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iknowftbll
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This is a game my daughter likes to play with me when she's bored. "Would you rather..." then you offer two awful choices and make the other person pick one.
We still have one final game for the Broncos and it's a game that can make a big difference to the AFC playoff seeding. With that said, the Broncos are out and the playoffs are therefore about 0.0000005% as interesting to me as they'd be with the Broncos in them. Still, there's some compelling reasons to watch the playoffs as some of the Broncos biggest rivals are still in the contest. And with 4 out of 6 (and probably the strongest 4 out of 6 at that) AFC playoff teams being major Broncos rivals, it's nearly inevitable that a team we don't necessarily care for is going to have a good playoff run.
So here's my question: would you rather see the Texans and/or Dolphins go on an improbable run and ensure the likes of the Raiders, Chiefs, Steelers and Patriots have zero playoff success or would you rather see one of these 4 reach the Super Bowl only to get railed by whoever wins the NFC?
Consider:
Raiders and Chiefs: These two need no introduction. The Raiders are 3-2 in the Super Bowl and the last time they reached the Super Bowl it was delightful. The ensuing years were dismal for them, and maybe something similar would happen this time around. Would it be worth watching the Raiders in the Super Bowl if they got beat decisively again, then followed up with several more years of malaise? As for the Chiefs, they're 1-1 in the Super Bowl but haven't been since the 1969 season. Following the Broncos loss to the Seahawks Chiefs fans talked a lot of trash even though their team lost a playoff game they led by 28 at one point. I distinctly recall a lot of their fans claiming it's better to not even reach the Super Bowl than get blown out in it. How fitting would it be if they reached the Super Bowl but got destroyed 41-3 or something insane like that? Would it be worth having to watch them in the Super Bowl for that?
Patriots: We discussed earlier this year how the Patriots are in all actuality the Broncos biggest rival of this era. Perhaps the Raiders and Chiefs both posting great seasons this year will change that to some degree but over the past 5-6 years it's definitely been the Pats. And a look at how Pats fans react when talking about the Broncos it's clear the Broncos have been the Pats biggest rival too. Some show a healthy respect (We have some great Pats fans here on SportsHoopla) and others display an open contempt for the only team that has consistently beat the Pats since the BB-Brady era. With 8 Super Bowls already to their Credit, another trip for the Pats would mean 9: more than any other team in the league (unless Dallas won the NFC). But with 4 losses, the Pats would be one loss away from joining the Broncos as the only team 5 Super Bowl losses. Would that league record 9 Super Bowls be worth it if the Pats, the greatest team of this era, co-owned the dubious honor of most Super Bowl losses?
Steelers: The Steelers are a quiet and distant rival to the Broncos. There's no bad blood here like the afore mentioned 3 teams either. But look at the Broncos playoff history and the Steelers show up more than any other team. And like the Pats, the Steelers sit atop the league in Super Bowl appearances AND wins! At 6-2 the Steelers are poised to distance themselves from the pack should they win another SB. With that said, because there doesn't seem to be the bad blood here that there is with these other rivals, would you rather see them reach a 9th Super Bowl, even if it meant a 7th win?
My take:
I'm hoping the Dolphins go on an improbable run from that 6th seed. I have a few reasons for this, from the Adam Gase connection to a close friend who is a Dolphins fan who sat with me and cheered on the Broncos as they won the Super Bowl over the Panthers. Short of that, I'd rather see the Steelers represent the AFC in the Super Bowl and am actually indifferent to them winning or losing. I guess it would depend on their opponent. Lastly, should the Patriots, Chiefs or Raiders reach the Super Bowl the game would still have a lot of appeal to me but only because I'd want to see those teams lose as outlined above.
The seeding will be finalized in a few short days. I'll update this as the playoffs go along. The NFC playoffs may affect my stance as well (wouldn't it suck to have a Pats-Raiders-Chiefs vs Seahawks Super Bowl) so we'll see what happens week to week.
We still have one final game for the Broncos and it's a game that can make a big difference to the AFC playoff seeding. With that said, the Broncos are out and the playoffs are therefore about 0.0000005% as interesting to me as they'd be with the Broncos in them. Still, there's some compelling reasons to watch the playoffs as some of the Broncos biggest rivals are still in the contest. And with 4 out of 6 (and probably the strongest 4 out of 6 at that) AFC playoff teams being major Broncos rivals, it's nearly inevitable that a team we don't necessarily care for is going to have a good playoff run.
So here's my question: would you rather see the Texans and/or Dolphins go on an improbable run and ensure the likes of the Raiders, Chiefs, Steelers and Patriots have zero playoff success or would you rather see one of these 4 reach the Super Bowl only to get railed by whoever wins the NFC?
Consider:
Raiders and Chiefs: These two need no introduction. The Raiders are 3-2 in the Super Bowl and the last time they reached the Super Bowl it was delightful. The ensuing years were dismal for them, and maybe something similar would happen this time around. Would it be worth watching the Raiders in the Super Bowl if they got beat decisively again, then followed up with several more years of malaise? As for the Chiefs, they're 1-1 in the Super Bowl but haven't been since the 1969 season. Following the Broncos loss to the Seahawks Chiefs fans talked a lot of trash even though their team lost a playoff game they led by 28 at one point. I distinctly recall a lot of their fans claiming it's better to not even reach the Super Bowl than get blown out in it. How fitting would it be if they reached the Super Bowl but got destroyed 41-3 or something insane like that? Would it be worth having to watch them in the Super Bowl for that?
Patriots: We discussed earlier this year how the Patriots are in all actuality the Broncos biggest rival of this era. Perhaps the Raiders and Chiefs both posting great seasons this year will change that to some degree but over the past 5-6 years it's definitely been the Pats. And a look at how Pats fans react when talking about the Broncos it's clear the Broncos have been the Pats biggest rival too. Some show a healthy respect (We have some great Pats fans here on SportsHoopla) and others display an open contempt for the only team that has consistently beat the Pats since the BB-Brady era. With 8 Super Bowls already to their Credit, another trip for the Pats would mean 9: more than any other team in the league (unless Dallas won the NFC). But with 4 losses, the Pats would be one loss away from joining the Broncos as the only team 5 Super Bowl losses. Would that league record 9 Super Bowls be worth it if the Pats, the greatest team of this era, co-owned the dubious honor of most Super Bowl losses?
Steelers: The Steelers are a quiet and distant rival to the Broncos. There's no bad blood here like the afore mentioned 3 teams either. But look at the Broncos playoff history and the Steelers show up more than any other team. And like the Pats, the Steelers sit atop the league in Super Bowl appearances AND wins! At 6-2 the Steelers are poised to distance themselves from the pack should they win another SB. With that said, because there doesn't seem to be the bad blood here that there is with these other rivals, would you rather see them reach a 9th Super Bowl, even if it meant a 7th win?
My take:
I'm hoping the Dolphins go on an improbable run from that 6th seed. I have a few reasons for this, from the Adam Gase connection to a close friend who is a Dolphins fan who sat with me and cheered on the Broncos as they won the Super Bowl over the Panthers. Short of that, I'd rather see the Steelers represent the AFC in the Super Bowl and am actually indifferent to them winning or losing. I guess it would depend on their opponent. Lastly, should the Patriots, Chiefs or Raiders reach the Super Bowl the game would still have a lot of appeal to me but only because I'd want to see those teams lose as outlined above.
The seeding will be finalized in a few short days. I'll update this as the playoffs go along. The NFC playoffs may affect my stance as well (wouldn't it suck to have a Pats-Raiders-Chiefs vs Seahawks Super Bowl) so we'll see what happens week to week.
