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I've been railing against this idiotic 4 team "division" setup from the beginning. It was bad enough that the NYFL went away from two divisions per conference to three, but the last change was the one that put me over the top. They might as well create 8 two-team divisions in each conference, expand the playoffs to 16 teams and take all of the division winners.
Once they changed to this setup in 2002 it looked okay for a while. They still had teams getting into the playoffs based off of totally different schedules, but at least the teams getting into the playoffs had better records or the same record but won on tie-breakers.
From 2002 thru 2007 that was the case.
2008 - The floodgates opened and the stupidity of this setup started to show it's ugly face. That was the first time that a team made the playoffs over another team with a better record. At least the 8-8 San Diego Chargers, the "champion" of the AFCW, had beaten the 9-7 Jets during the season, but they still had a worse overall record and may have had an easier schedule.
2009 - We caught a break from the idiocy.
2010 - This is the best example of all of how ridiculous this setup is. The 7-9 Seattle Seahawks, masters of the putrid AFCW's 3 other teams, were in the playoffs over two 10-6 teams, The Giants and TB, both of whom crushed the Seahawks on the field that year by a combined score of 79-22.
2011 - Denver gets in at 8-8 while Tennessee is out in spite of a better record and a win over Denver.
2012 - Another break. Our last.
2013 - Gren Bay is in at 8-7-1 and Arizona is out at 10-6.
2014 - Carolina is in at 7-8-1 while Philly at 10-6 stays home in spite of crushing the Panthers that year by a 45-21 score. The 8-8 49ers were also out but who cares.
2015 - Houston is in at 9-7 and and the Jets are out at 10-6.
2016 - This could turn out to be my favorite season of all concerning the 4 team divisions. We may end up with 3 or 4 teams with worse records in the playoffs than another 3 or 4 teams who miss out.
Nothing would make me happier than to see some of the other teams get burned by this craziness.
Once they changed to this setup in 2002 it looked okay for a while. They still had teams getting into the playoffs based off of totally different schedules, but at least the teams getting into the playoffs had better records or the same record but won on tie-breakers.
From 2002 thru 2007 that was the case.
2008 - The floodgates opened and the stupidity of this setup started to show it's ugly face. That was the first time that a team made the playoffs over another team with a better record. At least the 8-8 San Diego Chargers, the "champion" of the AFCW, had beaten the 9-7 Jets during the season, but they still had a worse overall record and may have had an easier schedule.
2009 - We caught a break from the idiocy.
2010 - This is the best example of all of how ridiculous this setup is. The 7-9 Seattle Seahawks, masters of the putrid AFCW's 3 other teams, were in the playoffs over two 10-6 teams, The Giants and TB, both of whom crushed the Seahawks on the field that year by a combined score of 79-22.
2011 - Denver gets in at 8-8 while Tennessee is out in spite of a better record and a win over Denver.
2012 - Another break. Our last.
2013 - Gren Bay is in at 8-7-1 and Arizona is out at 10-6.
2014 - Carolina is in at 7-8-1 while Philly at 10-6 stays home in spite of crushing the Panthers that year by a 45-21 score. The 8-8 49ers were also out but who cares.
2015 - Houston is in at 9-7 and and the Jets are out at 10-6.
2016 - This could turn out to be my favorite season of all concerning the 4 team divisions. We may end up with 3 or 4 teams with worse records in the playoffs than another 3 or 4 teams who miss out.
Nothing would make me happier than to see some of the other teams get burned by this craziness.
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