Why does ESPN do this to me?
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by S4G
Ok, so I'm watching the Minnesota Vikings come back from 6-13 at half time to beat the Chicago Bears 20-13 last night. It's not between two teams I am dedicated to, other than they play American Football, and I am really on the cusp of falling asleep, when the NFC playoff picture flashes on the screen.
The NFC divisions are already decided: Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys, and the Seattle Seahawks. It's the wild card slots that have yet to be locked down, after all, this isn't the AFC. If the playoffs were today (anyone else hate that statement, there's a schedule for a reason) it would be the New York Giants (at 9-5) and the Vikings (at 8-6), there are still three 'runner's up'. The New Orleans Saints (7-7), the Washington Redskins (7-7), and the Carolina Panthers (6-8). Now, the rest of this will be strictly from the Panthers perspective...
For Carolina to actually have a shot to make the play-offs this is what is going to have to happen...
1) It doesn't matter what the Giants do because they already have more wins than Carolina could get IF they win out.
2) Carolina HAS to win against both the Cowboys, and then in Tampa.
3) Minnesota HAS to lose against both the Washington Redskins AND at Denver.
4) Washington HAS to win against Minnesota (see #3), and then lose the next week against Dallas. If Washington wins out the rest is moot.
5) New Orleans HAS to lose either against Philadelphia or at Chicago the following week - preferably both.
Even if all of that happened the best that Carolina could hope for is a three way tie between Minnesota, Washinton, and themselves - who will all be at 8-8. It would not matter if New Orleans makes it to 8-8 as well (remember as soon as any of the other three teams makes it to 9 wins or more Carolina is officially out of the playoffs), because these two teams split their games against one another AND they will both have a 3-3 division record. Minnesota would be eliminated because Washington beat them (refer to item #3 above) leaving Washington, New Orleans, and Carolina. I've already talked about New Orleans versus Carolina, and Washington has not played against either of them. Now the fun begins :-)....
If all of the scenarios play out, and Carolina, Washington, and New Orleans are all at 8-8, Carolina would win the three way tie breaker because they would have a better conference record (8-4) than either of the other two (New Orleans would be at 7-5 and Washington would be at 6-6).
Now, IF New Orleans does not win ONLY game, but cooperates and loses them both, the tiebreaker is then between Minnesota, Washington, and Carolina. Now, if you remember, Minnesota would then be eliminated because of losing to Washington in week 15. This would leave it between Washington and Carolina, which Carolina would win due to a better conference record.
See how simple that is. :-)
Whew... needless to say... my hopes are not all that high. :) Why can't they (ESPN) just leave me alone in peace and not give my any glimer of hope...
