It's the same one I mentioned above, with the 9-7 Cardinals. In the 08-09 NFL season, New England went 11-5 but lost the tiebreaker to Miami, resulting in the 11-5 Dolphins winning the division. The 12-4 Colts got the first Wild Card, and the 11-5 Ravens got the second Wild Card. Both the Dolphins and the Ravens got into the playoffs because they were 8-4 against the AFC and New England was 7-5 (the Ravens didn't play the Pats, so no head-to-head, and the Dolphins were 1-1 against the Pats, so head-to-head doesn't help break the tie). Also going to the playoffs that year were the 8-8 San Diego Chargers (AFC West champions) and the 9-7 Arizona Cardinals (NFC West champions).

Was New England a better team than Arizona or San Diego or Miami? Probably. Arizona made the Super Bowl by beating #5 Atlanta by 6, #2 Carolina (QB Jake Delhomee) by 16, and #6 Philadelphia by 7. I expect New England would have done better, although this was the year that Brady was injured in week 1 and Cassel was the starting QB. Still, if this were college football, New England would have certainly gotten the nod over these three teams, including Miami, the actual AFC East champs, because they "looked" better, not because they deserved it. Luckily the NFL doesn't leave it up to something like that, and everyone knows the rules going in. Win your division, go to the playoff. Get a Wild Card by meeting these specific requirements. Don't get the division champ or wild card selection? Then you're staying home.