Giants Fans Crying May Be the Most Pathetic Thing I’ve Ever Seen
I just don't agree that winning your division should trump record.
A reasonable opinion but one I disagree with at the present time.
See the thing about a wild card team is we already know you arent the best team in the NFL because you couldnt win your division.
Consider the 1963 Season (pre-Superbowl), there were two divisions 7 teams each. The Packers (under Lombardi) were posibly the 2nd best team in the NFL. They lost their division by a half game to the Bears.
Back then the schedule was setup to crown a division winner. The Packers played a14 game season with only 2 out of division games (they dominated the Cardinals and the Steelers). The only games they lost were to the Bears.
Today there is a bigger schedule (16-games) but it is still focused on crowning Division Champions as each divisional opponent is played twice and then one division is paired up against another, and then each division pairs up cross-conference against another division. This sustains rivalries and puts the division on a fairly even schedules within their division. The whole system is setup to crown Division Champions.
Personally I prefer it that way and I would sooner do away with the 6 wildcard teams altogether. But if it has to be watered down then add the 7th and 8th wildcard team and make it perfectly clear that they have to face the 8 Division winners.
If you add a 7th and 8th wildcard team it will become obvious that the wildcard teams are just wildcard teams as 7-9 wildcard teams get into the playoffs as well.