Former Packers Vice President Andrew Brandt had some interesting comments about Sunday night’s flexed game against the Lions for the NFL
The NFL has made the decision in what to do with last Monday’s Buffalo-Cincinnati game in terms of moving forward with the playoffs. And while they were discussing it, a former Green Bay Packers front office member called out the league for scheduling in Week 18.
Andrew Brandt took to Twitter on Thursday night to say that if the NFL cared about competitive imbalance, they wouldn’t have scheduled Green Bay and Detroit for Sunday night. Brandt’s point is that with Seattle playing earlier in the day, if they win then Detroit is eliminated. He points out that the Lions may not have much to play for, giving the lure of the ‘win-and-in’ for Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau Field:
NFL doing its best to avoid competitive imbalance in playoffs due to canceled game. No perfect solution.
This is, though, after giving the Packers a competitive edge this weekend that they didn’t need to. Lure of win-and-in for Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau was too hard to resist.— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) January 6, 2023
Brandt doubled down again on Friday after the NFL made the decision on what to do with the AFC Playoffs:
If the NFL was concerned about both (1) competitive balance and (2) showing respect to the Bills, they would switch Sunday night game from Packers-Lions to Patriots-Bills.
Packers-Lions would play same time as Seahawks for better equity; Bills game would have national stage.— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) January 6, 2023
Brandt did say he doesn’t know how much of a competitive advantage there would be for the Lions if they were already eliminated. But the point does remain.
However, would a Dan Campbell team lay down and let Green Bay in? He very likely would want to play spoiler for an NFC North rival and head into next season with a big grin on his face and some momentum for a Lions team that has gotten better as the year went on.
