Comments on: Bears Can Still Get NFC’s #1 Seed

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 18:10:07 +0000

And if it was a 3-way tie with the Bears, Falcons and Eagles then the Bears get the #2 seed no matter what. (even if the Saints also won). The Falcons are in the drivers seat for SOV over the Bears(guaranteed)a nd Eagles. The best the Eagles can do is tie the Falcons in SOV. Then the Bears would be eliminated and the Eagles get #1 based on H2H.

So I know this is a bears site but you’ll find this interesting. In the case of the Bears win, the Eagles can only get the #1 this way:
-Eagles win out
-Falcons loss
-Saints loss
For SOV to be tied also need
-SF win
-NYG win
-IND win
-PIT win

By: Boomer

Boomer — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:49:27 +0000

Thanks for chiming in guys. You are correct, since the Bears didn’t play the Falcons, it would go to the Three Team Tiebreaker, as listed from NFL Tiebreaker Procedure: http://www.nfl.com/standings/tiebreakingprocedures

Three or More Clubs

(Note: If two clubs remain tied after third or other clubs are eliminated, tie breaker reverts to step 1 of applicable two-club format.)

1. Apply division tie breaker to eliminate all but the highest ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to step 2. The original seeding within a division upon application of the division tie breaker remains the same for all subsequent applications of the procedure that are necessary to identify the two Wild-Card participants.
2. Head-to-head sweep. (Applicable only if one club has defeated each of the others or if one club has lost to each of the others.)
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.
4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.
5. Strength of victory.
6. Strength of schedule.
7. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.
8. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.
9. Best net points in conference games.
10. Best net points in all games.
11. Best net touchdowns in all games.
12. Coin toss

I think we lose on the Strength of Victory category. Just another thing to watch over the next couple of weeks. Most importantly, Bears have to take care of their business.

BEAR DOWN!!!

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:02:16 +0000

Actually Doshi is correct. There would be a 3-way tie and since the bears and falcons have not played, you can’t use head to head as a tie-breaker

By: DeCon

DeCon — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 04:30:12 +0000

actually Doshi…the first tie breaker would be head to head and the Bears beat Philly, so Philly doesn’t have to lose for the Bears to get the # 1 seed, although a lot of other things have to happen as Boomer described. I think #1 is unlikely, #2 is possible, but we can finish no worse than #3, so I think it will all work out just fine.

By: Doshi

Doshi — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:32:57 +0000

There’s one other thing that has to happen.

Philly has to lose one game.

I ran an ESPN simulator, and it said that, if the Bears, Falcons, and Eagles all wind up with 12 wins, then the Eagles would get the #1 seed. They’d get the SOV tiebreaker over both Chicago and Atlanta. I know, it’s convoluted, but play out the next two weeks, and you’ll see this one to be true…

http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/machine