Volume 67, Issue 7

Crazy Finish to NFL Regular Season Leaves Both New York Teams in Playoffs
by Alexander Chester

In the new NFL, parity has taken on a whole new meaning. Enough has been said about the past three Super Bowl winners, but this year the whole league seems to be on an even par. Going into the last week of the regular season, 12 teams in the AFC still had a chance to make the playoffs, including a resurgent Jets team that had miraculously recovered from a 1-4 start. Perhaps even more miraculously, the Giants had resurfaced in the NFC, where the six playoff teams had seemingly clinched with a month left in the season.

The AFC was the more interesting conference this season, with every team enjoying hot streaks, but no team being able to maintain a winning pace for long. In the AFC North, Pittsburgh limped along, with Pro Bowlers Kordell Stewart and Jerome Bettis disappearing after big years in 2001. But the Steelers’ managed to turn it on at the end of the season, including a big Monday Night upset in Tampa Bay. The Browns were miracle-winners this season, winning games on Hail Mary heaves, blocked field goals, and overtime kicks. Still in the hunt in Week 17 because of impressive road wins in Tampa, New Orleans, and New York (against the Jets), the Browns showed true heart, upsetting the Falcons to set themselves up for a playoff spot at 9-7.

In the South, Tennessee and Indianapolis both picked up steam in the season’s second half. The Titans started out 1-4, but then became the AFC’s hottest (and most underrated) team, including two wins against their new division rivals, the Colts. The Colts were up and down, winning three straight, losing three straight, and then winning four consecutively, before losing to Tennessee in a game that could have separated them from the rest of the conference. Instead, the Colts had to settle for a wild card.

In the West, four solid teams destroyed each other’s records. Every team had at least two division losses, and with only two wild cards in the NFL’s new system, the AFC West contenders knew that two and possibly three of them would miss the playoffs. The Raiders, themselves erratic starting 4-0 before falling to 4-4, recovered to clinch the Conference at 11-5. Denver and San Diego, the AFC’s two best teams as late as Week 12, fell apart at the end of the season. Brain Griese’s promising career was derailed, and the Broncos were one of six AFC teams to miss the playoffs despite a record of .500 or better. San Diego suffered a second-half swoon for the second straight year, while the Chiefs slim playoff hopes disappeared when Priest Holmes, the NFL’s best player, was injured and missed the last two games.

But as usual, the AFC East was the most unpredictable division this year. Everyone but the Jets started hot, but then everyone but the Jets cooled off. The Bills never recovered and ended up as an 8-8 last place team, like Kansas City. The Dolphins seemed to recover in time, with a 9-5 record after Week 15. But improbable road losses to Minnesota and New England – both on game-winning field-goal kicks, sent the Dolphins down to 9-7, and a seat on the couch for the Green Bay-New York game.

The defending Super Bowl champion Patriots had been dismal against good teams this year, but the overtime win against Miami sent them to the couch, too, cheering along with Miami for the Packers to pull off the victory in the Meadowlands.

The Jets had recovered from their poor start behind the sensational quarterback play of young Chad Pennington. With a four o’clock game-time in Week 17, the team got to see every other important result, so that before kickoff they knew what the stakes were. These stakes were huge: four teams were still alive for the two spots in the AFC playoff picture, and it would all be decided between New York and Green Bay. If the Jets beat Brett Favre and the Packers, they would win the division at 9-7 and the Browns would get the last playoff spot. But if the Jets lost to Green Bay, the Patriots would win the division and the Dolphins would get the last wild card. With millions of fans watching across the nation, the Jets stormed out with their best performance in years, shocking the Packers 42-17, proving that it is more important to finish strong than to start fast. The blowout even gave ole’ Vinny Testaverde a chance to step back onto the field.

The final results of Week 17 left NFL fans gasping for air. The Jets and Browns had snuck into the postseason, while Denver, New England, Miami, and San Diego, who had started the season a combined 13-0, all went home, as did Buffalo, Kansas City, and Baltimore.

In the NFC, the playoff picture seemed all set up with a month left in the season. The Giants were 6-6 and two-and-a-half games behind Atlanta for the sixth playoff spot, and no one thought the Giants had a chance. But in a remarkable turn of events, the Giants proceeded to win their last four games, including a blowout of 9-5 Indianapolis on the road, and a remarkable overtime victory against 12-3 Philadelphia in Week 17.

However, this would all have been for naught if not for an even more remarkable crash-and-burn by the New Orleans Saints. After a huge victory against the Bucs gave New Orleans an 8-4 record and season sweep of the league’s best team, many pundits saw the Saints running the table to the NFC’s top seed. At 9-4 and with home games against Minnesota and Carolina (a combined record of 9-19 when they faced N.O.), and a road game against the NFL’s worst team, the 1-13 Bengals, the Saints seemed a lock.

But New Orleans managed to lose all three by a combined 12 points, in spite of the other teams having nothing to play for. The Saints’ epic swoon reminded many of 2001, when the team was 7-5 and in good position before losing four straight to end the year. The Saints’ collapse also enabled the Falcons to back into the playoffs, in spite of finishing up losing three of four themselves.

At the top of the NFC, Tampa, Green Bay, and Philly were all neck-and-neck for much of the season. But each team decided to give up at the end of the year, losing easy games that could have given each one home-field advantage. For Tampa Bay this was especially critical, because the Bucs have never won a game in freezing conditions. The Eagles managed to back into the home-field advantage despite the absence of Donovan McNabb, and this leaves the Bucs looking up at a cold game in Philadelphia, if things get that far.

The way I see things now, the Raiders and Packers are the favorites, each because of experience. I had expected the AFC to come down to Miami vs. Denver, but neither team even made the playoffs. Now, I think Oakland has an easy road to the Super Bowl, a place the Raiders think they belonged last year if not for questionable officiating in the New England snow.

The drama that was so prevalent in the AFC during the regular season will be switched to the NFC for the playoffs. The Giants and Falcons are also-rans who will crumble in the wild card round. San Francisco has also proven themselves to be unable to hold up against top competition, losing at home to the Packers and Eagles.

This leaves the Packers, Buccaneers, and Eagles, and home-field will be the decided factor. I think Tampa Bay can beat either Green Team in Florida; but north of the Mason-Dixon Line the Bucs are a different team. I think the Green Bay-Tampa Bay face-off in the Divisional Playoffs will be the best playoff game of the year, and I think the home team will come out on top. The Bucs will then move on to play Philly, where the cold weather and Vet Stadium’s last game will send the Eagles to their first Super Bowl in 20 years. In a rematch of Super Bowl XV, the Raiders will beat the Eagles, ending a truly magnificent NFL season.

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