Pulse

Not only is it possible that the New England Patriots could miss the playoffs at 11-5, but there’s the potential that two of the NFL’s eight division winners will be mediocre 8-8.

The Arizona Cardinals, who didn’t do much more than warm up the team bus on their way to getting waxed 47-7 on Sunday at New England, and the San Diego Chargers, if they beat Denver, will win their respective NFC and AFC West divisions with eight wins. No team has won a division at 8-8 since the Cleveland Browns captured the AFC Central in 1985.
Meanwhile, even if the Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills to reach 11 wins, they’ll miss the playoffs if the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens win. However, this is about more than the Patriots getting the short end of the stick.

“This is something we warned the owners that could happen when we switched to this format, so it’s not unexpected,” said Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, who is also the co-chairman of the NFL competition committee. “The feeling is that this is an aberration, not a sign of some trend … Now, if it were to happen again over the next two or three years, maybe it’s something we look at.”
Likewise, Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian said: “It’s definitely something we anticipated when we went with this eight-division format. This is not a surprise nor is it something we should over-react to … when we proposed this system, this is something the owners ultimately wanted and felt good about.”