NFL Playoff Scenarios as Complex and Interesting as Ever

As the NFL heads into the final week of the regular season, the playoff scenarios are as, as always, far from certain. The league wants it this way, candidly, as it endeavors to sustain interest in as many cities as possible for as long as possible.

Columnist George Will, a solidly right wing conservative that even a left leaning moderate such as myself can respect, once said that the NFL combines the worst thing about America: violence punctuated by committee meetings.

And yet, the NFL reigns supreme over not just all other American sports, but all other entertainment in the country.

There are three legs to the stool of NFL popularity. One undeniably is the gambling aspect. Loathe as the league might be to admit it, if gambling on NFL games were eliminated, people would suddenly realize that perhaps NFL games were quite as vital to their everyday being as they currently assume them to be.

Another leg to the stool is fantasy football...which, in reality, is a form of gambling for many.

Taking the unseemly aspects out of it, though, the NFL is king for another reason as well. More than any other league, the NFL can create the perception (a cynic might say illusion), that almost all of its teams have chance each year, and that the playoff slots are not decided for most until the final week of the season. For evidence, look no further than the Seattle Seahawks, entering the final week of the season at 6 and 9 and yet squarely in the playoff hunt (see more below).

Part of the resulting parity is due to the off the field rules designed to keep all the teams as close to even as possible. Some, in fact, would argue that the ON the field rules help keep the game close to parity.

The other part of it is that the NFL season is played in chunks. Major League Baseball has a 162 game schedule; just about ten times the number of games as the NFL. Over a ten game process, a much finer a portrait of a team and its relative strengths and weakness is painted. In the NFL, it's all done in broad brush.

The shorter schedule helps keep the teams within a narrower band of results, and, therefore, competitive balance.

So, as with most seasons, the conclusion (or near conclusion) of the next to last week of the season brings with it a great deal of uncertainty and a bunch of possibilities.

Here is the guide to the NFL playoff scenario.

Teams Definitely In the Playoffs

In the AFC, the New England Patriots, New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens are all in the playoffs. In the NFC, the Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles are all in as well.

Teams Still With a Chance to Make the Playoffs

In the AFC, the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars are still alive. If the Jaguars beat the Texans next week and if the Colts lose to the Tennessee Titans, then the Jaguars are in. If both don't happen, though, the Colts make the playoffs.

In the NFC, the New York Giants are still alive (barely), as are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks.

For the Giants to make the playoffs, they would need to beat the Washington Redskins on the road and the Packers would have to lose Bears...or have two the New Orleans Saints lose their two remaining games. The Saints play Monday night at Atlanta, and then next Sunday at home against Tampa Bay.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers would make the playoffs if they beat the Saints and two of the following three scenarios coming to fruition: a New Orleans loss to Atlanta, a Giants loss to Washington and a Green Bay Packers loss.

And, finally, as a testament to the desire of the league to keep as many teams eligible for as long as possible, the aforementioned Seattle Seahawks, who are 6 and 9 entering the final week of the season, need only to beat the lowly St. Louis Rams to secure a playoff spot. The Seahawks would win their division and advance to the playoffs, you see, despite a 7 and 9 record.

Hmmm....

Regardless of the how's and why's, the NFL playoff scenarios are always entertaining and exciting down to the final minutes of the season...even if we seem to need an advanced algorithm to figure them out.

Source:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Al3YPgwOl4uMd2kex1m4qEBDubYF?slug=ys-playoffpicture
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091006082521AAGUTvr