FOF Tiebreakers: Bug?

[MizzouRah]

AC North W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Baltimore 8 8 0 .500 288 277 7-5 4-2
Cincinnati 6 9 1 .406 320 366 5-6-1 4-2
Cleveland 4 12 0 .250 224 330 4-8 3-3
Pittsburgh 3 13 0 .188 222 370 2-10 1-5

AC South W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Indianapolis 14 2 0 .875 409 273 10-2 5-1
Jacksonville 10 6 0 .625 358 360 7-5 3-3
Houston 9 7 0 .563 322 296 6-6 2-4
Tennessee 4 11 1 .281 294 357 2-9-1 2-4

AC East W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
New England 11 5 0 .688 343 247 8-4 4-2
Buffalo 9 7 0 .563 321 274 8-4 5-1
Miami 8 8 0 .500 285 299 5-7 2-4
New York (A) 8 8 0 .500 292 264 5-7 1-5

AC West W L T Pct PF PA Conf Div
Kansas City 11 5 0 .688 352 277 8-4 4-2
Denver 9 7 0 .563 312 320 7-5 3-3
Oakland 8 8 0 .500 329 327 6-6 2-4
San Diego 6 10 0 .375 347 380 5-7 3-3


Division Winners:
Baltimore
Indianapolis
New England
Kansas City

Wildcards:
Jacksonville (5th best record)

That leaves:
Houston
Buffalo
Denver

Houston and Buffalo never played
Denver lost to Houston

According to NFL rule:
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


Buffalo was (8-4) in Conference play and should be team #6 or Wildcard team #2. In the game, it has Houston as the WC team #2 and Buffalo's season is over.

What am I missing here?

[Pyser]

i think if denver lost to houston and buffalo then theyd be eliminated. but just because they lost to 1 of the 2 doesnt automatically knock them out of the 3-way tie.

[stevew]

I dont think it particularly tiebreaks well in a 3 team tied situation. Nobody really notices it in a non multiplayer environment cause your team usually makes the playoffs in solo(I would say).

[MizzouRah]

Yeah, I always check to see how a team made the playoffs if there is a tie. This one just doesn't figure out correctly.

Even if Denver isn't eliminated, Buffalo still has the best conference record.


I'll email this to Jim.

Todd

[cthomer5000]

I've never seen a problem with the playoff tiebreakers (and you should see how crazy my breakdowns get over at IHOF).

Can you please post the schedules for the Houston, Buffalo, and Denver?

[MizzouRah]

Sure.


Houston Texans 2004 Regular Season Schedule

Week Opponent Result Attendance Weather
Week 1 SAN DIEGO CHARGERS L, 31-34 63,300 Sunny, 77
Week 2 at Detroit Lions W, 31-21 57,400 Sunny, 68
Week 3 at Kansas City Chiefs W, 20-17 78,200 Sunny, 71
Week 4 OAKLAND RAIDERS L, 13-17 64,000 Sunny, 96
Week 5 MINNESOTA VIKINGS L, 17-23 64,000 Sunny, 73
Week 6 at Tennessee Titans W, 23-20 66,500 Rain, 66
Week 7 OPEN
Week 8 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS W, 13-10 64,000 Sunny, 74
Week 9 at Denver Broncos W, 19-13 73,900 Sunny, 27
Week 10 at Indianapolis Colts L, 14-31 57,200 Sunny, 68
Week 11 GREEN BAY PACKERS W, 27-24 64,000 Sunny, 57
Week 12 TENNESSEE TITANS L, 10-13 64,000 Sunny, 67
Week 13 at New York (A) Jets W, 14-13 76,500 Sunny, 42
Week 14 INDIANAPOLIS COLTS L, 27-28 64,600 Sunny, 52
Week 15 at Chicago Bears W, 23-0 57,900 Snow, 20
Week 16 at Jacksonville Jaguars L, 16-17 67,200 Rain, 58
Week 17 CLEVELAND BROWNS W, 24-15 64,000 Sunny, 59



