The NFL playoff seeding system makes little sense.
The Green Bay Packers (11-5) have a better record than the Arizona Cardinals (10-6), yet instead of enjoying the comforts of home this weekend and hosting a first-round playoff game at Lambeau Field, the Packers face a three-hour flight and hostile dome crowd at University of Phoenix Stadium.
More injustice awaits the Packers if they would meet the Dallas Cowboys down the playoff road. Both teams posted the same regular-season record, and the Packers soundly beat the Cowboys during the regular season. But the No. 5-seeded Packers would travel to No. 3 seed Dallas for the playoffs.
What ever happened to the idea of fairness?
The system is flawed because it throws equity out the window and contributes to the shameful late-season practice of playoff qualifiers tanking games.
It was a sad spectacle when the Cardinals sent in their scrubs in the first quarter against the Packers on Sunday and laid down like dogs in a 33-7 loss. I dont blame Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt for employing that strategy because under the NFLs wacky playoff structure, his team had no incentive to win.
Thus fans that paid full price for their tickets were cheated out of watching a real game and settled for a glorified scrimmage.
My proposal is simple and sane. Division champions would earn playoff berths, but all postseason qualifiers would be seeded based on their final records.
In such a scenario, the Packers-Cardinals regular-season finale would have carried great significance, with the winner earning the right to host a first-round playoff game.
Since the NFL adopted four-team divisions in 2002, it has insisted on rewarding division champions with home playoff games. That penalizes wild-card postseason qualifiers who compete in tougher divisions.
Why should the Packers, or the 11-5 Philadelphia Eagles for that matter, be stuck with a lower seed just because the Cardinals captured the sad-sack NFC West this season?
If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is serious about giving late-season games more meaning, this is one place to start. It wouldnt prevent a team like Indianapolis from going through the motions after locking up the AFCs top seed this season, but its an improvement on the current set-up.
Unfortunately, change in the NFL is about as easy as moving mountains.
Its not an easy thing to get changed, said Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers, a former NFL head coach who participated in rules discussions at league meetings. Sometimes you think it might, but it normally takes a long time to get something changed like that.
Oddly, head coaches and general managers might oppose such a move. Their current task of beating out three other teams for a division title increases the likelihood they will win a playoff game at home, which improves their job security.
Thats why Goodell must tune out team sentiment and come down on the side of common sense, not to mention fans, who deserve a better system.