PFT: Week 16 playoff scenarios - Cowboys can clinch

[UncleMilti]

It shouldn't. The stars are aligning for the Colts.

Dallas needs its running game more than ever, but DeMarco Murray, Zach Martin, and Doug Free are all hurt. This is reminding me of the way 2007 finished with TO and Andre Gurode going down.

AT&T Stadium has perfect passing conditions and gives Dallas a home field disadvantage.

Dallas can't cover receivers and can't rush the passer. TY Hilton is uncoverable and Andrew Luck has only been slowed by strong, consistent pass rushes.

Yes there's this story about how Hilton might be out with a hammy. Complete bullshit.

Logically Indy should rest Hilton away at an NFC opponent with the AFC South clinched, but these are the Dallas Cowboys and on CBS' national game there couldn't be a stronger showcase for Luck and the Colts in general.

I'm not so sure about that.

Dallas and Indy are almost statistically tied defensively. Indy has more sacks, but is -4 in the TO dept. Dallas is plus 2.

Indy is not going to beat anyone running the ball....Dallas should be able to play the pass almost exclusively while letting their DL go after Luck and feel confident in that approach. There's not a McCoy or similar to worry about.

Indy struggles to covert 3rd downs. Dallas is 4th best in the NFL.


I think Dallas has a great chance to win this game.

 

[ravidubey]

I think Dallas has a great chance to win this game.

I'd normally agree for all the reasons you mentioned, but I really don't like the right side of the OL and Murray all getting hurt at once. This game needs patience from the coaches and serious efficiency from Romo.

Indy is never out of it against our defense, and I don't see how we stop TY Hilton, so Dallas needs to stop everyone else. This is a dream matchup for Luck-- can't emphasize that enough. So we stop the run... does it matter if he can pass at will for almost any distance?

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Yea, I agree with both points.

It sucks that a shitty team with a losing record will make it in this year, but if you take automatic bids away from division winners, then you have to create a new system to get that final participant in and then it can get tricky.

The system is fine the way it is and these instances don't occur very often. Now, as Carp pointed out, a division winner shouldn't just be guaranteed a home game if they are as bad as the NFC South winner is going to be.

It was only 4 years ago that a 7-9 team won their division and made the playoffs. This isn't once in a lifetime event, this is something that has happened too much in recent history. It's something that will continue to happen under the current division set up where there are only 4 teams in a division. Teams only play 6 division games which means even if they win their division there is a good likelihood they could get their ass kicked by everyone else in those other 10 games.

 

[VA Cowboy]

Indy is not going to beat anyone running the ball....Dallas should be able to play the pass almost exclusively

That's what I'm afraid of.

 

[townsend]

We have a good chance as long as Romo plays well. All 4 of our losses were due to Romo's bad back.

 

[Texas Ace]

It was only 4 years ago that a 7-9 team won their division and made the playoffs. This isn't once in a lifetime event, this is something that has happened too much in recent history. It's something that will continue to happen under the current division set up where there are only 4 teams in a division. Teams only play 6 division games which means even if they win their division there is a good likelihood they could get their ass kicked by everyone else in those other 10 games.

You mean the Seahawks who went on and won their home playoff game?

How many other teams with losing records have won the division? Go do your research and you'll find it's been very few, and certainly nowhere near enough to start changing the playoff format over.

 

[Texas Ace]

Httr!

~Inserts smiley of Redskins player dropping to one knee and pointing to the sky~

 

[Cowboysrock55]

You mean the Seahawks who went on and won their home playoff game?

How many other teams with losing records have won the division? Go do your research and you'll find it's been very few, and certainly nowhere near enough to start changing the playoff format over.

They won their home playoff game which goes even further to show what bullshit the system is. If the Seahawks played on the road they would have been beaten. Yet a good team had to play on the road in one of the toughest environments because Seattle's division blew.

You act as though we have had the current playoff format for forever. We haven't. This format came into place when the NFL changed from 6 divisions to 8. When they made that change they weekend the work it takes to actually win a division and made it far more likely a scenario like this would occur. The realignment happened in 2002. Which means over the course of 12 years we have now had 2 losing teams make the playoffs and win a division. Yes, I'd say once every 6 years is way too often.

 

[Texas Ace]

They won their home playoff game which goes even further to show what bullshit the system is. If the Seahawks played on the road they would have been beaten. Yet a good team had to play on the road in one of the toughest environments because Seattle's division blew.

You act as though we have had the current playoff format for forever. We haven't. This format came into place when the NFL changed from 6 divisions to 8. When they made that change they weekend the work it takes to actually win a division and made it far more likely a scenario like this would occur. The realignment happened in 2002. Which means over the course of 12 years we have now had 2 losing teams make the playoffs and win a division. Yes, I'd say once every 6 years is way too often.

Even before the realignment, division winners were guaranteed a playoff spot and that should remain the same.

I don't know what you're griping about.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Even before the realignment, division winners were guaranteed a playoff spot and that should remain the same.

I don't know what you're griping about.

Before realignment you had 5 teams in a division. That meant that it was very unlikely that a division would have 5 teams with a losing record. Especially since 8 of their games were against division opponents. After realignment the number of teams in a division dropped to 4 teams in a division. Meaning teams played less division games and there was a significant increase in likelihood that a division would have 4 teams with losing records. My point is the playoff format changed at that point. When you change the number of division winners and automatic entrances into the playoffs you are changing the format.

So when you say something like "well it's so rare that a losing team makes the playoff" my point is that it is an incorrect statement. Under the current format we are seeing a team with a losing record in the playoffs about once every 6 years. I'm saying that when they changed the playoff format in 2002 through realignment they needed to make further tweaks to the system.

