I feel like I write an article like this one every January, and that’s because I do. I also annually make fun of the fact that sports fans don’t know the difference between lose and loose. You’d think I’d get tired of it, but I need to write to vent about these things.

Anyway, the NFL playoff bracket: You continue to not understand it.

What’s the latest example of this: Glad you asked. The Steelers, the seventh seed in the AFC, will take on the Bills, the second seed in the AFC, on Sunday at 1 p.m. (Yes, I know it was postponed until Monday, but I’m not changing it.) Baltimore, the AFC’s number-one seed and the one with the coveted bye, wants Buffalo to win. Why? The Ravens would rather play the Bills, bro! The Ravens don’t want none of the Steelers, bruh!

There’s only one problem with that, bruh: The Bills CAN’T play Baltimore in the divisional round of the playoffs. If Buffalo wins, it will be the second-highest-seeded team heading into the divisional round. That means it will play the second-lowest-seeded team in the divisional round. If everything goes according to plan on Super Wild Card Weekend, that means the Texans will take on the Ravens on Divisional Round Weekend, while the Chiefs travel to Highmark Stadium to battle the Bills. Over in the NFC, the top-seeded 49ers would host the Buccaneers, while the second-seeded Cowboys could take on the Lions.

Back to the AFC.

If Pittsburgh defeats the Bills, it will then travel to Baltimore to take on the Ravens next weekend. If that happens, then the Chiefs, the third seed, will either take on the Texans or Browns; Houston is the fourth seed, and Cleveland is the fifth seed. But what if Miami, the sixth seed in the AFC, defeats the Swifties at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday night? Good question, if seeds six and seven both advance out of the Super Wild Card round, that means the Steelers will still take on Baltimore, while the winner of the Texans/Browns game will host the Dolphins.

What if seeds one, five, six and seven are all still alive in one or both conferences heading into the divisional round? It’s always the highest seed vs. the lowest seed in every round. It’s always that way. It has been that way since 1990 when the NFL expanded its playoff field from 10 teams to 12.

I can see why fans may have been confused about playoff seeding in the 1970s and 1980s. The NFL rotated who hosted playoff games in the 1970s. Records didn’t matter. If the AFC East Champion hosted a playoff game in 1971, the AFC Central Champion got to host one in 1972. For the first two decades after the AFL/NFL merger, teams from the same division could not play one another on Divisional Round Weekend–let that sink in.

It was much more complex in the old days–you know, the simpler times.

But it’s just so easy to figure out these days. It’s highest vs. lowest in each round. “Yeah, but there are lots of times when the first seed takes on the second seed on Conference Championship Weekend.”

OK, now I can see why you always mix up lose and loose.

Why don’t you get back to charting pass rush win rates, and let the experts handle the NFL’s complex playoff bracket?