Who got screwed most by 1970-1974 playoff rotation format?

[CSKreager]

In the first 5 years we had Wild Card playoff teams, divisional playoff matchups were determined not by team merit and record, but by yearly divisional rotation.

On one hand, this saw instances of legendary games happening that, believe it or not, would not have taken place with seeding. The Dolphins/Chiefs Christmas marathon of 1971? Wouldn't have happened (Under seeding, KC hosts the Colts that day instead). Ditto the Sea of Hands (Pittsburgh would have had to travel to the Orange Bowl).

OTOH, some teams with the 2nd best record in the conference got screwed over by having to go on the road (1972 Packers-Redskins and 1973 Dolphins-Bengals were 1-2 in the conference record wise, but had to play each other instead).

Who do you think got hosed the most under this format where great records were not rewarded justly?

[Bryan]

In the first 5 years we had Wild Card playoff teams, divisional playoff matchups were determined not by team merit and record, but by yearly divisional rotation.

On one hand, this saw instances of legendary games happening that, believe it or not, would not have taken place with seeding. The Dolphins/Chiefs Christmas marathon of 1971? Wouldn't have happened (Under seeding, KC hosts the Colts that day instead). Ditto the Sea of Hands (Pittsburgh would have had to travel to the Orange Bowl).

OTOH, some teams with the 2nd best record in the conference got screwed over by having to go on the road (1972 Packers-Redskins and 1973 Dolphins-Bengals were 1-2 in the conference record wise, but had to play each other instead).

Who do you think got hosed the most under this format where great records were not rewarded justly?

I think the Dolphins had the worst luck. I'd have to break it down, but it looks like they should have been the top seed in the AFC in 1971, yet had to go on the road...and play the #2 team in the Chiefs. 1972 they go undefeated and have to travel to Pittsburgh for the AFC Championship game. 1973 they have the top record in the AFC, yet the 9-4-1 Raiders get the WC team in the first round. 1974 they are the #2 team in the AFC, and in the first round they have to go on the road....and play the #1 team in the Raiders.

[Mark L. Ford]

Gotta agree with Bryan on Miami being cheated the worst -- it's unimaginable now that a team could go 14-0-0 and not have the home field advantage all the way through the playoffs, and the experience with Miami was probably the number one reason that they scrapped what seemed like a natural followup to the way things had been done since 1933.

Still, rotating (really, alternating) the league championship between east and west was one thing, but having the Super Bowl at a neutral site had been doing that for several years. Historically, the NFL never has done anything to kill two birds with one stone-- "Hmm, we hate tie games, let's make a tie worth 1/2 a win..." Two years later, "That didn't work, let's have sudden death overtime".

[7DnBrnc53]

The 1973 Rams didn't have it great, either. They had to go to Dallas for the first round after having a better record, and having two more wins than the Cowboys that season.

[SixtiesFan]

The 1973 Rams didn't have it great, either. They had to go to Dallas for the first round after having a better record, and having two more wins than the Cowboys that season.

Not to mention beating the Cowboys when they played during the regular season.

[Jay Z]

The Steelers had the best luck. They correctly hosted the Raiders in the first round in 1972, but then got to host the AFC Championship against undefeated Miami. Then in 1973, they are a wild card but get an easier draw (on the road in Oakland) than division winner Cincinnati. Again in 1974 they get an easy draw, hosting the wild card Bills while the #1 Raiders had to play the Dolphins. Finally, the NFL switched to seeding in 1975 just in time for the Steelers to get the #1 seed and take advantage.

[Bryan]

Kind of off-topic, but if the Dallas Cowboys had won Super Bowl X, would that have been the greatest postseason run in NFL history? Defeating arguably the best Bud Grant-era Vikings team in Minnesota, defeating arguably the best 70's Rams team in LA, then defeating the arguably the best 70's Steelers team in the Super Bowl?

[IvanNYC]

Gotta agree with Bryan on Miami being cheated the worst -- it's unimaginable now that a team could go 14-0-0 and not have the home field advantage all the way through the playoffs, and the experience with Miami was probably the number one reason that they scrapped what seemed like a natural followup to the way things had been done since 1933....

In 1970, the owners agreed on a three-year postseason site rotation through the 1972 playoffs. At the 1973 owners' meetings, a proposal came up which would have awarded home playoff games to teams with the best regular-season records but most owners voted against that plan so the undefeated '72 Dolphins having to play on the road in the playoffs actually had little effect. Instead, they voted unanimously to keep the very same rotating system they had in place from 1970-72 for three more years (through 1975). It was then two years into the second three-year cycle (after the '74 playoffs) that they decided to scrap the division playoff rotation and began seeding teams for the 1975 playoffs.

[CSKreager]

Miami, even thought they got screwed by the format, still did make 3 straight SB's.

I think the '72 Packers and '73 Bengals were robbed of at least a chance to play for their conference championships.