Loser's guide to the postseason
— -- If you're a fan of the Raiders, Browns, Bucs, Jets or Redskins, stop moping around. This is actually the best part of your season.
Instead of pondering yet another embarrassing year spent wallowing away in the cellar of your division, while you wait on a new head coach or another franchise savior from the draft, realize this: For the next five weeks, you're an unrestricted free agent. Your team isn't playing, which means you are morally and legally free and clear to root for any damn team you want.
If you're a fan in Cleveland, don't think of the 2014 NFL playoffs as the 50th consecutive missed opportunity. Think of it as an extended vacation from the Browns. You've earned it.
Temporarily switching loyalties -- we call it Lombardi by proxy here at the Flem File -- can be a fun but confusing exercise for most die-hard fans. Sometimes, all it takes is regional or divisional loyalty. Sometimes, all it takes is spite -- root for whoever is playing your rival. Sometimes, it requires crazy leaps of logic that create strange bedfellows. Sometimes, it's just about a team your team beat (bragging rights), a favorite colored jersey or the pure enjoyment of secretly rooting against your father-in-law's team.
Either way, adopting a playoff team can be a strange and difficult choice. So, to help you pick your surrogate NFL playoff team, the Flem File is once again providing a highly scientific, team-by-team Loser's Rooting Guide to the NFL playoffs.
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