpr (23-Jul) : The site is much more better.
    Zero2Cool (23-Jul) : NFLPA report said Packers lockerroom needed upgrade. Whining bout where you change?
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