Dazed and Confused

Somebody explain this to me. The Giants at 10-5 have clinched a playoff berth. The Bucs, with an identical record of 10-5, could miss the playoffs if a perfect storm of events knocks them out of the playoffs. But if the Bucs and Giants win out then Tampa Bay gets the third seed? The BCS is less difficult to figure out.

If the Bucs lose and the Panthers win then Tampa Bay gets knocked into wild card contention. At that point the Bucs could be tossed into a wild card shuffle with Dallas and Washington (assuming the 'Skins and Cowboys win this week). The Bucs would miss out on the playoffs in this scenario because they have a weaker strength of victory percentage (0.447) than the Cowboys (0.467). Raise you hand if this is the first time you have heard of strength of victory percentage (hopefully I'm not the only one).

Of course, if the Cowboys lose to the Rams while the 'Skins beat the Eagles and the Bucs lose to the Saints then Tampa Bay makes it to the playoffs because they beat the 'Skins earlier this season. For those keeping track at home that means the second tiebreaker (head-to-head) would decide which team plays in the postseason. But if the Cowboys lose anyway the Bucs are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs.

Only two things are clear heading into this postseason confusion. First, if the Bucs win they will be the third seed in the NFC. Second, the great thing about high school girls, I get older, they stay the same age.