FOF: Worst team you've seen win a division title?
 

I'm about 15 years into my current Green Bay Packers career, and I just saw what is probably the worst record I've encountered for a division champion. Pittsburgh went 6-10 in the AFC North and beat out Cleveland in a tiebreaker for the crown. Baltimore (5-11) and Cincinnati (4-11-1) rounded out the "competition."

Pittsburgh, of course, got the boot in the first round of the playoffs.

This got me to wondering: what is the absolute worst record anybody here has seen for a division champ? Or, for that matter, for a Super Bowl champ?

I've seen a 5-11 team make the playoffs, and then get properly bounced in the first round... I wonder how long before we see this in the NFL?

I think I once won a division at 7-9. Ironically I went 10-6 the next season and missed the play-offs. Go figure.

I'm going backwards through my solo career (which is now in 2099)... In 2064 the NFC North was a real nailbiter...

Detroit 6-10
Chicago 5-10-1
Minnesota 5-11
Green Bay 5-11

edit: Detroit won their wild card game before losing in the second round

The Tuscon Toros....

:rimshot:

In theory, the worst record that could possibly happen is 3-13, where all of the teams go 3-3 in division and lose all of their other games, resulting in a seemingly unbreakable tie.

In 99 years I only found two 6-10 division winners, but nothing worse than that.

There were a handful of 7-9, a pretty large number of 8-8... and most curiosly one 7-7-2 division winner.

points come into play at some point, so it wouldn't be unbreakable.

edit: In this specific scenario, strength of schedule would be the first possible tiebreaker

I had a team in single player (not mine) make the playoffs with double digits in losses. I think they even won a playoff game or two before losing.

Still, maybe that means someday the Brooklyn Fightin' Bums will be a playoff team! :D

Whoa... i decided to look into the ones I pointed out before... My 7-7-2 division winner (Philadelphia Eagles) won the Super Bowl!

I posted some screenshots a year, maybe two ago of a Pittsburgh team winning their division at 6-10 and then beating my Dallas team for the Super Bowl, finishing up at 10-10.

Hey now, let's be fair! The Toros have never actually won their division. ;)