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Should NFL Adopt 3rd Place Game Week Before Super Bowl?


Dr.Sack

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I’m a big fan of soccer: World Cup, Olympics whose tournaments all have a losers bracket / 3rd place bronze game.
 

Before you drag me for saying “everyone deserves a trophy” who wouldn’t want to see a Bills v Packers game tomorrow? I’d rather watch a 3rd place game then a meaningless Pro Bowl game. 
 

One last chance to see our 2020 Bills take down MVP Rodgers would have been fantastic. 
 

This is something I think the NFL should adopt and could be much prouder of than the Pro Bowl. 

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So, I think that the Pro Bowl, for example, has lost its luster because of that gruesome injury to Robert Edwards 20 or so years ago.  Why would a player risk their health and ability to make bank to play a game for nothing specific?  The Pro Bowl is no longer anything specific, and the best players routinely don't play, as I would think a bronze cup type of game would be.

 

Not harshing on you, OP, for your POV, but with the Pro Bowl being essentially marginalized, I don't know how a B-grade "championship" would cut through the indifference.

Edited by Groin
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2 minutes ago, Groin said:

So, I think that the Pro Bowl, for example, has lost its luster because of that gruesome injury to Robert Edwards 20 or so years ago.  Why would a player risk their health and ability to make bank to play a game for nothing specific?  The Pro Bowl is no longer anything specific, and the best players routinely don't play, as I would think a bronze cup type of game would be.

 

Not harshing on you, OP, for your POV, but with the Pro Bowl being essentially marginalized, I don't know how a B-grade "championship" would cut through the indifference.

Edwards was hurt playing on the beach right? Sand football?

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Just now, Dr.Sack said:

Edwards was hurt playing on the beach right? Sand football?

Sure, but it's really the same deal.  Participation from marquis players, iirc, really tailed off in the PB after Edward's injury.  Let's say that Josh Allen plays in a meaningless game and tears his labrum.  Do we want that?  I think/hope not.

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2 minutes ago, Groin said:

So, I think that the Pro Bowl, for example, has lost its luster because of that gruesome injury to Robert Edwards 20 or so years ago.  Why would a player risk their health and ability to make bank to play a game for nothing specific?  The Pro Bowl is no longer anything specific, and the best players routinely don't play, as I would think a bronze cup time of game would be.

 

Not harshing on you, OP, for your POV, but with the Pro Bowl being essentially marginalized, I don't know how a B-grade "championship" would cut through the indifference.

Forget about any other factor, the injury thing is the biggest. I don’t really follow soccer, but used to tune in for World Cups and big tournaments. I seem to remember that even soccer teams rested many of their big names for third place games. Basically you’d get a preseason game at the end of the year. It’s never going to happen, but I’d love to see the Pro Bowl as competitive as it was in the early 90’s. That would hold greater intrigue than a third place game.

 

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1 minute ago, Success said:

I always find those kinds of games to be pretty sad.  So, no.

 

Yeah, I never really got the point. I think it’s essentially used in team sports for situations where medals were awarded, so someone needs to take the bronze. I’m not sure if I understand why the World Cup does it though, aside from additional revenue. 

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To be honest, those third place play off games can be a drag at the best of times - especially for the loser who has had a good competition overall but then has two defeats on the bounce to round it off. Plus the liklihood of injuries in the NFL is far more likely than in football. What happens if we lose Josh or Aaron Rodgers obtains an injury in what is a meaningless end of season game?

Edited by UKBillFan
Rodgers not Rogers
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29 minutes ago, PJBrown7 said:

I don’t see any scenario where the players would get up for that game after losing in the championship round.

Exactly.

 

Remember when the NCAA had a 3rd place game in the college basketball tournament? They were sloppy games.

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While it could be fun for the fans...the reason other leagues can do it and football can't is simply because football is too brutal. The risk of injury is way too high.  No one (players, teams, the League) wants to risk an injury for what, in essence, is a meaningless game. And like others said, I don't know how fun that game would be. Coaches would sit a ton of starters, the players wouldn't be motivated. It might turn into a glorified pre-season game.

 

In World Cup, the 3rd place game still has meaning. To go home to your country and say we are the third best team in the world (a bronze medal basically) as opposed to 4th, has some pride in it (especially depending on the team/nation that you are playing in that game---if they are a great team, or there has been a rivalry, or the nations aren't friendly...or whatever). In American football, who cares. If a Packer's fan said, "we were the 3rd best team in the league this year"...would it matter to most Bills fans in any way? Probably not.

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1 hour ago, Dr.Sack said:

I’m a big fan of soccer: World Cup, Olympics whose tournaments all have a losers bracket / 3rd place bronze game.
 

Before you drag me for saying “everyone deserves a trophy” who wouldn’t want to see a Bills v Packers game tomorrow? I’d rather watch a 3rd place game then a meaningless Pro Bowl game. 
 

One last chance to see our 2020 Bills take down MVP Rodgers would have been fantastic. 
 

This is something I think the NFL should adopt and could be much prouder of than the Pro Bowl. 

 

 

Great idea! 

 

Amazed it's never been thought of before, ...  Oh wait here's the results from the 3rd place game back in the 60's.  As soon as saw this post, I was pretty certain they use to do this as remembered Cleveland playing in the game the one year when I was a kid.  Amazing how much info you can find via Google.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playoff_Bowl

 

Also recall Baltimore playing in the game in 66.  They were kind of like the 2020 Steelers, were 12-0, best team in the league, beating everyone. Played the Rams week 13 and lost, the Rams then had the tie breakers so Baltimore ended up in 3rd place game.  Season was only 14 weeks long back then too.

 

This was in the NFL only not part of the AFL, Apparently was called "The Playoff Bowl" (I didn't remember that part) it died when the leagues merged in 1970

 

The Lions BTW were 3-0 in this game, think that's about the last playoff they ever won.

 

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Edited by Ed_Formerly_of_Roch
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Nope no need for it.

 

In a regular year we have that football gem everyone looks forward to all year....the Pro Bowl ;)

 

Where your favorite players get a nice trip to Hawaii and pretend to play football ;)

 

What might be a better idea is have team 32 play team 31 and the winner gets the first pick overall .

 

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Given that there are no silver or bronze medals in football, there's no incentive to win this game. In fact, if you win the game, you pick 30th in the draft. But if you lose the game, you pick 29th.

 

 

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There will be an eighteenth regular season game long before that even gets talked about, jmo. 
 

Go Bills!!!

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I'd like to see that, a lot more than the probowl anyway. You'd have to have a massive incentive for it to work. Money for the players and also a draft pick to the winning team. But then of course the super bowl loser would want a draft pick, and then the super bowl winner would say why the ***** don't we get one when we got further than all those guys?

 

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They already have a pro bowl....

1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said:

Meh. 3rd place doesn’t really mean anything in the nfl. The players play for the title, or they are ready for next year.  But I am enjoying Ted Lasso, speaking of soccer. 


 

thry make more than what any incentive there is

 

in olympics you get a medal which mean something to low paid athletes or college players in term of endorsement money.

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2 hours ago, PJBrown7 said:

I don’t see any scenario where the players would get up for that game after losing in the championship round.


This ☝️
 

Football is such a violent game and a risk, I seriously doubt players want to risk injury heading into their offseason for a meaningless game they don’t care about.  The last thing a player wants to do is spend their offseason recovering from a serious injury.  

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