Tis the Season...For Some Football!
By: Brad Graham
It's that time of year again when the NFL playoff picture is starting to become more clear and bowl games have already kicked off. It's also the time when several teams have already been eliminated from lifting the Super Bowl trophy in February. Sadly, my Panthers fall into that category. But they at least are showing signs of promise, and I've had a great fantasy football season to get me through, preparing for yet another championship next week (up against the top team, this cannot end well for me).
I wanted to take this time to hold the first ever NFL website playoffs. I'm gonna break down each division and rank them, and also pick 2 wild card team sites. Keep in mind, this is difficult to do, because these sites are usually cluttered with info and ad space, and I'm sure none of them will be particularly amazing. But anyway, here we go...
AFC
East
1. Miami Dolphins - Clean site, easy to navigate
2. New England Patriots - Nice background, took me awhile to see the schedule wasn't in the nav (subnav) but on the page itself
3. NY Jets - Very nice background, good navigation. Not crazy about the body.
4. Buffalo Bills - Seems a little dated. The schedule was easy to find.
North
1. Baltimore Ravens - I like the black and white background and the news scroller a lot. Schedule is hard to find
2. Cincinnatti Bengals - Nice looking site. Doesn't have a lot of movement to distract me. The news section is nice and simple.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers - Decent background, but a pretty weak header.
4. Cleveland Browns - Left justified, cluttered craziness. I like the movement of the helmets showing the score of the most recent game.
South
1. Tennessee Titans - Really nice site. I like the news section and the colors a lot.
2. Houston Texans - I was really torn between this one and Tennessee. This one is also super sharp. My favorite header so far.
3. Jacksonville Jaguars - Nice colors, but not much movement. Kinda flat.
4. Indianapolis Colts - Well, at least there season is perfect.
West
1. San Diego Chargers - Very well spaced out and easy to navigate
2. Kansas City Chiefs - A colorful team uses a nice black nav. Nice news player, too. Good job.
3. Oakland Raiders - With all that black, silver and white, colors really pop out. Would like to see more splashes of color here and there, but not bad at all.
4. Denver Broncos - Bad header, no movement, vertical navigation. Not a fan.
NFC
East
1. Philadelphia Eagles - Great looking background, nice nav
2. NY Giants - Big blue...too much big blue. Decent header, but I have no idea where to go.
3. Dallas Cowboys - Clean. Weird Ken Burns effect. Thought this would be the worst of the group until...
4. Washington Redskins - Content overload! I like how the videos cut people's faces in half. Geez.
South
1. Carolina Panthers - I hate to be biased here, but this site recently got a much-needed makeover, and it looks pretty sharp now.
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Nice spacing, easy to navigate. Cool illustrations of the players
3. Atlanta Falcons - Nav is kinda difficult to read. News player is cool.
4. New Orleans Saints - Can't quickly find the schedule. Header rotates every refresh, but the nav is plain.
North
1. Minnesota Vikings - Sharp site. The content really pops out from the dark background.
2. Detroit Lions - Clean site, easy to navigate. The gray at the bottom is a nice touch.
3. Chicago Bears - I like the way they handle the schedule. Nice usage of the orange
4. Green Bay Packers - Besides a nice background and a cool live streaming section of press conferences, the site is pretty rough.
West
1. San Francisco 49ers - Nice use of grays throughout. Very clean, good layout.
2. Seattle Seahawks - Good site, just needs a new nav to be the division winner.
3. Arizona Cardinals - Oh, cardinals are red. Let's make the entire site red. Would benefit with more gray and black.
4. St. Louis Rams - Decent layout, just needs to be freshened up a bit.
Playoffs
(winner)
Wildcard
(3) Eagles vs. (6) Lions
(4) 49ers vs. (5)Seahawks
(3) Chargers vs. (6) Bengals
(4) Dolphins vs. (5)Texans
Divisional
(1)Vikings vs. (4)49ers
(2)Panthers vs. (3)Eagles
(1)Ravens vs. (6)Bengals
(2)Titans vs. (5)Texans
Conference Championships
(1)Vikings vs. (3) Eagles
(1)Ravens vs. (5)Texans
Super Bowl
Eagles vs. Texans
And there you have it, the Houston Texans come out of nowhere to take it all! Wow, that was really exciting. Some super close games and huge upsets. What do you think? Was I way off and some of these? Let me know.
