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Wire_Bender t1_j4op0oi wrote

And since then, only Three times have division teams faced each other in the conference finals. Steelers-Ravens in the 2008 playoffs, Packers-Bears in 2010, and 49ers-Seahawks in 2013. In each of these, the winner won the superbowl.

Edit - 4 times - Last years 49ers/Rams game. And Rams won the superbowl too

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[deleted] t1_j4oy8oi wrote

For the seven seed to matter in this equation they need to beat the two seed on wildcard weekend which is technically possible but would still be rare. I think we will see it like once every five years to a decade. I know any giving Sunday but there’s such a gap between a top four team in the league and a roughly league average team. Then they also need to be in the same division as two other teams that all made it to the next round.

Even with expanded playoffs I think this will continue to be incredibly rare.

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MuchoGrandeRandy t1_j4p397a wrote

Considering where the NFC East was a couple of years ago, this is truly remarkable.

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RollingMoss1 OP t1_j4p3aax wrote

You're right that back when it was six teams the #1 and #2 seeds got byes. Now only the #1 seed gets the bye. So this year's seeding would have worked out as Eagles at #1 get a bye. Then SF (#2) plays Seattle (#7). #3 Vikings play #6 Giants, #4 TB get #5 Cowboys. This got the three NFC east teams into the Divisional. I think the same games #3 through #6 would have been played with the old format.

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El_mochilero t1_j4pbd8c wrote

We almost saw all four teams in the NFC East make the playoffs this year, too.

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davekva t1_j4ppy8z wrote

So the #1 Eagles and #2 Niners would've had the bye, Seahawks don't get in. Matchups still would've been #3 Vikings hosting #6 Giants, and #4 Bucs hosting #5 Cowboys. Things would've been EXACTLY the same going into the divisional round in the old format.

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elpajaroquemamais t1_j4pufbn wrote

Worth noting that it never happened after realignment in 2002 with a 12 team playoff format. Only happened because they added another team to each conference’s playoffs.

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elpajaroquemamais t1_j4pw9j7 wrote

Maybe. The motivations would have been different and there would have been one less game. Some teams would have not played their starters because the first two teams used to get a bye. We can’t know one way or the other. But again, still worth noting that it never happened with 16 games and a 12 team playoff.

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Calmandpeace t1_j4pwkgj wrote

They all have what it takes to be blown out by San Francisco

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_Monosyllabic_ t1_j4qcak9 wrote

When I think of the eastern US the first state to come to mind is Texas.

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conker1264 t1_j4qcvwd wrote

I’m sure cowboys will lose next game as tradition

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BxgBlxck t1_j4qdkzi wrote

That’s a pretty big turnaround seeing as most people considered the NFC South to be the worst division in football like a season or two ago. Not too shabby

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elpajaroquemamais t1_j4qkztg wrote

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.

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nocoolN4M3sleft t1_j4qojlr wrote

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.

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nocoolN4M3sleft t1_j4qsbbb wrote

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.

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AdvancedGentleman t1_j4qsl5n wrote

I bet at least one of those teams doesn’t make it out of the divisional round.

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jcrewjr t1_j4rbjge wrote

The three team advancing thing is interesting, but requires precise seeding distribution. The only teams to beat NFCW teams in last years playoffs were other NFCW teams, but seeding kept the Cardinals from making it to round 2.

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JRockBC19 t1_j4rqyr3 wrote

It just requires one team be the 1 seed, the rest can't play each other as they have to be wildcards. Still crazy rare to see, but from a seeding standpoint it's kinda reasonable

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lemonpepperlarry t1_j4rt7f6 wrote

This was perhaps the worst division in history barely over a year ago. The nfl is wild man.

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dolladollaclinton t1_j4sdn2h wrote

Would have happened this year if the Commanders made the playoffs and beat the 49ers. Not very likely they would have beat the 9ers, but they were close to the 7 seed and Eagles had the 1 seed so it was possible.

