Those who dictate rules often won’t change a single one until there is overwhelming evidence that something must be done. And by “overwhelming evidence” I mean that by the time it’s been corrected, an unacceptable amount of individuals will have already been affected by the failure to make a change sooner.
I believe we have reached that point in regards to the NFL playoff system.
Now, I’m not advocating a total overhaul that involves open seeding regardless of conference, as some do. I just don’t see that as necessary.
What I wish to no longer see are these increasingly common instances of teams qualifying for postseason play because they won a crappy division by default, while a team with a superior record (often vastly superior at that) is left to sit at home because the system is broken.
It’s one thing to see your team go 10-6 and get left out simply because of overcrowding (like the 2012 Bears). That’s a tough break, but not patently unfair. It’s quite another to see your team win 10 or 11 games and not advance because some 8-8 team “won” their dumb division.
This is a fairly new problem for the NFL, but, as I said, it’s quickly becoming a common one. It’s a side effect not only of “parity” but also of the 2002 league realignment (thanks to the Texans becoming franchise #32), which was great for symmetry and scheduling purposes, but also further watered down the notion of “Division Champions”.
These are the affected teams thusfar:
2008 – 11-5 Patriots bumped by the 8-8 Chargers
2010 – 10-6 Giants bumped by 7-9 Seahawks
2011 – 9-7 Titans bumped by 8-8 Broncos
2013 – 10-6 Cardinals bumped by 8-7-1 Packers
2014 – 9-6* Eagles bumped by 7-win Panthers/Falcons
*Season still in progress
Prior to 2008, the last such instance of this phenomena occurred in 1985, when the 11-5 Broncos got bumped by the 8-8 AFC Central “Champion” Browns. After that it was 23 years of peace and quiet. But, since 2008, it’s happened 4 times in 6 seasons, and it’s about to be 5 in 7 thanks to the moribund NFC South this year.
What’s even more embarrassing is that, for the second time in a five-season span, a losing team will not only advance to the playoffs, but, by virtue of winning their stupid division, get to host a home game as well. What is this; Canada?
This madness must be stopped.
All I’m asking for is that the current playoff system remain, but division champions are not guaranteed berths by the mere virtue of being division champions. Leave it as a primary tiebreaker, that’s fine; but the days of teams with double-digit wins getting bumped by mediocre brethren must come to an end.
Shovel Off to Buffalo
While we’re on the topic of things like fairness and competitive balance, a certain good decision made by the NFL earlier this year reminded me of a certain bad one made in 2005.
With Buffalo brought to a halt by snowfall of epic proportions in mid-November of this year, the NFL, who had about a week to make a decision, wisely moved the Bills’ home game against the Jets out to Detroit, so as not to put undue pressure on the city of Buffalo to accommodate an event it could not possibly hold at the time.
Contrast this to 2005, when Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans roughly two weeks before the start of the NFL season, and about three weeks before the Saints’ scheduled home opener. While the League did manage to arrange temporary homes for them in San Antonio’s Alamodome and Baton Rouge’s Tiger Stadium, one game was left bare: the home opener against the New York Giants, which ended up being played in, of all places, Giants Stadium.
Is that fair? Nope. Not a bit.
Now I’ve argued this with many people over the years, and the one point they usually bring up to me is, “Where else were they supposed to play it?”
That’s a good question. Let’s look at which NFL teams were playing on the road that week, and perhaps had stadiums free to host such an occasion.
In a vague order of suitability:
Atlanta
Miami
Jacksonville
Washington
Baltimore
St. Louis
Kansas City
Cleveland
Pittsburgh
Detroit
Minnesota
Buffalo
New England
San Diego
San Francisco
Now look, I don’t know all the facts, and I certainly didn’t handle the stadium operations of any of these teams back in 2005, so maybe a few of these places had other things going on that weekend and therefore would not have been able to host the Saints/Giants game, but with an initial list of 15 professional stadiums (who knows how many college stadiums might have been free as well?), you’re telling me the best the NFL could do at the time was to hand another home game to the Giants?
I’m not going to cry conspiracy, but I have a very difficult time believing that.
However, the League didn’t stop there, because they had a chance to at least try to make things right after their bungle and still screwed it up.
When the NFL began its International Series in London in 2007, it chose the Giants and Dolphins to initiate the proceedings. Did they make the Giants give up a home game after affording them an extra one two years prior? Nope.
In 2008, when it was the Saints and Chargers in London, did they make New Orleans give up a home game after already giving one away a few seasons earlier? Yup.
Talk about adding insult to injury.
For as much as the NFL loves to talk about parity, I get the impression from all this nonsense that they probably don’t actually care much about fairness, unless it affects the bottom line.
Ah, who am I kidding? That’s exactly how they operate.