All year the NFC East has been historically bad, and while New York, Washington and, suddenly, Dallas have all had win streaks, we're guaranteed to get history come midnight next Sunday. With WFT and Dallas both 6-9, we're guaranteed to have a sub-.500 team make the playoffs for just the fifth time in modern NFL history.
Here are the full scenarios:
- Washington wins the NFC East with a win over Philadelphia.
- Dallas wins the NFC East with a win over New York and a Washington loss.
- New York wins the NFC East with a win over Dallas and a Washington loss.
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So not only will a team below .500 get in, but there's a chance a team that's a full four games below will host a playoff game. Looking at the history one of those three teams will join... do any stand a chance in a playoff game, likely against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers?
1982 - Cleveland: Because of the lockout-shortened season in which nine games were played, the playoffs were expanded to 16 teams, meaning we had not one, but two sub-.500 teams in the postseason. Cleveland went just 4-5 and faced the Los Angeles Raiders in the opening round. Outgained 510-284, the Browns tied the game at 10 late in the first half before L.A. scored the final 17 points and pitched a second half shutout in a 27-10 victory.
1982 - Detroit: Like the Browns, the Lions were 4-5 in the regular season, earning themselves a playoff game against Washington. Their first playoff appearance in 12 years... it was never close. Detroit was down 24-0 at halftime, committed five turnovers and got blown out 31-7 to the eventual Super Bowl champions.
2010 - Seattle: A 35-year-old Matt Hasselbeck threw 12 touchdowns to 17 interceptions and the defense was 25th in points allowed, but a Week 17 win over the Rams gave the Seahawks the NFC West crown despite a 7-9 record. Hosting the 11-5 Saints, the game lives in NFL lore as Marshawn Lynch evolved into Beast Mode against New Orleans, giving us the "Beast Quake" in a 41-36 stunner.
Luck, however, would run out the next week against Chicago, where the Bears jumped out to a 28-0 lead before garbage time touchdowns made the final score a more respectable 35-24.
2014 - Carolina: Despite starting the year 3-8-1, the Panthers ripped off four straight wins to close the regular season, capped by a 34-3 demolition of Atlanta in Week 17 to clinch the NFC South. The reward was a home game in the Wild Card Round against an injured Arizona team down to its third-string quarterback in Ryan Lindley. The Panthers set an NFL playoff record by holding the beaten down Cards to 78 yards of total offense in a 27-16 victory. An uptick in competition saw Carolina's season end the next week in Seattle, where the NFC champion Seahawks pulled away 31-17.