The 2012 NFL Playoff picture is finally in. After defeating Cleveland on New Year's Day, Pittsburgh ends up with the #5 seed in the AFC (because Baltimore just would't lose to give Pittsburgh #2..lol). I'm not going to list the playoff teams, since the picture above pretty much says it all. But there are some statistical facts I'd like to point out:

- Of the six AFC playoff teams, three of them are from the AFC North.

- 6 of the other 11 teams in the playoffs had a worse record than Pittsburgh (and Baltimore is tied). Pittsburgh only made the playoffs as a wildcard.

- Of the twelve total playoff teams, only half of them finished with a regular season record of 12-4 or better. The two 12-4 teams are Pittsburgh and Baltimore, so only four finished with a record 13-3 or better.

- The AFC West is represented by the Denver Broncos at 8-8. The other three AFC West teams were: San Diego (also 8-8), Oakland (also 8-8) and Kansas City (7-9)... once again making a point that a western division doesn't even deserve a playoff spot.

- Almost as pathetic, the NFC East is giving us the New York Giants at just 9-7. Philadelphia and Dallas came in at 8-8 the same as Denver.

- The Jets, Chargers, Raiders, Eagles, Cowboys, Bears and Cardinals were all 8-8 like the playoff-bound Broncos. The Titans had a better record with 9-7. None of those teams are in the playoffs.

Since the league is all about parity, I'd say that things turned out remarkably more even than the normal universe would allow. Of the 32 teams, 8 (or a full 25%) of them magically ended up with an even record of 8-8. This parity makes exception for Green Bay of course, who are the modern version of the Patriots and Colts of years past (and also for the Patriots themselves, who have the ability to be losing 21-0 at halftime and then score over 40 unanswered points).

Pittsburgh plays their first playoff game against Denver. Tim Tebow is gonna crap when he has to play against a team that actually has a defense.