Just something else to pass the time until training camps get underway... We've already had one year with the new 17-game season and seven postseason seeds per conference. I still have mixed feelings about going to 17 regular season games. The postseason had terrific games, which shouldn't be too much of a surprise - the really bad teams don't make the postseason, so even the worst matchups will be top teams against above-average teams. Of course, it's revenue that drove the decision to expand the season. The league wants more revenue. The NFLPA wants more focus on player safety, but since the salary cap is based on revenues, the players didn't scream TOO loudly. Shocking, I know... But can you have it both ways? I think you can - and you can expand the postseason even more in the process with the help of the postseason structure used by the Australian Football League (aka Aussie Rules or "footy"). We now have 18 weeks of the regular season (17 games, 1 bye per team). We now have 13 total games in the postseason. For the regular season, the league could cut back from 17 games to the traditional 16 but add a second bye week for each team. We'd still have 18 weeks of regular season TV revenues, but the players would have one less week taking a pounding (which was the NFLPA's official concern) and one extra week during the season to help everyone rest and heal. The nifty trick that the AFL uses for the Finals series (their name for the playoffs) is that the first round of games is a "qualifying" round. The way it would work in the NFL is that the four division winners would play each other based on seeding, with #1 playing #4 and #2 playing #3. The winners of those two games get the byes the following week and host the games in the Divisional round two weeks later. The losers of those two games will host the wild card games the following week. Meanwhile, the #5 - #8 seeds play each other to earn those two wild card berths. While that may sound a bit "out there", it actually brings the playoffs back to exactly the same structure that we had through 2020. Once that qualifying round is over, you will have six playoff teams in each conference - two division winners with byes and two division winners hosting the two wild cards. For me, the bigger appeal is the "prove it" factor. Do you think teams got first round byes with the help of playing in soft divisions? Think a team or two snuck into wild cards ahead of more deserving teams due to the benefits of a softer schedule? The qualifying round settles it. All four division champs have a shot at a postseason bye week, but they have to earn it by beating another division champ. And the #5 and #6 seeds have to prove they're worthy of the wild card spots by eliminating the #8 and #7 seeds head to head. And of course those postseason games draw the ratings and the revenue, as they're all nationally televised "feature" games. Adding the #7 seed to the mix for 2021 took us from 11 to 13 total postseason games. A single elimination tournament adding the #8 seeds would take us to 15 games. We could drag it out over time with byes, but in the long run eliminating 15 of the 16 teams means exactly 15 games. But the AFL system would result in 19 postseason games, as the four qualifying games with the division champions are not elimination games. Put it all together and it has a lot to offer. The players get an extra bye week instead of an extra regular season game. The league gets six more nationally televised postseason games without losing any weeks of regular season television coverage. As fans we get rid of the unbalanced schedule, where teams no longer have the same number of home games. We get some bonus games between division champions, and we get to see the wild card contenders fight it out on the field.
man, I think we all have way too much time on our hands during this down period… I like the concept as far as entertainment goes, but it’s never going to happen.
Just add one more wild card and eliminate the postseason bye week. You still have 17 games in regular season and 15 postseason games.
