As I was laying in bed last night thinking about football (what else?) I pondered how our playoff path might have been different had we beaten St. Louis at home in week 16 and secured the 5th seed.
Here is a comparison of that scenario (5 seed) with the one we ended up with (6 seed):
6th Seed Route:
Wild Card Round: @ Minnesota in arctic temps in a 10am PT game. Not fully a cross country trip but another early start, obscene weather conditions, and a game that really wasn't a game...more a battle for survival
Divisional Round: @ Carolina in another 10am game. I think we can all agree that Carolina was better than Arizona and therefore the toughest of the remaining options. The early start, a full cross country trip, and a crappy field were headwinds that we couldn't overcome in the 1st half.
5th Seed Route:
Wild Card Round: @ Washington in a Saturday evening game (around 2pm PT start). Poor playing surface but much better temperatures and an opponent that was clearly a paper tiger (as they were exposed by Green Bay)
Divisional Round: @ Arizona in a Saturday night game. Perfect weather and field conditions and much shorter trip. Ultimately, the key here too is that Arizona peaked earlier in the season and Palmer's injury made them a shell of their former selves. High confidence that this would have been a win.
Championship Round: @ Carolina in a Sunday night game. An extra day of rest to handle the cross country trip. Yup, the field still would've sucked and I'm not sure the final outcome would have been different but I have to think we give Carolina a much better game in the NFC Championship as opposed to the Divisional round...given the circumstances in getting to each
Here is a comparison of that scenario (5 seed) with the one we ended up with (6 seed):
6th Seed Route:
Wild Card Round: @ Minnesota in arctic temps in a 10am PT game. Not fully a cross country trip but another early start, obscene weather conditions, and a game that really wasn't a game...more a battle for survival
Divisional Round: @ Carolina in another 10am game. I think we can all agree that Carolina was better than Arizona and therefore the toughest of the remaining options. The early start, a full cross country trip, and a crappy field were headwinds that we couldn't overcome in the 1st half.
5th Seed Route:
Wild Card Round: @ Washington in a Saturday evening game (around 2pm PT start). Poor playing surface but much better temperatures and an opponent that was clearly a paper tiger (as they were exposed by Green Bay)
Divisional Round: @ Arizona in a Saturday night game. Perfect weather and field conditions and much shorter trip. Ultimately, the key here too is that Arizona peaked earlier in the season and Palmer's injury made them a shell of their former selves. High confidence that this would have been a win.
Championship Round: @ Carolina in a Sunday night game. An extra day of rest to handle the cross country trip. Yup, the field still would've sucked and I'm not sure the final outcome would have been different but I have to think we give Carolina a much better game in the NFC Championship as opposed to the Divisional round...given the circumstances in getting to each