 

[Texas Ace]

Before realignment you had 5 teams in a division. That meant that it was very unlikely that a division would have 5 teams with a losing record. Especially since 8 of their games were against division opponents. After realignment the number of teams in a division dropped to 4 teams in a division. Meaning teams played less division games and there was a significant increase in likelihood that a division would have 4 teams with losing records. My point is the playoff format changed at that point. When you change the number of division winners and automatic entrances into the playoffs you are changing the format.

So when you say something like "well it's so rare that a losing team makes the playoff" my point is that it is an incorrect statement. Under the current format we are seeing a team with a losing record in the playoffs about once every 6 years. I'm saying that when they changed the playoff format in 2002 through realignment they needed to make further tweaks to the system.

Twice in 12 years isn't that bad, and asking the league to not grant a division winner a playoff spot just because of two instances is being extreme.

This reminds me of when the Packers won the SB in 96, and the pundits were talking about possibly changing the playoff seedings and format when the NFC won 13 straight Super Bowls because better teams in the NFC were being left out, and the playoff field wasn't fair to the AFC, etc.

Good thing the NFL didn't do anything over those overreactions because after that season, the AFC proceeded to win 8 of the next 10 Super Bowls.

The system is fine how it is. All that I think needs to be done is changing what seeding that division winner gets if by chance they are under .500, but I still think a division winner should be given an auto berth to the playoffs.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

The system is fine how it is. All that I think needs to be done is changing what seeding that division winner gets if by chance they are under .500, but I still think a division winner should be given an auto berth to the playoffs.

If you like teams with losing records in the playoffs you should have said so. I'm saying once every 6 years or so is embarrassing to the league. The obvious cause is that divisions are too small. I'm not a fan of a 4 team division format if you're going to grant every division winner a playoff spot. It's one thing for an 11-5 team to be sitting at home during the playoffs. I can chalk that up to a tough break.

Having a 6-10 or 7-9 team in the playoffs is embarrassing and basically makes the regular season a WGAS process.

 

[boozeman]

@ anyone who wants a re-do of the playoff system.

Just

It's only a deal because oh noes, the Cowboys are screwed.

Well, you know what, beat the Redskins and this shit is a moot point at this stage, fagmos.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

@ anyone who wants a re-do of the playoff system.

Just

It's only a deal because oh noes, the Cowboys are screwed.

Well, you know what, beat the Redskins and this shit is a moot point at this stage, fagmos.

Yeah screw any NFL team that can't at least go 12-4, they are all fags.

 

[VA Cowboy]

The Saints are 6-8 and have the Falcons and Bucs left, so should finish 7-9 or 8-8. This year is obviously a rarity, but not sure why anyone thinks that even if the Saints had gone 9-7 or 10-6 it would have been at the expense of the other winning teams.

The Saints lost to the Falcons, Browns, 49ers, Bengals, Panthers this year. If they had won a few of those they could've gone 9-7 to 11-5 and we still would've had the same situation we have now, with a possible 11-5 team missing the playoffs. It does suck that the Cowboys could tie the 2nd best record we've had in the last 15 years and still be sitting at home at the end of the regular season. But changing the format based on a couple of anomalies is ridiculous. And adding more teams to the playoffs would just guarantee more years with teams with losing records getting in.

I'm sure if they did disqualify any division winner who didn't finish at .500 or better people here would have a fit if the Cowboys ever won their division with a 7-9 record and missed out.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

I'm sure if they did disqualify any division winner who didn't finish at .500 or better people here would have a fit if the Cowboys ever won their division with a 7-9 record and missed out.

Yeah right, if this team made the playoffs at 9-7 half the people on this board would be bitching that Dallas doesn't deserve to make the playoffs. Hell there are already people bitching that if we can't win our division and go 12-4 we don't deserve it. If they were 7-9 doing so? I'm guessing most this board would be saying WGAS about the playoffs our teams blows.

 

[townsend]

I'm for changing when it comes to 7-9 teams, they should have their championship revoked and have the best wildcard go as a proxy. I believed that in 2010 when the Seahawks did it. You earn your spot in the tournament. That's why the best records get the bye week. Failing to be a winning team should mean you aren't playoff eligible.

 

[VA Cowboy]

Yeah right, if this team made the playoffs at 9-7 half the people on this board would be bitching that Dallas doesn't deserve to make the playoffs. Hell there are already people bitching that if we can't win our division and go 12-4 we don't deserve it. If they were 7-9 doing so? I'm guessing most this board would be saying WGAS about the playoffs our teams blows.

Many here didn't think we were good enough to make noise in the playoffs the last few years but most would've gladly taken a spot if we had gotten in at 9-7, 8-8 or 7-9. To think if we won the division at 8-8 or 7-9 and the rules kept us out there'd be no complaining by fans is pure fantasy.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Many here didn't think we were good enough to make noise in the playoffs the last few years but most would've gladly taken a spot if we had gotten in at 9-7, 8-8 or 7-9. To think if we won the division at 8-8 or 7-9 and the rules kept us out there'd be no complaining by fans is pure fantasy.

The Cowboys could finish 15-1 and someone would find a reason to complain. It's what Cowboys fans do. So yeah, any scenario you can come up with I can find a Cowboys fan who would bitch.

I don't think it would be the uproar you're making it out to be. It's not like the rules will be changed midseason. It's something that fans would know and understand coming into a season. I don't think many would bitch if their team finished 7-9 and not made the playoffs.

 

[VA Cowboy]

I would see no reason to have divisions in that case. Let's just have two 16 team conferences with the top 6 going to the playoffs. I'm sure they could come up with some other scheduling.