Will Tampa send us gifts for eliminating Atlanta? Will we send Minnesota gifts for knocking Green Bay from the 6 seed?
Why do division winners automatically get the top 4 seeds even if their record is subpar compared to wild card teams? Why not give the division winners a guaranteed spot, but HFA should go to the team wiith the better record imo.
I dunno. I'm honestly in two minds on this.
- If you win your division, that's a big deal and you should be rewarded for doing that by a home game.
- On the other hand, a 8-9 team who wins a crappy division probably doesn't deserve to host an 11-6 team, who has had the better season and plays in a better division.
The only thing I could come up with as a compromise is leave the Wild Card round as is, and for the Division and Conference rounds, leave the matchups the same way they would be determined, but flip home field to whoever has the best record. Example: Let's assume:
1 - Lions 15-2
2 - Eagles 14-3
3 - Rams 10-7
4 - Bucs 9-8
5 - Vikings 14-3
6 - 'Skins - 11-6 (We win the tie-break I think based on conference record.)
7 - Packers 11-6
Round one plays out as normal:
1 - Lions on Bye
#2 Eagles vs. #7 Packers
#3 Rams vs. #6 Skins
#4 Bucs vs. #5 Vikings
Now, let's assume for a minute, the Eagles implode and lose to the Packers. That could very well happen. The Packers are a good team. And let's assume the Rams best the 'Skins (boo) and Vikings beat the Bucs. (you could also do the same scenario with the 'Skins beating the Rams and the Bucs beating the Vikings. But if we're being honest, this seems more realistic. I don't think the Vikings are losing to the Bucs.)
Currently that means you'd have:
#1 Lions vs. #7 Packers.
#3 Rams vs. #5 Vikings. In Tampa. (According to Tony Kornheiser, there are only 3 things in Tampa: Waffle Houses, Old People and Strip Clubs) This is the one which seems unfair. The Vikings with the 14-3 regular season, 15-3 overall traveling to the 9-8 regular season, 10-8 overall, Bucs. So, in that case, I'd just flip the location. Have the team with the better record host the divisional and conference championship game. If they have the same record, then tie-breaker is the original playoff seeding.
I think that would work.