So if AFC West winner is in @ 8-8 and Dallas is OUT @ 10-6....

[ajk23az]

It would require the likes of Oakland getting up to play and beating teams that are fighting for the playoffs...

not gonna happen.

It would require the Bucs to lose to Oakland and the Falcons lose to the Rams.

 

[Juke99]

It is what it is...didn't the Cowboys make it to the playoffs with an 8-8 record under Chan Gailey?

 

[DCgirl13]

That's why winning your division is so important.

The Giants didn't win their division last year and they still won the big game. I think the Steelers a few years ago were a wild card team too. Dallas will have to work their butts off to earn their SB win this year.

 

[alancdc]

That's just ridiculous on so many levels. I don't believe in conspiracy theories at all BTW. They want us in because we get the BESt TV ratings: so why not just go to an NBA or NHL format where everybody and their brother makes the playoffs? Dallas is a legit threat to go all the way....Denver or S.Diego are crap basically. Why is the NFL (no fun league) so stubborn?

Seems like we made the playoffs one year, 1999, maybe at 8-8? We got demolished by the Saints in the last game of the year, and backed in only to lose to Minnesota. Bet we weren't complaning then.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Actually we can get in at 9-7.

Cool... going in on 2 game losing streak

That oughta be different... not!

 

[willia451]

Seems like we made the playoffs one year, 1999, maybe at 8-8? We got demolished by the Saints in the last game of the year, and backed in only to lose to Minnesota. Bet we weren't complaning then.

Point taken. Game, set, and match.

Go Cowboys!!!

 

[dbair1967]

That's just ridiculous on so many levels. I don't believe in conspiracy theories at all BTW. They want us in because we get the BESt TV ratings: so why not just go to an NBA or NHL format where everybody and their brother makes the playoffs? Dallas is a legit threat to go all the way....Denver or S.Diego are crap basically. Why is the NFL (no fun league) so stubborn?

Dems da breaks. One of these years it could be us in that situation. Its just the way it works out.

Every teams controls their own destiny at the start of the season, the fact is we blew a couple of games we shouldnt have. Hopefully we win out and get in, but if we dont get in its pretty much our fault. No excuse for those losses at Arizona and St Louis

 

[bobtheflob]

Even worse (though not from our perspective), it's entirely possible that Atlanta could go 11-5 and not make it.

 

[Don Corleone]

Seems like we made the playoffs one year, 1999, maybe at 8-8? We got demolished by the Saints in the last game of the year, and backed in only to lose to Minnesota. Bet we weren't complaning then.

No, actually we beat the Giants to get in at 8-8 that year. The Saints loss was on Christmas eve, the week before.

 

[newlander]

seriously? ATL could win 11 games and not get in? I don't think I've heard of that before.....not in modern times anyway. I guess I'm the lone voice on this one....but we've been a good road team and I just want a crack at it.......we'll see........sure don't want to have to beat Philthy to get in either. Hate them enough without all that riding on the outcome........

 

[dbair1967]

seriously? ATL could win 11 games and not get in? I don't think I've heard of that before.....not in modern times anyway. I guess I'm the lone voice on this one....but we've been a good road team and I just want a crack at it.......we'll see........sure don't want to have to beat Philthy to get in either. Hate them enough without all that riding on the outcome........

1 team got left out with an 11-5 record, that was Denver in 84 or 85, but it was also when only 5 teams from each conference got in. Since the switched to the 6 team format in 1990, no team has ever missed the playoffs with an 11-5 record. Its almost assuredly not going to happen this yr either.

 

[xout]

I do think that it's a crime to let a team like Denver go to the playoffs at 8-8 in a piss-poor division when only one or two of the Jets/Patriots/Dolphins get to go after playing in a pretty tough division. Also - Teams like the Cowboys, Eagles, Falcons, Bucs may not get to go, when the Bears might make it in at 8-8 if the Vikes lose out.

Honestly, if anything I think there should be a shakeup in division alignment. For instance it doesn't make sense to have St. Louis in a division with Seattle, San Fran or Arizona. I realize the Rams came from LA, but still.

 

[63echo]

Honestly, if anything I think there should be a shakeup in division alignment. For instance it doesn't make sense to have St. Louis in a division with Seattle, San Fran or Arizona. I realize the Rams came from LA, but still.

Or Dallas in a division with Philly, NY, and DC. I often wondered about division alignment and what kind of sense it made nowadays, but to lose those rivalries would be a bummer.

I guess we *could* start new ones with the likes of Atlanta and New Orleans, but....meh.

 

[Jammer]

I do think that it's a crime to let a team like Denver go to the playoffs at 8-8 in a piss-poor division when only one or two of the Jets/Patriots/Dolphins get to go after playing in a pretty tough division. Also - Teams like the Cowboys, Eagles, Falcons, Bucs may not get to go, when the Bears might make it in at 8-8 if the Vikes lose out.

Honestly, if anything I think there should be a shakeup in division alignment. For instance it doesn't make sense to have St. Louis in a division with Seattle, San Fran or Arizona. I realize the Rams came from LA, but still.

It makes sense when you consider the possibility of the Cowboys moving to the NFC West to make more geography-wise. That was never going to happen. The Cowboys are a NFC East team, always and forever. If you remember the divisions were a lot more whacky than they are now.

It does seem as if the western team has had better luck with a "good" team surrounded by awful teams. I think that was one reason SF had such good records during their heyday. They got to play the Rams, Falcons, and the Saints (when they all sucked). That was an easy 5 or 6 wins. Has the NFC East ever been down more than a year or two at any time?

 

[DeaconBlues]

That's just ridiculous on so many levels. I don't believe in conspiracy theories at all BTW. They want us in because we get the BESt TV ratings: so why not just go to an NBA or NHL format where everybody and their brother makes the playoffs? Dallas is a legit threat to go all the way....Denver or S.Diego are crap basically. Why is the NFL (no fun league) so stubborn?

Oh stop. Even in the NHL and NBA, the conferences matter. You are never going to see a plan where if the entire AFC West sucks, the division winner sits at home and they pick the third place team in the NFC South just because that team has a better record.