The fourth week of the regular season has come to an end. After all the games are over, there are only two teams left that have maintained a complete victory, the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions - these two teams are also in the NFC North and are absolutely in the same league. The rivals in the league are now both maintaining their momentum and becoming the most competitive division in the league.
As for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, both teams lost games this week after winning three consecutive games.
The Buffalo Bills lost to the Cincinnati Bengals. After losing to the 49ers last week, the Bengals took on a new look this week and won the game "23:20" at home; while the San Francisco 49ers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles on the road. , the undefeated golden body was broken. Obviously, this is the NFL, anything can happen, and the transition between victory and defeat can only take a week.
The reason for this has a lot to do with the NFL's schedule.
In the five major European football leagues, teams can gain different points based on victory, defeat and draw in each game. After accumulation, the team will be ranked. The strength and position are clear at a glance; but in the NFL, it is completely different. A system, including divisions, schedules, and playoffs, are all different.
First of all, the NFL has two leagues, the National League and the American League. Each league is relatively independent. After each league determines its champion, the annual Super Bowl is held between the National League champion and the American League champion.
Secondly, each league has qualifying divisions, southeast, northwest, with four teams in each division, for a total of thirty-two teams.
AFC North, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers. In this division, the Pittsburgh Steelers are undoubtedly the most watched team, with history, strength, fans, etc. far ahead; every year in the division civil war, the "Steel Crows War" between the Steelers and the Ravens, It is always very exciting and is even called one of the most exciting duels in the league.
AFC South, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans. In the division, the Tennessee Titans had a glorious period of time in their ancestors, but their overall strength was still weak. After Peyton Manning took over the Colts, he stood out and became the well-deserved overlord of the division. However, after Manning was injured and absent this year, the Colts were bullied and almost anyone could win against them.
AFC East, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and New York Jets. All four teams once had a glorious history, and the Patriots' glory happened in the past ten years, so they became the well-deserved overlord of the division. But in fact, in the division civil war, the Bills and Dolphins were able to defeat the Patriots many times. Deflated; even the Jets, which have been weak for a long time, cannot take it lightly.
AFC West, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers. Both the Raiders and Chiefs have historically dominated the division, but after the millennium, the division leader is the Chargers, who have won five division championships in the past six years; while the Broncos' peak was undoubtedly in 1997 and 1998. , winning two consecutive Super Bowls under the leadership of Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway.
After entering the new millennium, the overall momentum of the American League has gradually shifted. The New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts have become absolute rulers. The American League champion has not been left behind for eight consecutive years; more accurately It has never escaped the hands of the three top quarterbacks, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning.
NFC North, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. The semi-finals of the division are undoubtedly the most historical and sparkling rivals in the league. Any two teams will be sworn enemies. They have also produced the most exciting classic battles. In recent years, the Packers led by Aaron Rodgers have once again completed their dominance of the division.
NFC South, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After the 21st century, the Falcons and Saints are the absolute hegemons of the division. However, after Cam Newton joined the Panthers this year, they have gradually become uncertain spoilers.
NFC East, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins. This should be the most historic and passionate division after the National League North. At the same time, the average number of fans of the four teams in this division also leads the league. The four teams all have long histories and The record is brilliant, and there is fierce competition between each other to the death.
NFC West, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers. In the division, the 49ers and Rams are absolute rivals, while the Cardinals and Seahawks are teams that joined after the division was adjusted in the millennium, and their historical origins are relatively shallow; in the past ten years, the strength of the four teams has been the same. Through the ups and downs, no absolutely dominant division hegemon emerged.
Compared with the American League, the National League has always been a mess. In ten years, a total of ten different teams have won the league championship and entered the Super Bowl. The overall strength is average, and the competition is more intense. It seems that everyone has a chance. If you are not careful, you will capsize in the gutter. In the National League, a team that was at the bottom of the division a year ago won the division a year later. There are countless champions in this situation.
Everyone always makes fun of them, the top three teams in the American League and the National League champions.
Again, a playoff spot.
