<![CDATA[Ready for a sub-.500 playoff team?]]>When I was falling in love with football in the mid-'70s, my beloved Patriots played in the AFC East. There were 28 teams and six divisions by 1976, which meant one division in each league had just four teams instead of five. Teams earned a playoff spot by winning their division or grabbing the one wild-card slot, which eliminated the '77 Pats: they finished 9-5, one game behind division rivals Miami and Baltimore. Meanwhile, the AFC Central shook out like this:

Pittsburgh, 9-5

Cincinnati, 8-6

Houston, 8-6

Cleveland, 6-8

I remember bristling at the standings. Wait a second. We finished 9-5 and the Steelers finished 9-5. We were in a more difficult division with more teams. But THEY made the playoffs??? This would have been my most traumatic moment of 1977 if Farrah Fawcett-Majors hadn't left "Charlie's Angels." I haven't trusted the NFL's divisional setup since.

Granted, I probably would have loved it had the Patriots not been stuck in the AFC East. The Dolphins kicked our butts through the '70s (the Griese/Shula Era) and '80s (when Dan Marino showed up), which was especially galling because Miami is located in Florida ... which, of course, is nowhere near Massachusetts. Buffalo eventually assumed control of the division, ripping off 124 wins from 1988 to 1999 -- let's take a break while the tortured Bills fans solemnly pour a 40 on the ground -- and just as they were fading, Peyton Manning's Colts jelled into a contender. My Pats finally caught a break before the 2002 season, when the league expanded and realigned to eight divisions (sending Indy to the AFC South). The playing field finally seemed fair: 32 teams, four teams per division. What could go wrong?

Fast-forward to 2010: Have you checked out the NFC West lately?

I know, it isn't exactly stunning when the NFC West Albatross drags down another NFL season. Since 2002, that division has been like Lt. Stephanie Holden on "Baywatch" -- unable to measure up to everyone else no matter how hard the producers kept pushing it (see sidebar). But this season is particularly rancid even by NFC West standards. By my calculations, San Francisco (I have them ranked 23rd), Seattle (25th), Arizona (27th) and St. Louis (30th) are four of the league's worst 10 teams. So far, their only victories have come against one another. A closer look:

Source...Full article Here

]]>https://brownsboard.com/topic/16002/ready-for-a-sub-.500-playoff-teamRSS for NodeThu, 01 Oct 2026 06:27:55 GMTMon, 27 Sep 2010 18:52:49 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Ready for a sub-.500 playoff team? on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:33:17 GMT]]>

@bunsofsteel08 said:

Losses to the Brown Jets and Bills Hurt The Pats that Year All had Losing records. NE Blew a Chance to have a great Year.

Those were the days, I like the current breakdown of conferences. we have seen good teams in the past not even get a shot at the playoffs. To many would've could've senarios in the past.

check out this graph. Ihad to copy and paste it and sent it to photobucket to get an image code.

Records since 2002

2002records.jpg

The NFC North doesn't look much better than the West

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/196983https://brownsboard.com/post/196983Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:33:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ready for a sub-.500 playoff team? on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:42:45 GMT]]>

@mr.-t said:

Source...Full article Here

Losses to the Brown Jets and Bills Hurt The Pats that Year All had Losing records. NE Blew a Chance to have a great Year.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/196979https://brownsboard.com/post/196979Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:42:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ready for a sub-.500 playoff team? on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:56:25 GMT]]>

@shoot said:

No... they need to stay with us in the North. I'm all about the rivalries, and the AFC North has probably the best rivalries of any division except MAYBE the NFC East. Literally every team hates every other team in the division, it's awesome and it's what makes the division great. What rivalry do any of the North teams really have with Buffalo?

I just hate playing those Ratbirds twice a year....it's a constant reminder of Modell & the NFL's back-stabbing of Cleveland.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/196975https://brownsboard.com/post/196975Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:56:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ready for a sub-.500 playoff team? on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:15:46 GMT]]>Actually i like the AFCN just how it is, 10 years of hell has to eventually be paid back to the stoolers, the ratbirds and the bungals...it has to happen sometime in my grandchildens childrens lifetime...whats funny is they likely wont even be browns fans when it does....Muhahahahahahaha!

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/196969https://brownsboard.com/post/196969Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:15:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ready for a sub-.500 playoff team? on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:01:07 GMT]]>

@shoot said:

No... they need to stay with us in the North. I'm all about the rivalries, and the AFC North has probably the best rivalries of any division except MAYBE the NFC East. Literally every team hates every other team in the division, it's awesome and it's what makes the division great. What rivalry do any of the North teams really have with Buffalo?

We should have been grouped with Indy at the time of reallignment. Imagine Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Indy and Cincy in one division. All teams less than a 4 hour drive apart. That would have been a great division.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/196968https://brownsboard.com/post/196968Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:01:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ready for a sub-.500 playoff team? on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 22:22:23 GMT]]>

@bob806 said:

If there is realignment, let's get the Ratbirds where they belong..in the AFC East, and we could get Buffalo.

No... they need to stay with us in the North. I'm all about the rivalries, and the AFC North has probably the best rivalries of any division except MAYBE the NFC East. Literally every team hates every other team in the division, it's awesome and it's what makes the division great. What rivalry do any of the North teams really have with Buffalo?

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/196957https://brownsboard.com/post/196957Mon, 27 Sep 2010 22:22:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ready for a sub-.500 playoff team? on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 22:16:24 GMT]]>I wouldn't realign based on one division's struggles. The old "black & blue" division (NFC Central) had it's struggles in the 80s, and Chris Berman dubbed it the NFC Norris division.

Right now, the NFC West is indeed down. I like the way the scheduling is handled in the NFL- we (AFC North) would be due to play the NFC West next year. Once in a while, a down cycle hits a division...they still have to play 6 games vs. eachother, so whoever wins it will probably earn the title, even if it is 8-8 or worse. Look at Cincy last year, they went 6-0 vs AFC North, and 4-6 against everybody else.

If there is realignment, let's get the Ratbirds where they belong..in the AFC East, and we could get Buffalo.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/196953https://brownsboard.com/post/196953Mon, 27 Sep 2010 22:16:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ready for a sub-.500 playoff team? on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:55:42 GMT]]>Remember 1985 when the Browns won the Central Division with just an 8-8 record. It looks like something similar could happen this year in NFC West. On the other hand, you could have some division where you have like 3 teams with an 11-5 record Where one of them stays home. The Pats were 11-5 a couple of years ago and didn't make the playoffs. (Hell, it could happen in the AFC North this year)

I am not a big believer in "Power Rankings" in the NFL because I believe that the standings represent the only power rankings anyone needs to be aware of, but, still, it wouldn't surprise me if NO NFC West team cracks the Top 16 or 20 in those rankings this week.

Fair to say?

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/196933https://brownsboard.com/post/196933Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:55:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Ready for a sub-.500 playoff team? on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 19:01:01 GMT]]>This was a week 3 preview, I believe they were talking mostly about how the NFC West has sucked so bad over the past decade.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/196898https://brownsboard.com/post/196898Mon, 27 Sep 2010 19:01:01 GMT