Playoffs and End of Year Review

The most shocking development of Week 17 was not the results, but the fact that the NFL changed the Playoff Scheduling Format. The NFL changed the rotation of wild card weekend and it threw everything off. Normally, FOX and CBS will flip flop every year the times that they get for the Sunday. This year the NFL flipped the switch and changed the rotational schedule. Also, the other big factor was the fact that NBC wanted and got the Dallas-Philly game. By doing that, FOX couldn't put Arizona-Green Bay at 1:00pm EST on Sunday because the game is in Arizona. Therefore, the NFL made a big decision and scrapped the rotational schedule and put Arizona-GB at 4:oopm EST and gave CBS the early game (NE/Balt) for the second year in a row. We'll see what the Divisional Schedule looks like because now all bets are off with the format. Here is the Wild Card Weekend Schedule:

Saturday 1/9/2010

4:oo pm-NBC (Tom Hammond, Joe Gibbs, and Joe Theismann)

AFC Wild Card Game

(5) NY Jets at (4) Cincinnati

8:00 pm-NBC (Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth)

NFC Wild Card Game

(6) Philadelphia at (3) Dallas

Sunday 1/10/2010

1:oo pm-CBS (Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)

AFC Wild Card Game

(6) Baltimore at (3) New England

4:oo pm-FOX (Joe Buck and Troy Aikman)

NFC Wild Card Game

(5) Green Bay at (4) Arizona

A few other notes about the playoff matchups:

1) 3 of the games are rematches from Week 17. I think that you throw out what happened in those games (Victories by GB, Dallas, and NY Jets). New England and Baltimore each played each other earlier in the year as well.

2) Baltimore returns to the postseason for the second year in a row. New England makes their 7th playoff appearance since 2001.

3) Green Bay returns to playoffs for the first time since the 2007 NFC Title Game.

4) Arizona makes its' second straight playoff appearance.

5) The Jets make their first playoff appearance since 2006, and they are looking for their first playoff win since 2004. The Bengals are making their first playoff appearance since 2005, and they are seeking their first playoff win since 1990.

6) Philly makes the playoffs for the 8th time since 2000. The Cowboys are back in the playoffs for the third time in four years and are seeking their first playoff win since 1996.

7) I went 7 for 12 in my playoff predictions for 2009. I correctly predicted Indy, SD, NE, and Cincy in the AFC. I got Philly, Dallas, and Green Bay in the NFC. I predicted the following teams as division champs: NE, Indy, and San Diego. I will have a complete breakdown of my predictions sometime this offseason, probably in February.

8) Of the 12 teams that made the playoffs in 2008, 6 returned to the playoffs and 6 new teams qualified. Here are the 6 that returned to the playoffs in 2009: Indy, SD, Baltimore, Philly, Arizona, and Minnesota. Here are the 6 teams that made it in 2008 that didn't make it in 2009: NY Giants (8-8), Atlanta (9-7), Carolina (8-8), Miami (7-9), Pittsburgh (9-7), and Tennessee (8-8). The 6 teams that made the playoffs that didn't make it in 2008 are: NY Jets, Cincy, NE, New Orleans, Dallas, and Green Bay. Of the 8 Division winners from 2008 only 3 repeated from 2008: San Diego in the AFC West, Arizona in the NFC West and Minnesota in the NFC North.