It was Hall-of-Fame coach and noted football philosopher Bill Parcells who famously said ... "You are what your record says you are."
It was a wacky website - NFL Spin Zone - that is comically countering with ... "Regardless of record, some teams don't deserve to be in the playoffs."
To be safe, let's side with Parcells and his two Super Bowl rings and two Coach of the Year awards. But just for fun, let's indulge Spin Zone. Mainly because, you guessed it, one of their five teams that don't "deserve" to be in this year's playoffs are the Seattle Seahawks.
(Editorial aside: We vehemently distrust writers who lazily and ironically misspell the word lackadaisical, but let's have some fun on a Friday.)
Spin Zone's premise: "What teams look like a shell of their former selves lately? I think there are a few teams that need to be put on blast for looking lackadaisickal (Bingo!) at times this season, bordering (or not even bordering) on unworthy of an invitation to the postseason dance."
The site's five undeserving teams: 1. Kansas City Chiefs; 2. Pittsburgh Steelers; 3. New Orleans Saints; 4. Jacksonville Jaguars; 5. Seahawks.
Says the writer who would make Parcells' head, well, spin:
"The Seattle Seahawks, perhaps even more so than the New Orleans Saints, are a team we don't want to see in the postseason. The Seattle Seahawks have not been a playoff team for most of the second half of 2023. They started the year off a strong 5-2, and have lost six of their last nine. Two of Seattle's three wins since that 5-2 start came against Washington and Tennessee. Pete Carroll is always going to have his guys in the thick of it at the end of the year, but I'd much rather see Green Bay in the playoffs with their young, exciting, explosive roster."
Granted, the Seahawks have nosedived since Halloween and they were pummeled in last week's "must-win" loss to the Steelers at home. But would a 9-8 team sporting DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Bobby Wagner and Devon Witherspoon really not be "exciting", "explosive" and "deserving" of the playoffs?
Let us guess: Spin Zone's other teams that didn't deserve to be in the playoffs would include baseball's fifth-seeded Wild Card Texas Rangers, basketball's seventh-seeded Play-In Miami Heat and Parcells' 2006 Dallas Cowboys, who entered as a 9-7 Wild Card and produced one of the wildest finishes in NFL history in a 21-20 loss to the Seahawks.
NFL teams are as good - and as deserving - as their record.
Websites are as good - and as deserving - as their sloppy spelling.
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