Tuesday Gridiron: The 2010 Victory Weighted Playoffs

In every year I've tracked it, Victory Weighting produces a playoff field that's different from the one that actually plays in the wild-card round.  This year, though, the results are almost a match.  The four byes are the same, and so are seven of the remaining eight playoff qualifiers.  Victory Weighting produced only two deviations:

1. Pittsburgh, not Baltimore, would travel to New England.
2. The Cowboys and Eagles would still meet, but in Philadelphia instead of Dallas.
   

Here's the final Victory Weighted playoff field:
Byes

Indianapolis (Strength 56, 14-2), AFC South champion
New Orleans (52, 13-3), NFC South champion
San Diego (52, 13-3), AFC West champion
Minnesota (49, 12-4), NFC North champion

Other division champions

Philadelphia (44, 11-5), NFC East champion
New England (41, 10-6), AFC East champion
Arizona (40, 10-6), NFC West champion
Cincinnati (Strength 39, 10-6), AFC North champion

Wild cards

Green Bay (Strength 44, 11-5):  opens at Arizona
Dallas (43, 11-5):  opens at Philadelphia
New York Jets (37, 9-7):  open at Cincinnati
Pittsburgh (37, 9-7):  opens at New England

One interesting thing Victory Weighting would have done is to resolve that tangled AFC wild card picture much more quickly.  When the Houston Texans defeated New England, they locked Baltimore, Denver and Miami out of the playoffs.  None of those three teams had completed play, but once the Texans won in regulation, none could hope to match Houston's 36 Strength, either.  The Steelers' regulation win a few minutes later would then leave Houston and the Jets to contend for the last AFC playoff spot.

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