Potential Playoff Opponent(s)

[flv2]

So, there's no chance of us playing the Niners in the wild card round?

If we lose to the Panthers, the Niners lose to the Bears, the Rams lose one of their last two then we beat the Niners, we'll end up with a 13-4 record and win the NFC West. If the Bears win out, they, too, will finish with a 13-4 record and win the NFC North. The Bears would have a better conference record than us as we'd have 4 conference losses to the Bears 3, so they would win the tiebreaker for the #1 seed.

I don't know what the odds are of all of that happening, but it's not unthinkable that the NFC West winner does not get the #1 seed.

Yes. There are several scenarios where an NFC West team ends up with the #2 seed and the #7 seed is also from the NFC West. If the Seahawks lose BOTH games and the Eagles win out it is possible for the NFC West winner to be the #3 seed. The #6 seed opponent could also then come from the NFC West. The Seahawks can't finish with #7 seed because the runner-up in the NFC North can't get to 12 wins.

 

[flv2]

Yeah, the Rams have the easiest schedule of all the teams still vying for the #1 seed in the NFC, ie Falcons and Cards, neither of which are in contention for a playoff spot. We have the Panthers and Niners, both on the road, the Niners have the Bears and us, the Bears have the Niners and Lions. All of those teams are still in contention.

But it's still a possibility that has to be taken into consideration.

It's still technically possible for the Eagles to end up with the #1 seed, but that requires an extremely unlikely combination of results.

 

[MORGULON]

If we get the first round bye, these are the odds on who we'd draw in our first playoff game

Divisional round:

Vs. 49ers 45%

Vs. Packers 34%

Vs. Rams 17%

Vs. Lions 2%

Vs. Panthers 2%

If we don't get the first seed and we fall back to fifth or sixth, we're most likely to draw the following matchups:

Wildcard:

@ Panthers 58%

@ Bucs 35%

@ Eagles 6%

@ Bears 1%

Obviously we'd prefer the first round bye/home field advantage, but is there a preferable route/opponent through the playoffs?

Personally, I think we matchup well with the Packers (comparatively), obviously playing the Panthers would be favorable but they'll most likely be eliminated. I think we can take the Bears/Eagles down the road and I'd prefer to not play the Rams. 49ers will be a tough out considering our division rivalry, but not as tough as the Rams I think.

Would love to hear your thoughts

If Seattle doesn't get the bye, I'd rather go to Tampa Bay .

 

[flv2]

If Seattle doesn't get the bye, I'd rather go to Tampa Bay .

Obviously everyone would prefer to have the bye-week. On paper playing at the Buccaneers is the easiest wild-card game, but being the #5 seed could mean having to win 3 road games back to back. I'd still prefer to be the #2 seed and have at least 2 games at home, even if the 1st game looks to be against a tougher opponent.

 

[glenwo2]

you are correct it's absolutely possible the Hawks could be the #1 seed and host the Bucs as the #4 seed in the divisional round.

I would love for that to happen.

Have the bye and then host the Bucs?

 

[Morpheus08]

If we get the first round bye, these are the odds on who we'd draw in our first playoff game

Divisional round:

Vs. 49ers 45%

Vs. Packers 34%

Vs. Rams 17%

Vs. Lions 2%

Vs. Panthers 2%

If we don't get the first seed and we fall back to fifth or sixth, we're most likely to draw the following matchups:

Wildcard:

@ Panthers 58%

@ Bucs 35%

@ Eagles 6%

@ Bears 1%

Obviously we'd prefer the first round bye/home field advantage, but is there a preferable route/opponent through the playoffs?

Personally, I think we matchup well with the Packers (comparatively), obviously playing the Panthers would be favorable but they'll most likely be eliminated. I think we can take the Bears/Eagles down the road and I'd prefer to not play the Rams. 49ers will be a tough out considering our division rivalry, but not as tough as the Rams I think.

Would love to hear your thoughts

Good stuff and I've been very curious. Thanks for taking the time to write this for us.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

Lions eliminated.

 

[Rat]

If we get the bye, it'd only be the Bucs/Panthers if all three home teams win in the wild card round. Considering you'd have the Rams, Niners, and probably the Packers all as road teams, I seriously doubt that happens.

 

[glenwo2]

Lions eliminated.

 

[glenwo2]

So I have to ask :

Will Jared Goff get labelled with the "CAN'T WIN THE BIG GAME" by the Media (like Darnold has) after being responsible for 2 picks and 2 fumbles in a must-win game that ended with his team getting knocked out of the playoffs?