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Cant_Spell_Shit t1_j4sdp84 wrote

Technically you could have an entire division in the divisional round and then people would be like "duh, that's why it's called the divisional round"

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gatsby712 t1_j4sfb88 wrote

Wouldn’t that give the NFL more games with at least one large market team playing? I guess it may be more advantageous for them to have prime time games with two large markets, rather than a game with a large and small market. But then you have more games with two small market teams playing each other and shifted into a regional game on cbs/fox during the afternoon.

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eggraid101 t1_j4sig2d wrote

Probably more about rivalries. Washington-Dallas is one of the top 2-3 rivalries in the NFL, along with Bears-Packers and…I think those are the top 2, actually, even if da Bears haven’t had much of a showing recently against Green Bay.

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dsphilly t1_j4skiuo wrote

With all due respect. The Cowboys Redskins is nowhere near as heated as the Dallas Philly rivalry .
I believe the point was that the NFC East contains 4 of the top 10 television markets in the country. The amount of prime time games that go to the NFC East leans towards this as well

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xsvspd81 t1_j4sntfy wrote

This is my thought, too. But, I also believe (based on nothing) that Jerry Jones sold his soul to the Devil for the Cowboys' championships in the nineties, and he will not live to see them win another one.

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Setthescene t1_j4ssyjk wrote

We now have 7 teams instead of 6 in the playoffs.

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elsuakned t1_j4t5vpq wrote

History doesn't mean much. Giants had 6 losing seasons out of the seven years before 2020, Commanders five of the last seven. Before this weekend the cowboys had won two playoff games in the past decade. They have not been one of the best divisions in football for quite awhile now, and all four figuring out their issues and putting together decent seasons, with two playoff wins and a bye, is not some expectation.

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jarpio t1_j4tp097 wrote

Mostly based on the roster, their quarterback who doesn’t turn the ball over, their defense that forces the other team to turn the ball over. Their two thousand yard receivers. Their thousand yard RB. Their league leading pass rush, their secondary, their o line. They have no holes anywhere.

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TheMooseIsBlue t1_j4tpasv wrote

Im not saying they’re bad, I’m saying they played a ridiculously easy schedule, so all those impressive accolades you just gave could certainly be a result of them being awesome, but they could certainly be a result of them playing no one.

We’ll likely find out next week when they finally play a varsity team against the 49ers.

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jarpio t1_j4uvql9 wrote

You can make the schedule argument for every team. If we’re being honest there are only about 5 or 6 legitimately good NFL teams this year. That’s a weak argument.

Cincy dallas KC SF Philly and Buffalo. That’s it, those are all the good teams in the league. You can make fun of the schedule for all of those teams if you want. The eagles won their division, which this year was the best division in the NFL, by 2 games.

I do know the 49ers got their doors blown off by KC, the only legitimately good team on their schedule so…make of that what you will.

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Not_n_A-Hole_usually t1_j4vw1td wrote

Just sent that link to my gf, the Washington fan.

Guess who may be sleeping on the couch tonight? 😂

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vangc4 t1_j4xnyrc wrote

The fact that nfc east sucked for so many years.. mind as well toss them a bone or two or three..

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eggraid101 t1_j4xo42o wrote

Recently Washington hasn’t been as competitive, but historically, Washington Dallas is a bigger rivalry. From Wikipedia:

The rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders, formerly known as the Redskins, is called one of the top NFL rivalries of all time and "one of the greatest in sports" by Sports Illustrated.[54]

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LolitsPing t1_j4xr3sq wrote

The guy you're replying to is probably very young and is clouded by recency bias.

Washington has one of the largest fanbases historically. If you ask a lot of fans in their 40s and 50s, there's a very good chance that they're a Commie fan because of the Hogs and the Scabs in the 80s and 90s.

Until Baltimore got a team again, the now-Commies had a huge foothold in the DMV area.

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