Who is the higher seed for a wild card NFL team if both teams have the same record?

Answer 1

There is a prioritized list of tie breaking rules set up to do this. We'll look at how the tie was broken between the Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets, the four AFC teams that finished the season with a won/loss record of 9-7 and were in contention for wildcard spots.

The NFL tie breaking rules state if two or more of the tied teams come from the same division, the tie between these teams must be broken before breaking the tie between the remaining teams. So, while the Jets and Texans 'rested', tie breaker rules were used to break the tie between the Steelers and Ravens.

1) The first criteria is best won/loss record in head to head matchups. The Ravens and Steelers played twice in 2009 with each team winning once. The tie cannot be broken.

2) The second criteria is best won/loss record against teams in their division (AFC North). The Ravens had a 3-3 record against teams in the AFC North and the Steelers had a record of 2-4 against teams in the AFC North. The Ravens, having the best record, win the tie breaker and the Steelers are eliminated from further consideration.

This leaves the Ravens, Jets, and Texans and the tie between these three teams must be broken. Since these three teams play in different divisions, the three will go head to head to head in a tie breaker process.

1) The first criteria is best won/loss records in games played against each other which is known as a 'head to head sweep'. If any of the three teams has played the other two teams and lost both games, they are eliminated from further consideration. Also, if any of the three teams has played the other two teams and won both games, they automatically win the tie breaker. The Jets defeated the Texans but did not play the Ravens. The Texans lost to the Jets but did not play the Ravens. This criteria cannot be used to break the tie.

2) The second criteria is best won/loss record against teams within the conference. The Ravens and Jets had a 7-5 record against AFC teams and the Texans had a 6-6 record against AFC teams. The Texans lose the tie breaker and the Jets and Ravens are 'crowned' wildcard playoff teams.

Now, the tie between the Jets and Ravens must be broken to see who is the #5 seed and who is the #6 seed.

1) The first criteria is best won/loss record in head to head matchups. Since the Jets and Ravens did not play each other, this criteria cannot be used to break the tie.

2) The second criteria is best won/loss record in games they played against teams within the conference. Both the Jets and Ravens had a 7-5 record against AFC teams, therefore, this criteria cannot be used to break the tie.

3) The third criteria is best won/loss record against common opponents as long as each played at least four games against common opponents. Common opponents are defined as teams that both the Jets and Ravens played during the season. The common opponents were the Patriots, Bengals, Colts, and Raiders. In these games, the Jets won/loss record was 4-1 and the Ravens won/loss record was 1-4. The Jets win the tie breaker and are given the #5 seed while the Ravens are given the #6 seed.