NFL (2024 Season)

[NWI_Irish96]

Next Sunday:

3:00 The US 50 Championship
6:40 The US 101 Championship

I guess that worked out in the end since there's no Buffalo-Cincinnati highway.

[ilpt4u]

Next Sunday:

3:00 The US 50 Championship
6:40 The US 101 Championship

One can drive US 50 between Cincy and KC, but unless you like pain and/or winding thru Southern Indiana, I-74&I-70 or I-71,I-64&I-70 probably is a quicker and easier drive

I guess that worked out in the end since there's no Buffalo-Cincinnati highway.

I-71&I-90 make a good diagonal cooridor between Cincy and Buffalo, but no unified designation

[tdindy88]

On top of that, there's a 50% chance that for the second straight year a home team plays the Super Bowl in their own stadium (although they will have to wear their road jerseys.) And there's a 100% chance that a team from the state hosting the Super Bowl plays in the Super Bowl.

[Buck87]

California went 2-0 vs Bay this weekend

[thspfc]

I hate it when the coin flip decides who wins.  I wish both QBs would have had the chance to snap the ball at least once in OT....just unfortunate that Josh Allen didn't get the opportunity to attempt to match the TD by KC.  Just like I wished Patrick could have tried to match the TD by the Patriots in the 2019 AFC Championship.

Supposedly it's to prevent injuries from extreme fatigue. I agree though, the OT rules need to be changed. If injuries are the main concern, then give each team the ball at the 50 or opponent's 25 or something, like they do in college.

No doubt that was the best divisional weekend ever. Fans have been blessed this season: best season-opening game ever, best final regular season game ever, and best divisional weekend ever.

I was at work so I didn't watch Rams/Tampa. I just hope that wasn't Brady's last game. I doubt it was. I think he's saying that he's considering retirement so that all the other teams will get their hopes up, only for him to crush their dreams once again. But on the off chance that that was it . . . well, I might shed a tear or two if it's announced. Football and sports as a whole will never be the same once Brady's gone, and there's never going to be another Brady.

This was the weekend of "that can't happen, right?" moments. Both 1 seeds can't lose in the divisional, right? The Bengals can't win two playoff games in a row, right? The Bengals can't win a road playoff game, right? (that had literally never happened before yesterday). The Packers can't lose in the snow at Lambeau in what was quite possibly Rodgers' last season with them, right? The 49ers can't beat the Packers without scoring an offensive touchdown, right? Brady can't lose in the divisional, right?

Frankly, I don't think the four teams left are the four best teams. The Bengals went 10-7, narrowly beat a Raiders team that went 4-0 in overtime games just to get to the playoffs, and narrowly beat the Titans, who were the worst 1 seed in a long time. The 49ers made the playoffs by the skin of their teeth and have scored three touchdowns in two playoff games.

That said, it doesn't matter. Nobody cares if the best team to lose in the divisional was better than the worst team to win in the divisional.

My ordering of remaining Super Bowl possibilities:

1) Chiefs/Rams
2) Bengals/Rams
3) Chiefs/49ers
4) Bengals/49ers

[ilpt4u]

I hate it when the coin flip decides who wins.  I wish both QBs would have had the chance to snap the ball at least once in OT....just unfortunate that Josh Allen didn't get the opportunity to attempt to match the TD by KC.  Just like I wished Patrick could have tried to match the TD by the Patriots in the 2019 AFC Championship.

Supposedly it's to prevent injuries from extreme fatigue. I agree though, the OT rules need to be changed. If injuries are the main concern, then give each team the ball at the 50 or opponent's 25 or something, like they do in college.

Absolutely not on changing the OT rules

36-All tie at the end of regulation, both teams had multiple chances to score more points than the opponent and prevent their opponent from scoring that many points. That neither did, that is where the Coin Toss comes in. Don't like it? Go for 2 more often, or go for it on 4th down to get a TD instead of punting or settling for a FG, or stop opponent scoring chances by forcing a turnover, all doable while still in regulation. If it gets to an OT, it is what it is. Play better.

