The 17th game and the bad football in Championship games and Super Bowl

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Agree completely that mental and physical fatigue/wear and tear showed at the end.

 

I realize this will never happen, but I'm a proponent of shortening, not lengthening, the season.   Remember when the season was 14 games long?  I know you do.

 

Two reasons: 

1) I think it's a "bait and switch" for teams and ticketholders of teams with open air stadia to keep extending the season into the depths of seasonal winter

2) I think the wear-and-tear of a longer season degrades the quality of the playoff games and superbowl

 

Also not a fan of the extra playoff team and only 1 bye.  I think the initial round of playoffs was low-quality.

 

Like I said, I understand it will never happen because $$$$, but if we're throwing down what we'd like to see happen, that's where I am

 

 

 

 

I do think that the teams will adjust to the extra game and the lack of a second playoff bye team and it will eventually become an afterthought............but like the rookie wall........I think these teams hit a wall in the championship games and stayed hit.

 

I do recall the 1978 season when they expanded to 16 games the title games were terrible..........but at the time the Steelers and Cowboys were miles ahead of the teams in their conference and ended up playing a very memorable Super Bowl.  

 

The next season was a sloppy playoffs with scrubby Buccaneers and Rams teams meeting in a lousy the NFC title game and the Steelers then looking old and tired in the Super Bowl and needing a big 4th quarter to finish off a Rams team that was a shadow of the better Chuck Knox Rams teams of the 1970's.

 

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by BADOLBILZ

[TheFunPolice]

Just now, SoCal Deek said:

That’s where we differ. I REALLY hope I never have to watch Brady in another Super Bowl…..and Mahomes is right behind him. I love seeing new teams in the big game. I thought both the Stafford and Burrow story lines were intriguing. And ….the Stadium looked amazing! 

 

Oh, I agree on Brady. Enough already with that soulless ghoul!

 

Mahomes doesn't bother me, and if the Bills aren't in the SB I hope he wins every year that we're not there. 

 

1. I like Andy Reid

2. The more rings Mahomes gets (ONLY IF WE ARE OUT OF IT THAT SEASON) the more Brady will get to experience what it's like to be sitting on the couch while the "new GOAT" is crowned. 

 

You can be the GOAT with 4-5 rings if you ALSO retire with every single passing record, career and single season. So being a Brady hater, Mahomes doesn't bother me unless he's in our way. 

 

 

[TampaBillsJunkie]

Yeah, but "THE ROCK"... sucked.  

[TheFunPolice]

Don't get me wrong from my post above, I'm not cheering for Mahomes or hoping he wins. I'm just saying it doesn't bother me because there is an upside to it. 

 

 

[eball]

Seems as though this thread has diverged in two directions:

 

A -- was the Super Bowl a good/compelling game

B -- did the extra game and playoff team impact the quality of the playoffs

 

As for A, it was pretty boring.  Cinci was who we thought they were; a big play team with no offensive line, and a so-so defense with a nice pass rusher.  The Rams kept them in it by giving up two big plays and their own lack of weapons after OBJ went down.  23 carries for 43 yards by the Rams.  Riveting.  The Bengals offense in the 2nd half was trash after they got away with the non-facemask on Higgins' TD.  We got a nice made-for-TV dramatic finish that leaves everyone thinking it was a great game, but it wasn't.

 

As for B, I think the jury is still out.  First weekend of playoffs was full of blowouts.  2nd weekend was amazing.  I don't think the teams were "gassed" I just think it's hard to win a Super Bowl.  I still believe the Bills or Chiefs would have run the Rams out of the stadium.

 

[TheFunPolice]

First week of the playoffs had blowouts because the NFC is bad overall and only has like 2-3 good teams, IMO.

 

Those #7 seeds making it in are tough, but oddly, I think the best possible quality team that could have been #7 in the AFC (Chargers) didn't make it in. 

[ColoradoBills]

1 hour ago, BADOLBILZ said:

A couple observations:

 

1) This season both #1 seeds came from divisions without another playoff team.   That has happened in shorter seasons too but this time neither was seen as a dominant favorite to reach the SB,  which seemed very unusual.

 

2) The best teams........I would argue Buff/KC and Tampa/LAR all had 4 game paths to winning the SB and met in the divisional round.    Only the Rams survived..........and barely.

 

As to point #1.  I am not a fan of only one "bye" team at all.  You pointed out one of the main reasons. 

The schedule already pits top conference teams to play each other every year.  The 17th game adds to that with another

non-conference ranked games.  Every year there will be a team that just draws a much easier schedule to give them a

much better chance to draw the one bye.

