elpajaroquemamais t1_j4qc5ol wrote on January 17, 2023 at 3:06 PM

Reply to comment by CantFindMyWallet in NFC East becomes first division since 2002 realignment to have three teams advance to divisional round by RollingMoss1

Nah. There’s a real chance that two byes and six slots would have changed how things turned out.

CantFindMyWallet t1_j4qcu2b wrote on January 17, 2023 at 3:11 PM

I love how "it only happened because of the extra wildcard spot" has morphed into "technically we can't be sure that the extra wildcard spot wasn't a factor." Shut up.

elpajaroquemamais t1_j4qe16v wrote on January 17, 2023 at 3:19 PM

You can’t discount it. You simply can’t. Especially since it literally never happened before.

CantFindMyWallet t1_j4qfmx7 wrote on January 17, 2023 at 3:30 PM

Watch me. I'm discounting it right now.

elpajaroquemamais t1_j4qkztg wrote on January 17, 2023 at 4:05 PM

I can see that. Doesn’t change the fact that adding an extra game with an opponent you wouldn’t have otherwise played could have ended differently especially when the lions had the tiebreaker. Plus giving one bye instead of two means more teams are playing up until the end of the season. It absolutely has a much higher chance of happening with 7 per side.

nocoolN4M3sleft t1_j4qojlr wrote on January 17, 2023 at 4:28 PM

Okay. But that has 0 impact on what happened this year. The Giants were the 6 seed and would have clinched even without game 17. The Cowboys clinched the 5 seed, and would have regardless of the extra game. The Eagles had the 1 seed, and would have regardless of the extra week, they could only lose it because of the extra week actually.

This is what would have happened in a “normal” season with 6 spots for each conference. It still would have been Giants/Vikings and Cowboys/Bucs. Since the Eagles and 49ers would have had the bye.

elpajaroquemamais t1_j4qrt97 wrote on January 17, 2023 at 4:49 PM

Nope. The added 17th game wasn’t the week 18 game. An extra game and an extra slot absolutely changes the dynamic. More teams are playing harder right up until the end.

nocoolN4M3sleft t1_j4qsbbb wrote on January 17, 2023 at 4:52 PM

The extra game was very much the Week 18 game. Considering the fact that Week 18 has never existed up until now.

The hell are you even arguing. Teams in contention for certain spots always play hard up until the end. The ones that have nothing to play for don’t, like the Giants in Week 18.

elpajaroquemamais t1_j4quc9s wrote on January 17, 2023 at 5:05 PM

The extra game they had that they wouldn’t have had in the 16 game format was not the opponent they played in week 18. More teams in contention and fewer byes make more teams play up until the end.