Fairness being raised over divisional alignment

[Sarge]

I didnt hear Bellicheat complaining the last few years when his division was a joke.

.....end of story.........'nuff said.

 

[Temo]

Welcome to the dream world that is NFL parity...or is it "parody"?

What the hell does this have to do with parity?

 

[links18]

the only legit way to go from 8 division back down to 6 is to take away 2 teams or add 4 teams that way it is either 30 or 36 teams. It would yield 6 five team divisions if 30 or 6 six team divisions if 36.

Another thing they could do is add one more team to the playoffs. This would give the bye week to only 1 team, the best team in the conference. It sure would make that 1 seed a lot more favorable. The 3 division winners would then play the 3 WC. The winners in those 3 games would advance. From a marketing standpoint, this is nice for the NFL cause it includes 2 more teams and 2 extra playoff games.

WC Round
1 - bye
7 at 2
6 at 3
5 at 4

after the games are over and the winners have been determined....the winners would then be reseeded. So if 2, 6, and 4 won......2 remains the 2 seed, 6 becomes the 4 seed, 4 becomes the 3 seed. (this is the way it is already done, I like it so why change it)

Divisional Round
4 at 1
3 at 2

I like the idea about adding an extra team in each conference and only giving the bye to the #1 seed. However, there is nothing unfair or unjust about the current format. There are actually 4 playoff races in each conference for the various division titles and then 2 secondary ones for the Wildcards. If you can't win your division, you better make sure your record is one of the top two among non-divisional winners, if you want to make the post-season.

 

[Don Corleone]

What the hell does this have to do with parity?

0.500 teams making the playoffs, and the fact that so many playoff spots are undecided heading into week 17 is a byproduct of parity.

 

[Temo]

0.500 teams making the playoffs, and the fact that so many playoff spots are undecided heading into week 17 is a byproduct of parity.

That's a byproduct of divisional alignment, and having 4 divisions with 4 teams each, not parity.

Parity would mean that you have a lot of teams around 8-8. Instead, we have a lot of really bad teams and a lot of really good teams. And the really good teams are going to miss the playoffs because the bad teams are concentrated in 2 divisions.

 

[links18]

That's a byproduct of divisional alignment, and having 4 divisions with 4 teams each, not parity.

Parity would mean that you have a lot of teams around 8-8. Instead, we have a lot of really bad teams and a lot of really good teams. And the really good teams are going to miss the playoffs because the bad teams are concentrated in 2 divisions.

This argument would hold more water if we had actually beat the Cardinals. The Eagles might have a more legitimate case to be angry if they don't make it, but the Cardinals do--but then again they couldn't beat the Bungles.

 

[wileedog]

That's a byproduct of divisional alignment, and having 4 divisions with 4 teams each, not parity.

Parity would mean that you have a lot of teams around 8-8. Instead, we have a lot of really bad teams and a lot of really good teams. And the really good teams are going to miss the playoffs because the bad teams are concentrated in 2 divisions.

I'm sorry, Miami, the Jets and even the injury ravaged Pats are not "really good teams."

They are just better than the slop in the AFC or NFC West.

When a team like the Dolphins can turn from 1-15 to potentially the playoffs in one season, that is the epitome of parity, because is shows the talent gap between the best and worst teams is marginal at best.

 

[Temo]

This argument would hold more water if we had actually beat the Cardinals. The Eagles might have a more legitimate case to be angry if they don't make it, but the Cardinals do--but then again they couldn't beat the Bungles.

I wasn't making an argument, I was stating facts. The reason an 8-8 team is going to the playoffs is not because of parity, but because of divisional alignment. That's indisputable.

I'm not making any statement on whether they "deserve" to go to the playoffs.

 

[Temo]

I'm sorry, Miami, the Jets and even the injury ravaged Pats are not "really good teams."

They are just better than the slop in the AFC or NFC West.

When a team like the Dolphins can turn from 1-15 to potentially the playoffs in one season, that is the epitome of parity, because is shows the talent gap between the best and worst teams is marginal at best.

That's an opinion that they're not "really good". I'm going only by record, not stating my opinion. This year, compared to prior years, there are a lot of teams with really good records and a lot of teams with really bad records. It's the opposite of parity. Parity exists if a lot of teams are around 8-8-- whether they're all bad or all good. The word only means "equal".

The Dolphins went from 1-15 to playoff contenders because they got to play the AFC West and NFC West, which are bad divisions.