The six postseason participants from each conference will be seeded as follows:
1. The division champion with the best record.
2. The division
champion with the second-best record.
3. The division champion with
the third-best record.
4. The division champion with the fourth-best
record.
5. The Wild Card club with the best record.
6. The Wild
Card club with the second-best record.
The following procedures will be used to break standings ties for
postseason playoffs and to determine regular-season schedules.
NOTE:
Tie games count as one-half win and one-half loss for both clubs.
TO BREAK A TIE WITHIN A DIVISION
If, at the end of the regular
season, two or more clubs in the same division finish with identical
won-lost-tied percentages, the following steps will be taken until a
champion is determined.
Two Clubs
1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in
games between the clubs).
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games
played within the division.
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in
common games.
4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within
the conference.
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 common games.
10. Best
net points in all games.
11. Best net touchdowns in all games.
Three or More Clubs
(Note: If two clubs remain tied after
third or other clubs are eliminated during any step, tie breaker reverts
to step 1 of the two-club format).
1. Head-to-head (best
won-lost-tied percentage in games among the clubs).
2. Best
won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division.
3. Best
won-lost-tied percentage in common games.
4. Best won-lost-tied
percentage in games played within the conference.
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 common games.
10. Best net points in all games.
11. Best net touchdowns in all games.
TO BREAK A TIE FOR THE WILD-CARD TEAM OR AMONG DIVISION WINNERS
If it is necessary to break ties to determine the two Wild-Card clubs from
each conference, the following steps will be taken.
1. If the tied
clubs are from the same division, apply division tie breaker.
2. If
the tied clubs are from different divisions, apply the following steps.
Two Clubs
1. Head-to-head, if applicable.
2. Best
won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.
3.
Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.
4.
Strength of victory.
5. Strength of schedule.
6. Best combined
ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.
7. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points
allowed.
8. Best net points in conference games.
9. Best net
points in all games.
10. Best net touchdowns in all games.
11.
Coin toss.
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
When the first Wild-Card team has been identified, the procedure is
repeated to name the second Wild-Card, i.e., eliminate all but the
highest-ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to step 2. In
situations where three or more teams from the same division are involved
in the procedure, the original seeding of the teams remains the same for
subsequent applications of the tie breaker if the top-ranked team in
that division qualifies for a Wild-Card berth.
OTHER TIE-BREAKING PROCEDURES
1. Only one club advances to the
playoffs in any tie-breaking step. Remaining tied clubs revert to the
first step of the applicable division or Wild-Card tie breakers. As an
example, if two clubs remain tied in any tie-breaker step after all
other clubs have been eliminated, the procedure reverts to step one of
the two-club format to determine the winner. When one club wins the tie
breaker, all other clubs revert to step 1 of the applicable two-club or
three-club format.
2. In comparing division and conference records or
records against common opponents among tied teams, the best
won-lost-tied percentage is the deciding factor since teams may have
played an unequal number of games.
3. To determine home-field
priority among division titlists, apply Wild-Card tie breakers.
4. To
determine home-field priority for Wild-Card qualifiers, apply division
tie breakers (if teams are from the same division) or Wild-Card tie
breakers (if teams are from different divisions).
TIE-BREAKING PROCEDURE FOR DRAFT
If two or more clubs are tied
in the selection order, the strength-of-schedule tie breaker is applied,
subject to the following exceptions for playoff clubs:
1. The Super Bowl winner is last and the Super Bowl loser next-to-last.
2. Any non-Super Bowl playoff club involved in a tie shall be assigned
priority within its segment below that of non-playoff clubs and in the
order that the playoff clubs exited from the playoffs. Thus, within a
tied segment a playoff club that loses in the Wild-Card game will have
priority over a playoff club that loses in the Divisional playoff game,
which in turn will have priority over a club that loses in the
Conference Championship game. If two tied clubs exited the playoffs in
the same round, the tie is broken by strength of schedule.
If any ties cannot be broken by strength of schedule, the divisional or conference tie breakers, whichever are applicable, are applied. Any ties that still exist are broken by a coin flip.
