Scott Adamson, Author at Adamsonmedia.com

From chumps to champs

The Carolina Panthers pulled off the rare feat of winning their division with a losing record, earning a spot in the NFL playoffs with an 8-9 worksheet. It’s the second time Carolina has been to the postseason with a sub-.500 mark (they were 7-8-1 in 2014), and the third instance of an NFC South club doing it (Tampa Bay was tournament-bound in 2022 at 8-9).

So, will the Panthers shock the world and win Super Bowl LX?

**Scott Adamson writes stuff. Follow him on Bluesky @scottadamson1960.bsky.social**

Spoiler alert … no, they will not.

If they don’t lose to the Los Angeles Rams today in a wildcard clash in Charlotte, they’ll almost certainly fall to the Seattle Seahawks in next weekend’s divisional round.

While NFL teams with losing records have recorded victories in their playoff openers (Seattle in 2010 and Carolina in 2014), that’s as far as they’ve gotten.

But the Canadian Football League?

CFL teams on the negative side of the win-loss ledger have run the table twice.

Ten years ago – in that gridiron circuit north of the border – the Ottawa Redblacks limped into the 2016 postseason with an 8-9-1 record and came out on the other side as champions.

It was just the third year of existence for the Redblacks (Ottawa had previously been home to the Rough Riders and Renegades), and the season before the club went 12-6, won the East Division and made it all the way to the Grey Cup before losing to Edmonton, 26-20.

The 2016 campaign started off well, with Ottawa boasting a 3-0-1 record through its first four games. Things went a bit sideways from there, though, as the Redblacks stumbled to 5-9 the rest of the way.

Oddly enough, that record was still good enough to win the East – the first time a club that lost more than it won had finished atop the division.

“I think all that matters is who comes up two weeks from now and plays good football for 60 minutes,” Ottawa coach Rick Campbell stressed to the Ottawa Citizen following a regular season-ending loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. “If we win the next game, no one is going to care whether we were 9-8-1 or 8-9-1.”

He was right.

Ottawa made the most of its playoff opportunity, upsetting Edmonton, 35-23, in the East Final and then stunning the Calgary Stampeders, 39-33, in overtime to win the Grey Cup.

The Redblacks were given little chance against the mighty Stampeders, who entered the game 16-2-1.

“I don’t think we were ever a lost cause, where you said, ‘These guys are getting blown out – we have no chance,’” Campbell said to The Leader Post the Wednesday before the title clash. “That wasn’t the issue. All that matters is we are in no different situation as last year as far as having the opportunity to go to the Grey Cup and win it.”

Win it they did.

Forty-one year-old quarterback Henry Burris passed for more than 400 yards in an epic performance, and connected with Ernest Jackson on an 18-yard scoring toss in O.T. to shock the three-down world.

“If you don’t like ups and downs and that kind of stuff, then football’s not a good profession to be in,” Campbell said. “But I think that’s why everybody loves it.”

While the Redblacks put together one of football’s unlikeliest comebacks, the British Columbia Lions beat them to the punch 16 years earlier.

In 2000, BC opened the season with two victories, but slipped up with four consecutive losses. Head coach Greg Mohns resigned after seven games, and receivers coach Steve Buratto was put in charge on an interim basis.

Improving to 5-6, the Lions then suffered through a three-game skid.

At 5-9 with only four games to go, playoff hopes were dim.

However, the Vancouver side won three of their last four and snuck into the postseason as the third place team from the West with an 8-10 record.

BC won a wild opening round playoff game over Edmonton, 34-32, and claimed the West title and berth in the Grey Cup thanks to a 37-23 victory over Calgary.

The Lions completed their stunning turnaround by edging the Montreal Alouettes, 28-26, to seize the crown.

“After the season we had, this is a great feeling,” BC running back Robert Drummond, who was Grey Cup MVP with 122 rushing yards, told The Globe and Mail. “When things were going badly early in the season, we just believed.”

Added 46-year old kicker Lui Passaglia, playing the final game of his 25-year Hall of Fame CFL career, “The guys said two months ago if we could make the playoffs, we’d win the Grey Cup.”

Now, before my fellow alt-football nerds pelt me with rotten fruit for leaving this team out, I must acknowledge that the 2023 XFL also produced a club that went from also-rans to champs.