Buffalo Bills 2004 Regular Season Schedule

Week 1 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS L, 16-26 68,300 Rain, 59
Week 2 at Oakland Raiders L, 16-17 51,100 Sunny, 60
Week 3 OPEN
Week 4 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS L, 13-17 67,700 Sunny, 57
Week 5 at New York (A) Jets W, 34-29 76,500 Sunny, 74
Week 6 MIAMI DOLPHINS W, 20-7 68,300 Sunny, 57
Week 7 at Baltimore Ravens L, 10-20 66,200 Rain, 71
Week 8 ARIZONA CARDINALS W, 33-13 67,700 Rain, 35
Week 9 NEW YORK (A) JETS W, 20-17 68,300 Sunny, 46
Week 10 at New England Patriots W, 26-20 67,500 Sunny, 38
Week 11 ST. LOUIS RAMS L, 18-26 69,100 Sunny, 35
Week 12 at Seattle Seahawks L, 14-16 58,600 Rain, 48
Week 13 at Miami Dolphins W, 17-6 73,300 Rain, 67
Week 14 CLEVELAND BROWNS W, 20-10 68,300 Sunny, 32
Week 15 at Cincinnati Bengals W, 27-21 56,800 Sunny, 46
Week 16 at San Francisco 49ers L, 17-19 62,800 Sunny, 46
Week 17 PITTSBURGH STEELERS W, 20-10 68,300 Rain, 37



Denver Broncos 2004 Regular Season Schedule

Week Opponent Result Attendance Weather
Week 1 KANSAS CITY CHIEFS W, 13-12 73,900 Sunny, 80
Week 2 at Jacksonville Jaguars W, 27-16 66,500 Sunny, 82
Week 3 SAN DIEGO CHARGERS L, 16-23 73,900 Sunny, 87
Week 4 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W, 17-13 63,600 Sunny, 86
Week 5 CAROLINA PANTHERS L, 17-24 74,700 Sunny, 67
Week 6 at Oakland Raiders L, 7-13 51,100 Rain, 60
Week 7 at Cincinnati Bengals W, 24-17 55,400 Sunny, 57
Week 8 ATLANTA FALCONS W, 24-14 73,900 Rain, 72
Week 9 HOUSTON TEXANS L, 13-19 73,900 Sunny, 27
Week 10 OPEN
Week 11 at New Orleans Saints L, 15-27 64,500 Sunny, 68
Week 12 OAKLAND RAIDERS W, 28-22 73,900 Sunny, 42
Week 13 at San Diego Chargers W, 27-21 57,500 Sunny, 68
Week 14 MIAMI DOLPHINS W, 23-21 74,700 Sunny, 21
Week 15 at Kansas City Chiefs L, 14-34 79,400 Rain, 50
Week 16 at Tennessee Titans W, 34-24 66,500 Sunny, 55
Week 17 INDIANAPOLIS COLTS L, 13-20 74,700 Sunny, 59


I'm probably missing something.

Todd

[MIJB#19]

Maybe the game sees this as the head-to-head sweep tiebreaker and applies it the way it works inside a divisional three/four-way tie-breaker:
Houston 1-0
Buffalo 0-0
Denver 0-1

I think this also happened in FOF2, maybe it's still not fixed?

[cthomer5000]

yeah, looks like an error. That's interesting, because I hadn't seen a case yet where it didn't tie-break correctly.

[MizzouRah]

Neither did Jim when I emailed him this same post. It's the first time I've seen this since 2k4 came out.

Todd

[MizzouRah]

Maybe the game sees this as the head-to-head sweep tiebreaker and applies it the way it works inside a divisional three/four-way tie-breaker:
Houston 1-0
Buffalo 0-0
Denver 0-1

I think this also happened in FOF2, maybe it's still not fixed?

Dola,

You might be right.


Todd

[cthomer5000]

I just had the same thing happen in my solo career. At least we were the ones to benefit from the bug in this case...

[jbmagic]

hopefully this will get fix :)

[MizzouRah]

I just had the same thing happen in my solo career. At least we were the ones to benefit from the bug in this case...

:)


Todd