These past two seasons have really highlighted how ridiculous (in my opinion) the playoff seeding system is in the NFL.
Listen, I am not advocating for taking division champions out of the mix, but we need to seed these teams according to the number of wins.
The bottom line, we're never going to have fair schedules. So much is based on the previous season. We're also not going to have even divisions. All that being said, we can't keep punishing teams for winning 11+ games and going on the road for a playoff game.
Last year, the NFC was a prime example. Yes, I know the NFC North was extreme last season, but we are seeing more and more of one division being heavy.
Green Bay won 11 games and was relegated to a 7 seed -- facing, on the road, the eventual SB Champs! Meanwhile, two teams with worse records hosted playoff games!
Minnesota won 14 games and went on the road to face a 10-win team. Ridiculous.
I know some want to reward division winners -- but I think a playoff spot in itself is the reward. The thing about GB and MIN last season is that they won that many games in superior divisions to the LAR and TB teams that hosted playoff games. There are more examples from last year, but that gives us the gist.
This season is lining up similarly...
Tampa Bay or Carolina is going to host a playoff game with around 9 wins vs a team that has double-digit wins. Make it make sense!
The NFC West is pretty strong, record-wise this year. Unless the Niners lose the rest of their games, this division will have three teams in the playoffs. There is a good chance that these teams will have 3 of the 4 best records in the conference -- YET -- two of them will be heading on the road WC weekend.
Back to the AFC, the Chargers or Bills will likely be heading on the road to face the AFC North winner. That stings, especially for a Chargers team heading East to potential inclement weather when they have the better record. This will be the 2nd year in a row they have been in this position.
So what do you think?
Am I way off-base here?
Do we have alternative solutions?
Is this as simple as awarding playoff spots to the 4 division champs and 3 best records after that? Then seeding them right down the line via record (and tiebreakers)...
Listen, I am not advocating for taking division champions out of the mix, but we need to seed these teams according to the number of wins.
The bottom line, we're never going to have fair schedules. So much is based on the previous season. We're also not going to have even divisions. All that being said, we can't keep punishing teams for winning 11+ games and going on the road for a playoff game.
Last year, the NFC was a prime example. Yes, I know the NFC North was extreme last season, but we are seeing more and more of one division being heavy.
Green Bay won 11 games and was relegated to a 7 seed -- facing, on the road, the eventual SB Champs! Meanwhile, two teams with worse records hosted playoff games!
Minnesota won 14 games and went on the road to face a 10-win team. Ridiculous.
I know some want to reward division winners -- but I think a playoff spot in itself is the reward. The thing about GB and MIN last season is that they won that many games in superior divisions to the LAR and TB teams that hosted playoff games. There are more examples from last year, but that gives us the gist.
This season is lining up similarly...
Tampa Bay or Carolina is going to host a playoff game with around 9 wins vs a team that has double-digit wins. Make it make sense!
The NFC West is pretty strong, record-wise this year. Unless the Niners lose the rest of their games, this division will have three teams in the playoffs. There is a good chance that these teams will have 3 of the 4 best records in the conference -- YET -- two of them will be heading on the road WC weekend.
Back to the AFC, the Chargers or Bills will likely be heading on the road to face the AFC North winner. That stings, especially for a Chargers team heading East to potential inclement weather when they have the better record. This will be the 2nd year in a row they have been in this position.
So what do you think?
Am I way off-base here?
Do we have alternative solutions?
Is this as simple as awarding playoff spots to the 4 division champs and 3 best records after that? Then seeding them right down the line via record (and tiebreakers)...
