The South divisions are terrible

[Scooby-Doo]

The issue to me is it means an undeserving team gets into the playoffs every year. This has happened every year with every division so not just saying this about the NFC South. When the Broncos made it with Tebow they were not deserving of the playoff spot and even more of a home field game. That to me is the thing that stinks is they stink it up most of the year and are rewarded with a home playoff game. I think at the end of the year it should just be the top-6 teams record wise instead of every division winner getting a spot.

You have to let the division winners in. It wouldn't t be fair to let the top 6 records in, because not everyone plays the same schedule. However I do think you could rank the teams differently. For example if a 7 to 9 win team wins the division and there is a 10+ Win wild card non-division team, you could give them the home game over the division winner.

 

[Davis_Mike]

Atlanta & Tampa are bad but are the rams, raiders, jets, jags, & titans any better?

Saints are so bad that they beat the team who probably gets HFA in the nfc by 3 tds.

Yep terrible team.

The Rams right now would probably be 4-4 in the NFC south too. That's not saying much.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

It goes in cycles...a few years ago the AFCW sucked and the NFCW had 7-9 team win a DIV maybe.

 

[bksballer89]

The Saints are a much different team at home. I would look very forward to having the Packers play them again at Lambeau when it means something.

I don't think the saints defense is good enough to best green bay away from the super dome but they're leaning on ingram a ton now which is a good thing because in the playoffs on the road you need to be able to run. I don't think it's impossible to see the saints win a road game with what I have seen from them in their last 2.road games. Defense has played much better on the road. It's far too early to count out a team who's just 2 games behind the teams with the best records

 

[ATL96Steeler]

The thing for the NFC South is every one of the teams is just looking terrible. Saints yes are starting to turn it around a bit but they are the only division without having at least 1 team with a winning record. So yes there are other bad teams in the NFL but we are talking about an entire division that has looked mediocre at best and at worst having possibly 2 of the 5 worst teams in the league with Tampa and Atlanta.

And good for you guys beating Green Bay but I am really doubting they have homefield throughout the playoffs. I also doubt if you guys went to Green Bay in the playoffs that you guys would even come close to standing a chance in those cold conditions. The Saints are showing they are a team that needs home field to even stand a chance and at this point they are looking like Wild Card Weekend they could possibly win but divisional is where the train stops. Now yes I could be completely wrong but I just don't see a team that even comes close to competing for the Lombardi this year.

Saints are a decent team.

ATL...I see this team every week and they've just had a case of buzzard luck with OL problems the last 2 years...The DEF was always going to be the weak link, but 24 to 28 was the expectation of the OFC and it just hasn't happened.

TB...rebuild...some good young players on the DL, and not a bad LB corp... not supposed to be that bad on DEF with Michael Johnson and a $98 mil player in McCoy on the DL

 

[TDs3nOut]

I like the format, you can't change it because of a bad division. These things are fluid, last season the entire AFC was a joke, now they look at least half as good as the NFC.

While I think that is quite overstated, I do agree with your general point about the fluidity in strengths of divisions and conferences.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I don't think the saints defense is good enough to best green bay away from the super dome but they're leaning on ingram a ton now which is a good thing because in the playoffs on the road you need to be able to run. I don't think it's impossible to see the saints win a road game with what I have seen from them in their last 2.road games. Defense has played much better on the road. It's far too early to count out a team who's just 2 games behind the teams with the best records

Is it me, or has he lost some weight?...looks like a totally different player now...more jukes, faster.

 

[Deacon]

Yeah, I say stop looking at just the 'now'. 4-5 years ago the NFC west was by far the absolute worst division in football. The Seahawks won with a 7-9 record. The last 2 years it was by far the best division in football with the 10 win Cardinals not making the playoffs.

As was said, these things are fluid. Divisional play is by far a good thing and it shouldn't be scrapped just because of a few outliers that chap your hide every now and then.

 

[WizardHawk]

The issue to me is it means an undeserving team gets into the playoffs every year. This has happened every year with every division so not just saying this about the NFC South. When the Broncos made it with Tebow they were not deserving of the playoff spot and even more of a home field game. That to me is the thing that stinks is they stink it up most of the year and are rewarded with a home playoff game. I think at the end of the year it should just be the top-6 teams record wise instead of every division winner getting a spot.

The reason the system works the way it does is because of that division system. It's where college fails miserably.

By playing everyone in your division both home and away AND everyone in your division playing nearly the same teams outside of the division, you have as far of a test of those 4 teams as you are going to find in a 16 game season with 32 teams.

If you are going to simply give the top 6 teams record wise spots then you are rewarding teams who might not have as challenging of a schedule.

You can do as you suggest in every other sport because of the sheer number of games they play. You CANNOT do that in the NFL.

The 7-9 teams making it in as division winners is not keeping out 10 win teams.

You have to win your division OR be one of the next two best record teams left to make it to the post season. If you are neither you don't deserve to get in. Happened to Arizona last year. They did NOT deserve to be in over any other team because they had the same schedule as the other teams in the NFC west and didn't as well with it.

 

[WizardHawk]

Let me put it another way, part of the reason you see division with several 10+ win teams in them is because they all play the same two extra divisions (one in their conference, and one in the other) and they simply got the easier divisions to roll through that year. It's entirely possible that a 7-9 win division winner had their whole division go up against the best two divisions.

Record alone in a subset of data as small as the NFL gives is entirely useless. The wildcard system was designed to at least give two teams with great records a chance at it and that's more than enough.