The Arlington Renegades finished second in the XFL South with a 4-6 regular season record, but that was good enough to make the spring league’s four team playoff.

Bob Stoops’ charges beat the Houston Roughnecks, 26-11, in the division finals, and surprised the DC Defenders, 35-26, in the XFL Championship Game.

While the CFL teams managed to have winning records after taking the Grey Cup, Renegades players got to wag their index fingers despite finishing at .500.

But in the NFL?

It’s hard to imagine it ever happening – although it’s fun to think it could.

The legend of Darkwater Dan

The faded metal sign at Jefferson Lake Park clearly warned visitors not to feed the ducks, but Topher figured it didn’t really apply to him. While the hoi polloi might thoughtlessly throw breadcrumbs at the quackers – hence the warning – he knew better.

So, when he sprinkled a few oats or defrosted peas on the ground, he knew he was merely providing a nutritious snack for his feathered friends. Surely park officials wouldn’t object to that and even if they did, they were never around. What they didn’t know couldn’t hurt anyone.

So, on a cool Saturday morning – just after daybreak – he began making his rounds. Many of the ducks were still in sleep mode, while a few were already on the water, gently gliding from one side of the lake to the other.

Usually Topher had the park to himself this early, but not today. An older man, adorned in a puffy green coat and gray ballcap, was sitting on a bench near the pier that extended into the middle of the water. A small plastic bag was beside him, and Topher assumed it was “snacks” for the ducks.

“Well,” Topher muttered to himself, “I hate to be ‘that guy,’ but he needs to know.”

Topher made his way to the man and waved.

“Morning.”

“Morning yourself,” said the man.

“Not trying to be a busybody, but I noticed you have a bag with you and I figured you were probably gonna feed these ducks. You might already know this, but bread isn’t good for ‘em and that’s what a lot of people try to give ‘em. The park has one of those controlled feeding programs. Again, not trying to run your business, but just wanted to tell you. My name’s Topher, by the way.”

The man smiled, reached into the bag and pulled out stew meat. It was piled high on a Styrofoam plate and tightly wrapped in plastic.

“I’m Victor. Appreciate the tip, but I’m not here to feed the ducks,” he said. “These are for Darkwater Dan. He usually feeds at night, but me and the missus are heading out of town for a couple of days, so I wanted to go ahead and bring him breakfast.”

Topher started to laugh, but quickly realized no joke was intended.

Darkwater Dan was the star of many a local campfire story. Legend had it that a green, four-legged creature with a catfish-like head and long, razor-sharp tale would occasionally climb from the bowels of Jefferson Lake and come on land. It would attack – and eat – anything in its path, leaving scattered feathers and bones in its wake.

The tale gained new life just a few years earlier when dozens of Muscovy ducks disappeared from the lake overnight. Area kids were convinced they were the victims of Darkwater Dan, although the city park and recreation department insisted they had merely been relocated to prevent overpopulation.

That an older gentleman was at the park to feed the mythical monster led Topher to believe perhaps the man had, well, “gone around the bend.”

“Darkwater Dan, huh?” Topher said. “Don’t you think maybe you should take that meat home with you and eat it yourself? I mean, I’m sure he’s got plenty to nibble on here. Lots of ducks … even some snapping turtles.”

Victor sighed.

“Well, that’s why I bring him the meat so he won’t eat the ducks – or anything else. I come out here a couple of times a week, usually after dark, and visit with him. Used to I’d have to throw it way out on the water and he’d come up and snap it, but now he’ll take it right from my hand. He’s pretty friendly … you just have to get past that big ol’ catfish head of his. It’s kinda freaky if you’re not prepared for it.”

Topher wasn’t sure how to respond. The easy move was to simply play along and humor the oldster, but he didn’t want to risk the man slinging stew meat into the water and having ducks gobble it up.

“Tell you what,” Topher said in a condescending tone. “Since the park officials don’t approve of this, why don’t you give me the meat? I live just around the corner and I’ll come back late tonight – after the ducks are asleep – and feed Dan. How’s that sound?”

Victor frowned and stood up.

“If you think you know what’s best, here you go,” he said, handing the meat to Topher. “Good luck. And goodbye.”

