It's Time for the NFL To Re-Seed the Postseason
By Daniel Bartemus
(Contributor) on December 30, 2010
[img_r]http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/images/photos/001/099/941/98676822_crop_340x234.jpg?1293743060[/img_r]The Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Titans must be green with envy.
The New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will likely be seeing red come Sunday night.
The top list consists of teams whose records range from 6-9 to 8-7 and were either eliminated from playoff contention last weekend or have been for weeks. If this group played in the NFC West, each would be playing for a playoff spot in Week 17.
The Giants and Buccaneers both sit at 9-6 and need to win their finale and get help to reach the postseason. If either played in the NFC West, they could sit their starters this weekend because they would already be division champions. Instead, both are likely to be sitting at home watching the playoffs despite having a better record than the West champion.
Sunday nights game between the Seattle Seahawks and St. Louis Rams should be meaningless. Seattle is 6-9 and the Rams are 7-8, yet the winner will be wearing "NFC West Champions 2010" t-shirts and dancing around at midfield.
The NFL, which bans everything from touchdown celebrations to wearing funny looking socks, should also disallow any type of postgame celebration. It should be deemed an excessive and fine-able offense.
Not only are we going to be stuck watching one of these teams play on Wild Card Weekend, but the winner is going to be hosting a playoff game. That means the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints are likely going to have to get on a plane and travel to St. Louis or Seattle, despite the fact that they will have finished with four or five more wins.
I pity the Giants and Bucs because both are playoff-caliber, but this isnt the first time a potential wild card team had a better record than a division winner only to be left out of the postseason party, and it wont be the last. The NFL cant do away with its divisions for various obvious reasons, but it needs to look into ways to make the playoff format more fair and balanced.
Here are two of the simplest suggestions: re-seed the participants based on record, or keep the seeding the same, but let the team with the better record host the game.
The NBA adopted the latter method a few years ago after running into the same problem. This way works for both sides because the "division champion" label means nothing, rewarding the team with the better record, and the league doesnt have to go through the trouble of re-seeding every round.
However, the NBA has taken a liking to using Band-Aids to cover up more serious wounds when all observers can see stitches should be applied. The NFL, and the NBA for that matter, should swallow its pride and re-seed.
Not only will this give each team the seed it deserves based on record, God forbid, but this method makes it more likely that the best teams are going to be playing the longest in the postseason. This will maximize the NFL product and its certainly what the fans want, so why is the league so hesitant? There are zero negatives to re-seeding, other then division winners will no longer be guaranteed to host a playoff game.
Hosting a playoff game is a big deal because home field advantage is a big deal, especially in the playoffs. Shouldnt it be given to the teams with the best records, not the team that won the worst division possibly in NFL history with a LOSING RECORD?! And how long would it take for the league to re-seed its playoff teams? Five minutes? Please, dont strain yourselves.
If the playoffs started this weekend, here is how the NFC bracket would look:
1. Atlanta Falcons: 12-3
2. Chicago Bears: 11-4
3. Philadelphia Eagles: 10-5
4. St. Louis Rams: 7-8
5. New Orleans Saints: 11-4
6. Green Bay Packers: 9-6
To eliminate any confusion, Ill spell out why this is flawed. In the wild card round, the Eagles would host the Packers, and the Rams would host the Saints. Theres really only one injustice in this round because if it were re-seeded, the Eagles would move down to No. 4, while the Packers move up to No. 5, meaning Philadelphia would still host Green Bay in the first round.
The current issue is, obviously, the Rams getting the four spot, which could cost the Saints. First, as previously stated, they have to play on the road in the first round but, assuming they win, the second round is where New Orleans could really get shafted.
If the Eagles protect home field against Green Bay, that would mean the Saints travel to Atlanta to play the top seeded Falcons in the divisional playoffs, while the Eagles go to Chicago to face the Bears.
There are two problems here. First, New Orleans is tied for the second best record in the conference, yet theyre playing a second road game in as many weeks, and have to play the top seed in the second round, when records and the eye test show that the Saints and Falcons should be playing for the NFC Championship.
Secondly, New Orleans has a better record than Philadelphia but would be playing a harder opponent in the second round, meaning the Saints got a raw deal in each of the first two rounds. First, a road game; second, they facing longer odds to advance to a second consecutive NFC Championship Game.
If the bracket was re-seeded, the Saints would move to No. 3 and St. Louis would get bumped to No. 6. In this scenario, New Orleans would rightfully play host to the Rams, and if both the Saints and Eagles won, New Orleans would go to Chicago and Philadelphia would travel to Atlanta, entirely fixing the defect in the current system.
In the end, the only thing that re-seeding really changed for the opening round was the host city in one matchup, but as you can see, that one switch could potentially make a world of difference later on in the postseason.
Because Commissioner Roger Goodell does everything in his mighty power to keep the few deficiencies of his league tightly concealed, its a wonder that hes allowing NBC to flex this game into the Sunday primetime slot for all the world to see.
On the surface its a celebration of mediocrity, but so much more lies beneath. The NFL needs to make some changes and thats why a lockout seems imminent.
Hopefully Sunday nights game and eventual winner will force the league to reconsider its seriously flawed playoff format.
For more, visit my website www.pointbartemus.com, a sports forum.