In the NFL, what is the worst record a team can have and still make the playoffs?

mccarp

In theory, a team could go 3-13 and win its division. That means each of the four teams in its division would split the division games but lose all 10 of their other games. Each of the 4 teams would go 3-13 and there would be a winner based on the tiebreakers. I guess a team could actually go winless, 0-10-6, but the winning percentage is the same since a tie is half-win/half-loss. By the way, the 2010 Seattle Seahawks are the worst team to make the playoffs. They even won, mostly due to the fact that they had home field advantage due to winning their division. Dec 25 11, 1:46 AM

AyatollahK

mccarp is right that the theoretical worst record for a playoff team is 3-13, where all the teams in a division are so bad that they lose all their games except for splitting with each other. Note that, according to one analyist, the 2010 NFC West, which the Seattle Seahawks won with a 7-9 record, contained 4 of the 6 worst teams in football, and the division champion and oner other team still reached 7-9. http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/the-2010-seattle-seahawks-worst-playoff-team-ever/ That implies that it's going to be very difficult in actuality, if not in theory, to get worse than 7-9 and make the playoffs. Dec 25 11, 11:11 PM

star_gazer

The Eagles had a chance to win their division this season with an 8-8 record. Dec 27 11, 9:00 PM