The NFL playoff brackets worked out exactly the right way.

Isn’t it amazing how much the National Football League has become the true sports past time in this country? The NFL always seems take us to a breathless end of the regular season, and this time the playoff contenders wound up exactly where they should have.

If any game can be decided by a matter of inches, the 49ers-Seahawks thriller was exactly that. Russell Wilson’s last-gasp pass completion was literally inches from the goal line and the winning score. It dropped Seattle from a No. 3 seed and home playoff game to the fifth seed and a trip to Philadelphia to play the No. 4 seed Eagles.

Since only the top two in each conference get byes the first week of the playoffs, it had dramatic implications for other teams, as well. San Francisco survived a murderous schedule down the stretch to claim the No. 1 seed and first-round bye in the NFC… by inches.

Had the Seahawks pushed the winning TD across the goal line, they would have played their first post-season game at home, the Niners would be going to Philly as the No. 5 seed and the New Orleans Saints would have had a bye instead of dropping to No. 3 seed behind San Francisco and Green Bay and having to play this weekend.

Since only two teams without a first-round bye have reached the Super Bowl in the current playoff format, that is a huge factor. And no team got what it deserved more than the vastly overrated New England Patriots, the defending Super Bowl champion that began the season 8-0 against a weak schedule and finished going 4-4 after laying an egg at home against 17-point underdog Miami.

The loss means that Patriots have to play this Saturday night against Tennessee, one of the highest-scoring teams in the league and if they luck out would then have to beat the No. 2 seeded Chiefs in Kansas City and the top-seeded Ravens in Baltimore. You can fahgettaboutit!

So, after many false alarms, this looks like the real end for the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era. Their 42-year-old QB has a sore elbow that obviously affects his passing ability. And the team’s defense has gone from best in the NFL to not stopping the Dolphins and their 37-year-old journeyman quarterback, who was a lot better than Brady.

A No. 3 seed with only one home game. Sounds just right.

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