 

Point #2 is a little more tricky.  It can and has happened in the old playoff formula but just the mere fact of adding another playoff

team gives more of a chance for a lower seeded team to win a game they probably should of lost.  Football is one and out and not a

"series" like in other major sports.  I think it waters down the whole process.

 

I know I'm in the minority here, but I thought the old 6 team playoff formula was as good as it could get.  All this is caused by attempting

to get another team in the mix with the 7 team scenario.

 

Adding a 17th or even an 18 game schedule is a whole other question.  The longer season can be debated but it seems they could of done

that with still maintaining the 6 team playoff scenario.  At least that is how I see it.

[dave mcbride]

46 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

I do think that the teams will adjust to the extra game and the lack of a second playoff bye team and it will eventually become an afterthought............but like the rookie wall........I think these teams hit a wall in the championship games and stayed hit.

 

I do recall the 1978 season when they expanded to 16 games the title games were terrible..........but at the time the Steelers and Cowboys were miles ahead of the teams in their conference and ended up playing a very memorable Super Bowl.  

 

The next season was a sloppy playoffs with scrubby Buccaneers and Rams teams meeting in a lousy the NFC title game and the Steelers then looking old and tired in the Super Bowl and needing a big 4th quarter to finish off a Rams team that was a shadow of the better Chuck Knox Rams teams of the 1970's.

 

 

Just looked up that 1978 AFC championship game. I thought the Bills turning it over 9 times vs the Cowboys in the SB (now talk about a BAD Super Bowl ...) was an unmatchable feat, but my god, the Oilers turned it over 9 times too vs Pitt in that game! Pastorini threw 5 picks and Earl Campbell alone fumbled three times. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197901070pit.htm 

 

Also, the Rams were almost as bad vs the Cowboys -- they turned it over 7 times. Christ. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197901070ram.htm

Edited February 14, 2022 by dave mcbride

[Chandler#81]

Fun read. My too scents, with the refs perennially backing off calls in the playoffs, it helps fans yearn for the new season as we tend to forget how ‘phugged up’ they really are. League needs to add back the 2 extra playoff byes, regardless how many additional regular season games there are. The 4 best teams watched from home this year.. Heard on the post game show on SiriusXM that Burrows has been sacked 103 times in just his 1st 30 games. Now That’s unsustainable!

 

Great thread. Great responses.

@streetkings01, @JohnNord please take note of how mature threads are generated and responded to. 🤦‍♂️

 

[Warcodered]

Didn't two of the teams that played like crap have a bye week in the playoffs? Hell the Packers didn't even get to a second game in the playoffs before apparently they were too tired.

[ColoradoBills]

12 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

Didn't two of the teams that played like crap have a bye week in the playoffs? Hell the Packers didn't even get to a second game in the playoffs before apparently they were too tired.

 

My question would be, "does the single bye team in each conference necessarily equate to the BEST team in each conference"?

If the answer is no, then why do these 2 teams get the bye in the first place?

 

It's always been a bit of a debate, but I think the 7 playoff team/17 game schedule only compounds the issue.

[BADOLBILZ]

17 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

Didn't two of the teams that played like crap have a bye week in the playoffs? Hell the Packers didn't even get to a second game in the playoffs before apparently they were too tired.

 

As I alluded to.....the two teams that got byes probably weren't worthy #1 seeds.........TN in particular was probably the 4th or even 5th best team in the AFC..........in this case both #1 seeds came from very weak divisions.........whether that also relates to extending the schedule it's hard to say in just one season but when there is only 1 bye the odds that a less deserving team is the only team to benefit from the system is increased.   

[babulator]

2 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

disagree.  This playoff season had some of the closest wildest games as a whole in memory.  

 

 

speaking of memory--it was only a year ago (16 game season) where the playoffs featured a GB blowout of the Rams, Bills beatdown of the Ravens, Bucs spanking the Saints, a decent NFCC game and a KC beatdown of the Bills in the AFCC and a blowout in the SB (Chiefs too tired?).

 

This playoff season was riveting.  17 games no negative impact.

 

I'm inclined to agree with this on a whole. I thought it was a great playoff season. I think maybe this SB lacked any real emotional investment from fans. Nobody really loves or hates either of these teams, except their respective markets. At least everyone loved to hate the patriots, or fawn over Mahomes or had a dozen reasons to be invested in any of the other recent Superbowls past;

 

Most people knew very little of the Bengals outside of Burrows name, and they certainly didn't watch any games during the season. Id question how many fans the Rams have nationally as well.  IDK maybe it's just me but this Superbowl lacked something before the game even started. The game wasn't amazing, I felt it lacked all the high drama of the previous weeks.

