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Does a team with a losing record deserve a playoff spot

Discussion in 'Football: NFL, College, High School' started by UtilityPlayer, Dec 27, 2014.

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Losing record team deserve a playoff spot

  1. Yes

    4 vote(s)
    30.8%
  2. No

    4 vote(s)
    30.8%
  3. Only if they play on the road based on their record

    5 vote(s)
    38.5%
  1. UtilityPlayer

    UtilityPlayer Member

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    Yes , No , with conditions
     
  2. Fyreball

    Fyreball Member

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    I do think they deserve it because those are the rules, but I also think it's dumb to give HFA to division winners.
     
  3. Juxtaposed Jolt

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    I think the NFL should do away with divisions, or at least rearrange them. The NBA makes more sense, since most of the teams are geographically near each other. But when you have a division like the AFC East (Miami SOL), West (KC SOL) and the NFC West (St. Louis SOL), those teams are naturally at a disadvantage, since they have to travel so much farther for road games.

    It's not really fair that a team wins more games than you, but is left out of the playoffs because of this division champion rule,
     
  4. sealclubber1016

    Supporting Member

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    The NFL really needs to re-align so that there are less divisions. With 8 divisions it greatly increases the chance that you get a division with no deserving teams.

    2014 7-9 NFC South Champ
    2013 8-7-1 Packers
    2011 8-8 Broncos
    2010 7-9 Seahawks
    2008 8-8 Chargers

    It almost happens once a year. You need divisions in football given the limited schedule, but 8 is too many. Four 8 team divisions would be better IMO
     
  5. Major

    Major Member

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    The problem is that NFL teams play completely different schedules. While Houston and Indy play 14 identical opponents, Houston and Denver play very few. So 10-6 records between different teams can mean wildly different things.

    If you did that, you'd have to either play 7 or 14 division games. The former creates a lot of imbalance with not having a home-and-home against all your division opponents. 14 would make it pretty boring, as you'd rarely get to see your team play most of the other teams in the league.

    Right now, sure, an occasional crappy team gets in, but what's really the big deal? Is a team that's the 3rd best team to not win a division really that deserving of a playoff spot?
     
  6. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

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    Let them have a playoff spot. I'm OK with divisions meaning something. But the NFL should follow the NBA model and determine home field by the record, if tied, let the division winner play at home.
     
  7. Ziggy

    Ziggy QUEEN ANON

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    And I'm sick and tired of playing the same 3 teams 4 times a year. I've seen us play Jacksonville 150 times. It's boring.
     
  8. Nick

    Nick Member

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    In a world of no perfect systems... the NFL still gets it right more-so than the other leagues, in terms of keeping division games/wins important and still making it difficult to make the playoffs. The NBA divisions have absolutely no meaning, and it still remains that more teams make the playoffs than not. Baseball is a close second to the NFL, now that they've penalized wild card teams into playing an extra game.

    I agree that they can do home-field advantage by record... but other than that Saints-Seattle debacle, usually the better team will win regardless of where the game is played. And even then, its clear that Seattle was a team on the rise (now a SB champion), whereas the Saints were never going to be as good as their SB season.
     
  9. Nick

    Nick Member

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    It sucks more because the Texans are in a division with some consistently crappy teams.

    It didn't suck when the Oilers had to face Cleveland/Cincy/Pittsburgh every year. Those games always meant a little bit more, and at one point all 4 teams were worthy of being playoff teams at the same time.
     
  10. Mr. Clutch

    Mr. Clutch Member

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    I think we should eliminate playoffs and have a committee vote for the champion.
     
  11. leroy

    leroy Member
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    those 7-9 Seahawks won a playoff game that year.

    Yes, a division champ deserves to be in the tournament. I'd be for changing the seeding rules for home field advantage...but I have no real problem with the way it is now.
     
  12. leroy

    leroy Member
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    It's cyclical. It wasn't that long ago that the NFC West was by far the worst division in football. All 4 teams were bad. It was also not that long ago that the AFC South was considered one of the best conferences when Indy, Tenn, and Jax were all very good teams.
     

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