NFL Playoffs
Posted: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 by Travis Cody inI've seen some calls for a restructuring of the playoff format. Evidently, some question the fairness of a format that keeps a team with a record of 11-5 out of the playoffs while allowing a team to get in at 8-8.
Well...nuts to that.
While it's regrettable that the 8 teams that make up the AFC and NFC West divisions are so bad that the division winners are 8-8 (San Diego) and 9-7 (Arizona) respectively, it is what it is. You can say that mediocrity has been rewarded and you might be correct. But a division winning team, regardless of its won-loss record, should not be set aside in a favor of some other team with a better record that could not win its division.
This isn't the BCS. We don't decide who gets in the post season by polls. You win your division, you get in the tournament. And then we'll invite some wild card teams. That's your shot...win your division or be one of the two in each conference to qualify as "best of the rest".
So Wild Card Weekend features:
6 Baltimore (11-5) at 3 Miami (11-5)
5 Indianapolis (12-4) at 4 San Diego (8-8)
6 Philadelphia (9-6-1) at 3 Minnesota (10-6)
5 Atlanta (11-5) at 4 Arizona (9-7)
HI!