The New York Giants (2-10) currently find themselves in the basement of a once proud and dominant division turned league laughingstock.
Currently, the Dallas Cowboys lead the way at 6-7 and it remains a possibility that all teams in the division finish sub-.500 on the season with an outside shot that no one finishes with a better record than 6-10.
That means the NFC East leader would potentially host a playoff game against a team with double-digit wins, leading some to question the validity of the current playoff structure and whether or not it should be altered.
Those concerns, which primarily stem from fans and members of the media, have apparently been discussed in league meetings, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that NFL decision-makers are not giving any serious consideration to making a change.
With the NFC East winner poised to have a .500-or-worse record and with NFC wild-card teams expected to have double-digit victories, there have been increasing public calls for the playoffs to be reseeded.
But those calls are mostly from fans and the media; they have not happened within the NFL.
A source with knowledge of the NFL’s thinking said the idea of reseeding teams has come up but “has gotten zero steam. It’s never been a consideration
2019 would not be the first time a sub-.500 team went to the playoffs and hosted a game. In fact, it has happened as recently as 2014 when the Carolina Panthers, run by current Giants general manager Dave Gettleman, won their division with a 7-8-1 record and ended up hosting the 11-5 Arizona Cardinals in the wildcard game — a game the Panthers won.
Prior to that, the 2010 Seattle Seahawks won their division with a 7-9 record and then hosted the New Orleans Saints in the wildcard round. Like the Panthers before them, the Seahawks also won their home game.
During the 1982 NFL strike, both the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns made the playoffs with losing records (4-5), but that likely doesn’t factor into the current argument.
Either way, the issue is minor and the NFL has taken the correct approach in ignoring the calls for realignment. Every team has the same goal when they enter the season: win your division. Regardless of the record, divisional winners deserve to host a playoff game and, at least for now, that is how things will remain.
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