So it all comes down to the Detroit Lions...

[Rainger]

I never watch professional wrestling because it is staged. If I do watch a fictious movie, it has to be credible or believable, like Titanic. I got up and walked out of The Martian because it was so phony, should have demanded my money back for such a POS. I read a lot of nonfiction stuff, biographies and the sort, and I watch a lot of documentaries.

If I ever thought that the NFL was rigged, I wouldn't give them one more dime or waste one more minute of my time following them, and I certainly wouldn't be wasting my time on a forum like this if I thought what we were talking about was rigged.

But to each their own.

The NFL is not as a whole "rigged" but certain games are certainly steered by the refs. Either by having one or two with money on the spread and then conveniently calling a penalty or not to ensure that their bet is covered. Or by having personal biases where they live and what teams and players they like.

To deny that ,and believe all ref's are 100 percent honest or games are not steered in a particular way to make money either for the refs, of the networks is to believe in the tooth fairy.

Every single sport has been exposed where officials or the leagues have interfered with the outcome. But to many on this site the NFL and their officials are all angels with 100 percent honesty and integrity when the rest of the population is not.

Finally I don't say it only happens to Seattle, it happens to all teams. But to many on this site if you point that the Hawks got jobbed, they get apoplectic that seahawk fans ONLY complain when it happens to them. That argument does not mean it didn't happen.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Says the guy who just called me "obsessed"

Come on, you feel strongly about your opinions, and others feel strongly about their opinions. Steering has been happening for years.
At the same time, the victim card for THIS SEASON is pretty sketchy at best.

 

[Rainger]

Says the guy who just called me "obsessed"

Come on, you feel strongly about your opinions, and others feel strongly about their opinions. Steering has been happening for years.
At the same time, the victim card for THIS SEASON is pretty sketchy at best.

I didn't say anything in my above post about THIS SEASON, you are the one obsessed with the losses to the NFC south.

I was talking in general about corruption in the NFL , in people and in all sport But to say those things don't happen is putting your head in the sand.

Please go re read the post carefully because you clearly want to read words or thoughts into my post that aren't there.

 

[schkoot]

Since the game in question is played after our (and assuming we win) the only hope we'd have is the Lions wanting to win out of spite.

At first I thought we were SOL, but honestly I can see it happening. We as fans would owe them some love for it.

 

[hgwellz12]

Since the game in question is played after our (and assuming we win) the only hope we'd have is the Lions wanting to win out of spite.

At first I thought we were SOL, but honestly I can see it happening. We as fans would owe them some love for it.

I can see that happening. And I will be forever grateful to the Lions and their fans! It will instantly become my 2nd favorite team! Kinda like the Bills/Bengals bromance that's brewing (nothing to do with the D. Hamlin event)

 

[SoulfishHawk]

You know it. Will forever have a soft spot for the Lions if they pull that off on Sunday night. What a day that would be. I love our chances against the Rams, gotta' take care of that first. Just feels like house $ to be in this position right now, and I'm loving it.

 

[pmedic920]

You guys realize that the Bucs are locked into the #4 seed, and that the Packers will be the #7 seed if they make the playoffs?

The Packers would need to beat the #2 seed (likely SF) and then the #1 seed, both on the road, to even have a chance at getting to a TB vs GB matchup in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Bucs would also have to win in the WC round and the divisional round, and don't look now, but the Bucs very well might be the worst team in the playoffs this season.

In other words, a Rodgers vs Brady matchup in the playoffs is incredibly unlikely and is going to take a whole boatload of "steering" and/or "rigging" to accomplish. Seems pretty far fetched to me, and it also seems pretty far fetched that they would "steer" the week 17 games in the hopes of eventually getting that very unlikely matchup.

This is a fair and reasonable take from the Rogers vs Brady standpoint.

But you can’t deny that the NFL would rather see Rogers and GB in the playoffs over Smith and Seattle. Well maybe you can but I wouldn’t.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Yeah, I would give GB very little shot of beating Santa Clara, even with Lord Rodgers. I hate the Niners, but they are best all around team in the NFC imo.

 

[Chapow]

This is a fair and reasonable take from the Rogers vs Brady standpoint.

But you can’t deny that the NFL would rather see Rogers and GB in the playoffs over Smith and Seattle. Well maybe you can but I wouldn’t.

I think it's a fairly pointless discussion because there isn't really anyway of knowing what "the NFL" wants, and it's also quite obvious that most here have already made up their minds. But since I'm having a slow morning, I'll give it a shot.

First, what/who is "the NFL" and who gets to decide what they want? I'd have to say that the owners (or ownership groups) are "the NFL" because I can't really think of anything else that makes much sense in that regard. So, when people claim that the NFL has biases for certain teams, and steers games in favor of certain teams, they are also saying that all, or most of the owners are on board with that (and if there are any owners that aren't on board with that, they're just accepting it anyway). So I guess all of the other owners are OK with their team getting screwed over to benefit a select few, like the Packers? Guys like Jerry Jones, Jim Irsay, Dan Snyder, etc., all agree, year after year, to steer games, and seasons, in favor of certain teams or players at the expense of their own team. Yeah, sorry, but that's a little hard to believe.