[Mr. WEO]

15 minutes ago, babulator said:

I'm inclined to agree with this on a whole. I thought it was a great playoff season. I think maybe this SB lacked any real emotional investment from fans. Nobody really loves or hates either of these teams, except their respective markets. At least everyone loved to hate the patriots, or fawn over Mahomes or had a dozen reasons to be invested in any of the other recent Superbowls past;

 

Most people knew very little of the Bengals outside of Burrows name, and they certainly didn't watch any games during the season. Id question how many fans the Rams have nationally as well.  IDK maybe it's just me but this Superbowl lacked something before the game even started. The game wasn't amazing, I felt it lacked all the high drama of the previous weeks.

 

4th Q lead changes, long, late scoring drive and a game saving D stop in the final seconds.

 

 

People used to complain when the SBs were blowouts.  

[djp14150]

3 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

First of all........I was a proponent of the extra game and I do believe eventually that expanded rosters, 18 games and 2 byes will happen.

 

But in the first season with both the extra game as well as the 2020-instituted extra playoff team.............I think the mental and physical fatigue really showed at the end.

 

The NFL got close games..........but for real football fans it was a sloppy finish in both the championship games and SB.   OL and QB play was particularly weak.

 

A couple observations:

 

1) This season both #1 seeds came from divisions without another playoff team.   That has happened in shorter seasons too but this time neither was seen as a dominant favorite to reach the SB,  which seemed very unusual.

 

2) The best teams........I would argue Buff/KC and Tampa/LAR all had 4 game paths to winning the SB and met in the divisional round.    Only the Rams survived..........and barely.

 

 

 

utter carp….

 

extra game had no baring here.  They changed a pre season to a regular season game. If they go to 18 it will be 2 preseason games only.

 

as a result you might see

 

more rust to start the season

pkayers not yet ready from injurues

 

the games were competing.  The QBs didn’t suck.

 

over the last 20 seasons of 32 team football you have had teams benefit if they were the dominant team in their divisions

 

Green Bay season..

 

4-0 against AFC North. One in OT 2 others came down to late in the game

0-1 to KC with Covid QB

4-1 in division. Lose week 18 game resting players already securing top seed.

4-0 against NFC West. 3 were close games 

1-1 nfc positional games. They likely beat NO if they got them later in the season.

 

they easily could  have lost 3-4 games with a play here or there.

 

tennessee…they got their harder teams when they were on a hot streak. Had they played them later in the season they probably wouldn’t have been top seed.

 

[Direhard Fan]

The refs in this game made it look like the WWNFL.  Ruined the end.  And they were the best refs?  Sad!

[Orlando Tim]

I think the poor showing in the Super Bowl was simply the fact that the Bengals were lucky to be there and are not championship good. The Rams lost several offensive weapons this year and played like they were out of sorts once OBJ went down. The game was ok but not as thrilling as game that has a last minute winning TD should be.

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

3 hours ago, Success said:

It was a great Super Bowl. I'm not sure what people are talking about when they say it was sub-par. It was a really hard-fought game that came down to the last minute.

 

I agree. I think the problem is a lot of people including myself really didn’t give two craps about who would win. I only went for the Rams out of spite. Just don’t want to see Joe burrow when one before Josh Allen.

 

But really I like the Bengals more than the Rams. So it was just a weird game just not really caring much And rooting against the team I liked and for the team I didn’t like. Pretty rare for that to occur.

[BADOLBILZ]

2 hours ago, TheFunPolice said:

First week of the playoffs had blowouts because the NFC is bad overall and only has like 2-3 good teams, IMO.

 

Those #7 seeds making it in are tough, but oddly, I think the best possible quality team that could have been #7 in the AFC (Chargers) didn't make it in. 

 

 

Yeah if I recall correctly the Chargers and Colts would have both been in the playoffs if the season ended after 16 regular season games.

 

They would seemed to have provided much better competition in the WC round than sorry-ass Pittsburgh and an uninspiring Oakland team.

 

The extra game probably actually watered down the field a bit in this instance............though LAC and Indy had their chance and failed to win in week 18.

[dave mcbride]

3 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Yeah if I recall correctly the Chargers and Colts would have both been in the playoffs if the season ended after 16 regular season games.

 

They would seemed to have provided much better competition in the WC round than sorry-ass Pittsburgh and an uninspiring Oakland team.

 

The extra game probably actually watered down the field a bit in this instance............though LAC and Indy had their chance and failed to win in week 18.

