Last Week Schedule

[elliott]

I'm slightly confused about this.

I've just noticed that in the schedules for this week, the schedules are similar to every other week (in that there is a Saturday night game, and three sunday time slots). Isn't this a bit silly.

In many other sports, in the last week of the season every game is played at the same time. This then means that nobody can be sure of what is going on in the other games. This stops cheating and makes it a lot more interesting because games can change within seconds.

For example, if a team on the fringes of the playoffs is playing in the 4.15 game this week, they will know how most of the other games have gone, and so will have a good idea of exactly what to do to get into the playoffs. Does it not give teams like Green Bay, and Atlanta an unfair advantage?

The good example to this was in the World Cup Soccer where in the group stages, Germany v Austria was the last game to be played and they knew that whoever won went through to the playoff part. However, if they tied the game, they both went through (because they both had good records). This meant that neither team tried at all and funnily enough they drew!

Has there ever been an example of this in the NFL where perhaps two teams were playing on MNF on the last week of the season or something and if they tied they would both make the playoffs?

Any thoughts on the subject?

[Roman529]

Hey Elliott...I don't think it is a conspiracy.....the Giants have to win their game tonght to get into the playoffs. There are rarely ever ties in the NFL, unless both team tie at the end of regulation and end up not scoring in overtime. Once the playoffs start there are no tie games....you would just keep playing until one side wins. I think it has been several years since there was a TIE game in an NFL game.

The primary factor in determining game times is when the NFL decides when to schedule games. Occasionally games have been reschedled this year to allow flexibility for Sunday night games...the NFL does not want two lousy teams to play as it would hurt the ratings. Early in the season you often have teams play at certain times because they share their field with baseball teams (like Miami and the Marlins).

I don't think there is any "conspiracy" for teams to try to lose to affect whom they play in the playoffs, unlike the NBA where teams can lose games at the end of the season to improve their place in the draft. The Dolphins can move up in the draft by losing to the Colts, but I just don't think this happens in the NFL.

[elliott]

Cheers for the reply.

I'm not saying it's a conspiracy or anything, but it could give teams an unfair advantage.

Why don't the NFL play all the crap games which are not important at 1, and then play all the playoff related games at 4.15.