Dominate the Super Bowl-Chapter 330 329 Final Sprint

The 2017 NFL regular season officially entered its final phase, and the battle for the playoff spots had already reached a life-or-death intensity.

The rules for securing an NFL playoff spot are very simple—

The American Conference (AFC) and National Conference remain distinct.

The four division champions from each conference advance to the playoffs, and they are ranked from the first to the fourth seed based on their win-loss records; in addition, the two teams with the best records within each conference advance to the playoffs as the fifth and sixth seeds, respectively.

That's pretty much it.

However, with the NFL regular season consisting of only sixteen games, far fewer than basketball and hockey's over eighty games and baseball's over one hundred sixty games, it's common to see teams with identical win-loss records.

For this reason, the league has established a series of detailed rules to determine rankings by comparing the seasonal performance of two or more teams with the same record.

First, the head-to-head record.

Second, the win-loss record within their own conference, with AFC teams considering AFC records and National Conference teams considering National Conference records.

Third, the record against common opponents.

Fourth, the quality of victories, meaning the winning percentage of the opponents a team has defeated, calculated as an average; the higher the opponents' winning percentage, the higher the quality.

Fifth, the strength of schedule, which is the winning percentage of all the opponents a team has faced throughout the season, also calculated as an average; again, the higher the winning percentage, the stronger the schedule.

If the rankings still cannot be determined at this point, there are additional rules, such as conference point differential, overall NFL point differential, total points scored in conference games, total points scored in all games, and the total number of touchdowns scored in all games, and so on.

In short, after analyzing the data all the way to the end, an order can ultimately be determined.

This season, the Kansas City Chiefs experienced dramatic highs and lows, fluctuating between heaven and hell. With a record of just nine wins and six losses before the final week of the regular season, they probably wouldn't stand out among the outstanding teams of the AFC.

But their competitors in the AFC West weren't strong enough; the team secured their division championship ahead of time by performing well in direct confrontations within their division, guaranteeing a playoff spot.

The playoffs are divided into four rounds.

The first round is the wild card round.

According to the rules, the first and second seeds in each conference get to enjoy a bye during the first round of the playoffs and have the advantage of playing at home. Last season, the Kansas City Chiefs were the AFC's second seed and had a first-round bye; but this season, they were not afforded such treatment.

In the first round, the third seed faces off against the sixth seed, and the fourth seed confronts the fifth seed in a single-elimination game, with the winners advancing to the next round of competition.

The second round is the divisional round.

The first seed faces the lower-ranked team among the two wild card winners.

The second seed faces the higher-ranked team among the two wild card winners.

The third round is the conference championship.

The two winning teams from the previous round face off to compete for the championship of the AFC or National Conference.

The fourth round is the Super Bowl.

"AFC Champion VS National Conference Champion."

This means that, including the playoffs, an NFL season consists of a maximum of twenty games.

Because of this, teams not only need to vie for playoff spots but also to compete for as high a seed ranking as possible, since a higher seed can secure home-field advantage.

For the Kansas City Chiefs, their record ensured a division championship but couldn't compete with other AFC teams for a higher seed ranking. The outcome of their final game couldn't change the status quo, so their seed ranking was already fixed. That's why Reed chose to field the second string for the battle.

But beyond the Kansas City Chiefs, the other games were still incredibly intense.

Competing for playoff spots and higher seed rankings, this season has been widely regarded as the most chaotic and closest in a decade, to the point that the league had to make arrangements—

To ensure fairness, games unrelated to playoff spots or rankings kicked off in the morning; those that directly affected the playoffs all started uniformly at 4:25 p.m. Eastern Time.

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There were no night games.

Such arrangements were out of necessity, but they also reflected the season's extraordinary competitiveness. It was the first time since 2009 that there was no Sunday night game; it was also the first time since 1977 that the regular season had no night games at all for the finale, which could even affect the broadcast agreements between the league and television networks—

Nonetheless, to avoid controversies over playoff spots, Goodell made a decision.

"Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens," "Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins," "New Orleans Saints vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers," "Carolina Panthers vs. Atlanta Falcons," "Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Tennessee Titans," and other similar matchups were all scheduled for the afternoon slot to kick off simultaneously, as all these games could affect the playoff landscape.

Even the Super Bowl ownership could be affected.

A total melee!

Undoubtedly, this was NFL's most chaotic, intense, and close season in a decade. No one could accurately predict the next move, with no absolute powerhouses or sure losers. As long as a team made it to the playoffs, the single-elimination format meant everything was possible.

Naturally, the value of playoff spots soared—

Who knew, maybe the Baltimore Ravens' legendary 2012 season would be replayed?

That year, the Baltimore Ravens, with a regular-season record of just ten wins and six losses, barely made it to the playoffs. No one expected the team to go any further, and the legendary lineman "Thor" Ray Lewis announced his retirement after the season, showing signs of a team on its last legs.

However!

Quarterback Joe Flacco, who showed no signs of improving during the regular season, unexpectedly exploded into form, delivering unbelievable, god-level performances, and defeated Andrew Luck's Indianapolis Colts, Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos, and Tom Brady's New England Patriots in succession, marching all the way to the Super Bowl.

In the end, the Baltimore Ravens triumphed over the San Francisco 49ers and ascended to the top, with Flacco seizing the Super Bowl MVP.

That season remains a magical mystery to this day—

Because after that, Flacco reverted to mediocrity, not bad, but just slightly above the league average.

Incomprehensible, completely incomprehensible.

But this is the nature of competitive sports: anything is possible, and no one can be sure whether the 2017 season will become the second 2012 season.

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Under intense public scrutiny, the final week of the regular season slowly kicked off.

Fortunately, this time the Kansas City Chiefs stepped out of the spotlight, embarking on a low-profile journey to Denver.

Without much attention, Patrick Mahomes made his professional debut as a starting quarterback. In fact, Mahomes was a bit nervous, showing a bit of restraint against the poorly performing Denver Broncos this season.

22 completions on 35 attempts, for 284 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception.

Such numbers were hardly satisfying.

However, the equally untried Kareem Hunt brought an uplifting fighting spirit and released an incredible amount of energy, rushing for 156 yards, receiving 77 yards, and scoring two touchdowns, proving that the Chiefs' running back group was not just Li Wei, and the team still hid another gem.

Without the pressure from Li Wei, Hunt finally earned his own spotlight.

"27:24."

The Kansas City Chiefs narrowly defeated the Denver Broncos away with a field goal.

They finished the season with four consecutive victories, putting a period on it, with the 2017 regular season record settling at... ten wins and six losses.