It is often said that a team needs 10 wins to be a legitimate playoff team.  There have been several teams with sub .500 records that have made the playoffs, but what is the absolute worst possible regular season record in the current 16 game format that would allow a team to be playing this weekend?   Described the scenario and the most probable tiebreaker that would determine the team.

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Every team in the division loses every non-divisional game and the divisional games are all split between each team so the entire division goes 3-13. The division winner would be determined by tiebreaker and still get a home game.

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Good thought process but still could be a worse record.

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Good thought process but still could be a worse record.

Technically you could say 0-10-6 but a tie is essentially counted as a half win/half loss so 6 ties would yield the same percentage as 3 wins.

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I guess theoretically you could take Dragon’s scenario above, and just change it to instead of all teams splitting the division games, tying them.

So 3-13 one way, or 0-10-6 the other.

Not sure I see the point of this though, as it would obviously never happen.

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Ha...sorry, ya beat me to it.

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The worst that I have actually SEEN was 7-9, although, I can't seem to remember who nor when that was.

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What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.







 

The worst that I have actually SEEN was 7-9, although, I can't seem to remember who nor when that was.

Seattle for one.  Don't remember the year.

Edit:  2010...and they won their first round game.

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Both Seattle and Carolina got in with 7 wins.   It's not likely for a team with 0 wins or even 3 wins to ever make the playoffs,  but would you be comfortable with a 5 or 6 win team getting in over a team with 10 wins missing the playoffs.   Mathematically,  a team could miss the playoffs with 13 wins.   Unlikely?  Probably,  but two teams with 11 wins have missed the playoffs  (Denver and New England).  

So, should the owners re-think the playoff structure?  Should the best 6 records from each Conference go to the dance or should it be the top 12 records regardless of Conference?  Or, do you like the current structure?

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I absolutely would not change it.

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Only change I would make is if the wildcard team has a better record and a win over the division team, then they host the wildcard game.

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I would say 7-9. That’s the worst I have ever witnessed. I think I’ve seen a 7-8-1 recently too.

That’s would be the bare minimum realistically

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Both Seattle and Carolina got in with 7 wins.   It's not likely for a team with 0 wins or even 3 wins to ever make the playoffs,  but would you be comfortable with a 5 or 6 win team getting in over a team with 10 wins missing the playoffs.   Mathematically,  a team could miss the playoffs with 13 wins.   Unlikely?  Probably,  but two teams with 11 wins have missed the playoffs  (Denver and New England).  

So, should the owners re-think the playoff structure?  Should the best 6 records from each Conference go to the dance or should it be the top 12 records regardless of Conference?  Or, do you like the current structure?

I like the current structure.   Being that only 4 out of 16 regular season games for each team is against the other Conference,  at least for me,  having less playoff teams in one Conference compared to the other is something that wouldn't be in the best interest of the NFL. 

The current playoff system is excellent.  There are going to be seasons when teams with 10 or even an 11 win team won't make the playoffs.  Overall though,  the current system is great because it awards byes for 2 teams per conference,  and keeps the regular season meaningful unlike the NHL especially.   With 2 wildcards per conference,  it provides the opportunity for a team to still reach the playoffs if they won't win their division.   But it also gives division winners higher seeds,  which is the way I believe it should be.  Even though the Lions would have made the playoffs in the NFC if 7 teams reached the playoffs per Conference,  I'm glad the NFL hasn't expanded the playoffs beyond 6 per Conference,  and hope it never happens.

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The 2011 Giants won the Super Bowl after a 9-7 season, which just goes to prove.....................any given Sunday.

If you eliminate an automatic playoff berth for division winners, what's the point of having divisions?

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When you get into the endzone, act like you've been there before.