The 2023 Cleveland Browns have the second-best record in the AFC

Despite having the second-best record in the AFC, the Cleveland Browns (2023) will only be able to advance as high as the fifth seed in the conference due to the antiquated playoff system.

In 1967, the NFL began allowing division champions to advance to the playoffs.

The league had sixteen teams in those days, divided into two conferences of eight teams each, and four divisions of four teams each. One club was sent to the playoffs from each division, creating a field of four teams to compete for the NFL Championship. Consider the current College Football Playoff format: four teams qualify, and one wins.

The idea of division champions receiving the top seeds and hosting a playoff game made sense back then, and it continued to make sense even when the number of playoff teams increased to eight after the merger and eventually to ten. The concept is outdated and superfluous in 2023, when there are 14 teams in the entire field.

It’s time for the NFL to start reseeding clubs based on record once the playoffs begin, following the NBA’s lead and doing away with the divisions’ arbitrary boundaries. It’s long overdue for a league that still rewards geography over talent, which is especially absurd given Dallas’s NFC East membership, punishing strong clubs in the process just because they happen to play

It’s not just a Browns thing either. Across the bracket, the same situation is playing out with the currently 8-8, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They look to lock up the NFC South this weekend with a win and would also then be hosting a first-round matchup. Meanwhile, at 11-5 currently, the Eagles are likely to end up taking their show on the road during the playoffs as well.

There’s no reason the most popular sport in America shouldn’t already be on board with a more modern postseason format. This sport can rope 11-million people into watching useless Thursday Night Football matchups on a subscription based platform. They hardly need to worry about making sure each region of the nation ais represented come playoff time.

Here’s the other thing: it makes games more meaningful all the way through the end of the regular season, thus, making it less likely to see teams rest their players in Week 17 or 18 because there is still something to play for.

Take the Browns matchup with the Bengals this weekend. There is quite literally nothing that can be gained by either team – other than pride and a slightly better record I suppose – by winning the game. The Browns are the No. 5 seed in the conference no matter what happens, while the Bengals have been eliminated from contentio

But if winning this game meant, say, the difference between the Browns being the No. 2 seed or No. 3 seed and having a better shot at home field deeper into the playoffs or a more advantageous matchup in the opening round, they likely wouldn’t even be considering resting guys this weekend.

The time has come to make the league’s playoff format a meritocracy – as it should be.

Hopefully the subject is on the docket when the owners get together for their annual league meeting in March. Then again, there’s a lot of stubbornness among that group, so changing something that’s “been this way forever” seems, perhaps, easier said than done. Maybe one day the good old boys club will wise up.

The 2023 Cleveland Browns have the second-best record in the AFC

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Related News

You may have missed