The NFL playoffs have been exciting as we head into the Conference Championship games this Sunday. The NFL has talked about adding another playoff team in each conference. They haven’t changed the current NFL playoff format with six teams in each conference since 1990. The NFL had to change the seeding in 2002 when the Houston Texans came into the league. That meant we would have four divisions in each conference and the division winners would host a playoff game. The two teams who finished with the best records in both the AFC and the NFC would receive byes. The final two teams with the most wins in each conference who didn’t win the division would be the Wild Card teams.
The NFL has talked for the last few years about expanding the playoffs to seven teams in the AFC and the NFC conference. Every few years we have a team that is .500 or worse winning their division. This year Carolina was that team with a record of 7-8-1. They won the NFC South. They knocked off Arizona in the Wild Card Round, 27-16. Denver was 8-8 in 2011. They beat Pittsburgh 29-23 in overtime. Seattle was 7-9 in 2010 and won the NFC West title. Seattle was the first team in NFL history without a winning record to earn a playoff spot. They ended up winning their first round playoff game against New Orleans 41-36. So, a team that is .500 or below can still get into the playoffs and knock of an NFL playoff team with a better record. The regular season games are played to get into the playoffs any way you can.
The NFL wants to expand the NFL playoffs to seven teams in each conference. This would add another Wild Card team in each conference. We could see this next year for the NFL playoffs. The total teams would be 14. The only teams who would get the bye would be the first seed in each conference. If this passes, there have been talks about the scheduling the NFL playoffs on Monday Night Football.
This wouldn’t be fair for fans to travel hundred of miles to see their favorite team in the NFL playoffs. Fans in the Eastern and Central Time Zones would have to stay up late just to watch the playoff games. These fans already do this for Monday Night Football in the regular season. This is one game too many.
A team playing a Monday Night Football playoff game could possibly play on Saturday. That is not enough rest or time to prepare for a playoff game. Teams wouldn’t have the opportunity to do their routine practice. Coaches wouldn’t have enough time to watch film and put in a game plan. A bad product in the next round is a possibility
The NFL shouldn’t look to expand the playoffs. Instead, they need to look at adding two more NFL regular season game to bring the total to 18. If they make an 18 game regular season then they should get rid of two preseason games and add an extra bye week for teams. Four preseason games are too many. The starters on the team are already known so the preseason games are for the players on the bubble. Most coaches know who on their bubble will make the team before these games due to the way they practice. Two more games would create more revenue for the NFL teams.
The NFL seems to be closer to increasing the playoffs than the regular season. Hopefully it won’t happen next year.
Would you rather see more playoff teams or more NFL regular season games?
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