I don't have a link for this, but I was just listening to the Dan Patrick show on the radio and he said he's got some inside info that the NFL will add an extra wild card team to each conference, maybe even this off-season. What would you think about this? Personally, I don't like it, i enjoy the playoff system now.
Stupid. Things are fine the way they are. It's obviously about money. How does that even work? Only 1 seed gets a bye?
I rarely watch the playoffs unless the Jets are in the bracket. So for me this change would be positive since I'd watch the playoffs more often. In terms of competition it would be a horrible change. Having mediocre teams competing in the playoffs just waters down the overall product. The 12 teams in the playoffs format combined with 4 team divisions is one of the reasons that my interest in the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl has declined steadily since 2000.
I was thinking about this too, a two week bye would be way too long, the rust factor would be enormous
TV Ratings rule in Godiva's world. He'll turn the NFL playoff format into the NHL playoff format just to cram more teams (markets) into play. As the song says.. "Heyyyy, must be da money..."
On the one hand I like the current format. On the other hand it improves our chances of actually making the playoffs. So I'm kind of in the middle. I could see them giving only the top seeded team a bye which doesn't seem like such a bad idea to me, it's kind of weird that the top two teams in each conference all get a break for a full week, they'd sell a lot of seats and jerseys with another two games during the first weekend of the playoffs. Plus, it could lead to more upset victories and whatnot which leads to interesting stories. Hell, they could remove the bye entirely and just go based purely on seeding if they really wanted to, that's what most sports do and it would sell even more seats and lead to even more potential upsets if some 15 win team lost to a .500 team that barely squeaked in.
why not? They are all about money. Who cares if it waters down the product. They've been doing that for years now
I'm okay with it. The league is a business so why shouldn't they do things to maximize their profits? Just give the top seed a bye and it'll work fine. IMO this is a better alternative than a 18 game schedule.
If 7 teams advance to playoffs from each conference below is the only logical way to do it #1 Seed will be Bye #2 plays #7 #3 plays #6 #4 plays #5 Once the first round is complete, lowest seed plays at #1 and the other game is played at the highest seeds stadium.
More than likely this is how it would be. 2. Patriots vs 7. Steelers 3. Bengals vs 6. Chargers 4. Colts vs 5. Chiefs 2. Panthers vs 7. Cardinals 3. Eagles vs 6. Saints 4. Packers vs. 5. 49ers
Makes sense to me. I get that people don't like the idea of additional mediocre teams getting into the playoffs as this would allow 14 of 32 teams to play in the playoffs...but still not as bad as the NHL/NBA that allows 16 out of 30 teams into the playoffs.
At the same time, in the NHL, each series is a 7 game series so more often than not the better team comes out on top.
They should get rid of the 2 conferences and seed 20 teams based on their record. 20 go in 1 comes out. thunder-dome.
Carolina vs Arizona would be phenomenal, AFC game would suck but usually the 6th seed race isnt as bad as this year.
