Right now either the 49ers or Seahawks are going to have to go on the road and play either the Cowboys or the Eagles. Why should the Eagles or Cowboys be rewarded homefield advantage when they play in a mediocre division? Meanwhile the 49ers and Seahawks have to play each other twice, and one of them will be punished, despite the possibility that they both might be tied for the best record in the NFC or even the NFL when the season ends. I don't think a complete realignment (two teams from the same division having the #1 and #2 seed) is necessary, but there is no reason to reward a division winner with homefield advantage, just because they won their division. It might make wildcard weekend more competitive with the way it is now, but it doesnt make the playoffs more competitive having a good team have to go play back to back road games, because they played in the wrong division.
Not sure if the OP meant all wild card teams should get home advantage automatically or not, but if so a team scraping in as the last wild card should not be rewarded either. Seedings should be allocated based on season and conference record with division win as a tie break. If that means that the #1 and 2 seeds are from the same division then so be it.
Didn't the Seahawks make the playoffs with 7 wins a few years ago and then bounce the Saints? Any given Sunday.
Interesting question, I suppose the answer would be because everyone in the same division plays one another twice, because they all basically play the same schedule, because the NFL has decided to group teams together that way. if you are gonna have divisions, shouldn't winning it give you something? otherwise what's the point of having them
Yes, the teams in each division play pretty much the same schedule and play each other twice. But that doesn't mean any of them are better than teams that will miss the playoffs because they're in a tougher division. And I think you can still have divisions even if winning your division doesn't guarantee a playoff spot. It makes sense for travel and rivalry reasons.
Winning your division has to guarantee you a playoff spot or else it really demeans divisions as a whole. You can create an argument as to whether or not they should host playoff games with shitty records, but you can't remove division winners from the playoff race because of it. Things like this usually come full circle too. The Seahawks reaped the benefits of it a decade ago against the Saints and now are fighting for the #1 seed because of it. I don't really care to change any of these rules to be honest. They're already going to ruin the NFL playoffs enough by adding a wild card team and a game in a couple years.
Of course. It should mean you make the playoffs. Even if it is with 7 wins like the Seahawks did. However, should it mean you are seeded above a team that won 12+ games but happened to finish second in their division? That's the question really.
in 2002 when Chad Pennington and the Jets went on a late season tear to win a tough AFC East that year at 9-7, you are telling me they should've been forced to travel to Indy who finished 10-6, simply because they faced the dregs of the league - Jax & Hou for 4 of their 10 wins
I would make this one stipulation. If a team that wins their division finishes below .500 they forfeit home filed advantage.