NFL Playoffs running thread

I figured the Seahawks were better and the Cowboys weren't as good as their recent run indicated. Some pretty embarassing lapses by the Seattle D.

 

Wound up making things interesting on the gambling front, too. The spread opened and closed at Cowboys minus-2 1/2, but at various points in the week it fluctuated to minus-1 and minus-3.
So, because they didn't have a kicker, the Seahawks got the two-pointer on that last touchdown and covered the spread. Depending on who you had and when you got it, it certainly swung some bets one way or the other and could have even middled it for some of the sharps. I doubt they'd try to middle on that small of a swing -- they're basically betting on a two-point game -- but the opportunity was there.

 

Can anyone tell me what happened in the NFL on Jan. 17, 1993?

Answer: That was the last time the Cowboys won a road playoff game.

 

I wasn't watching at that point, but I just saw what happened to Hurns. That was right up there with Theismann.

 

The Redskins had their elite run during the Joe Gibbs era.

The Lions and Browns are the deprived fan bases, with the Bengals, Jets, Bills and Houston not too far behind.

It's been quite a while since Miami was any good, too.

 

How can you not include the Chiefs, given their playoff history over the past 45 or so years?

 

Oh, the Redskins definitely aren't deprived in a historical sense. Just pointing out that, since the end of the Redskins-Giants-Cowboys-49ers-Packers stranglehold on the NFC almost every team in the conference has had its moment in the sun except the Redskins, Cowboys and Lions. Even the Vikings have had some agonizing losses but at least had great seasons and got close. The Redskins, Cowboys and Lions haven't gotten past the divisional round.
The Redskins, IIRC, also have the longest active streak without an 11-win season and not a ton of hope that it'll end any time soon barring a fluky miracle season.

That is a good debate, though. How long can a fan base go before they can start to feel the weight of a championship drought (or even an era of great, sustained success) and earn the right to start complaining again? Does it depend on the team? Does getting close, like losing a Super Bowl, reset the clock?
I'd say 20 years without a championship appearance and 30 years without winning one feels about right. At that point you have an entire adult generation that has grown up without seeing a championship and can understand the agony.

 

The Chiefs (along with the Jets) are an answer to a fun trivia question: Who are the only two NFL teams that have won a Super Bowl, but never an NFL championship?
Or a conference championship for that matter.

 

And I think the Chiefs won theirs at Tulane Stadium, capacity 80,000. This begs the question: Why on earth did Tulane have an 80,000-seat football stadium? When would the place have been even half full for a Tulane game?

 

I'd bet pretty much for the sole purpose of hosting the Sugar Bowl.

 

Got me curious enough to do some googling. Found lots of anecdotes but no firm attendance figures for the old days. They were a big deal back in the day, were in the SEC for a long time and even went to a Rose Bowl in 1932. They filled Tulane Stadium for some of the LSU games (the 1973 game reportedly drew 86,000).
More than anything, it seems like the Sugar Bowl and the general purpose of being a big ass stadium in a major southern city were probably the main reasons for expanding it up to 80,000. It probably helped New Orleans get the Saints as well.

 

Here's a stat I saw somewhere this week. Since Snyder bought the team in 1999, not only does Washington not have a conference title game appearance, it has not had a player named to the AP All-Pro team.