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NFL 2008-09 recap – A season full of surprises
NFL 2008-09 recap – A season full of surprises
 The National Football League (NFL) in the United States is one of the most popularsports in the world. Not just fans in the US but for football lovers the world overwatch the NFL games. In spite of the gloom of recession, the 2008 NFL Season,which was the 89th season of the NFL, was held amidst great excitement. NFLmerchandise recorded a huge sale over the NFL merchandise online outlets.Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game was held at Raymond JamesStadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009. The American Football Conference(AFC) champions, Pittsburgh Steelers won against the National Football Conference(NFC) champions, Arizona Cardinals (27–23) to become the 2008 NFL champions.For the Steelers, this was their 6
th
Super Bowl win. With this victory, the Steelersmade a record for the most Super Bowl wins.
Things didn’t go as predicted
 Just like the previous seasons, nothing went as predicted in the NFL. It had injuries,upsets, dominance and disappointments.Even though the Arizona Cardinals were rated as the worst team in their division(NFC West) they did win their division (and their first division title since 1975).According to experts, the Cardinals won it by default. The made 3 straight toughgames and won their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.However, the only thing that went as predicted was the dominance of PittsburghSteelers. The team made a playoff appearance in 2007 and was desperate to winthe Super Bowl title. The strong defense of the team, their consistence performancemade them hot prospects for the title. They were heavily favored as champions andeverybody said the Steelers should win. No wonder, the Steelers NFL merchandisewere one of the best sellers.Fans had high expectations for the San Diego Chargers as well. The team has theadvantage of being in the underdog in the AFC – the AFC West Division. Because of the poor performance against the Denver Broncos and other teams in the Division,the Chargers won their last 4 games. They became the first team in NFL history tostart 4-8 and still make the playoffs. The NFL 2008-09 was expected to be subpar for the New York Giants, however theteam had a great season. Eli Manning led the Giants to a great 11-1 start and hadthe team at or near the top of the NFL in just about every offensive category.However, the Giants went on to lose 4 of their last 5 games, including theirdivisional playoff game with the Philadelphia Eagles. Even then team’s performancewas considered good. The New England Patriots were poised to dominate the seasons. However, TomBrady, one of the league's most prolific passers, suffered a season ending injury.Not surprisingly, the Patriots didn't make it out of the first quarter of their first
 
game. The New England made a record of 11-5 which is good. However, the teammissed the playoffs and lost all their 5 games against other teams, failing to meetthe expectations of fans. The Indianapolis Colts failed to win their Division title. The team had previously wonthe title for the last 5 consecutive years since 2003. The Colts started slowlycompiling just 3 wins through their first 7 games. Led by MVP Peyton Manning, theteam turned it around and won their last 9 games. The Indianapolis Colts becamethe first in NFL history to win at least 7 consecutive games in 5 consecutiveseasons. However, the team took an early exit from the playoffs when they pickedup a few key injuries.
NFL 2008-09 – Playoffs
 The playoffs for NFL 2008-09 began Wild Card Weekend on January 3–4, 2009. TheDivisional Playoffs were played on January 10–11, 2009 while the ConferenceChampionship Games were played on the 18th. The Super Bowl XLIII was played onFebruary 1, between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. Steelerswon their record 6th Super Bowl.
NFL 2008-09 - Playoff seedsAFC
•
Seed 1 - Tennessee Titans (South winner)
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Seed 2 - Pittsburgh Steelers (North winner)
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Seed 3 - Miami Dolphins (East winner)
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Seed 4 - San Diego Chargers (West winner)
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Seed 5 - Indianapolis Colts
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Seed 6 - Baltimore Ravens
NFC
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Seed 1 - New York Giants (East winner)
•
Seed 2 - Carolina Panthers (South winner)
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Seed 3 - Minnesota Vikings (North winner)
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Seed 4 - Arizona Cardinals (West winner)
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Seed 5 - Atlanta Falcons
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Seed 6 - Philadelphia Eagles
NFL merchandise sales
Even in spite of the recession, the sales of 
NFL merchandise
increased. Onlinesports outlets recorded good sales of NFL merchandise. Some of the best sellingNFL merchandise items include jerseys, caps, tailgating merchandise, autoaccessories, key chains, wallets, banners and flags. According to reports, DallasCowboys merchandise recorded maximum sales among all the NFL teams. TheCowboys were followed by the 2) New York Giants, 3) Pittsburgh Steelers, 4) New York Jets, 5) Chicago Bears, 6) New England Patriots, 7) Washington Redskins, 8)Philadelphia Eagles, 9) Green Bay Packers and 10) Indianapolis Colts.
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