The NFL Playoffs: Year-To-Year Randomness Posing As Parity

January 8, 2010   ·   Joe O'Donnell   ·   Jump to comments

The NFL playoffs are upon us and, once again, fans have been served a bracket that differs significantly from the one that came one year before.
None of the other three major sports leagues experience the playoff-team turnover that the NFL does year to year. While many fans like the randomness because their team usually has reasonable playoff hopes each year, the inconsistency masks the real rises and falls of teams and makes for a worse long-term fan experience.
This 2010 postseason returns six 2009 playoff teams (Chargers, Colts, and Ravens in the AFC; Vikings, Cardinals, and Eagles in the NFC). That’s 50 percent. The Patriots, Bengals and Jets made it this year in the AFC after not qualifying last year while the Saints, Cowboys and Packers are the NFC’s fresh faces.
According to Mike Florio of NBC Sports’ ProFootballTalk.com, half is the norm . But after looking back over the last decade or so, I found that half is actually higher than average.
Since the 20...

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