With two weeks left in the NFL’s regular season, 24 teams are still alive for a playoff berth.
That’s 75-percent of the league!
Only once in the modern era of football has there been so many teams with a shot – some better than others – at playing in the post-season.
It’s why television networks pay billions for the right to broadcast games.
It’s why sportsbooks are flooded with wager after wager.
It’s why talks of a decrease in ratings require further examination. Ratings were down roughly 10% from 2019 to 2020, yet the NFL remains by far the most watched programming on ad-supported television.
The NFL remains the most likely of sports to see a team go from last place one season, to the post-season the next. Exhibit-A: The Cincinnati Bengals. A team that won just four games last season is in the lead position in the AFC North with two games to play.
For all its head-scratching decisions off the field, no professional sports league in America squeezes out more regular season drama than the NFL.