Have faith and I will provide for you
Roger Goodell’s scheduling changes are working
At the end of the 2009 season NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wanted to change the trend of “resting the starters” or “tanking the game” by teams who had already clinched their divisions and playoff spots. The decision was made to schedule more intra-divisional games in the final three weeks of the season and exclusively in the final week. Goodell felt the change was necessary to preserve the integrity of the game in the late-season. The plan is certainly working for him in the 2013 AFC. The Week 17 outcomes of the Bronco’s, Patriots, Colts, and Bengals games on Sunday will determine which teams get the first and second seeds with the bye week. The Dolphins, Ravens, Chargers, & Steelers all have 6th seed potential going into week 17. Some of the scenarios will be difficult but to a fan, not being eliminated yet is all that matters.
In the AFCE we have two games that could have major impact on playoff seeding. If the Patriots win vs Buffalo they clinch at least the 2nd seed, lose and they could be a 3rd or 4th seed. The Dolphins vs Jets game is more critical to the Dolphins. A Dolphin loss means no playoffs for them while a win puts them in excellent position for the 6th seed. All in all the scheduling has to be considered a success as the division races took much longer to resolve and there were fewer teams eliminated early. Despite the betting spreads being assigned to the AFCE games this weekend there isn’t any team that feels overly confident or non competitive in the match-up.
We all get to enjoy another day of AFCE action and hopefully get 2 teams into the playoffs. Be sure to visit the GAMEDAY page today and experience the highs and lows of our members as the games unfold.
AFC Week 17 Playoff Picture.
NFC Week 17 Playoff Picture.
Be sure to get your picks in by 1pm
( cgc, ck, mars, rcr – need to enter COLTS/JAGS game)
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