{"id":377298,"date":"2025-12-30T13:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/377298\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T13:00:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T13:00:15","slug":"nfls-late-season-messiness-is-one-of-its-best-qualities-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/377298\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL’s late-season messiness is one of its best qualities | Opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"

With only one more week in the regular season, the NFL playoff picture<\/a> is a mess.<\/p>\n

The No. 1 seed, and the all-important homefield advantage that goes with it, is still up for grabs in both the AFC and the NFC. There are two playoff spots yet to be decided<\/a>. Only one team has locked its playoff seed. It\u2019s going to require a spreadsheet, a calculator and every screen you can find just to keep up next weekend.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s chaos. Glorious chaos. And it\u2019s yet another example of why the NFL is king in this country, and no other sport comes close.<\/p>\n

Every league will claim that all its games matter, but the truth is usually far different. The sheer volume of most league schedules creates clear separation between the contenders and never-had-a-chancers, and the latter will spend the last month, maybe even two, playing out the string.<\/p>\n

Just look at the NBA standings right now. You really think the Indiana Pacers<\/a> or New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> are going to be worth watching come March? The Chicago White Sox<\/a> and Colorado Rockies<\/a> are pretty much irrelevant after Major League Baseball\u2019s All-Star Break.<\/p>\n

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In the NFL, however, it\u2019s bedlam right down to the wire.<\/p>\n

1 \/ 4<\/p>\n

Best images of the 2025 NFL season<\/p>\n

Week 1: Detroit Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa (18) makes a catch for a touchdown<\/a> against the Green Bay Packers during the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. The play was originally ruled an incomplete pass, but the call was overturned. Despite TeSlaa’s effort, the Packers won the game 27-13.<\/p>\n

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1 \/ 4<\/p>\n

Best images of the 2025 NFL season<\/p>\n

Week 1: Detroit Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa (18) makes a catch for a touchdown<\/a> against the Green Bay Packers during the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. The play was originally ruled an incomplete pass, but the call was overturned. Despite TeSlaa’s effort, the Packers won the game 27-13.<\/p>\n

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2 \/ 4<\/p>\n

Best images of the 2025 NFL season<\/p>\n

Week 1: The New England Patriots’ Robert Spillane (14) and Christian Elliss (53) tackle Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer (87) during the second half at Gillette Stadium. The Raiders won the game, 20-13.<\/p>\n

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3 \/ 4<\/p>\n

Best images of the 2025 NFL season<\/p>\n

Week 1: New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson (3) fumbles the ball on a tackle by Washington Commanders safety Will Harris (3) during the first quarter at Northwest Stadium. It was a rough Giants debut for Wilson (17 of 37 passing for 168 yards) as the Commanders won the game, 21-6.<\/p>\n

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4 \/ 4<\/p>\n

Best images of the 2025 NFL season<\/p>\n

Week 1: Fireworks go off before the NFL Kickoff Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field. The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles opened the season with a 24-20 victory over their longtime NFC East rivals.<\/p>\n

Even if the chances of some teams \u2014 looking at you, Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> \u2014 are tenuous, at best, half of the 32-team league remains in playoff contention heading into the final weekend. Only five of the final 16 games next weekend are truly meaningless.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s even reason to tune in to Sunday night\u2019s game between the 8-8 Baltimore Ravens<\/a> and the 9-7 Pittsburgh Steelers besides hate-watching Aaron Rodgers!<\/p>\n

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More: 32 things we learned in NFL Week 17: Furious race for top playoff seeds<\/a><\/p>\n

NFL dominance is short-lived<\/p>\n

The NFL has its dynasties, and there are years when the Super Bowl champion seems like a foregone conclusion. The New England Patriots with Tom Brady, for example. Or, before this year, the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes.<\/p>\n

But the NFL\u2019s structure, with both a hard salary cap and a requirement that teams spend a minimum of 90% of that cap, means it is built for upheaval. The New York Jets aside, every team and its fandom can begin a season legitimately believing they have a chance.<\/p>\n

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At least half of the NFL\u2019s eight divisions, and as many as seven, will have new champions this year. Of the 12 teams that have already clinched playoff spots, five did not make the playoffs last year. Four of those had losing records last season.<\/p>\n

This is not a one-off, mind you. This is the 36th consecutive season that at least four teams have qualified for the playoffs after failing to make the postseason the prior year. At least two teams have won their divisions the season after missing the playoffs in 21 of the past 23 years.<\/p>\n

And those Chiefs, who have won three of the last six Super Bowls and played in two others? They\u2019ll be at home on their couches, finishing below .500 for the first time in Andy Reid\u2019s time there.<\/p>\n

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Games that matter or … Snoop Dogg bowl?<\/p>\n

There are some who might find the jockeying for a fifth seed boring, or don\u2019t care who backs into the playoffs because they\u2019re the winner of this year\u2019s Division of Misfit Toys. But there is something to be said about so many games having meaning at this time of year, ensuring there is at least peripheral interest beyond fans of the two teams who are playing.<\/p>\n

Or would you prefer the absurdity of the college football system, where the \u201csanctity of the bowls\u201d (and ESPN\u2019s thirst for programming) gives us such scintillating games such as Fresno State\u2019s 18-3 win over Miami of Ohio<\/a> in the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl<\/a>?<\/p>\n

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Give me Commanders-Eagles for the No. 1 seed in the NFC any day. Even Jets-Bills, with Buffalo trying to improve its seeding. And while deep down we know the Ravens are probably done for, we\u2019ll still tune in to see if Derrick Henry can truck another team for 200 yards.<\/p>\n

(Plus the afore-mentioned Rodgers hate-watching, of course.)<\/p>\n

This is what competitive balance looks like. Messy as it might be, it’s entertaining. And it keeps us watching until the bitter end.<\/p>\n

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL keeps us watching to the bitter end. It’s the league’s superpower<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With only one more week in the regular season, the NFL playoff picture is a mess. The No.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[1754,1742,49,48,3961,4021,3942,2697,1727,1718,8214,1723,514,2218,949,141465,26215,82,1733,12486],"class_list":["post-377298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-baltimore-ravens","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-colorado-rockies","tag-derrick-henry","tag-indiana-pacers","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-patrick-mahomes","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-playoff-contention","tag-playoff-spots","tag-sports","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-tom-brady"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}