College Football OT Innings is not football, and is frankly embarrassing that CFB allows games to have a winner declared by that clown-show

What the Bills really needed to try: Not kicking off for a Touchback with 13 seconds on the clock. Kick it shorter and on the ground to force a return and run some time off the clock

[thspfc]

Bills/Chiefs is pretty simple to me: if the Bills are +2 or better in turnovers, they win. If they're not, they lose. Also, the team that misses fewer extra points/field goals will probably win. I trust Butker more, he's proven himself as a clutch kicker.

Neither team turned it over at all, so I was technically correct. Butker came up clutch as expected.

I'll take the Packers by double digits.

Nope.

Hard for me to pick against either the Rams or Buccaneers, but it's Brady so basic logic says I have to take the Bucs.

It was a classic Brady comeback, except without the victory. As I said, picking against the Rams was hard.

I think Bengals/Titans is going to be low-scoring, and Henry will not be at full strength.

Yep.

[US 89]

Of course the weekend I'm busy the whole time with a conference is the weekend with the good playoff football.

[thspfc]

I hate it when the coin flip decides who wins.  I wish both QBs would have had the chance to snap the ball at least once in OT....just unfortunate that Josh Allen didn't get the opportunity to attempt to match the TD by KC.  Just like I wished Patrick could have tried to match the TD by the Patriots in the 2019 AFC Championship.

Supposedly it's to prevent injuries from extreme fatigue. I agree though, the OT rules need to be changed. If injuries are the main concern, then give each team the ball at the 50 or opponent's 25 or something, like they do in college.

Absolutely not on changing the OT rules

36-All tie at the end of regulation, both teams had multiple chances to score more points than the opponent and prevent their opponent from scoring that many points. That neither did, that is where the Coin Toss comes in. Don't like it? Go for 2 more often, or go for it on 4th down to get a TD instead of punting or settling for a FG, or stop opponent scoring chances by forcing a turnover, all doable while still in regulation. If it gets to an OT, it is what it is. Play better.

College Football OT Innings is not football, and is frankly embarrassing that CFB allows games to have a winner declared by that clown-show

What the Bills really needed to try: Not kicking off for a Touchback with 13 seconds on the clock. Kick it shorter and on the ground to force a return and run some time off the clock

I agree that they should have squib kicked had they been playing against 30 out of 32 offenses. KC is one of the two (other being Green Bay) where kicking it deep is a better choice IMO. Hill is so fast and Kelce is so good at getting open over the middle. If they had given the Chiefs the ball at the 40 with, say, 8 seconds, that would have been worse than at the 25 with 13 seconds.

[KCRoadFan]

Next Sunday:

3:00 The US 50 Championship
6:40 The US 101 Championship

Good one!

[KCRoadFan]

Next Sunday:

3:00 The US 50 Championship
6:40 The US 101 Championship

I guess that worked out in the end since there's no Buffalo-Cincinnati highway.

US 62, a major route in the Buffalo area, at least goes somewhat near Cincinnati, even though it doesn't actually reach the city itself.

[hotdogPi]

If they want to reduce overtime: eliminate it entirely. If it's tied at the end of regulation, whoever was ahead most recently wins.

[JayhawkCO]

If they want to reduce overtime: eliminate it entirely. If it's tied at the end of regulation, whoever was ahead most recently wins.

That sounds horrible.  Overtime is exciting.  Modify it, sure.  Eliminate it? Get rid of some of the best moments in sports.

[1995hoo]

Regarding overtime, defense is part of the game too, not just offense.

[webny99]

Listen, I don't want to hear anything from any other fanbase about heartbreak ever again. 4 straight SB losses. Music City Miracle. Crazy overtime loss to the Texans. And now this.

0-6 in one-score games this year. Overtime losses to BOTH defending conference champs. First team in NFL history to win 12+ games by 12+ points and not win the Super Bowl. THREE STRAIGHT YEARS that the Bills have been the ONLY underdog not to advance in the weekend they lost (other underdogs are now 7-0 in the weekend the Bills lost). That's why I knew it was over as soon as the Rams beat the Bucs. I actually started to get a sinking feeling that the Bills were done as soon as the Bengals won. Saw the 49ers and Rams upsets coming and knew underdogs wouldn't go 4-0. So it became a matter of how hard the knife was going to twist, and twist it did, in the hardest and most unfathomable way possible. 😖

[webny99]

Regarding overtime, defense is part of the game too, not just offense.