As Victor turned and slowly walked down the path leading out of the park, he glanced back at Topher, who was heading toward a garbage can. He wasn’t the first person to think Victor was crazy – and he wasn’t the first person to throw away perfectly good stew meet.

As Victor neared the exit, he saw Dan lurking just under the surface beneath a drainpipe. Once the creature recognized him, it raised its head out of the water.

“Sorry, Dan,” Victor said. “That guy at the other end of the lake doesn’t want me feeding you, so he put your food in that big orange can. Why don’t you do me a favor, though? Go down there and eat that nosy son of a bitch. Just make sure nothing’s left … human flesh is bad for the ducks.”

Playoffs? The more the merrier

When the Football Bowl Subdivision had a four-team playoff, I said many times that it was really little more than an invitational. There are currently 136 teams in the FBS, and four is a ridiculously small sample size.

That the field has grown to 12 does make it seem much more like a tournament – although Notre Dame might feel differently since the Fighting Irish were left out.

So, what’s next – 16? Maybe. The deadline to alter the format is set for January 23, 2026, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the CFP grew by at least 33 percent. That would make room for more Power 4 teams while still holding a spot for those pesky Group of 6 programs.

What’s funny, though, is that the rest of the NCAA has had this whole playoff thing figured out for a while now. And the FCS, Division II and Division III all provide templates worth considering.

The FCS will crown its champion next Monday when Montana State meets Illinois State in Nashville. That contest will cap off a 24-team playoff (out of 129 members) that features 11 conference champions and 13 wildcards. The top eight seeds earn first round byes.

Division II’s 32-team tourney ended with Ferris State highlighting a 16-0 season with a 42-31 thrashing of Harding in the title tilt.

Sixteen conference champions and 16 wildcards filled out the bracket.

And Division III? UW-River Falls and North Central will clash Sunday night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, in the season finale.

They are the survivors of a robust 40-team field that saw 27 conference champions and 13 at-large selections earn berths.

Admittedly, I didn’t watch the selection shows for FCS, Division II or Division III, nor did I troll social media for reactions of schools that were left out of the fields. I kinda figure, though, there wasn’t much room for complaints. In fact, I’m sure there were plenty of teams that received invites with no chance at all of going all the way.

And you know what? I love that for them.

One of the joys of the NCAA Basketball Tournament is cheering for a Cinderella team, even though you know that Cinderella team ultimately won’t get a fairytale ending.

The University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) became to first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed when it stunned top-ranked Virginia, 74-54, in 2018. We remember that, while forgetting that the Retrievers followed up with a 50-43 loss to Kansas State.

Anyway, I used to think a 16-team format was perfect for big-time college football. Upon further review, however, I now believe all FBS conference champions should be in a 24-team CFP. That would still leave 14 at-large spots.

If such a tournament were in place this year, Tulane, Duke, Indiana, Texas Tech, Kennesaw State, Western Michigan, Boise State, Georgia and James Madison would’ve gotten automatic bids as conference champions. (The Pac-12 would’ve had to sit this one out since it only had two football-playing members. It’ll be up to eight in 2026).

Using the final BCS pre-bowl rankings as a guide, the 15 wildcard teams in 2025 would be Ohio State, Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Alabama, Miami, Notre Dame, BYU, Texas, Vanderbilt, Utah, Southern Cal, Arizona and Michigan.

Now, do I think MAC champion Western Michigan could run the table and win the national championship? Of course not.

But shouldn’t the Broncos be given the opportunity – against all odds – to pull off at least one juicy upset? Sure. Plus, they deserve a piece of the huge money pie the CFP generates.

I mean, yes, the Power 4 conferences feature teams with huge advantages over the Group of 6, both talent-wise and financially. Put any Group of 6 champion in a Power 4 league and they wouldn’t be champions.

But …

All FBS schools play under the same banner, which is the National Collegiate Athletic Association. And if the NCAA holds a championship tournament for each of its classifications, it’s only fair that it’s open to all conference champions.

There has been talk over the past few years about some sort of “Super League” that would put elite programs in a separate class from the rest of the FBS. If that happens and those schools want to have their own private playoff, fine.

But until and unless it comes to pass, I say give the little guys a chance – even if they have little or no chance.

In the meantime, enjoy this season’s quarterfinals. Here’s hoping for four good ones.