# NFL 2023: Wildcard Weekend **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** football-nfl\ **Created:** [January 10, 2024, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866 "2024-01-10T02:46:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/341 "2024-01-17T18:13:24Z")
Never? They don’t use that word in Dallas. _Take it easy. Take it e-e-easy. Don’t let the sound of your own wheels Make you crazy._ ---
**Author:** ![LoneRhino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lonerhino/32/1311_2.png) [@LoneRhino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LoneRhino)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/342 "2024-01-17T18:14:47Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > The Jets have also won the AFC East division crown, but surprisingly they have only done so twice: 1968 and 2002. At least according to Google. I can’t believe I missed 2002. 1968 was in the AFL not the AFC. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/343 "2024-01-18T01:57:25Z")
> [@LoneRhino](#): > > 1968 was in the AFL not the AFC. I totally missed that. Holy crap, one single division crown since the merger? That has to be the worst in the league, by far. ---
**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, 2024, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/344 "2024-01-18T02:30:38Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Eagles: “the wildest in-season unravelling in NFL history.” This guy does not have good things to say about the coaching. Based on point differential they really weren’t that good to begin with. They didn’t unravel, they just got exposed as an average team that got a little lucky in the early going. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/345 "2024-01-18T03:30:37Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Holy crap, one single division crown since the merger? That has to be the worst in the league, by far. A quick look at Pro Football Reference, of the more hapless franchises which have been around since 1970, tells me that the Jets are, in fact, the worst: - The Lions have won the NFC North (or, before that, Central) four times - The Cardinals have won the NFC West five times - The Browns have won the AFC North/Central six times - The Falcons have won the NFC South/West seven times - The Titans/Oilers have one the AFC South/Central seven times ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/346 "2024-01-18T07:05:52Z")
Great analysis, and you see this in many other sports as well. It’s why goalkeepers in soccer dive during penalty shots, for instance, even though you’re statistically likelier to stop a shot by standing still and making the move after the shooter has kicked. Because the fans would lambast a keeper who stood still during the shot if the kicker scores. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/347 "2024-01-18T08:32:13Z")
Since the NFC North became a division, this is the first time the Lions have won the division. When they last won their division (1993), they were knocked out of the playoffs by…the Green Bay Packers. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/348 "2024-01-18T12:43:24Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > It’s one of the landmines of social media that somebody sees something cute, maybe tweets it out Long time problem. Years ago (probably sometime in the 1980s), my hometown paper (a weekly that consisted almost entirely on high school sports, who visited from out of town and the local (pre-WalMart) store ads) ran a story about the fake [‘blue star LSD tattoos’](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_star_tattoo_legend). In what may have been the first instance of [‘someone is wrong on the Internet’](https://xkcd.com/386/), I printed and mailed a bunch of debunking stuff (probably Snopes?). To Walt’s credit (the publisher, it was a very small town), he published a correction a couple of weeks later. Pissed my mom off a bit though, since it meant I was actually writing to the local paper more often than her (1\>0). ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/349 "2024-01-18T15:32:30Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Since the NFC North became a division, this is the first time the Lions have won the division. When they last won their division (1993), they were knocked out of the playoffs by…the Green Bay Packers. I had to look it up, but I’m surprised to learn that the NFL realigned to create the new South divisions over 20 years ago! That realignment happened for the 2002 season. To me it feels like that realignment wasn’t that long ago, and certainly not more than _ **20 years!** _ ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/350 "2024-01-18T15:39:15Z")
According to fanduel, the current point spreads are: Texans @ **Ravens -9.5** Packers @ **49ers -9.5** Buccaneers @ **Lions -6.5** Chiefs @ **Bills -2.5** ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/351 "2024-01-18T15:41:19Z")
You might want to post that in the [new thread.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-2024-divisional-round/996226) This one’s just the old news for the losers. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/352 "2024-01-18T15:47:16Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > According to fanduel, the current point spreads are: As @TroutMan suggested, please place this post in this week’s thread. > [@TroutMan](#): > > [new thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-2024-divisional-round/996226) ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/353 "2024-01-19T01:58:38Z")
Good find. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866/354 "2024-01-20T05:25:02Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > > [@Bullitt](#): > > > > According to fanduel, the current point spreads are: > > As @TroutMan suggested, please place this post in this week’s thread. > > > [@TroutMan](#): > > > > [new thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-2024-divisional-round/996226) [Done.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-2024-divisional-round/996226/28) 👍 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-2023-wildcard-weekend/995866.md?page=17)