How John Madden Helped the Steelers Make the 1976 Playoffs

[polamalubeast]

1566119855731908608

[ALLD]

He also drove his lardass around on a bus because he was afraid to fly in airplanes.

[DuckHodges]

Usually the team that scores the most points, wins the game

[HollywoodSteel]

I don’t think teams ever intentionally lose just to affect which other teams are in the playoffs. Doing so would not only be unethical, but also be an admission of fear for a particular team. And that kind of thing doesn’t sit well with players.

However, it’s a different thing to just rest starters when your playoff seed is already clinched. I don’t know if that was common practice in the 70s. Either way, you gotta like Madden for his determination to win that final game with an exclamation point, and I’m sure it had a positive effect on his players. You can’t argue with the results.