A Major Gripe with the NFL Playoffs

Ankur Amin
Ankur Amin, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Dec 30, 2008 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."
On Sunday night, the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos will play each other for the AFC West division crown. The winner, potentially a team with only eight wins, will receive a spot in the playoffs, while the loser will go home disappointed. That either of the teams have a shot at reaching the postseason with under ten wins in a conference that already has six squads with double-digit victories has sparked controversy. Writers have already begun to call for the end of automatic berths being handed to average division winners.

What many are overlooking, however, is the more glaring and completely inexcusable flaw in the current format. That is that not only will the winner of the Chargers and Broncos game get a playoff berth, but also a home game for the first round against a eleven or twelve win team in the Indianapolis Colts.

The logic in handing a division winner a home game simply for besting three other teams is terrible. Not only do both the Chargers and Broncos have a worse record than the Colts by at least two games, they also play in a worse division. Only a bad division ends the year crowning a team with eight or nine wins total. Likewise, having a second-place team finish with eleven or twelve teams, as in the AFC South, is often a sign of a good division.

In every possible scenario where this phenomenon occurs, the division winner with less wins gets a stark advantage in the playoffs for absolutely no reason. The NBA has already rectified this error, which they also used to allow, by only guaranteeing division winners a playoff berth. Just two seasons ago, a division-winning Miami Heat team was forced to play on the road against the Chicago Bulls, because the Bulls held a better regular season record by five games.

Given that a NFL playoff game is always a "win or go home" situation, this is simply unacceptable. The winner of Sunday night's game, as well as the average Arizona Cardinals in the NFC, should be forced to enter the playoffs as the last seed and play on the road. NFL owners and officials may argue that allowing division winners to gain high seeds will usually produce the correct results. How about tweaking the rules a little so that we get it right every time?

The Chargers, Broncos, and Cardinals may very well not deserve to play in January in any situation. That is a matter for pundits and the media to debate. But they certainly do not deserve to be rewarded for playing in bad divisions and being slightly better than their terrible competition.

Published by Ankur Amin

I am a college student who loves to watch, talk and write about sports. My favorite teams are based in Detroit, but I try my best to say unbiased.  View profile

8 Comments

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  • Kofi Bofah3/8/2009

    Just floating past. Seems like you haven't been around in a while.

  • nutuba2/3/2009

    Great article, well written!

  • Susan Anderson1/4/2009

    Great work!

  • Randy Inman1/3/2009

    It is a shame when a team with 9 or 10 wins sits at home while an 8-8 team is in the Post Season.

  • Dustin Gooding1/1/2009

    Thanks Ankur. I appreciate the feedback too. I realized that my comment was cut off. I was saying that the reason they have home field is because they fought and earned the spot. I understand and agree that the home field thing is flawed. My point was that the system has to be this way, for the sake of divisions. The AFC West this year was just a rare case that has never happened before. On average, the best teams win the divisions.

  • Ankur Amin12/31/2008

    Dustin, I agree and have no problems with division winners making the playoffs. My problem is with them getting homefield for the first round with subpar records. The Colts finished the season with 4 more wins plus a head-to-head victory over the Chargers. So why are they the ones playing on the road?

  • Dustin Gooding12/31/2008

    Ankur,
    I agree at how in the case of this year and a few in past years, the system seems flawed. However, I agree with the system as it is now. The NFL has to base the structure of the playoffs and seeding based on an "all things considered" rule. Wherein, with all things considered, the only way to keep it fair for all divisions and to not overload from one conference is the structure in place now. They also assume that "all things considered", there will be balance in the conferences. Fans overall WANT and NEED balance. Could you imagine a scenario where the Green Bay Packers, one of leagues most popular and winning-est franchises, wins the NFC North with a record of 9-7. Then, by your standards, say all four NFC South teams have ten or more wins. That would kill the balance, the national interest, and the ratings. In this year's situation, it was a fluke thing that San Diego got in, but they did what they needed to do to get in. Plain and simple, Denver choked HARD. This situation

  • Brian Daniel Stankich12/30/2008

    Ankur, I can't disagree with your logic, but do agree with the system. I think a division winner is worth a home game. But you are right about the AFC West being a down division right now. In any case, I'm a Broncos fan and still am licking my wounds. Brian

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