Whoever wins the NFC South will host a playoff game, which could eventually mean that the Rams go on the road to play the Bucs or the Panthers, and that is so frustrating. Winning a division should count for something, but it sometimes feels like mediocre football is being rewarded, as would be the case this year in the NFC South.
All teams should respect their opponents, especially in the playoffs, considering anything can happen, but the eventual NFC South winner is like that old “Sesame Street”
song, “One of These Things Is Not Like the Other.” No contending team should be afraid of who comes out on top from that trash heap. It appears that the team going to the South division winner will come out of the NFC West, meaning that either the Rams have to go on the road or that one of their rivals, like the Seahawks, gets a relatively easy first round “bye” of sorts.
Whoever earns the division crown will earn the distinction of winning one of the NFL’s worst divisions. Entering Week 15, the South had the third-worst record by division, behind the AFC North and NFC East.
Both the AFC North and NFC South are the lone divisions where every team has a negative point differential. At least give the Steelers credit as they’ve managed to keep their mediocrity within single digits. When it comes to the Panthers and Bucs, the sole contenders vying for the division title, holy bad football, Batman.
Carolina sits at 7-6, and has a -50 point differential. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, is 7-7 and has been outscored by only 27 points(!) The Panthers have lost five games by at least 10 points, compared to three for the Bucs. How in the hell they managed to beat the Rams still blows my mind. Oh wait, Matthew Stafford was the one to beat L.A. that day, my mistake.
The Rams could go 3-1 against the NFC South if they beat the Falcons in Week 17, but Atlanta got a victory over the former division-leading Bucs on Thursday.
The NFC South has mostly been mediocre since Sean McVay took over in 2017. Twice has the division sent multiple teams to the playoffs, with the peak coming in ‘17 when the Saints, Panthers and Falcons made the dance. Out of the 11 teams that have advanced to the playoffs from the South, just two have made an NFC Championship appearance. The 2020 Buccaneers easily carried the division’s weight in that span as they ended up winning that season’s Super Bowl.
The Los Angeles Rams took a hit to their first-rounder from the Falcons after their stunning comeback win over the Buccaneers Thursday night. Atlanta’s victory moved the Rams’ second first-round pick down a few spots in draft position. No matter, because L.A. will be fine in the long run, especially knowing that the NFC South will not be a threat come playoff time.
Do you think the NFL needs to make a change to the playoff format? Is it fair that every division winner gets to host a playoff game, even if the division is full of losers?
