While the hype surrounding that game might be close to non-existent, the significance can't be denied. And if the NFL didn’t change up its scheduling tactics prior to this season, the conclusion of the NFC West playoff race might be as exciting as a case of Zima at a New Year's Eve party.
All of Sunday's 16 games are between division teams, and that tactical change was a pretty cool idea on the surface. But did it work?
For starters, it's obviously impossible to pick and choose the most drama-inducing Week 17 schedule back in the spring, so by putting together an entire slate of division games, it likely increased the chances that these season finales would carry more importance.
Eleven of this weekend's games will have an impact on the playoffs, so that's a good start. Seven of them are more important because they're intra-division games, and that's because the division tiebreaker is on the line in those teams' matchups.
While the Rams and Seahawks will settle their division championship on the field, the other matchups are more about tiebreakers. For instance, the Colts, Steelers and Falcons all need to win this weekend to sew up their division titles, but if they completed their divisional games earlier in the season, all three of those teams — plus the Jaguars, Ravens and Saints — would have far less on the line this weekend.
When the NFL decided to move forward with this experiment, it's safe to assume it hoped to have more division titles and playoff berths on the line with head-to-head meetings in Week 17. But, since seven of this weekend's games are more important simply because they're divisional matchups, the NFL's decision to backload the schedule with divisional games has paid off, and it's something the league should continue to execute.
Do you like the NFL's idea to schedule a full slate of division games in Week 17? Leave your comments below.