 

[cdumler7]

Ok maybe I am being a little overdramatic in all of this. I will admit for the most part I actually do like the system. I do think though that Arizona deserved a spot in the playoffs last year. Now who do you take out to put them in I'm not sure.


I honestly do like the system for the most part. I just think there are times where teams are left out that I honestly think stand a very good chance of winning the Super Bowl. I really did think Arizona even on the road throughout the playoffs could have made it to the Super Bowl with the team they had rolling at the end of the year.

 

[RobToxin]

I agree on that but how often has a 7-9 made the playoffs? Just the 2010 Seahawks so it's very uncommon

True but I also remember a year that a 9-7 Cardinals team went to the Super Bowl while an 11-5 New England team beat that same Cardinals team by 40....

and missed the playoffs completely.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

The issue to me is it means an undeserving team gets into the playoffs every year. This has happened every year with every division so not just saying this about the NFC South. When the Broncos made it with Tebow they were not deserving of the playoff spot and even more of a home field game. That to me is the thing that stinks is they stink it up most of the year and are rewarded with a home playoff game. I think at the end of the year it should just be the top-6 teams record wise instead of every division winner getting a spot.

Then you really would have to get rid of DIV play altogether because there would be no incentive to win it...the league is national in scope, but interest level is a lot more regional than what we might want to believe.

Regional teams playing twice a year is a big deal I think.

 

[cdumler7]

Then you really would have to get rid of DIV play altogether because there would be no incentive to win it...the league is national in scope, but interest level is a lot more regional than what we might want to believe.

Regional teams playing twice a year is a big deal I think.

I agree...I've changed my opinion on this from this morning. Didn't have my morning coffee brewed yet so wasn't thinking clearly and just typing. Quick way to look like an idiot.

 

[WizardHawk]

Ok maybe I am being a little overdramatic in all of this. I will admit for the most part I actually do like the system. I do think though that Arizona deserved a spot in the playoffs last year. Now who do you take out to put them in I'm not sure.


I honestly do like the system for the most part. I just think there are times where teams are left out that I honestly think stand a very good chance of winning the Super Bowl. I really did think Arizona even on the road throughout the playoffs could have made it to the Super Bowl with the team they had rolling at the end of the year.

Again, not all 9-7 teams are equal and not all 11 wins teams are either. It is far more fair to ONLY compare those records to other teams in your own division because you play the same schedule for 14 of your 16 games.

The reason Arizona didn't deserve it last year isn't because they weren't a good team or they didn't win enough games, but they didn't do a better job than TWO other teams in their own division at playing the exact same schedule.

Would I be disappointed as a fan if my team was left out and a team with lower record got in? Well of course, but I'd still understand the dynamics of it.

The system also naturally weeds out the under performing teams that do make it in. Seattle might have beat the Saints in that 7-9 season that lead them to the playoffs, but they were stopped cold after that. Some Saints fans argued their team shouldn't have had to have faced a team with that poor of a record on the road so it wasn't fair. All you had to do was win that game. You didn't. It was fair.

 

[geezer]

It would be justice if the Saints finished 7 and 9 this season and won their division. They would get a home playoff game. I wonder if the media would scream as much as they did when the Seahawks got a home field game with a losing record?

This stuff evens out in time. That is one reason the NFL is so popular. Any team can turn it around and every season the fans have some degree of hope for their team.

 

[Broncos6482]

Atlanta & Tampa are bad but are the rams, raiders, jets, jags, & titans any better?

Saints are so bad that they beat the team who probably gets HFA in the nfc by 3 tds.

Yep terrible team.

The difference is the Raiders and Jets are the only terrible team in their respective division, and at least the AFC South leader has a winning record. Besides, the AFC South is clearly the second worst division right now.

I don't think it's fair to say that the 3 loss Packers will "probably" get HFA in the NFC. Maybe, sure. Probably? Doubtful. And besides, that same Saints team needed a big comeback and overtime to beat a TERRIBLE Buccaneers team. That's not a good look.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

True but I also remember a year that a 9-7 Cardinals team went to the Super Bowl while an 11-5 New England team beat that same Cardinals team by 40....

and missed the playoffs completely.

That doesn't matter. The Eagles beat the Cards that year by 20 or 30 and lost to them in the NFC championship game. In addition, it was snowing like crazy and freezing cold in New England that game. The Cards aren't used to playing in that kind of weather. On a neutral field, the game would have been much different. That's not a good example.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

It would be justice if the Saints finished 7 and 9 this season and won their division. They would get a home playoff game. I wonder if the media would scream as much as they did when the Seahawks got a home field game with a losing record?

This stuff evens out in time. That is one reason the NFL is so popular. Any team can turn it around and every season the fans have some degree of hope for their team.

If the Saints go 7-9 and win the division, I don't think they'll win a playoff game. Going 7-9 in the NFC south this year only validates your team is not very good. The Saints will go at least 9-7 in that division.

 

[Davis_Mike]

That doesn't matter. The Eagles beat the Cards that year by 20 or 30 and lost to them in the NFC championship game. In addition, it was snowing like crazy and freezing cold in New England that game. The Cards aren't used to playing in that kind of weather. On a neutral field, the game would have been much different. That's not a good example.

Also, the Cardinals had the division clinched after their week 14 win. They just didn't show up to the week 16 game in the snow. Plus, Warner & some of the starter played less than a half.