In the NFL there are always going to be bad teams, but when an entire division is under .500, there is a serious issue with the NFL’s system.
Quoting the NFL, the following rules are invoked in terms of who qualifies for the Playoffs.
1. The division champion with the best record.
2. The division champion with the second-best record.
3. The division champion with the third-best record.
4. The division champion with the fourth-best record.
5. The Wild Card club with the best record.
6. The Wild Card club with the second-best record.
Let me explain what this means. It is possible that a 12-win team will miss the postseason while a 5-win team will make it. There is no reason for this other than tradition. Worse, the division champions get home field advantage.
This has happened before. In 2010, The Seattle Seahawks won the NFC West by virtue of being the best of the worst in the division.
As a result, despite the New Orleans Saints going 12-4 to Seattle’s 7-9 record, New Orleans went to CenturyLink Field – where the Seahawks have arguably the best home field advantage in the NFL – and Seattle won.
Last season, San Francisco despite having a 12-4 record had to travel to a below freezing Lambeau Field even though Green Bay went 8-7-1. San Francisco won on a field goal.
The NFL should change its playoff system, It should merely be the six best teams in each conference instead of the division winners and wildcard system.
If a team can have 12 wins and miss out on the playoffs because of a divisional winner having 5, it’s clear that there is a major issue with this system.
The owners may like the current system, but quite a few fans do not. Tradition is not a good enough reason to keep an extremely unfair system.
If the NFC South debacle this year doesn’t make a clear point to the NFL that it needs to change, then absolutely nothing will.
It will prove that NFL is willing to defy everything up to and including common sense just to keep their owners happy. If so, the NFL will continue to annoy and frustrate their fans when it is clear that the playoff system is one of the worst in sports.
Snickometero
Guest
They would never want to devalue the winning of any division, so I'd suggest the following: If the 4th seeded division winner had an inferior season to that of the 2nd Wild Card team, they should have to play @ the 1st Wild Card team's stadium.
MJ
Guest
Isn't the NBA system virtually the same with more teams behind fewer division winners?
Dominic Davies
Expert
I wouldn't recommending going away from the way we have it now. Because the season is so short, it's really hard to gauge the true worth of a team based on record alone. This is especially complicated given how some teams simply have tougher schedules than others (not to mention how fluky some wins and losses can be). Don't forget the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks proved they belonged in the playoffs by beating the 11-5 Saints in the wildcard round of the 2010-11 season.
Ty
Roar Rookie
I was thinking of doing that but that would still cause issues. Alas why we should go to Top 6 or go to the NBA and NHL's system and the system used by the NFL during the 1982 NFL season.
Ty
Roar Rookie
Thanks. I was for the past month trying to figure out what to write and with my Niners potentially not making the playoffs, I was inspired to write this.
kris
Guest
I like the conference system. It is quite logical and generally works out. Wins alone don't tell the whole story, especially when divisions like the NFC west are so competitive this year. I agree NFC south is a debacle, but think the conference system and current playoff system should remain with the exception being that if you don't achieve a win ratio of greater than .500 then you shouldn't qualify for the playoffs. In the case of this year, NFC south would forfeit their automatic playoff place to a third wild card entry.
Tigranes
Guest
If you change the playoff system, you would need to get rid of the divisions, right? As a Jets fan, this might mean we dont have to play the Patriots twice in a season, although that wouldn't have helped us out this year.
Andrew Kitchener
Roar Guru
Well said, my thoughts exactly! I've always thought the playoffs should be contested by the six teams with the best records, and forget everything else. Otherwise you're rewarding mediocrity, and allowing a team a playoff berth simply because they're the best of a bad lot.
melbourneterrace
Guest
It's why i hate conferences, undeserving teams can get through by having the path of least resistance.