BC, I see you totally avoided answering my point.
Do you understand the fundamental difference between the NBA [and MLB] and football. There are so few games in the NFL that the regular season record DOES NOT provide a reliable statistical measure.
When I say this I am not stating an opinion. While I can't do the math stats majors can, you can calculate the accuracy based on number of events. There are not enough events to make this accurate with the NFL unlike other sports. This is a fact not an opinion.
What part of this math don't you understand ?
The only reason this came up this year is the pathetic, usually bottom feeding Cardinals are winning. Therefore we must change the system to get bit money/markets teams to feature more prominabtly.
Reliable statistical measure of what?
Winning percentage does not involve statistical probability whatsoever. The sample is the entire population.
You win more games, you should get to host a playoff game. It doesn't mean that you will win. It doesn't mean that you are a better team. It means that you have earned the right to host a playoff game, by a measurement that is far less arbitrary than winning a division.
BTW, this mess is all the result of NFL realignment in 2002. Under the old alignment, the Cardinals would have finished 4th in the NFC East, and this would have been this year's playoff seeding in the NFC:
1. x-Giants 12-4
2. x-Panthers 12-4
3. x-Vikings 10-6
4. Falcons 11-5
5. Eagles 9-6-1
6. Bucs 9-7
This seeding isn't actually that bad, though I would have rather seen the Cardinals at the 6th seed than the slumping Bucs. The only screwed up thing about this seeding is that the Vikings, at 10-6, would be seeded higher than the 11-5 Falcons. But the Falcons would have hosted a playoff game anyway. In fact, the only place where record would have become a problem would have been if the Falcons and Vikings had met in the NFCCG.
In the AFC, it would have been:
1. x-Titans 13-3
2. x-Colts 12-4
3. x-Chargers 8-8
4. Steelers 12-4
5. Ravens 11-5
6. Dolphins 11-5
Same six teams. Here, the Dolphins would have had to play at the Chargers, which is still messed up. The Ravens would have played at the Steelers. The Colts, winners of the AFC East, would have had a bye week.