"No legitimate Super Bowl champion should have a losing record in the regular season. The Panthers, crowned NFC South champions at 8-9, are not an outlier. Since 2010, five teams with losing records have made the postseason. The 2022 Bucs were the first team to make the dance with a losing record since the league instituted a 17-game schedule. This season, the NFC South has done it again."
"Preserving divisions and guaranteeing a playoff berth is essential; there is no need for a record-only free-for-all here. The end-of-season SteelersRavens game was electric precisely because of what was at stake: a division title, a playoff spot, a good seed and the futures of the league's two longest-tenured coaches. But that electricity should not grant teams immunity. You can win your division and still not deserve to play in January."
"If you win your division with a losing record, you get the hats, the banner and the bonuses. What you should not get is a playoff game. January should belong to teams that proved, at the very least, they could win more often than they lost. That's not radical. It can be done while still maintaining that division winners keep homefield if they finish above .500."
Division winners with losing regular-season records currently receive automatic playoff berths and sometimes home games, producing teams like the 8-9 Panthers entering January. Five teams since 2010 have reached the postseason with losing records, including the 2022 Buccaneers under a 17-game schedule. Division preservation and rivalries are valuable, but automatic qualification should not confer immunity. A proposed compromise awards trophies, banners and bonuses to division champions regardless of record but denies a playoff game to those below .500. Division winners who finish above .500 would retain homefield advantage. January should prioritize teams that won more games than they lost.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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