Losing to Jax in a must win game means that they Indy deserve it. And they didn't just lose; they were dominated. And Staley's inexplicable coaching moves vs both Vegas and KC a couple of weeks before (the ridiculous impulse to go for it every time on fourth down cost them the game) before told me that the Chargers didn't deserve it either. Yeah, they're talented, but if you have a coach who has decided that the common sense wisdom of 75 years of NFL football is all garbage, you really don't deserve to qualify.   

[phypon]

This is the first time in my life I've turned off a SB.  After that long half time show, which I didn't like (no issues with the music, just was lame), I called it quits.  Just felt like an in-season game to me, not a SB, and I wasn't really that interested in either team.

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

Joe Burrow was sacked 70 times this year...70!!!....He could use a few less games.

 

Flags also too heavy for the Refs to throw...until they needed more commercials at the end...

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

Outside of BUF/KC the divisional round was also full of poorly played slop-ball that ended in close scores (and I'm sure there are some purists out there that didn't like our game b/c nobody played DEF).

 

The Rams were the only team that generally played well in that round, but they lost FOUR fumbles to leave the game open for TB. 

 

 

[Rico]

I may be the only one, but I prefer when you have 1 or 2 dominant teams who are just a whole lot better than everyone else… true champions when they win it all.

[SoCal Deek]

1 hour ago, Rico said:

I may be the only one, but I prefer when you have 1 or 2 dominant teams who are just a whole lot better than everyone else… true champions when they win it all.

So I’m guessing you didn’t watch any of the playoffs then? There were ZERO dominant teams in the NFL this year. 

[Nextmanup]

5 hours ago, Success said:

It was a great Super Bowl. I'm not sure what people are talking about when they say it was sub-par. It was a really hard-fought game that came down to the last minute.

 

It was a lousy game that lacked any flow whatsoever...saved by the fact that yes, it came down to a fairly exciting conclusion and the outcome of the game was never really known throughout.

 

I'd give it like a 6 out of 10 in terms of being a fun game to watch by a neutral fan who doesn't care who wins or loses.

 

 

1 hour ago, Rico said:

I may be the only one, but I prefer when you have 1 or 2 dominant teams who are just a whole lot better than everyone else… true champions when they win it all.

That's how football used to be before the cap and free agency.

 

Back then, organizations that really knew what they were doing could totally stockpile talent and dominate.

 

The Bills, 49ers, and Cowboys were among the best at that back when we went to our Super Bowls.

 

Yes, there were more blowouts during the regular season in those days, but when the heavyweights finally met up in the playoffs, the games seemed more memorable.

 

I've been harping on this point for 30 years.

 

 

1 hour ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

Outside of BUF/KC the divisional round was also full of poorly played slop-ball that ended in close scores (and I'm sure there are some purists out there that didn't like our game b/c nobody played DEF).

 

The Rams were the only team that generally played well in that round, but they lost FOUR fumbles to leave the game open for TB. 

 

 

I would argue many of the games this post-season were really exciting, but b/c of parity.

 

A lot of people considered the Bills/Chiefs game like the best playoff game ever played.

 

 

[dave mcbride]

1 hour ago, Rico said:

I may be the only one, but I prefer when you have 1 or 2 dominant teams who are just a whole lot better than everyone else… true champions when they win it all.

You must have loved those Bears/NE and SF-Broncos Super Bowls in the 1980s (the blowout era). The Bears/NE game even had Up With People doing the halftime show! 

[Rico]

38 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

You must have loved those Bears/NE and SF-Broncos Super Bowls in the 1980s (the blowout era). The Bears/NE game even had Up With People doing the halftime show! 

I respect those winning teams a HELL of a lot more than the mediocre teams of later years who just happened to get hot at the end.

[HappyDays]

6 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

I thought it was a pretty good game. In my opinion it's the best SB since the Atlanta/NE game. The Philly/NE game had zero defense, and the SF/KC game was more "blah" than this one. Last year's SB and the NE/Rams one were bad. The stars all showed up last night and played well, and in my view a 23-20 score is pretty much the perfect number--it indicates that both offenses and defenses made plays. I worry less about a SB team being not as dominant as one might like; the game should be judged on its own terms. At the end of the day, it was a see-saw, hard fought battle with a lot of important individual plays. The fact that the teams are flawed is meaningless to me.  The Bills are flawed too. 

 

It was a close game, but not because both teams were trading blows. It was just sloppy play from both sides. Missed throws, weird play calls, a sudden onslaught of flags in the final 2 minutes. I don't think either team was really deserving of the win, LA just made one less mistake. No signature plays and the biggest play of the game only happened because of a missed face mask that everyone watching the game saw on replay. Overall meh.

