The fourth week of the regular season has come to an end, and after all the games, there are only two teams left to keep winning all of them, the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions, both of which are in the North Division of the National League, and the absolute rivals of the league, and now both maintain the momentum of going hand in hand, becoming the most competitive division in the league.

As for the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers, both teams lost the game this week after winning three in a row.

After losing to the Cincinnati Tigers last week to the 49ers, the Buffalo Bills had a new look this week, winning the game at home with a "23-20" victory; The San Francisco 49ers, on the other hand, lost to the Philadelphia Hawks on the road, ending their unbeaten streak. Obviously, this is the NFL, anything can happen, and the transition between victory and defeat takes only one week.

The reason for this has a lot to do with the NFL's schedule.

In Europe's top five football leagues, teams can earn different points according to wins, defeats and draws in each game, and after accumulation, they will be ranked, and their strength and position are clear at a glance; But in the NFL, it's a very different system, including the divisions, including the schedule, and including the playoffs, all different.

First of all, the NFL has two leagues, the National League and the American League, each of which is relatively independent, and after each decides the champion, the annual Super Bowl is played between the National League and the American League champion.

Secondly, each league has a qualification division, southeast, northwest, and four teams in each division, for a total of 32 teams.

Mid-League North Division, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Tigers, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers. In this division, the Pittsburgh Steelers are undoubtedly the most high-profile team, leading the way in terms of history, strength, and fans. Every year, in the divisional civil war, the "Steel Raven War" between the Iron Man and the Raven is always very popular, and it is even called one of the best showdowns in the alliance.

Mid-League South, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans. In the division, the Tennessee Titans had a period of glory on their ancestors, but the overall strength was still weak, and after Peyton Manning joined the Colts, he stood out and became the well-deserved hegemon of the division. However, after Manning was injured this year, the Colts were bullied by dogs in Pingyang, and almost anyone can win against them.

Midland Eastside, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and New York Jets. The four teams all have a glorious history, and the glory of the Patriots has happened in the past decade, so they have become the well-deserved overlords of the division, but in fact, in the divisional civil war, Bill and Dolphins have repeatedly been able to make the Patriots deflated; Even jets, which have been weak for a long time, should not be taken lightly.

Mid-League West, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, and San Diego Chargers. Both the Raiders and the Chiefs have historically ruled the division, but after the turn of the millennium, the division boss was a lightning bolt, winning the division five times in the last six years; And the Broncos' pinnacle undoubtedly came in 1997 and 1998, when they won the Super Bowl two years in a row under Hall of Fame quarterback John-Elay.

As the millennium began, the overall momentum of the American League gradually shifted, with the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Indianapolis Colts becoming absolute rulers, and the American League champions were not left behind for eight consecutive years; To be more precise, it has never escaped the clutches of three top quarterbacks, Tom Brady, Ben Rosslisberg and Payton Manning.

League of Nations North Side, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and Minnesota Vikings. The divisional top four are undoubtedly the most historical and sparkling rivals in the league, and any two teams will be a feud with each other, and they will also provide the most exciting classic battles. In recent years, the Packers led by Aaron Rogers have regained their grip on the division.

League of Nations South, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, and Tampa Bay Pirates. In the 21st century, the Falcons and Saints are the absolute dominants of the division, but with Cam Newton joining the Panthers this year, they have gradually become uncertain spoilers.

League of Nations East, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins. This is probably the oldest and most exciting division after the North Division of the National League, and at the same time, the four teams in this division also lead the league in average fan counts, and all four teams have a long history and a brilliant record, and they are fierce competition with each other.

League of Nations West, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers. In the division, the 49ers and the Rams are absolute rivals, while the Cardinals and Seahawks are the teams that joined after the division adjustment in the millennium, and their historical origins are relatively shallow; Over the past decade, the strength of all four teams has been up and down, and there has been no absolute dominance of the divisional dominant.

Compared to the American League, the National League has always been in a mess, and in ten years, a total of ten different teams have won the league championship and entered the Super Bowl. The overall strength is average, the competition is more intense, it seems that everyone has a chance, if you are not careful, you will capsize in the gutter, in the League of Nations, a year ago was the team that was the tail of the crane in the division, a year later won the division championship, and so on, countless.

