Not only is every team in the NFC South bad.
But one of them is going to be penalized for being slightly less bad than the rest of them.
Since a rules change for determining the order of the NFL Draft which was implemented in 2010, whichever team backs into the NFC South title will draft no higher than 21st.
That’s bad news for them, since all of them would fall in the top 11 of the order under the old rules.
At the moment, the Falcons are the “first place” team in the division thanks to a tie-breaker edge over the Saints. But without bumping to the 20s by making the playoffs, they’d slide into the Saints’ 10th spot in order, based on their strength of schedule number.
At the moment, the Buccaneers would draft third, and the Panthers eighth. But both teams could conceivably make a run and win the division.
But whoever emerges from the muck to win the division will be in worse shape to improve an obviously flawed team based on this year’s success.
The rule was changed after the 2008 Chargers went 8-8 and beat the Colts in the playoffs, then turned around and drafted ahead of the Colts and other non-playoff teams based on record.
Now, the losers in the wild card round draft 21st through 24th, the losers of the divisional round 25th through 28th. Those who lose in conference championship games pick 29th and 30th, while the Super Bowl loser picks 31st and the champion picks last.
So while having a chance to host a playoff game against a superior wild card opponent will be some measure of pride, they’re making it tougher on themselves to repeat by doing so.
