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CrashTest

CrashTest

Well-Known Member
Everyone's been saying that if the season ended today, Seattle would make the playoffs and the Cowboys would not. How is that since they both have the same record right now, and the Cowboys beat Seattle this year.
 
itsbob

itsbob

I bowl overhand
Only reason for the season to end today would be the end of the world..

No world..

No playoffs

No Superbowl

Neither goes.
 
Tilted

Tilted

..
CrashTest said:
Everyone's been saying that if the season ended today, Seattle would make the playoffs and the Cowboys would not. How is that since they both have the same record right now, and the Cowboys beat Seattle this year.
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This is one of those situations, which happen from time to time, where the nuance of the NFL's tie-breaking rules would kinda screw one team or another - in this case, Dallas.

Head-to-head record is the first tie breaker for a wild-card spot (as well as for a division title) only when the tie is between just two teams. If there are three or more teams tied, the first thing you do is eliminate all but the top team from each division (using the divisional tie-breaking rules). Then, if there are still more than two teams tied, head-to-head record is used - but only if one of the teams has a sweep, e.g. has beaten each of the other teams that they are tied with. If that's not the situation, you move on to conference record. Then you move on to record with common opponents.

So, in this case, there are three teams tied for the first wild-card spot - Dallas, Seattle, and Detroit. They're all from different divisions, and there's no head-to-head sweep, so conference record is used. That kicks Dallas out of the tie, leaving just Seattle and Detroit still tied. So they revert to the rules for a tie between two teams. That's head-to-head, then conference record, then common opponents record. I'm assuming Seattle wins on that third criteria.

That leaves Detroit and Dallas tied for the second wild-card spot. There's no head-to-head there so Detroit wins on conference record. The wild-card teams are Seattle and Detroit.
 
Tilted

Tilted

..
CrashTest said:
With tie breaker between teams, head-to-head trumps all.
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Only when there are just two teams tied. When there are more, head-to-head becomes the second step and is only used if there's a sweep. If team 1 beat team 2, and team 2 beat team 3, and team 3 beat team 1, that tie breaker doesn't resolve anything. Also, if none of the teams that are tied swept the others or were swept by the others, that tie breaker isn't used.


EDIT: To correct my mistaken explanation.
 
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DoWhat

DoWhat

Deplorable
PREMO Member
So what happens if Dallas wins tonight, and Seattle wins against Philly, on Sunday?
 
Tilted

Tilted

..
DoWhat said:
So what happens if Dallas wins tonight, and Seattle wins against Philly, on Sunday?
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It would depend on what Detroit, Green Bay, and Arizona did. For instance, if Detroit lost, Dallas and Seattle would both be in (Dallas as a wild-card because they lose the division tie break to Philly and Seattle as a wild-card if Arizona won or as a division winner if Arizona lost). But if Detroit, Arizona, and Green Bay all win then it's still Detroit and Seattle as the wild-cards.

But if Detroit and Arizona won and Green Bay lost, Detroit would win the division and Green Bay and Dallas would be the wild-cards. Seattle would be left out because they would lose the three-way tie-break based on having been beaten by both Green Bay and Dallas. If Arizona instead lost, Seattle would be the division winner and Green Bay and Arizona would be the wild-cards I think. Dallas would be out.

But, of course, none of that really matters as there will still be plenty of games left in the season.
 
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DoWhat

DoWhat

Deplorable
PREMO Member
Tilted said:
It would depend on what Detroit, Green Bay, and Arizona did. For instance, if Detroit lost, Dallas and Seattle would both be in (Dallas as a wild-card because they lose the division tie break to Philly and Seattle as a wild-card if Arizona won or as a division winner if Arizona lost). But if Detroit, Arizona, and Green Bay all win then it's still Detroit and Seattle as the wild-cards.

But if Detroit and Arizona won and Green Bay lost, Detroit would win the division and Green Bay and Dallas would be the wild-cards. Seattle would be left out because they would lose the three-way tie-break based on having been beaten by both Green Bay and Dallas. If Arizona instead lost, Seattle would be the division winner and Green Bay and Arizona would be the wild-cards I think. Dallas would be out.

But, of course, none of that really matters as there will still be plenty of games left in the season.
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:crazy:
 
Rommey

Rommey

Well-Known Member
Tilted said:
This is one of those situations, which happen from time to time, where the nuance of the NFL's tie-breaking rules would kinda screw one team or another - in this case, Dallas.

Head-to-head record is the first tie breaker for a wild-card spot (as well as for a division title) only when the tie is between just two teams. If there are three or more teams tied, the first thing you do is eliminate all but the top team from each division (using the divisional tie-breaking rules). Then, if there are still more than two teams tied, head-to-head record is used - but only if one of the teams has a sweep, e.g. has beaten each of the other teams that they are tied with. If that's not the situation, you move on to conference record. Then you move on to record with common opponents.

So, in this case, there are three teams tied for the first wild-card spot - Dallas, Seattle, and Detroit. They're all from different divisions, and there's no head-to-head sweep, so conference record is used. That kicks Dallas out of the tie, leaving just Seattle and Detroit still tied. So they revert to the rules for a tie between two teams. That's head-to-head, then conference record, then common opponents record. I'm assuming Seattle wins on that third criteria.

That leaves Detroit and Dallas tied for the second wild-card spot. There's no head-to-head there so Detroit wins on conference record. The wild-card teams are Seattle and Detroit.
Click to expand...
Cliff Notes version...
Seattle: Wins tie break over Detroit based on best win percentage in common games. Wins tie break over Dallas based on best win percentage in conference games.
Detroit: Wins tie break over Dallas based on best win percentage in conference games.

:neener:
 
Rommey

Rommey

Well-Known Member
Of course, the bigger issue is how 5-7 Atlanta would get in and 8-4 Dallas would not...
 
b23hqb

b23hqb

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
Tilted said:
This is one of those situations, which happen from time to time, where the nuance of the NFL's tie-breaking rules would kinda screw one team or another - in this case, Dallas.

Head-to-head record is the first tie breaker for a wild-card spot (as well as for a division title) only when the tie is between just two teams. If there are three or more teams tied, the first thing you do is eliminate all but the top team from each division (using the divisional tie-breaking rules). Then, if there are still more than two teams tied, head-to-head record is used - but only if one of the teams has a sweep, e.g. has beaten each of the other teams that they are tied with. If that's not the situation, you move on to conference record. Then you move on to record with common opponents.

So, in this case, there are three teams tied for the first wild-card spot - Dallas, Seattle, and Detroit. They're all from different divisions, and there's no head-to-head sweep, so conference record is used. That kicks Dallas out of the tie, leaving just Seattle and Detroit still tied. So they revert to the rules for a tie between two teams. That's head-to-head, then conference record, then common opponents record. I'm assuming Seattle wins on that third criteria.

That leaves Detroit and Dallas tied for the second wild-card spot. There's no head-to-head there so Detroit wins on conference record. The wild-card teams are Seattle and Detroit.
Click to expand...

Come on, now - it just can't be that simple.:eyebrow:
 
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