Introducing: PlaySheet by Playoff Predictors!
3 min read
PlaySheet, By Playoff Predictors
Hello, and welcome to PlaySheet; something new from the brains behind Playoff Predictors.
One of the things that makes the NFL season so interesting is the limited number of games. There are 82 games each in the NHL and the NBA, ensuring that everyone gets to play everyone else. There are 34 matches in MLS, with every team playing each other twice. In MLB? Probably a billion; no one knows as no one’s ever been able to count that high. Teams are much less likely to finish with the same record as one another, and if they do, they’ve assuredly have a head-to-head matchup to help clear things up.
But in the NFL? With just 17 games on the schedule, every game means more, with each win and loss causing massive swings in playoff probability. There are no write-off games; no trotting out position players to the mound or benching your all-stars because rest is more important than winning the game in front of you. Seasons live and die on a handful of plays. Last season alone, the Panthers missed the playoffs on one Eddy Pinero missed extra point; the Saints on a missed tackle on Rachaad White; the Lions on a blown coverage on K.J. Osborn; the Commanders on a terrible Carson Wentz interception; the Steelers on a last-second Breece Hall touchdown plunge just to name a few. Single moments in time that could have gone the other way and radically altered the season.
And with fewer games on the schedule, it’s more likely for teams to finish with identical records. And without everyone playing everyone else, it’s more likely to require advanced tiebreaking scenarios to determine who makes or misses the postseason. Conference records, common games, strength of schedule, strength of victory – if you’re like us, these are music to your ears. We fondly remember situations like 2017, when the Titans, Bills, Ravens and Chargers all tied at 9-7 with two playoff slots on the line, and Buffalo edged out Baltimore because they beat 10-6 Kansas City rather than 0-16 Cleveland. You don’t get things like that nearly as frequently in any other major sport. We love it. And if you’re here, you probably have more than a passing interest in sorting through this mess with us, too.
And so, that’s what we’ll be doing. Throughout the year, we’re going to be reviewing the NFL through the lens of the playoff picture. We’ll be talking scenarios; which teams can clinch and which can be knocked out. We’ll be focusing at the biggest games and plays of the week, examining their knock-on effects as the year goes along. We’ll be looking at your picks and the Playoff Predictors leaderboard, looking at what the biggest shocks were and the impact thereof.
Of course, if you followed me here from the crumbling remains of Football Outsiders, you’ll see some old familiar topics pop up here and there, too, as we take a Scrambly-view of the game at large. This isn’t just going to be a big ol’ spreadsheet of wins and losses; there’ll be plenty of DOOM and Wood Choppin‘; Hot Seats and history. Same old nonsense, brand new digs.
So, once again, welcome to PlaySheet. Let’s get this started, shall we?
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