Playoff Seedings Unfair

[BC27]

I think 6 teams per conference is just right, but why have a 12-4 team who finishes 2 in their division play a road game against a 8-8 or even a 9-7 team just seems to reward mediocrity and punish a better division, I remember when only 4 teams got in the playoffs per conference and the #1 seed could not play the wildcard team if they were from the same division.

 

[rcaldw]

The more I think about it, I believe the seeding of the playoffs are unfair why are teams that win the wildcard with 10 and 11 wins penalized and teams like Cardinals and possibly the Chargers rewarded with only 8 wins? I think they should seed the 6 teams (4 division winners and 2 wildcard winners) according to their records.
To tell you the truth I hate the 8 divisions format wish it was only 2 divisions in each conference, but I understand why the league made it that way to keep more teams, thus fans involved later in the season.

I like it. I think it still makes winning a division crown mean something, and I think that is good for football.

 

[jazzcat22]

They should ad two more WC's to each conference.

They should do away with first round bye. Just give 1st seed HFA throughout the playoffs.

It probably happens anyway. They will make more money playing the #1 and #2 seeds in first round... plus the other 2 team per conf.


The NFL is all about business... why not...

Then the NFL becomes the NBA / NHL. We will see 7-9 teams make the playoffs. Is that really right, then they knock off a 12-4 team in the 1st round because of a fluke play, or bad calls by the refs. It would be to watered down. Keep it as it is.

Sometimes I wish they would have stayed with the 3 division format just because of this reason. But can't change it, so we have to live with it.

 

[Walker]

I have no problem with the Chargers or Broncos making the playoffs as 8-8. Every team that starts the season knows that the Division has the first 4 spots. That's why every team plays to win their Division. If your team is good, they will find a way to make it into the playoffs if they suck well they belong at home anyway. The two best teams from each conference will make the Super Bowl and one of those will be the Cowboys of course .

 

[Reality]

The reason division winners are given a home game (higher seeding) rather than wildcard teams with a better record is to assure that even if a team is in a very tough division that it will not be penalized for it if it wins its division.

Of course, there are situations like this year's Cardinals that are in a horrible division and still won't have a good record, but the reason for it is because some divisions are tougher than others and a team with a 10-6 record may be the best team in the conference but because their division was the toughest in the conference, they have a worse record than a wildcard team.

Now, that being said, I wish they seeded teams based purely on win-loss record before and after each round of the playoffs. If you wanted to be fair, you could seed them based on wins and give teams a bonus win for each wildcard team that is in their division.

 

[YosemiteSam]

The reason division winners are given a home game (higher seeding) rather than wildcard teams with a better record is to assure that even if a team is in a very tough division that it will not be penalized for it if it wins its division.

Of course, there are situations like this year's Cardinals that are in a horrible division and still won't have a good record, but the reason for it is because some divisions are tougher than others and a team with a 10-6 record may be the best team in the conference but because their division was the toughest in the conference, they have a worse record than a wildcard team.

Now, that being said, I wish they seeded teams based purely on win-loss record before and after each round of the playoffs. If you wanted to be fair, you could seed them based on wins and give teams a bonus win for each wildcard team that is in their division.

Like I said before, let the BCS computers figure it out!

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Then the NFL becomes the NBA / NHL. We will see 7-9 teams make the playoffs. Is that really right, then they knock off a 12-4 team in the 1st round because of a fluke play, or bad calls by the refs. It would be to watered down. Keep it as it is.

Sometimes I wish they would have stayed with the 3 division format just because of this reason. But can't change it, so we have to live with it.

I hear ya... I do...


BUT... Denver and Arizona may win their DIVISIONS with 8-8 records.... If those two teams didnt have 8 wins already... you could have made the argument that a 7-9 record could have won EACH division.