NFL Betting: Who rules playoff country?

[Betfair]

Romilly Evans takes an irreverent look at an unlikely postseason picture in the NFL and explains an important rule change.

Wildcard Weekend has already lived up to its name, even before the first game of the playoffs begins. And while the season so far has yielded many surprising results, this weekend's line-up is causing much consternation.

The perceived problem, nay - injustice, resides in the NFL's post-season seeding system, which has recently begun to load up like an antiquated Commodore 64 with a propensity for syntax errors. And this year the not-so-super computer has lowered its own bar. The result? A crazy, mixed-up slate of ties, in which no team has been afforded a potentially pivotal home draw.

In fairness, The Eagles and the Packers were deadlocked on 10-6 records, so the old girl had little option other than to award home field advantage to Philly. But look at the remaining three games: the 10-6 Colts entertain the 12-4 Ravens; the 10-6 Chiefs host the 11-5 Jets; and lastly, truly taking the piece de resistance, the 12-4 Saints must journey to the 7-9 Seahawks. Some are chalking this topsy-turvy feel up to an unpredictable year, others unfair methodology.

The issue, of course, rests in the League's decision to automatically give a home playoff berth to every divisional winner (of greatly varying strengths), a rule which doesn't stand up to scrutiny. However, if you factor in the vagaries of a pretty random scheduling process (by which a team's Superbowl prospects often rise and fall) and the looming prospect of an 18-game season, it's an anachronistic rule which is unlikely to be changed anytime soon.

So rather than moan about it, perhaps we should instead embrace the fact that Wildcard Weekend (often better known as Walkover Weekend) has thrown up some more engaging encounters than one might usually expect. Handicap punters will doubtless concur, as the Vegas lines are all the tighter for these reversals of homefield fortune.
New Orleans at Seattle is the only match-up where the sides are divided by more than a field goal. Betfair customers, as ever, have the chance to choose from a welcome variety of handicap lines on each of the four games, which kick off with the Seattle game on Saturday night.

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NFL Betting: Who rules playoff country? : Football : Betfair.net