The playoffs are a pressure cooker. Every moment of every game is massive, every little thing is magnified, and any mistake can cost a team their season. We know this, because for the next eight weeks, we’ll be told about it constantly.
In fact, it’s tempting to say that playoff pressure is a constant, something faced in equal measure by all 16 teams. But that’s nonsense. Not all circumstances are created equal, and some teams are absolutely under more pressure than others.
Every year, there are a few teams for whom just qualifying at all is enough to make the season a success, and any noise they can make from there is just a bonus.