[Dan]

7 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

As someone who was on the other side of the 17 game argument, but agree with you 18 and 2 byes is inevitable at the next CBA, I completely agree. Divisional weekend was the high watermark. The Championship games and the Superbowl looked like tired football. 

It may be inevitable... but 18 games with 2 byes and watered down players. Is exactly how you ruin the sport.  

A longer season will only bring more TV revenue, but will only diminish the play on the field. 

[streetkings01]

The game was blah…..the build up was blah….the pregame festivities were blah…..it didn’t feel like a super bowl at all.

[Gugny]

This is why I am perfectly comfortable with my personal level of knowledge about football.

 

I know enough about football to understand and enjoy it ... but not too much, where all I can do is point out why it sucks.

 

I thought the playoffs were great.  I thought the Super Bowl was very good ... especially the 2nd half.

 

I never want to know so much about something that I forget how to enjoy it.

[BADOLBILZ]

3 hours ago, phypon said:

This is the first time in my life I've turned off a SB.  After that long half time show, which I didn't like (no issues with the music, just was lame), I called it quits.  Just felt like an in-season game to me, not a SB, and I wasn't really that interested in either team.

 

 

We had a fairly large group watching the game together and a couple of our younger Bills fans were cracking us up...........they thought Mary J Blige might be Dolly Parton and that 50 Cent had a 50 on his chain cuz he was 50 years old.   Jennifer Lopez had that commercial with the open dress and they were like who this old lady and why she got her t!tties out?    They also made some awesome steaks using techniques they learned on TikTok.    We had a lot of fun watching the game and even got some laughs out of the poor quality of football.    If I was just watching it alone I might have set a 30 minute alarm and nodded off in the 3rd quarter though.   You could almost see the bad football coming.

 

 

Edited February 15, 2022 by BADOLBILZ

[Big Blitz]

8 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

  Just a bland, joyless affair 

 

 

America, 2022.  

 

We shocked?  

[Augie]

The pinnacle was the Bills at Chiefs. That was the best game I think I’ve ever seen, despite the horrific ending. Life goes on. 

 

I agree that last night was a close game, but not a very interesting game. I don’t know if that was me and my disappointment, or if it was real. It sure felt real. 

[May Day 10]

Wasn't a bad game, really.  Wasn't a knock your socks off memorable superbowl... but it was a tight competitive game.

 

I'd take 10 of those before one of those 80s/90s mcneely/Tyson like games 

[billsfan89]

The game was good not great, that being said the extra game needs to be accompanied by an extra bye week. Also gut the Thursday games or only have Thursday games played when both teams had a bye week. Just some suggestions while we are trying to fix football/the NFL.

Edited February 15, 2022 by billsfan89

[Augie]

12 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

The game was good not great, that being said the extra game needs to be accompanied by an extra bye week. Also gut the Thursday games or only have Thursday games played when both teams had a bye week. Just some suggestions while we are trying to fix football/the NFL.

 

I think a lot of those playoff games would have been better if not for guys saving themselves for the Pro Bowl.    😋

 

An extra bye gives us a longer season, and is only fair to the players. Even if it comes with one extra game (and the related additional money). 

[WotAGuy]

More often than not, the Super Bowl is not a good game, often not competitive and often sloppy. This year’s game started great but injuries during the game made a negative impact. If a Super Bowl is close and goes down to the wire, that’s the best you can hope for given the off-the-charts hype leading up to it. The game was pretty slow in the middle but I enjoyed the whole thing a lot, especially knowing football is over for quite a while. 

[Augie]

3 hours ago, WotAGuy said:

More often than not, the Super Bowl is not a good game, often not competitive and often sloppy. This year’s game started great but injuries during the game made a negative impact. If a Super Bowl is close and goes down to the wire, that’s the best you can hope for given the off-the-charts hype leading up to it. The game was pretty slow in the middle but I enjoyed the whole thing a lot, especially knowing football is over for quite a while. 

 

As I’ve posted before, a friend/client many years ago would host an amazing party on AFC/NFC Championship weekend. Less hype, more football, better chance of a great game. His parties were a notch above what we were used to back then. They were AWESOME! 

 

I had hoped to hold one of those this year in our new “party house”.  The Bills loss sucked the life out of me. Seriously. It’s not that it was supposed to be a Bills party, but more I just couldn’t think football for a while. 

 

By next year we should have our furniture (better than the “soccer chairs” in the media room), and the Bills will be hosting until the Super Bowl!