# NFL 2021: Super Wild Card Week Hey Nineteen **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** football-nfl\ **Created:** [January 15, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814 "2022-01-15T00:25:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/81 "2022-01-18T00:16:05Z")
@FoieGrasIsEvil , this Colts fan is pulling for your boys to win it all. BEAT THE TITANS! ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/82 "2022-01-18T01:29:22Z")
Yeah, as far as I can tell, there’s no reason not to like the Bengals, and I always enjoy when teams who have, shall we say, been in a draught get a shot at glory. Also, I really love watching Ja’Marr Chase play - guy is at another level. I hope he’s able to keep his head on straight over the long haul, unlike so many other premiere WRs. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/83 "2022-01-18T02:31:10Z")
That whole “if you get your two challenges right, you get a third challenge” is such a weird rule. I understand having a limited number of wrong challenges, so you can’t just slow the game down, but why should a correct challenge (correcting an important injustice) cost you? It seems obvious that correct challenges shouldn’t count against you. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/84 "2022-01-18T02:33:42Z")
I have not watched any Cards games this year. Is this the same team that started the season 8-1? Missing Nuk is rough, but they look way out of their league. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/85 "2022-01-18T02:35:29Z")
God, that was an ugly pick six by Murray. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/86 "2022-01-18T02:43:50Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > I have not watched any Cards games this year. Is this the same team that started the season 8-1? Seattle looked unstoppable the first half of last season, and Russell Wilson was the favorite for MVP. Then the wheels fell off the bus halfway through the year. It happens. ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/87 "2022-01-18T02:47:30Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > It seems obvious that correct challenges shouldn’t count against you. Agreed. A successful challenge says, in effect: “I helped the refs - and thus the NFL - to avoid making a potentially serious mistake.” If anything, you should get an extra challenge as a reward for this useful service. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/88 "2022-01-18T02:51:21Z")
Kyler and Dak are making even Jalen look a little better today. 😁 The Cards are totally jacked. No one’s paying attention on that team. How Murray flipped that out was straight out of the Wentz playbook. ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/89 "2022-01-18T03:25:30Z")
Cardinals appearing close to hopeless. Not a great look for the NFL when 4 of 6 “Super” wildcard games are blowouts. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/90 "2022-01-18T03:29:07Z")
What a play! Throw away a safety and turned it I nto a touchdown. Exciting ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/91 "2022-01-18T03:31:50Z")
> [@3AxisCtrl](#): > > Not a great look for the NFL when 4 of 6 “Super” wildcard games are blowouts. It’s almost like maybe these extra teams aren’t very good… Why the NFL had to screw with such a perfect schedule and playoff system will never make sense to me. Well, $$$$ of course, but still… ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/92 "2022-01-18T05:12:08Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Why the NFL had to screw with such a perfect schedule and playoff system will never make sense to me. Well, $$$$ of course, but still… I’d rather watch extra regular season and playoff games than preseason games though. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/93 "2022-01-18T12:47:55Z")
It didn’t occur to me until recently that, with seventeen games in the regular season, some teams will have nine home games and some will have eight. Are there any guarantees built into the scheduling algorithm to account for that; eight home games one season means you get nine home games the next season, that sort of thing? ---
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/94 "2022-01-18T12:48:46Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Why the NFL had to screw with such a perfect schedule and playoff system will never make sense to me. Well, $$$$ of course, but still… I thought it was nice that the second-place teams were, in effect, given byes this week as a nod to traditionalists. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/95 "2022-01-18T13:45:23Z")
The extra home game alternates between the conferences. The AFC teams got an extra home game this year, and NFC teams get it next year. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/96 "2022-01-18T13:50:01Z")
That sounds like a fair way to do it. Although, I could see an owner trying to game the system, if people aren’t paying close attention. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/97 "2022-01-18T14:30:50Z")
How? The league sets the schedule, not the owners, and there’s always a flurry of press releases and advertising for season tickets when the season schedule gets released each year. It exacerbates the situation with the international games, too, as the ‘home’ team loses a home game for those. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/98 "2022-01-18T15:37:04Z")
Yeah, that’s fair. I’ve been tilting at the “smaller playoffs are better” windmill for years now, and it’s not going anywhere. The NFL will have 16 teams soon, I have no doubt. And MLB will keep expanding as well. I think it’s dumb, and just increases the changes an “unworthy” team will win the championship, but oh well. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/99 "2022-01-18T16:04:53Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > That whole “if you get your two challenges right, you get a third challenge” is such a weird rule. I understand having a limited number of wrong challenges, so you can’t just slow the game down, but why should a correct challenge (correcting an important injustice) cost you? It seems obvious that correct challenges shouldn’t count against you. > [@3AxisCtrl](#): > > Agreed. A successful challenge says, in effect: “I helped the refs - and thus the NFL - to avoid making a potentially serious mistake.” If anything, you should get an extra challenge as a reward for this useful service. My guess is that it’s to prevent a coach from purposely slowing down a game by challenging some minor aspect of almost every play. Is it 2nd and 8, or 2nd and 8.2? Did the runner go out of bounds with 9:34 remaining in the first quarter, or was it 9:35? That sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814/100 "2022-01-18T18:16:36Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Yeah, that’s fair. I’ve been tilting at the “smaller playoffs are better” windmill for years now, and it’s not going anywhere. The NFL will have 16 teams soon, I have no doubt. And MLB will keep expanding as well. I think it’s dumb, and just increases the changes an “unworthy” team will win the championship, but oh well. You’re right though. Having the #2 seed vs the #7 seed is kind of ridiculous. You’re setting up a blowout to air on national television. Then again, we get stinkers all the time on MNF/TNF throughout the regular season so… 🤷‍♂️ It is what it is. Also you’re going to always have unworthy teams in the playoffs as long as the NFC East exists. 😆 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2021-super-wild-card-week-hey-nineteen/957814.md?page=6)