Earlier this week, it was announced that the NFL and NFLPA were starting discussions on a new CBA. Topics include: Player safety, pace of play, revenue for the owners, which XFL athletes will make the jump to the NFL (Ok, maybe that didn’t happen but I guarantee it’s being discussed soon), adding an additional game, and a new playoff structure. All par for the….WAIT A MINUTE! A new playoff structure? In the immortal words of Jim Mora PLAYOFFS?! I’m here to tell you why that might be a terrible idea.
Before we can talk about the new proposed format, I’d like to refresh your memory about the current playoff structure:
The playoffs have a single-elimination tournament format consisting of twelve teams, six from the NFC and six from the AFC. Seeds 1-4 for each conference are the four division winners, ordered by regular season winning percentage. The final two seeds are wild card teams from the NFC and AFC.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit that this is the best structure. Your top 2 teams get a bye in the next round and then battle the lower seeds for a chance to move on. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this system. According to the talks the NFL would add an additional team to the playoffs bringing the total to 7 and only the top team would receive the first round bye. While that might make for some exciting games, it’s unnecessary. I guess time will tell if this comes to pass, but I hope it doesn’t. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it!
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Ryan