JustAnotherJoe
2008-12-30, 14:56
I'm sure this is just because I'm a New England fan, but I think from now on I'll have a little more sympathy when someone else falls into this depressing situation.
In case you are unaware, the NFL playoff format is to have 1 team from each division (the team with the best record, obv.) and then two wildcard teams for each conference (the next 2 best records). This creates two different 6-team brackets, where the top 2 seeded teams have "byes" for the first round. Typically, the teams with the best records wind up in the playoffs, but occasionally a 9-7 team that finished strong and really is playing like a 11-5 team, or an all-around good 10-6 team with a tough schedule will miss the playoffs. This season, the New England Patriots missed the playoffs despite an 11-5 record thanks to tiebreakers, while the San Diego Chargers won their division with an 8-8 record and are they are in the playoffs.
I'm not necessarily here to discuss whether the Patriots deserve to be in, or if the Chargers deserve to be out, or if the Lions should get a ceremonious 3-week bye and then give them the chance to play in the Super Bowl and just get one damned win. I'm more here to look at the NFL playoff structure in a general sense, and whether or not it can be improved for the greater good of the players, fans, owners, and league itself.
In my opinion, the best solution would be to reformat the playoff structure into two 8-team formats (one for each conference). 4 Division Winners and 4 Wildcards in each conference. This would eliminate the "Byes" for the first place teams, and their only spoils would be home field advantage through the first few rounds (or all the way through if they're #1) and getting to play the seemingly "weaker" opponents. This would benefit the players by giving more of them an opportunity to play in playoff games. This would benefit the owners by giving them more games to rake in money off of, as well as special edition t shirts, hats, banners, and other memorabilia. These items (I'm not sure on the liscencing policy, and there's a good chance those t shirts or maybe its just jerseys etc. sales) go to the league as well, and the NFL would make money through the TV deals for the 2 extra games (as well as every team in the league). Most importantly, it would benefit the fans.
We could have an absolutely splendid football-filled weekend. Overall, this playoff format would give us 8 games. There could be one on Friday night, 3 on Saturday (including one at night), 3 on Sunday (including one at night), and one on Monday night. The top seed in each conference would be given the choice of which day they want to play on, and the schedule would be filled in by the league from there on out. Just think of how great a playoff game would be on Friday or Saturday night! The NFL could even steal some more revenue out of this by maybe showing the Fri & Sat night games on NFL network (though as I type it, I gotta think that the NFL makes more on a contract with ABC, NBC, or CBS)
Then again, it could turn out like Oreo-topped pizza. Just as there is a limit to how much goodness can be put in your mouth at once, maybe there IS a limit to how much football can be watched in a weekend...
What are your thoughts? They could also try a 7-team format (sorta a hybrid) and only the top seed in the conference gets a bye. They could also keep it at 6 teams, and if a division winner isn't ABOVE .500 winning percentage, then the team with the next best record takes their slot (though this would be even more disadvantages to even-level conferences).
In case you are unaware, the NFL playoff format is to have 1 team from each division (the team with the best record, obv.) and then two wildcard teams for each conference (the next 2 best records). This creates two different 6-team brackets, where the top 2 seeded teams have "byes" for the first round. Typically, the teams with the best records wind up in the playoffs, but occasionally a 9-7 team that finished strong and really is playing like a 11-5 team, or an all-around good 10-6 team with a tough schedule will miss the playoffs. This season, the New England Patriots missed the playoffs despite an 11-5 record thanks to tiebreakers, while the San Diego Chargers won their division with an 8-8 record and are they are in the playoffs.
I'm not necessarily here to discuss whether the Patriots deserve to be in, or if the Chargers deserve to be out, or if the Lions should get a ceremonious 3-week bye and then give them the chance to play in the Super Bowl and just get one damned win. I'm more here to look at the NFL playoff structure in a general sense, and whether or not it can be improved for the greater good of the players, fans, owners, and league itself.
In my opinion, the best solution would be to reformat the playoff structure into two 8-team formats (one for each conference). 4 Division Winners and 4 Wildcards in each conference. This would eliminate the "Byes" for the first place teams, and their only spoils would be home field advantage through the first few rounds (or all the way through if they're #1) and getting to play the seemingly "weaker" opponents. This would benefit the players by giving more of them an opportunity to play in playoff games. This would benefit the owners by giving them more games to rake in money off of, as well as special edition t shirts, hats, banners, and other memorabilia. These items (I'm not sure on the liscencing policy, and there's a good chance those t shirts or maybe its just jerseys etc. sales) go to the league as well, and the NFL would make money through the TV deals for the 2 extra games (as well as every team in the league). Most importantly, it would benefit the fans.
We could have an absolutely splendid football-filled weekend. Overall, this playoff format would give us 8 games. There could be one on Friday night, 3 on Saturday (including one at night), 3 on Sunday (including one at night), and one on Monday night. The top seed in each conference would be given the choice of which day they want to play on, and the schedule would be filled in by the league from there on out. Just think of how great a playoff game would be on Friday or Saturday night! The NFL could even steal some more revenue out of this by maybe showing the Fri & Sat night games on NFL network (though as I type it, I gotta think that the NFL makes more on a contract with ABC, NBC, or CBS)
Then again, it could turn out like Oreo-topped pizza. Just as there is a limit to how much goodness can be put in your mouth at once, maybe there IS a limit to how much football can be watched in a weekend...
What are your thoughts? They could also try a 7-team format (sorta a hybrid) and only the top seed in the conference gets a bye. They could also keep it at 6 teams, and if a division winner isn't ABOVE .500 winning percentage, then the team with the next best record takes their slot (though this would be even more disadvantages to even-level conferences).