NFL - Are You Ready For Some Football?! - Off Season

[OzzyKP]

It is a fluke and doesn't deserve a rule change. Though it is certainly understandable how Giants and Bucs fans would be pretty darn bitter about being shut out of the playoffs when Seattle gets in. I'm sure any one of us would be as frustrated as Alby were we in his shoes.

Speaking of strange things, the Chargers had the most yards per game in the league on offense AND the least yards per game in the league on defense and didn't make the playoffs. That seems pretty remarkable to me.

[Donegeal]

The Chargers this season is the perfect example of the importance of Special Teams and why I think Devin Hester should get a Hall of Fame nod based solely on his ST play.

[Al B. Sure!]

Yeah, worst special teams derailed the Chargers. Plus, bad special teams exaggerates the other stats... by always starting deep in their own territory, the Chargers would typically have to cover more ground; by giving up a lot of special teams yardage to other teams, opposing offenses would have shorter distances to cover; by giving up special teams scores, the Chargers offense would get more possessions in a game, whereas the defense would be on the field less. Right away, you can see how them having the top offense and top defense is a bit of a mirage. The Chargers led the league in time of possession.

[Al B. Sure!]

Okay now it's a dogpile:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5985582

NEW YORK -- Two massage therapists say in a lawsuit that complaining about sexually suggestive text messages from Brett Favre cost them their part-time jobs with the New York Jets.

Christina Scavo and Shannon O'Toole sued the Minnesota Vikings quarterback, the Jets and a Jets massage coordinator Monday in a Manhattan court. The lawsuit comes days after the NFL fined Favre $50,000 for not being candid in an investigation into allegations that he sent lewd text messages and photos to a Jets game hostess.

Favre's agent didn't immediately return a telephone call. The Jets declined to comment.

The lawsuit says Favre sent a third, unidentified massage therapist a 2008 text message asking whether she and Scavo "want to get together" and suggesting he had "bad intentions."

Like really? Why is all this stuff coming out YEARS later? What kind of precedent did Sterger set?

[Lord Avalon]

Perhaps the massage therapists thought Favre was overly critical about their happy ending technique and took offense?

[Donegeal]

They took offense two years after the fact?

[-Jrabbit]

It is a fluke and doesn't deserve a rule change. Though it is certainly understandable how Giants and Bucs fans would be pretty darn bitter about being shut out of the playoffs when Seattle gets in.

Yeah, it happens once every few decades. I don't see the big deal. If the league decides to knee-jerk on home-field advantage, I would not be surprised.

But Alby's idea -- which was to ADD ANOTHER TEAM to the playoffs if a division winner is under .500 -- is absolute idiocy.

That would mean that one team loses its bye week. Why should that team be punished because another team sucks? Obviously, because the Giants fubared their entire season in 8 awesome minutes against Philly. Still haven't fired that punter, either.

Dude, there are times when you make your breaks, and other times you can't buy a break. One year, you get a miracle helmet-catch that wins you the Super Bowl. A few years later, you're Michael Vick's beyotch and forced to like it. Deal.

[Ming]

Adding another wild card if the division winners suck... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAAHA
Thank god that won't happen.

But I do like the Lord Avalon's suggestion... No home game if you suck worse than the wild card team you have to play.

[SlowwHand]

I disagree. If you do that, you might as well abolish divisions all together.

[-Jrabbit]

They took offense two years after the fact?

The article says:

Scavo claimed that after she and O'Toole refused Favre's advance they were never offered work with the Jets again.

So they seem to be saying that refusing Favre's advances cost them future (part time) wages. Should be interesting to see them try to prove that rejecting Favre was the reason. It's clearly a money-grab.

Personally, I find the whole "I'm a beautiful massage therapist, how dare you think of me sexually" thing to be a bit disingenuous.

[Lord Avalon]

I disagree. If you do that, you might as well abolish divisions all together.

I don't see why you would. Divisions give organization to the conferences. And potential rivalries because you face teams in the same division twice. Winning a division matters because it means you get into the playoffs. I just draw the line there. I didn't like it a couple years ago when the 9-7 Cardinals hosted two playoff games.

[SlowwHand]

What does it matter if the winner of a division is seeded lower than a 2nd place team in another division?

[Lord Avalon]

Because better record should mean better playoff seed, IMO.

[-Jrabbit]

I have no problem with division winners getting a home game. Why the hell not? If you're a wildcard, you hit the road. Fortunes of war.

I think what's got people losing perspective is the fact that this is probably the strongest group of wild card teams ever. Even without NYG, TB, etc. The NFL's unquenchable desire for parity has resulted in more decent teams, fewer great ones. And all the "decent" teams are scrambling for just a few spots. We had NYG, Philly, GB, Chi, Atl, NO, and TB fighting for 5 slots. And that doesn't even count Minny and Dallas, both of which were preseason darlings.

It's all about parity. Everyone thinks they have a shot, everyone feels entitlement, yet someone has to lose. It's one of the stronger lessons professional sports has to offer.

[-Jrabbit]

Because better record should mean better playoff seed, IMO.

Even if that record was obtained by playing the crappy division -- while better teams duked it out against each other?
That would be every bit as unfair.