Why NFL Divisions Should Be Done Away With

The time that NFL divisions are needed has passed, and the league needs to start rewarding the teams who play the best football.

A 4-7 team is in first place in the NFC South.

I’ll repeat that just to be sure that you are unmistakably clear. A 4-7 team — four wins, seven losses — is in first place in the NFC South.

The Atlanta Falcons, by virtue of their four wins against the worst division in the NFL (and nobody else), sit in first place, at 4-7.

There isn’t a team in that division over .500, and it’s likely that a team finishing under .500 will win the division.

Division winner = NFL playoffs.

And that’s just the worst division. If the playoffs started today (don’t you just love that presumptuous phrase?) there could be other middle-of-the-pack teams finding themselves in the postseason.

Now this wouldn’t be the first time it has happened. As recently as 2010, the Seattle Seahawks won the NFC West with a 7-9 record, and because they were a “division winner”, they had the opportunity to host a home playoff game against a Wild Card team, a New Orleans Saints wild card team with an 11-5 record.

That’s right. A 7-9 team got the advantage of a home game against an 11-5 team in the first round of the playoffs.

The Saints eventually lost the game, and if you know anything about the NFL you know that Seattle has one of the best home field advantages in the league, so to say that the home playoff game had nothing to do with the victory is ludicrous.

How is an NFC South winner that could potentially finish as poorly as 6-10 supposed to be considered as one of the best teams in the league?

This system is flawed, and rewards teams who have done little to deserve playoff status, and punishes those who play exceptional football for an entire season.

The league is now in a situation with two conferences, and four 4-team divisions in each conference. Each division winner makes the playoffs, and then there are two wild card teams — those with the second best records behind the division winners — who also join the postseason party.

Six playoff teams in each conference of 16 teams. The odds are fair enough, but the pecking order is completely off kilter.

The solution? Do away with the divisions. Go back to two conferences, and just let the teams with the six best records go to the playoffs. Simple, competitive, and fair.

Seriously, isn’t that what the NFL Playoffs are supposed to be? The best teams in the league competing for the Lombardi Trophy. How is an NFC South winner that could potentially finish as poorly as 6-10 supposed to be considered as one of the best teams in the league?

They aren’t. They just aren’t.

There’s just simply no need for such small divisions in a 32-team league.

Oh, I know…you’re afraid of killing off some great rivalries by eliminating divisions, right?

That hasn’t stopped the NFL from realigning and moving teams from one division to another. It hasn’t stopped teams from even moving from one conference to another. The scheduling beast can be addressed and tackled in many ways, but the biggest priority should be to prevent forgettable teams with losing records from qualifying for the postseason.

The league could set definitive rivalries that are played each year, even twice each year. I don’t think anyone will miss playing three different teams twice in the same season. There could be biennial rotations of lesser but still viable rivalries, to bring some intrigue and build-up to the games.

So you could still have your Bears-Packers, your Cowboys-Redskins, your Saints-Falcons, and your Patriots-Jets twice a year, and have those games become even more significant in the schedule.

Just imagine a 16-game schedule where your team plays 14 different teams, and two rivalries on home-and-home rotations, limiting the interconference games to just two per year. That would give each team 12 games against conference foes, painting a much better picture of who the best teams in each conference happens to be.

Nov 23, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith react to the play against the Cleveland Browns during the second half at the Georgia Dome. The Browns defeated the Falcons 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

On top of that, you’d be guaranteed to play every team in your conference at least every two years, which in itself could create some new and more interesting rivals.

No losing records in the playoffs. No rewards for accomplishing essentially nothing. No home field advantage for those who truly earned no advantage. Best six in each conference go to the playoffs, with the top two teams still getting a bye week in the first round.

Am I making too much sense here?

Another perk of this type of scheduling – rematches.

“Oh, we could have beaten you if our starting quarterback hadn’t been out with a sprained ankle”

Guess what, if you’re two of the best teams in the conference, there will be the opportunity to prove that statement.

For a league that props itself up on being the most competitive, dominant and popular league in the world, the NFL is missing the boat when it comes to picking their postseason teams. Actually most professional leagues are missing it, but it seems more egregious and unfair in the NFL.

Can you imagine as the season winds down, and getting to hear statements from commentators like “The Buffalo Bills are fighting for that sixth and final playoff spot in the AFC with the Tennessee Titans.” How cool would that be? It sure beats, “Well, despite having an 11-5 record, the San Francisco 49ers are going to miss this year’s playoffs.”

Kill the divisions, end the madness, and make the playoffs about what they should be – the best teams in the league, not the guys who happened to be better than three other sorry teams.

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