Everyone always ridicules the top three of the Iron American League and the champion of the National League.

Again, playoff spots.

The allocation of NFL playoff spots is also relatively special, the National League and the American League each have six playoff spots, among them, the division champions of the four divisions under each league automatically get the playoff spots, regardless of the team's record, as long as they are ranked first in the division, they can enter the playoffs.

The four champions in the four divisions occupy the four places in their respective associations, and the remaining two spots are called wild cards. In addition to the four division winners, the two teams with the best records among the remaining twelve teams qualify as wild cards in their respective leagues.

Because no matter how bad the record, a division title can make the playoffs, there are times when a team with a better record doesn't win a wild card and misses the playoffs.

Last year, the Seattle Seahawks entered the playoffs with a seven-nine record, benefiting from that rule, as the Seahawks were the champions of the National League West — and the other three teams had even worse results.

In the wildcard race, where the record is the same, the NFL also has a series of extremely complex rules to determine the final ranking.

In the playoff format, the divisional champions are ranked by the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds. The two wildcard teams are also ranked as No. 5 and No. 6 seeds, respectively.

The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds can not only gain home advantage, but also have a first-week bye. The first week of the playoffs is also known as the Wild Card Game, where No. 3 and No. 6, No. 4 and No. 5 are played separately, and the winner advances to the next round; Then, according to the regular season record rankings, among the two winners, the first seed will be slightly weaker, and the second seed will be better against the second seed, and the winner will enter the Super Bowl.

It can be seen that the NFL is a very different system from the European soccer league, and naturally, the regular season is also arranged, and the process of determining the division championship is crucial, because the team's opponents change every year, and the balance of strength is naturally different.

The NFL regular season consists of seventeen weeks, one round per week, and each team plays sixteen games during the regular season, including one week bye. Each year's matchup pattern follows a circular formula, the formula is fixed, but the final bracket changes a lot each year depending on the team's performance.

First, the duel in the same district. Each team will play two games against the other three teams in their division, one home and one away. That's a total of six games.

Second, the divisional showdown. Each team plays against a team from another division of the federation in a three-year cycle. To put it simply, the West Division of the League of Nations, where the San Francisco 49ers are located, will have the East Division of the League of Nations this year, the North Division of the League of Nations next year, the South Division of the League of Nations the year after that, and the turn of the League of Nations East Region the year after tomorrow. Each team will play once against the teams in the opposing division, two at home and two away, for a total of four games.

In other words, the matchup between Lu Ke and Cam Newton will not be until 2013 at the earliest - unless the 49ers and the Panthers both make the playoffs this year, then it will depend on the ranking and schedule.

Third, the cross-federation showdown. Each team plays against another federation's division, a four-year cycle. This year, the San Francisco 49ers will play the American League North Division, and next year it will be the American League East Division, and then it will continue to be postponed. The same two home games, two away games, a total of four games.

Fourth, the same ranking showdown. Each team is expected to be ranked in the same division as their federation in the previous year, and there is no match for each of the two teams scheduled to play in that division this year, one home and one away. This is a total of two games.

For example, the San Francisco 49ers' league match division this year is the League of Nations East, so the remaining two opponents must be selected from the North Division of the League of Nations and the South Division of the League of Nations; The San Francisco 49ers ranked third in the division last year, the Detroit Lions were third in the division of the National League North last year, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the National League South last year, so this year, the 49ers will play one game each against the Lions and Pirates, one home and one away.

Six, four, four, two, 16 games, that's a season. Except for the duel in the same district, the opponents assigned in the other three ways are completely different.

Therefore, the team's matchup table is different every year, and it may be that this year we are facing a strong area, all of them are strong players, and the schedule is naturally extremely difficult; Maybe next year we will face a relatively weak division, so the schedule will be much simpler.

It is precisely because of this schedule that the underdog team also has a good chance to come out; A strong team can also collapse in a clash of strong teams. Coupled with salary caps, injuries, transfers and other factors, it is very difficult to produce an absolute dominant overlord in the NFL; Don't talk about the long-term hegemon -

It's not uncommon for a season to have a winning streak in the first few weeks followed by a losing streak in the following weeks.