East Coast/West Coast Bias a Bunch of Hogwash

A lot of "insightful" commentators on the pregame shows or on talk radio programs around the nation (think Mike Greenberg of ESPN) have been making a big stink about how West Coast teams have a disadvantage when they travel to play a 1 PM ET game against an Eastern Time Zone team.

This has given rise to much talk that the East Coast teams get an unfair advantage, because the West Coast team is having to adjust to a time zone change, and they wind up playing a game at 10 AM their local time.

This year, both West divisions are playing both East divisions, so there are a lot of instances where West Coast teams are traveling to play a team on the East Coast, and vice versa. Talk of a bias is total hogwash. They are overlooking a couple of important facts:

First and foremost, the four West Coast teams (San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Oakland) are all pretty much a joke. Seattle and San Diego each had high expectations, but they've both been ravaged by injuries, although the Chargers have made a nice comeback in the season's second half.

Oakland is as laughingstock right now, while the 49ers have actually shown some signs of life under Mike Singletary.

Secondly, the East Coast is loaded with great teams. Every team in the NFC East will finish with at least a .500 record, and three teams in the AFC East will win at least nine games, and Buffalo could finish .500 if it beats New England on Sunday.

Other East Coast teams like Carolina, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Atlanta have also been stout—all five of those teams may make the playoffs—so there are no easy games against East Coast teams (with the possible exception of Jacksonville).

Thirdly, the four West Coast teams have combined to win only 10 road games so far this year, and three of those have come against themselves. San Diego won at Oakland, and Seattle and San Francisco each traded road wins against each other.

In recent weeks, San Francisco won at Buffalo and San Diego won at Tampa Bay, so West Coast teams have enjoyed some success in the Eastern Time Zone.

In other words, outside of playing against each other, the four West Coast teams are struggling to win anywhere—on the road or at home. It has nothing to do with where the games are being played; it has everything to do with the quality of competition they are facing—and the lack of quality they are offering up in return.