Of course. The coin toss is what you get for giving up a field goal with 13 seconds left. The Bills had their chance in regulation and couldn't do it. Once you go to OT, you have to assume you're going to lose. I can't say I love the OT rules, but that's not what cost the Bills the game. That final Chiefs FG drive simply defied all odds in nightmarish fashion.

If they want to reduce overtime: eliminate it entirely. If it's tied at the end of regulation, whoever was ahead most recently wins.

That sounds horrible.  Overtime is exciting.  Modify it, sure.  Eliminate it? Get rid of some of the best moments in sports.

I agree that you can't get rid of overtime... but disagree that it's particularly exciting. Almost all of the best NFL moments that I can think of happened at the end of regulation. That's why the Bills scoring a TD with 17 seconds left was such a great finish... until it wasn't. I think that game is a lot LESS memorable BECAUSE it went to overtime. It takes away from what happened at the end of regulation when it's decided by a coin toss. No one's going to remember anything except the fact that it was back and forth and went to overtime and the Chiefs won the coin toss and won in OT. Unfortunate, but true.

[Ted$8roadFan]

What a weekend.

[epzik8]

Bills got screwed last night. Enough said.

[JayhawkCO]

Listen, I don't want to hear anything from any other fanbase about heartbreak ever again. 4 straight SB losses. Music City Miracle. Crazy overtime loss to the Texans. And now this.

0-6 in one-score games this year. Overtime losses to BOTH defending conference champs. First team in NFL history to win 12+ games by 12+ points and not win the Super Bowl. THREE STRAIGHT YEARS that the Bills have been the ONLY underdog not to advance in the weekend they lost (other underdogs are now 7-0 in the weekend the Bills lost). That's why I knew it was over as soon as the Rams beat the Bucs. I actually started to get a sinking feeling that the Bills were done as soon as the Bengals won. Saw the 49ers and Rams upsets coming and knew underdogs wouldn't go 4-0. So it became a matter of how hard the knife was going to twist, and twist it did, in the hardest and most unfathomable way possible. 😖

Vikings fans are the only ones in the ballpark when it comes to playoff angst.

[hotdogPi]

in the ballpark

Which sport is this again?

[JayhawkCO]

Bills got screwed last night. Enough said.

How so?

[NWI_Irish96]

If they want to reduce overtime: eliminate it entirely. If it's tied at the end of regulation, whoever was ahead most recently wins.

Not the best idea, but still better than what we currently have.

My idea:

Team that gets the ball first in OT starts with the ball at their own 25. If they score a TD, they MUST kick the PAT for 1 point. Going for 2 not allowed. Team that gets the ball second in OT starts with the ball at their own 25. If they score a TD, they MUST go for 2 points. Kicking for 1 point not allowed. If you're tied because neither team scored, both got FG, or both got TD but missed their respective extra points, then in regular season games it ends in a tie and in playoff games you repeat.

[NWI_Irish96]

That Bills-Chiefs game is a prime advertisement for my plan to eliminate conferences and just seed all division winners 1-8 and wild cards 9-14. Allows any two teams to meet in the Super Bowl.

[JayhawkCO]

For the current OT haters, I kinda like this idea - https://arcticdark.com/fieldpositionauction/index.html.

Also, just a reminder that the Chiefs proposed an OT format where each team got the ball after they got burned against NE a couple of years ago.  They were the only team that voted for it.

[Henry]

So glad to see my hated rivals lose on Saturday, thanks to the 49ers!

Which brings up the question: Since I now live in another NFC West city (the one where Russell Wilson is, for now), I wonder who those up there will be rooting against more, because both teams can't lose? Although Rams-49ers doesn't quite carry the same vibe as, say, Dodgers-Giants, this is sure to be a very heated championship game.

As for the AFC, the Bengals are far more intriguing and have a great future ahead of them, but the Chiefs are still the class of that conference, and will probably go to their third Super Bowl in a row.