atltillidie

This is an overall sports question, not just a football one. Whether it's individual players or collective teams, people like to discredit those that don't have playoff experience under their belts. By the same token, the addition of vets and players with the so-called "playoff experience" are talked up too disproportionately much.

I strongly disagree with the notion that gaining more playoff experience makes you a better performer in the postseason.

Let's look at Damian Lillard last year for example; he was absolutely phenomenal and elevated his play during his first series. In fact, we witnessed him win a crucial game 6 to push the Blazers into the second round. Lillard's stats reflect this as well, as his efficiency and scoring averages actually rose in his first postseason.

Having said all that, I think it's more about the player's mental fortitude than the x number of years a player has been in the playoffs. A guy that can't play at the big stage will underperform in the playoffs regardless of the*amount of playoff experience he's gained over the years. I think that a guy that isn't scared of the moment, will be able to excel in the postseason, even though he's never been in the playoffs.

Any thoughts?

lee909

Good question

It depends on the player i guess. You cant beat having a vet that shines when the bright lights are on. Its what separates the good and the great.

Tobias-Reiper

There are lots of things in the sports world that are highly overrated. "playoff experience" is one of them. It certainly didn't help the 1990-1993 Buffalo Bills or the 2009 Colts win a SB.

WillSaints81

The Portland Trailblazers had been a playoff team before that and had one bad season. The Houston Rockets on the other hand have only had one season where they won a playoff series post TMac but otherwise have not. The blazers had more playoff experience than Houston. One player does not give experience. It takes a whole team. Thats why that same Portland team got walloped by the far experienced spurs the next round.

WillSaints81

We were experienced too because of 2006. And the sb is different usually. Getting there is the hard part.

2013
Bengals vs.Colts-Dalton played one more year but Luck is more talented and mature. The colts whole team however played mostly with Manning. The bengals have been used to losing every year and the players do not know what it's like to win.

Ravens vs.Steelers-If Bell was playing, steelers would have won this but Baltimore won because the steelers were one dimensional. Baltimore has had more experience in recent years but its basically a wash because Pittsburgh still has those vets. The lack of Bell hurt Pittsburgh here.

Lions vs.Cowboys-Both of these teams were inexperienced for the most part but Romo had a little more but had not been in playoffs for five years but he's only won 1 playoff game and lost a lot of week 17 games. The lions were three years removed from the playoffs but had a little more recent experience due to the challenge they gave the saints in the first half(mostly due to just playing us week 13 that season) of 2011 playoffs. It was close and refs decided this game.

Cardinals vs.Panthers-With Palmer and Ellington this team wins. But they were without both. And the panthers took advantage of that. Most of the cards were not experienced and Palmer never won a playoff game. However, neither did Cam and Arizona may have been more playoff ready than Carolina due to the records and divisions they played in.

2013
Chargers vs.Bengals-SD used their experience with some of the defense, Rivers, and Gates to beat a team who may have had recent playoff experience but SD not only has won before, they had a qb who was far more experienced than Dalton. Also, SD used that in addition to the game film of losing at home to Cincinatti week 13.

Chiefs vs.Colts-Andrew Luck used his clear will to overcome a huge deficit and the colts veterans played a role in that. KC also gave Indy trouble because they had just played them two weeks prior where Indy won that game in Arrowhead. KC was ready but colts experience and having a qb whos watched relatives play for years and learned a lot growing up overcame that.

Saints vs.Eagles-If there is ever a example of experience mattering, it is this one. The eagles were the hotter team, the eagle had bigger players. The saints had the better qb and defense. However, it was still close and the saints experience won this.

49ers vs.Packers-Both were experienced but Harbaugh was one of a kind he knew all about the game film aspect after the giants beat them his first postseason. That was basically the argument GB had back to back postseasons but they were squashed. SF was one step ahead of everything here and had it not been for playing on the road against a division rival who has usually won at home they would have won the sb just as well over Denver. However, SF was the better coached team and better defense.

Crusader

I would say it can be a positive factor but its not the only one or even most important one.

SloMotion

Pretty good offseason topic, .

Did losing playoff games in '08, '10, '11 give Matt Ryan enough 'playoff experience' to finally win one in 2012? (obligatory Matt Ryan dis, ) IDK, and I would think being in the playoffs that many times would be considered a positive because of the 'experience' regardless of winning or not because 'playoff experience' has more to do with handling the hype, media, partying, et... leading up to the game than the game itself, IMO.

Players/coaches can tune out everything on the field, it's the distractions and the down time during the playoffs that they need to have the 'mental fortitude' to deal with and the only way to get that is through experience, so in that regards, I do not think playoff experience is overrated, but in terms of actual play on the field, I would tend to agree that guys who get it done during the regular season, get it done in the post season, so it's not that important, though there are guys who built their reputations on their playoff performances regardless of what they did during the regular season ... "Mr October" (Reggie Jackson) comes to mind, Patrick Roy (NHL goaltender) is another ... but they were usually pretty good most regular seasons anyway.

Whenever a team is making the playoffs for the first time or with a large number of players that have never been to the postseason before, I do take that into consideration before wagering ... some teams/players appear visibly nervous in playoff venues and some don't. Maybe it comes down to the individual maturity levels of the players, IDK. It was a positive for the Detroit Lions adding guys like Reggie Bush, James Ihedigbo, Golden Tate to their roster in that it gave the team a certain amount of "playoff experience", calmed the locker room down some, gave direction and veteran leadership, IMO.

Overall, I think it helps.

SaintsBro

Playoff experience equals experience under pressure, and discipline, which can be quite valuable. But of course, a guy who is already mentally and physically ready for the big time, he is going to shine under the bright lights, whether he's ever been there before or not.

But I would never underestimate the value of a player or a coach with a championship ring, in the locker room, in camp, the weight room, the sidelines, on the bus or behind the scenes. There are simply guys who have a ring, who know what it takes to earn one, and then there is everybody else. Winning a Super Bowl is incredibly hard. Players and coaches with a ring can be leaders, in the locker room or on the sidelines or in meetings, and the young inexperienced guys will look to them for leadership and confidence when the chips are down. When you are in the trenches in the middle of a game, down by a score or two, with your backs against the wall, there is nothing like having an experienced leader in the huddle who says "I've been here before, we came back from this -- this is what we do, this is how you win, we can do this." So the ring, the extra experience and wisdom that comes with it, and the respect that people have for it, is incredibly valuable.

I picked this up from a guy I used to know in my old neighborhood. He had played some minor and major league baseball for a while, and bounced around between the majors and the minors for a couple of teams, when he was younger, back in the '70s and '80s. I was not a big baseball fan, so we used to talk about sports stuff in an abstract and conceptual way, like this thread is doing. And he told me that was a huge thing of respect, for him -- he respected and admired the players and coaches he met, who had a World Series ring; he listened to what they had to say, he followed their lead, he tried to emulate them. They might have even got that ring on another team, in another city, or been only a small part of the team, but that was how it worked -- everybody in the locker room knew it meant something. The coach or player who had won a championship with the So-And-So's, it might have been years ago, but the people on the current team all knew about it, and respected it.

SmashMouth

Not sure, but I think Tom Brady was the lone survivor from the previous NE SB teams. Is that enough playoff experience for one team?

SloMotion

Considering he's the QB, I'd say "yeah" ... from that position he's got a bully pulpit to look everyone in the eye and tell them what it takes to win the Big One ... any other position, I'd say, "maybe not".