Is your team out of it? Maybe you can get behind the Packers like the fans in Green Bay. Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Best of Yardbarker: How to hop on NFL playoff bandwagons

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All season long, the NFL has been dominated by the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots, the poll-setters in their respective conferences. This weekend, we find out if they can advance to their conference championships, the Pats taking on the Houston Texans and the Cowboys facing the red-hot Green Bay Packers.

If your team is out of it — and let's face it, most our teams are — fear not. Even if you aren't a fan of the Patriots, Cowboys, Texans, Packers, Seahawks, Falcons, Steelers or Chiefs, we have your guilt-free guide to NFL playoff bandwagon fun: "Just root for specific players you like. I mean, we already do this with fantasy football — and the NBA, MLB and NHL — so don't act like you're a football purist or something. If you were, there is no way you would draft Rob Gronkowski as your first-round pick in your fantasy league if you're a Jets fan. Let's be real."

Then again, you may have a hard time digesting the complicated feelings for Tyreek Hill and others as playoffs progress: "There’s a litany of examples just among teams that are alive in the playoffs of terrible conduct being abided in the service of winning. It’s important to keep reminding ourselves of it, and not to delude ourselves into thinking any one organization is better or worse with it. They’re all capable of it."

If you're still undecided which team to throw your support behind, perhaps you can go a different route — like, say, picking the NFL divisional round games by hometown brews: "Houston's craft beer scene is more extensive than you might expect. The beer-snob hipsters don't all just live in Austin anymore, apparently."

Our TailGreater just noted above, as you can see, changed course now that the college football season is over. And with every college football that ends comes a look toward the following fall. We're no different, which is why we're already looking forward to the college football players, teams we can't wait to see again in 2017: "What a cruel world it is. Had it not been for Sam Darnold’s brilliant play, well-timed defensive stops for USC and a couple of boneheaded throws from Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley, we might be talking about Saquon Barkley’s performance as one of the best Rose Bowl performances of all time."

We apologize if pigskin is not your thing. Perhaps you'd like to take a gander at the NBA referee hotline bling, feature Draymond Green: "Dear Mr. Green, Thank you for your many, many passionate voice mails. However, we must take issue with a few of your points.

  1. 'Restless leg syndrome' is not an officially recognized medical condition in the NBA.
  2. According to our medical experts, restless leg syndrome does not cause a person to kick others in the crotch.
  3. Restless leg syndrome is not caused by 'disrespect,' as you posited."

Enjoy the games this weekend, and we'll see you next week.

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