Probably not because he never said he saw ghosts a million years ago which the Media is clinging onto. F'n shitheads.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Goff has had plenty of success. He's been to a SB. We need Darnold to win a playoff game first. Then some of the stigma will go away. Beating the Rams was a start.

 

[glenwo2]

Goff has had plenty of success. He's been to a SB. We need Darnold to win a playoff game first. Then some of the stigma will go away. Beating the Rams was a start.

I get you but I'm not holding my breath even if Darnold does win a playoff game.

The Media loves to stubbornly cling to narratives....

...I'm just sick and tired Darnold being held to a far higher standard than any other QB.

He's not ALLOWED to have a bad game.

He's not ALLOWED to not be perfect.

He's micro-analyzed in every which way by the media pundits who are looking for ways to downplay anything positive he's done with a "Yeah but" attached to it.

 

[RiverDog]

Lions eliminated.

Boy, the Lions sure looked like crap yesterday. Their defense was good, although it has to be prefaced by the fact that like us, they were going up against perhaps the worst starting QB in the league. But their offense was horrible. I have to wonder how much longer Dan Campbell has to get his team over the hump and deep into the playoffs.

Back to the OP, who we'll meet in the playoffs. The Panthers game Sunday should be a slam dunk win, so I'm assuming that we go into the finale against the Niners with a 13-3 record. If we lose to the Niners, we'll draw will be the #5 seed, which would mean traveling to the NFC South champ, either the Panthers or Bucs. If we win out, we'll get a first round bye then host the lowest seeded team that advances out of the wild card round.

 

[kidhawk]

By the end of this weekend the picture should be much clearer.

 

[Jegpeg]

Boy, the Lions sure looked like crap yesterday. Their defense was good, although it has to be prefaced by the fact that like us, they were going up against perhaps the worst starting QB in the league. But their offense was horrible. I have to wonder how much longer Dan Campbell has to get his team over the hump and deep into the playoffs.

Back to the OP, who we'll meet in the playoffs. The Panthers game Sunday should be a slam dunk win, so I'm assuming that we go into the finale against the Niners with a 13-3 record. If we lose to the Niners, we'll draw will be the #5 seed, which would mean traveling to the NFC South champ, either the Panthers or Bucs. If we win out, we'll get a first round bye then host the lowest seeded team that advances out of the wild card round.

While we are favorites to beat the Panthers I would not call it a slam dunk, they beat the rams after all.
Correct me if I am wrong but if we beat the Panthers and lose to the 49ers we will only be 5th seed if the 49ers lose this week or the Rams lose one of their games, more likely than not we would end up 6th Seed playing the bears eagles or packers

 

[Appyhawk]

Think it will play out like this:

View attachment 76770

That would be cool and kinda cruel for the Niners and Bears to play each other twice over a span of three games.

 

[RiverDog]

While we are favorites to beat the Panthers I would not call it a slam dunk, they beat the rams after all.
Correct me if I am wrong but if we beat the Panthers and lose to the 49ers we will only be 5th seed if the 49ers lose this week or the Rams lose one of their games, more likely than not we would end up 6th Seed playing the bears eagles or packers

Yeah, slam dunk is probably a little over the top. Nevertheless, we're heavy favorites, 7.5 points last I saw, which is huge, especially considering that the Panthers are the home team. We should have no problem beating them.

And yes, it is possible that we'd end up with the 6th seed. Let's hope that it doesn't come to that.

 

[hox]

...I'm just sick and tired Darnold being held to a far higher standard than any other QB.

He's not ALLOWED to have a bad game.

He's not ALLOWED to not be perfect.

He's micro-analyzed in every which way by the media pundits who are looking for ways to downplay anything positive he's done with a "Yeah but" attached to it.

To that point, people are overlooking Stafford two picks that weren't caught in this game. Ernest should have had one and Love also dropped one. No one is talking about Stafford's turnover worthy throws - instead, it's all MVP talk.

 

[sutz]

That would be cool and kinda cruel for the Niners and Bears to play each other twice over a span of three games.

IIRC, there have been teams that played each other on consecutive weekends, reg season and WC round. Luck of the draw.

Kind of fun, though that the playoffs are still a bit uncertain this late in the season.

 

[FrodosFinger]

A one seed and a first round bye. Nothing else matters at this point. A friend of mine asked me this at work I echoed what Brock said which is the most important game is the next one on the schedule. That’s how they’re treating it and right now that’s the Panthers. Pissed me off to no end about Hall. We got shafted on the one game suspension. Thank God they mob deep on D