Daily Rant: 1/4/11

For the first time, a team with a losing record in the NFL will not only make the playoffs but will win it's division and get a home playoff game. The Seattle Seahawks finished with a 7-9 record, in the worst division in all of football, where mediocrity was the norm. Teams in the NFC, like the 10-6, NY Giants, will have to watch the playoffs from home. Now, the Giants might be a bad example because they had their opportunity to get into the playoffs, not once, but twice and they blew it. But if it were a record based playoffs system, obviously the G-Men would have made it, as would the Tampa Bay Bucs. Those two teams were in divisions with other good teams and they just fell short by a game or two. Having said all that, how about a record based playoff system? It will never happen in the NFL, but it's interesting to think about how it might have looked:

#1-New England (14-2) FIRST ROUND BYE
#2-Atlanta (13-3) FIRST ROUND BYE
#3-Pittsburgh (12-4) FIRST ROUND BYE
#4-Baltimore (12-4) FIRST ROUND BYE
#5-Chicago (11-5) HOST KC
#6-New Orleans (11-5) HOST NYG
#7-New York Jets (11-5) HOST INDY
#8-Philadelphia Eagles (10-6) HOST GB
#9-Green Bay (10-6)
#10-Indianapolis Colts (10-6)
#11-New York Giants (10-6)
#12-Kansas City (10-6)

This scenario would never work and there are too many problems with the NFC/AFC balance, but it's fun to see just how it would be if records meant more then the divisions. One more point, this scenario is not an excuse for bad play either, some of the teams above that are/are not in the playoffs, lost some big games that would have secured them spots weeks ago.

Looking forward to actual NFL playoffs, there are some fun match-ups with teams that are hot and ones that are not. New England, unfortunately, looks unstoppable. Atlanta has a first round bye and then all home games leading into the Super Bowl as well and they don't lose at the Georgia Dome. Hopefully, it won't be a top seeded Super Bowl, especially since parity is the main adjective describing the NFL these days.