The NFL’s bogus playoff seeding system penalizes the more deserving
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The 14-3 Vikings and 12-5 Commanders will open the playoffs on the road because the NFL insists on giving a home game to even the most middling of division winners. The injustice of the NFL’s playoff seeding system rears its ugly head once again. Now that we know how the 2024 NFL playoffs are seeded from top to bottom, it’s time once again to complain about the league’s ugly secret: Its system for awarding playoff position, and thus which teams will have postseason games at home or on the road, is seriously flawed.
![[Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) throws against the Detroit Lions under pressure during the first half of Sunday’s game.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d17165cfb51eaaf8c55821b16900be1c52439dec/0_0_3702_2467/master/3702.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The primary culprit is the league’s insistence that every division winner gets at least one home game. That would be somewhat equitable if every division winner was above average, but the process of elimination tells us a different story. Since 2010 alone, there have been three division winners with losing records: The 2010 Seattle Seahawks (NFC West, 7-9), the 2014 Carolina Panthers (NFC South, 7-8-1), and the 2020 Washington Football Team (NFC East, 7-9). All three of those teams got home playoff games against superior opponents from a record respective – all in the wild-card round. The Seahawks beat the 11-5 New Orleans Saints 41-36, the Panthers beat the 11-5 Arizona Cardinals, and the Football Team lost to the 11-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
![[Derrick Henry of the Baltimore Ravens rushed for 1,921 yards during the regular season.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/bd9d8212caf91d9f3e6c9a56356864e860fcaabe/0_0_2897_1933/master/2897.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
This season, the major issues are in the NFC once again. The 12-5 six-seed Washington Commanders will travel to play the 10-7 three-seed Buccaneers, because the Bucs won an NFC South with a .412 winning percentage (28-40 overall), and the Commanders finished second to the 14-3 Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC East with a .529 winning percentage (36-32).
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