NFL Playoff Political Rankings and some notes...

• If that wasn't a thrown game by the Packers last night, on league order, I don't know what to tell you.  Several what appeared to be scripted interceptions by Rodgers and one of the most idiotic ejections in the history of the NFL, and that's pretty much all you need to know.  Not that it really mattered.  San Francisco ended up the 2 seed in the NFC, and the Pack was going to get 38-10'd (if not worse!), so the league went with the better story, Seattle without Russell Wilson versus San Francisco next week.
• If that wasn't one of the least eventful final weeks of the season...  But part of that is that precisely no "Win Or Go Home" games were left after Seattle beat the Rams in overtime, and it appeared there was refball on that one too.
• The Houston Texans didn't wait til Monday -- they fired Lovie Smith after his first year and the second-worst record in the NFL at 3-13-1.

Anyway, we have hit the playoffs, and one of the following 14 teams is going to win the Super Bowl:

NFC seeds:

1. Philadelphia
2. San Francisco
3. Minnesota
4. Tampa Bay
5. Dallas
6. New York Giants
7. Seattle

Wild Card Weekend:  SEA@SF (early Sat), NYG@MIN (middle Sunday), DAL@TB (Monday night)

AFC seeds:

1. Kansas City *
2. Buffalo *
3. Cincinnati
4. Jacksonville
5. LA Chargers
6. Baltimore
7. Miami

Wild Card Weekend:  MIA@BUF (early Sun), BAL@CIN (late Sun, no coin flip was needed because Cincinnati won Sunday to be a game and a half clear), LAC@JAX (late Sat)

If Kansas City and Buffalo get to the AFC championship, that game will be held at a to be determined neutral site.

Political Rankings:

1. Buffalo
2. Philadelphia
3. San Francisco
4. Kansas City
5. Dallas
6. Cincinnati

There is, with no doubt, if injuries do not play a role, a clear "best team" in each conference, and I don't think the NFL has Problem One (as of the moment) with a Buffalo-Philly Super Bowl.

San Francisco, however, is probably the main backup as of the moment.

DUD OF THE WEEK:

Easy one.  THE GREEN BAY PACKERS -- in fact, they're DUD OF THE YEAR.

A team which was supposed to have it's defense and young receivers lead it to the playoffs, if not the Super Bowl -- they go 8-9 and embarrass themselves (AGAIN!) on national television.

Aaron Rodgers' sabotage of the 2022-23 season is complete, as the team failed to make the playoffs at all and a losing record, both for the first time in five years.

And now the fun really begins.  Do you fire LaFleur?  Do you fire the head of who made the personnel such that Rodgers had no wide receivers to speak of at all?  The defensive coordinator is almost certainly gone...

I mean, yeah, you had your Indianapolis' and Houstons and Chicagos and all that.  But the fact is, you knew those teams were going to chunk it up.

This was supposed to be a Super Bowl contender (those who know the reality of the NFL can start laughing right about...  now).

Quay Walker's ejection will cost him Week 1 of next year.  That was stupid beyond all semblance of discussion, and the fact is, he was their first-round draft pick this year, 4 years, $15,000,000 -- and you do THAT in a Win or Die situation???  Look, if you want to believe these games are OUNCE ONE of legitimate, please explain to me how a first-round draft pick out of Georgia making FIFTEEN MILLION does THAT without order from the league to lose the game so they get a better game matchup for San Francisco and honor a team (in Detroit) which may be about to go places because they are willing to go to war for their coach!

If the NFL even wanted the ILLUSION that the games were legit, it would arrest Quay Walker.