The allocation of quotas in the NFL playoffs is also quite special. The National League and the American League each have six playoff quotas. Among them, the division champions of the four divisions of the league automatically receive playoff quotas, regardless of the team's qualifications. Regardless of the record, as long as it ranks first in the division, it can enter the playoffs.
The four champions of the four divisions occupy four places in their respective conferences, and the remaining two places are called wild cards. Excluding the four division champions, among the remaining twelve teams, the two teams with the best records will receive wild card qualifications for their respective leagues.
Since no matter how bad the record is, as long as it wins the division championship, it can enter the playoffs. Therefore, sometimes special circumstances occur and the team with a better record cannot win the wild card and miss the playoffs.
The Seattle Seahawks were a beneficiary of this rule last year when they entered the playoffs with a record of 7-9 because they were the NFC West champions—three other teams were even worse.
In the wild card competition, if the record is the same, the NFL has also formulated a series of extremely complex rules to determine the final ranking.
In the playoff format, the division champions are ranked according to their performance and are ranked No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds respectively; the two wild card teams are also ranked according to their performance and are ranked No. 5 and No. 6 respectively. seed.
The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds not only gain home court advantage, but also get a bye in the first week. The first week of the playoffs is also called the wild card game. Nos. 3 and 6, and Nos. 4 and 5 will compete respectively, and the winner will advance to the next round; then, the two winners will be ranked based on their regular season record. Among them, the one with a slightly worse record will challenge the No. 1 seed, and the one with a better record will face the No. 2 seed. The winner will advance to the Super Bowl.
It can be seen that the NFL is a completely different system from the European Football League. Naturally, the arrangement of the regular season is also different. The process of determining the division champion is crucial, because the team's opponents are changing every year, and the strength comparison Naturally it is different.
The NFL regular season has a total of seventeen weeks, with one round per week. Each team needs to play sixteen games in the regular season, including a bye week. Each year's matchup pattern adopts a cyclical equation. The equation is fixed, but based on the team's performance, the final matchup list each year will also undergo many changes.
First, the same district matchup. Each team will play two games, one at home and one away, against the other three teams in its division. There are six games in total here.
Second, divisional matchups. Each team plays against a team from another division of the same conference in a three-year cycle. To put it simply, the NFC West, where the San Francisco 49ers are located, will be in the NFC East this year, NFC North next year, NFC South the year after that, and then return to the NFC East the year after that. Each team needs to play against the team from the other division once, two games at home and two away games, for a total of four games.
In other words, the duel between Lu Ke and Cam Newton will have to wait until 2013 at the earliest - unless the 49ers and Panthers both enter this year's playoffs, then it will depend on the ranking and schedule. .
Third, cross-confederation showdowns. Each team plays against another conference division in a four-year cycle. This year the San Francisco 49ers will play the American League North, next year they will play the American League East, and then continue on. There are also two home games and two away games, a total of four games.
Fourth, a duel with the same ranking. Each team must have the same division ranking as the previous year in its league, and two teams not scheduled to compete with that division this year will play one game each, one at home and one away. This is a total of two games.
For a simple example, the San Francisco 49ers' conference division this year is the NFC East, so the remaining two opponents must be selected from the NFC North and the NFC South; the San Francisco 49ers ranked third in the division last year, and the NFC North ranked third in the division last year. The third place is the Detroit Lions, and last year's National League South Division was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Therefore, this year the 49ers will play one game each with the Lions and Buccaneers, one at home and one away.
Six games, four games, four games, two games, a total of sixteen games, this is a season. Except for the same-district matchup, the opponents assigned in the other three ways are completely different.
Therefore, the team's lineup is different every year. Maybe this year they will face a strong district, and everyone is a strong opponent, so the schedule is naturally extremely difficult; maybe next year they will face a relatively weak division, so The schedule is much simpler.
It is precisely because of this schedule that weak teams also have good opportunities to come forward; strong teams may also be unable to recover in the confrontation between strong ones. Coupled with salary cap, injuries, transfers and other factors, it is very difficult to create an absolute dominant overlord in the NFL; let alone a long-term overlord——
Even in the same season, it is not uncommon for a team to have a winning streak in the first few weeks and a losing streak in the following weeks.
