One rule that NFL can do away with
This has been that kind of year in the NFL where only 7 of the 12 playoff spots have been finalized going into the final week of the regular season. The bizarre tie between the Bengals & the Eagles, the potential perfectly imperfect season by the Lions, the improbable comeback of the Falcons (and most probably, the 1-15 Dolphins from a year back) back to the playoffs, the reigning MVP injured for the season a few minutes into the season, the defending champions looking good for a repeat unlike earlier seasons, rookie quarterbacks and rookie running backs outshining their more experienced colleagues, etc. The list is just never ending. But the reason I started to write this post was not to act as a round-up of the 2008 NFL regular season.
The reason behind this post is to lament the inherent flaws in the rules that exist due to which a team with 11 wins might not make it to the playoffs this year while a 8-win Arizona or a 8-win San Diego will make it. The AFC East and the NFC South have emerged as the powerhouse divisions of the season. (The perennial powerhouse division, the NFC East, shot one another in such a bad manner that we might just have the division winner from the NFC East in the playoffs.) That invariably means that teams with records better than other division winners might not make it to the playoffs.
The AFC East has been particularly harsh this year. The Patriots might end up with a 11-5 record but still might not make it to the playoffs. And if the Patriots win their game against the Bills and the Dolphins lose to the Jets, we might have 2 10-6 teams that will not make it to the playoffs. Same is the case with NFC South, where the Buccaneers with a 10-6 record might not make it to the playoffs.
On the one hand while we have such intense competition for playoff spots, we also have the winners of perennial weaklings of the NFL - AFC West and NFC West divisions, that makes this whole clamoring of playoff spots almost laugh-worthy or even, meaningless. Lets take the NFC West for example, Seattle is 4-11, San francisco is 6-9, St Louis is 2-13 and the division 'winner' is Arizona with a 8-7 record. The same goes for the AFC West too where Kansas City is 3-12, Oakland is 4-11, San Diego is 7-8 and current division leader Denver is 8-7. And San Diego can win the division with an 8-8 record by virtue of a win over denver this coming weekend. No team has been as inconsistent as Denver this season. They started off strongly when they were a lock for the divisional winner' title a few weeks back (when the Chargers were 5-8. & were, for all practical purposes, down & out of the playoff race.) But now, they are in a must-win situation to win the game against the same Chargers this Sunday night in a flex game.
I am strongly for the changing of rules where winning a division should not matter and instead the records alone should matter. Period. The worst thing about this rule is that the divisional winners, in addition to getting into the playoffs with an inferior record, also get to host the wild card game on top of that. That should definitely hurt all those teams with better records. Here is looking forward to all those undeserving divisional winners lose in the wild card round of the playoffs.
The reason behind this post is to lament the inherent flaws in the rules that exist due to which a team with 11 wins might not make it to the playoffs this year while a 8-win Arizona or a 8-win San Diego will make it. The AFC East and the NFC South have emerged as the powerhouse divisions of the season. (The perennial powerhouse division, the NFC East, shot one another in such a bad manner that we might just have the division winner from the NFC East in the playoffs.) That invariably means that teams with records better than other division winners might not make it to the playoffs.
The AFC East has been particularly harsh this year. The Patriots might end up with a 11-5 record but still might not make it to the playoffs. And if the Patriots win their game against the Bills and the Dolphins lose to the Jets, we might have 2 10-6 teams that will not make it to the playoffs. Same is the case with NFC South, where the Buccaneers with a 10-6 record might not make it to the playoffs.
On the one hand while we have such intense competition for playoff spots, we also have the winners of perennial weaklings of the NFL - AFC West and NFC West divisions, that makes this whole clamoring of playoff spots almost laugh-worthy or even, meaningless. Lets take the NFC West for example, Seattle is 4-11, San francisco is 6-9, St Louis is 2-13 and the division 'winner' is Arizona with a 8-7 record. The same goes for the AFC West too where Kansas City is 3-12, Oakland is 4-11, San Diego is 7-8 and current division leader Denver is 8-7. And San Diego can win the division with an 8-8 record by virtue of a win over denver this coming weekend. No team has been as inconsistent as Denver this season. They started off strongly when they were a lock for the divisional winner' title a few weeks back (when the Chargers were 5-8. & were, for all practical purposes, down & out of the playoff race.) But now, they are in a must-win situation to win the game against the same Chargers this Sunday night in a flex game.
I am strongly for the changing of rules where winning a division should not matter and instead the records alone should matter. Period. The worst thing about this rule is that the divisional winners, in addition to getting into the playoffs with an inferior record, also get to host the wild card game on top of that. That should definitely hurt all those teams with better records. Here is looking forward to all those undeserving divisional winners lose in the wild card round of the playoffs.
Labels: NFC West sucks, NFL, Sports
posted by Filbert at 3:54 PM
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