I wanted to take this time to hold the first ever NFL website playoffs. I'm gonna break down each division and rank them, and also pick 2 wild card team sites. Keep in mind, this is difficult to do, because these sites are usually cluttered with info and ad space, and I'm sure none of them will be particularly amazing. But anyway, here we go...
AFC
East
1. Miami Dolphins - Clean site, easy to navigate
2. New England Patriots - Nice background, took me awhile to see the schedule wasn't in the nav (subnav) but on the page itself
3. NY Jets - Very nice background, good navigation. Not crazy about the body.
4. Buffalo Bills - Seems a little dated. The schedule was easy to find.
North
1. Baltimore Ravens - I like the black and white background and the news scroller a lot. Schedule is hard to find
2. Cincinnatti Bengals - Nice looking site. Doesn't have a lot of movement to distract me. The news section is nice and simple.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers - Decent background, but a pretty weak header.
4. Cleveland Browns - Left justified, cluttered craziness. I like the movement of the helmets showing the score of the most recent game.
South
1. Tennessee Titans - Really nice site. I like the news section and the colors a lot.
2. Houston Texans - I was really torn between this one and Tennessee. This one is also super sharp. My favorite header so far.
3. Jacksonville Jaguars - Nice colors, but not much movement. Kinda flat.
4. Indianapolis Colts - Well, at least there season is perfect.
West
1. San Diego Chargers - Very well spaced out and easy to navigate
2. Kansas City Chiefs - A colorful team uses a nice black nav. Nice news player, too. Good job.
3. Oakland Raiders - With all that black, silver and white, colors really pop out. Would like to see more splashes of color here and there, but not bad at all.
4. Denver Broncos - Bad header, no movement, vertical navigation. Not a fan.
NFC
East
1. Philadelphia Eagles - Great looking background, nice nav
2. NY Giants - Big blue...too much big blue. Decent header, but I have no idea where to go.
3. Dallas Cowboys - Clean. Weird Ken Burns effect. Thought this would be the worst of the group until...
4. Washington Redskins - Content overload! I like how the videos cut people's faces in half. Geez.
South
1. Carolina Panthers - I hate to be biased here, but this site recently got a much-needed makeover, and it looks pretty sharp now.
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Nice spacing, easy to navigate. Cool illustrations of the players
3. Atlanta Falcons - Nav is kinda difficult to read. News player is cool.
4. New Orleans Saints - Can't quickly find the schedule. Header rotates every refresh, but the nav is plain.
North
1. Minnesota Vikings - Sharp site. The content really pops out from the dark background.
2. Detroit Lions - Clean site, easy to navigate. The gray at the bottom is a nice touch.
3. Chicago Bears - I like the way they handle the schedule. Nice usage of the orange
4. Green Bay Packers - Besides a nice background and a cool live streaming section of press conferences, the site is pretty rough.
West
1. San Francisco 49ers - Nice use of grays throughout. Very clean, good layout.
2. Seattle Seahawks - Good site, just needs a new nav to be the division winner.
3. Arizona Cardinals - Oh, cardinals are red. Let's make the entire site red. Would benefit with more gray and black.
4. St. Louis Rams - Decent layout, just needs to be freshened up a bit.
Playoffs
(winner)
Wildcard
(3) Eagles vs. (6) Lions
(4) 49ers vs. (5)Seahawks
(3) Chargers vs. (6) Bengals
(4) Dolphins vs. (5)Texans
Divisional
(1)Vikings vs. (4)49ers
(2)Panthers vs. (3)Eagles
(1)Ravens vs. (6)Bengals
(2)Titans vs. (5)Texans
Conference Championships
(1)Vikings vs. (3) Eagles
(1)Ravens vs. (5)Texans
Super Bowl
Eagles vs. Texans
And there you have it, the Houston Texans come out of nowhere to take it all! Wow, that was really exciting. Some super close games and huge upsets. What do you think? Was I way off and some of these? Let me know.