Yeah, but ratings right? They only care about ratings and money, so if agreeing to steer games in favor of the most popular teams/players brings higher ratings and more money, then that's what they do, even at the expense of their own teams success?

That seems to be the most popular theory anyway. Here's the thing though, the NFL gets massive ratings regardless of matchups. NFL playoff games get astronomical ratings regardless of matchups. They don't need Rogers vs Brady to get the ratings they want. They're getting those ratings regardless.

Anyway, my main point is this. I don't think "the NFL" cares anywhere near as much as most people think they do which teams make the playoffs. It doesn't really matter in regards to ratings, so why would they? In general, people that are going to watch the playoffs are going to watch regardless of matchups, and the people that will only watch a specific team (like for example, the Packers) don't make a significant enough difference to really matter.

 

[Chapow]

Also, I found this kind of interesting.

Here's a list of the 30 most watched TV broadcasts of all time in the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_watched_television_broadcasts_in_the_United_States
30 of the 32 are Super Bowls. #1 on that list is Super Bowl XLIX, #2 is Super Bowl XLVIII. Or in other words, the Seattle Seahawks 2 most recent Super Bowl appearances. Yes, that's right. The Seattle Seahawks drew the 2 largest audiences in TV history in the United States.

But sure, the NFL hates the Seahawks and is constantly steering games against us.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Good points. Most hardcore NFL fans are watching all the playoff games. Regardless who is playing. I can't imagine not watching a playoff game.

 

[StoneCold]

reading this thread I'm amazed many of you watch at all.

RIGGED STEERED! may as well bake a cake.

 

[Rainger]

You know it. Will forever have a soft spot for the Lions if they pull that off on Sunday night. What a day that would be. I love our chances against the Rams, gotta' take care of that first. Just feels like house $ to be in this position right now, and I'm loving it.

Well I definitely have a soft spot for the Lions. They won the NFL championship the year I was born 1952. Also I lived outside of Detroit, on lake Sinclair in 1958. Finally all the great cars and songs that came from my youth in the 60s, LOL.

Go Lions smash those assh*** Packers!!!!!!

 

[Spohawks]

With everyone and their dog thinking the Packers will win, this would be a great time for Vegas to make a few bucks and pull some strings!

At least thats what I hope happens!

 

[SoulfishHawk]

This Detroit team has a lot of heart. And you gotta' love Dan Campbell. He's a hell of a motivator.

 

[RiverDog]

The NFL always has and always will prefer that teams from large markets with drawing power play in their most watched games. They also understand the value of star power, and would prefer that popular players, like Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, be shown on national TV so as to maximize viewership. They are, after all, in this business to make money, which is defined by TV ratings.

While I do agree that the league may have looked at the Packers, with a very large and dedicated fan base and one of the league's most well-known stars, and with an opportunity to make the playoffs by winning their final game, was too much for them to resist putting in Prime Time, it's a little more of a stretch to say that they were doing it to influence an outcome. I also don't see any evidence AT ALL that the officials are acting at their behest to 'steer' games in a preferred direction.

If you truly believe that the refs and the league are 'steering' games towards preferred outcomes, how is it that the most popular team in the country, the Dallas Cowboys, have been such infrequent participants in the playoffs and haven't advanced to so much as a championship game for decades?

Having said that, I do think that this issue about the final week scheduling should be addressed in the competition committee. If nothing else, just publish a schedule several weeks ahead of the final weekend so as to mollify critics that they are manipulating start times to achieve a certain outcome.

 

[NJlargent]

I think with the Lions watching our game from essentially the locker room and seeing us win and then having to immediately gear up and go out and play is tough. I would be surprised if a lot of their fire isn't put out and they get beat soundly. Plus GB seems to be playing better.

I hope we come out and go up big early so the Lions have a chance to recognize quickly their game is meaningless and then have some time to regroup and come out playing for pride and wanting to finish a good season with a win. If we win on a pick 6 in OT I think the Lions get beat and don't show up.

 

[renofox]

I think with the Lions watching our game from essentially the locker room and seeing us win and then having to immediately gear up and go out and play is tough. I would be surprised if a lot of their fire isn't put out and they get beat soundly. Plus GB seems to be playing better.

I hope we come out and go up big early so the Lions have a chance to recognize quickly their game is meaningless and then have some time to regroup and come out playing for pride and wanting to finish a good season with a win. If we win on a pick 6 in OT I think the Lions get beat and don't show up.

Exactly. All these people saying DET will play just as hard knowing they can't make the playoffs are ignorant of basic human psychology.

Being psyched up to play for a playoff spot then having that reality come crashing down, assuming SEA wins, 1 hour before kickoff does not give time for 'recovery' to a focused mental state.

 

[pmedic920]

I wonder if there’s even one player in the NFL that doesn’t have the Super Bowl set as his goal.

I don’t see how knowing you have no chance doesn’t affect you.

I believe the human nature thing is real and applicable in this situation.

I hope the lions win even if, especially if we don’t but nobody will convince me that us winning our game won’t affect the lions mentality.

 

[FrodosFinger]

The Lions got this. A chance for them to finish with a winning record and at the same time knocking the fudge packers out is sufficient incentive