NFC West is not the worst division in football

[Ragnar]

And of course, by that thread title what I really mean is the NFC West is not JUST the worst division in football. It's the worst division in all major sports played in the USA.

NFC West is worst division in pro sports
(see: WSJ link too)

Carl Bialik at the Wall Street Journal has statistically proven what many Seattle sports fans have known in their hearts for years – the NFC West is the worst division in any U.S. professional sport. And it's not even close.

Since the four-division NFC was created in 2002, the Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals and St. Louis Rams have won just 37.5 percent of their games against non-divisional opponents.

Bialik writes that the underachieving is a true group effort.

From Bialik's blog post:

In some cases of subpar divisions, a few bad apples mix with good teams--such as in the NBA's Atlantic, where the Knicks and Nets take two steps backward for each step forward by the Celtics. But all the NFC West teams have been outscored and outplayed by the rest of the league. Even the Seahawks, the lone team to win more than half its games since 2002, did so by beating up on divisional foes. Concentrating so much mediocrity in one division gives whichever NFC West team is least mediocre an edge over teams outside the division that don't have the benefit of an easy divisional schedule.

On the bright side, my Seahawk's still have a very good shot at a playoff game at home at Quest Field. Suck it rest of NFC.

 

[Sheldon]

Heh.

I was just talking about this on Monday night. I think it would be cool if both conferences just did away with the whole divisional thing, and did a Top 6 type of playoff eligibility.

 

[Ragnar]

Heh.

I was just talking about this on Monday night. I think it would be cool if both conferences just did away with the whole divisional thing, and did a Top 6 type of playoff eligibility.

That's not a bad solution. Sound logic is hard to beat.

However, I am fond of the whole division thing, tradition and rivalry and all that crap. My fix would be as simple as swapping Seattle and the Chiefs respective divisions. That said, I would not be against giving the playoff home game to the team with the best record rather than the division winner.

 

[Sheldon]

Heh.

I was just talking about this on Monday night. I think it would be cool if both conferences just did away with the whole divisional thing, and did a Top 6 type of playoff eligibility.

That's not a bad solution. Sound logic is hard to beat.

However, I am fond of the whole division thing, tradition and rivalry and all that crap. My fix would be as simple as swapping Seattle and the Chiefs respective divisions. That said, I would not be against giving the playoff home game to the team with the best record rather than the division winner.

I think it could make the playoffs more competitive than they already are.

But just to play devil's advocate, the downside could be that the entire Western half of the country may not get a team past the regular season.

If the playoffs become geocentric to a certain region, like the north east for a decade, they may lose viewers across the other parts of country. If it's a big enough loss to get advertisers worried, the top 6 idea is dead in the water.

 

[Ragnar]

Heh.

I was just talking about this on Monday night. I think it would be cool if both conferences just did away with the whole divisional thing, and did a Top 6 type of playoff eligibility.

That's not a bad solution. Sound logic is hard to beat.

However, I am fond of the whole division thing, tradition and rivalry and all that crap. My fix would be as simple as swapping Seattle and the Chiefs respective divisions. That said, I would not be against giving the playoff home game to the team with the best record rather than the division winner.

I think it could make the playoffs more competitive than they already are.

But just to play devil's advocate, the downside could be that the entire Western half of the country may not get a team past the regular season.

If the playoffs become geocentric to a certain region, like the north east for a decade, they may lose viewers across the other parts of country. If it's a big enough loss to get advertisers worried, the top 6 idea is dead in the water.

True that. Been quite some time since it was "always" the Niners vs the Cowgirls. And the NFL is a money machine before all else.

I would not change a whole lot if I were NFL king for a day. Maybe adopt the college rules for instant replay. Add four to six guys to the regular team roster if the union would not go apeshit. And, like above, kept the division system intact but award home games by total wins.

I know the NFC West is and has been unfair but it's sure helped my Seahawks so I've been cool with it. (not for nothing but this is an unusually bad year even for a bad NFCW) Same goes for the BCS too. Say what you will, it's been awful kind to my Buckeye's. lol

 

[Toro]

I'm hoping that the NFC West winner goes 7-9.

 

[elvis]

I'm hoping that the NFC West winner goes 7-9.

Would Singletary's job be saved if he won the division with that record?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Heh.

I was just talking about this on Monday night. I think it would be cool if both conferences just did away with the whole divisional thing, and did a Top 6 type of playoff eligibility.

That's not a bad solution. Sound logic is hard to beat.

However, I am fond of the whole division thing, tradition and rivalry and all that crap. My fix would be as simple as swapping Seattle and the Chiefs respective divisions. That said, I would not be against giving the playoff home game to the team with the best record rather than the division winner.

I would agree with that if the division winner has a losing record, but just giving the best record the home game would not always be the best option. That could result in the wild card team with a home game against a team that played a much tougher schedule, and penalize the division winners even if they only lost 2 games.

 

[Mad Scientist]

I'm hoping that the NFC West winner goes 7-9.

AND makes it to the NFC Title game just to piss everyone off.

 

[xotoxi]

I would like to see all of the teams in the NFL to be lumped into one league. And then the top 12 teams make the playoffs. Seeds 1-4 get a bye. Seeds 5-12 play each other in the first round, then go from there.

Screw this AFC-NFC bullshit.

 

[Ragnar]

I'm hoping that the NFC West winner goes 7-9.

That's not just possible, it's likely.

Speaking for my 6-8 Seahawks, a win this week vs Tampa Bay would be nice... but it's not a "must win". They get the Rams at home in week 17 which may just be THE game NFCWwise.

If Seattle wins out, going into the playoffs at 8-8 while still pathetic, at least would not be unprecedented.

Also, not for nothing, but Seattle and Arizona have both been NFC Champions within the last few years.

 

[Article 15]

Heh.

I was just talking about this on Monday night. I think it would be cool if both conferences just did away with the whole divisional thing, and did a Top 6 type of playoff eligibility.

Sounds boring ... I like the clusterfuck. It screwed us two years ago but whatever.

 

[Big Fitz]

Heh.

I was just talking about this on Monday night. I think it would be cool if both conferences just did away with the whole divisional thing, and did a Top 6 type of playoff eligibility.

That's not a bad solution. Sound logic is hard to beat.

However, I am fond of the whole division thing, tradition and rivalry and all that crap. My fix would be as simple as swapping Seattle and the Chiefs respective divisions. That said, I would not be against giving the playoff home game to the team with the best record rather than the division winner.

You must not be a fan of an NFC North or East team.

 

[Ragnar]

Heh.

I was just talking about this on Monday night. I think it would be cool if both conferences just did away with the whole divisional thing, and did a Top 6 type of playoff eligibility.

That's not a bad solution. Sound logic is hard to beat.

However, I am fond of the whole division thing, tradition and rivalry and all that crap. My fix would be as simple as swapping Seattle and the Chiefs respective divisions. That said, I would not be against giving the playoff home game to the team with the best record rather than the division winner.

You must not be a fan of an NFC North or East team.

Got me there... sorta.

I'm a part time fan of the Giants, Eagles and Redskins. At least whenever they are playing the Cowgirls. Then again, I'm a fan of anyone playing Dallas. As Seattle lost their only Superbowl bid, you can pretty much nail down my favorite NFL playoff moment as Tony Romo dropping that otherwise winning FG vs Seattle a little while back.