Goodell says there’s momentum for expanding the playoffs

[Gallo]

I'm all for it. There is nothing wrong with the parity, it's the best out of any major sports, but it's kinda ridiculous that a team only have to win 2 games, and they are in the Superbowl, and the playoffs just goes so fast, compared to the season. Make it one more round/week longer.

 

[dales804]

I'm all for it. There is nothing wrong with the parity, it's the best out of any major sports, but it's kinda ridiculous that a team only have to win 2 games, and they are in the Superbowl, and the playoffs just goes so fast, compared to the season. Make it one more round/week longer.

12 teams make the playoffs and it's single elimination. And the playoffs take a month to go through. There should be some reward for doing well during the regular season. .500 football is mediocre and, in my opinion, shouldn't be rewarded with a chance to win the championship.

 

[Sicilian]

I'm all for it. There is nothing wrong with the parity, it's the best out of any major sports, but it's kinda ridiculous that a team only have to win 2 games, and they are in the Superbowl, and the playoffs just goes so fast, compared to the season. Make it one more round/week longer.

Adding two more playoff teams wouldn't make the playoffs any longer. There would still be four weeks of games, the only difference being the top teams now have to play in the first round.

 

[fair catch fryar]

Sounds like a greedy, money hungry grub to even consider expansion. The playoff format is just fine.

It's not just 'fine', it's awesome. Any variation or change from the current one ruins it for me. This NFL playoff weekend coming is the best weekend, "hands-down" of all sports in my opinion.

 

[Kontradiction]

I'm all for it. There is nothing wrong with the parity, it's the best out of any major sports, but it's kinda ridiculous that a team only have to win 2 games, and they are in the Superbowl, and the playoffs just goes so fast, compared to the season. Make it one more round/week longer.

They're doing it for money and, in turn, are trying to ruin other things that make the regular season great. It's a horrible idea, which is why I'm not surpised that the league is considering it and it has "momentum".

 

[Nehalem]

12 teams make the playoffs and it's single elimination. And the playoffs take a month to go through. There should be some reward for doing well during the regular season. .500 football is mediocre and, in my opinion, shouldn't be rewarded with a chance to win the championship.

This. .500(or less ) football doesn't really deserve being in the playoffs. It happens upon occasion now. But rare events make things more interesting.

Kinda how a few years ago when the 7-9 Seahawks made the playoffs and then knocked off the Saints. Its a good laugh when it happens once. Expand the playoffs and we could see things like that happening frequently due to the whole "Any give Sunday", and then its more of a WTF.

 

[patfanken]

This "momentum" crap is simply absurd. Every time this question is posed to fans, well over 80% of them strongly oppose any such move. I'd welcome and support some kind of fan organization that would fight such a change.

One of the elements that makes the NFL so compelling is that EACH of the regular season games is so important. If a number of playoff teams can finish in the .500 range, those game become less compelling. Holding out key players and taking weeks off would become common place and the quality of the regular season, which has already been diminished by the new CBA, would be diminished further.

BTW- Back when the Pats were 11-5 and didn't make the playoffs, Bob Kraft, IIRC, talked about wanting to expand the playoffs so outliers like that would happen again. I sincerely hope and pray that those remarks were made out of the emotional disappointment and frustration we all felt at the time, and NOT what he feels now. DON'T DO IT, BOB.

 

[Kontradiction]

This "momentum" crap is simply absurd. Every time this question is posed to fans, well over 80% of them strongly oppose any such move. I'd welcome and support some kind of fan organization that would fight such a change.

One of the elements that makes the NFL so compelling is that EACH of the regular season games is so important. If a number of playoff teams can finish in the .500 range, those game become less compelling. Holding out key players and taking weeks off would become common place and the quality of the regular season, which has already been diminished by the new CBA, would be diminished further.

BTW- Back when the Pats were 11-5 and didn't make the playoffs, Bob Kraft, IIRC, talked about wanting to expand the playoffs so outliers like that would happen again. I sincerely hope and pray that those remarks were made out of the emotional disappointment and frustration we all felt at the time, and NOT what he feels now. DON'T DO IT, BOB.

There's just nothing wrong with the way the season works now, outside of the fact that an 18 game season and/or expanded playoff would line the league's pockets even more.

 

[Silver Blue&Red]

Mo' money, Mo' money. In Living Color-Hollywood Homeboy Shopping Network - YouTube

 

[TonyTucker]

Exactly. The setup is nearly flawless as it is. If anything, there should be 14 games instead of 16 with the way players are going down. But two byes, two division winners, and two wildcards is perfect. And with the two six seeds winning this past weekend, plus the general success of non-bye teams (the past three SB winners were the 4/4/6 seeds), there's more than enough parity.

The regular season has to count for something. Adding the Steelers and Cardinals wouldn't have made it any more interesting for me.

 

[BradyManny]

Now, the final round makes up 98% of the total score, making the previous rounds a complete waste. Oh yeah! —Duff Man, The Simpsons

Awful idea that completely undermines the purpose of the regular season and deprives those games of meaning.

Further, Wild Card weekend - while it's provided a lot of SB winners in recent years - has also provided a lot of dud games. Why add another week of weeding out the teams that don't below, with the possibility of a team that does belong getting bounced by the randomness that comes with a small 60 minute sample size of football?

The playoffs is where the teams that earned a right to battle it out get to to do so. It's not a do-over for teams that are mediocre.

I understand the NFL is a business, but at some point, the stupid changes that Goodell is making/proposing in order to make a buck in the short term is going to water down the product and have a negative affect on income in the long term. Fans will get tired of crap like this.

 

[Tunescribe]

Why not? Let's have a season-ending tournament where EVERY one of the NFL's 42 international teams is in the playoffs after a 24-game regular season. Where defense is outlawed, fantasy football fans call the plays by computer from home and the Super Bowl occurs in Beijing at 3 a.m. EST. I predict the London Monarchs will defeat the Chicago Bears by a score of 89-88 after the teams trade 67-yard field goals in the final 10 seconds.

SCREW YOU GOODELL!!!

:bricks::bricks::bricks:​

 

[Kontradiction]

Awful idea that completely undermines the purpose of the regular season and deprives those games of meaning.

Further, Wild Card weekend - while it's provided a lot of SB winners in recent years - has also provided a lot of dud games. Why add another week of weeding out the teams that don't below, with the possibility of a team that does belong getting bounced by the randomness that comes with a small 60 minute sample size of football?

The playoffs is where the teams that earned a right to battle it out get to to do so. It's not a do-over for teams that are mediocre.

I understand the NFL is a business, but at some point, the stupid changes that Goodell is making/proposing in order to make a buck in the short term is going to water down the product and have a negative affect on income in the long term. Fans will get tired of crap like this.

Between the rules changes and the shoddy officiating, it will become like the NBA.

 

[everlong]

Instead of doing this they should move to an 18 week schedule with 2 bye weeks per team. One of the bye weeks should actually be where you play a Thursday and miss the Sunday before and after creating two long weeks. That way teams aren't playing on short rest and putting out an inferior product and putting the players at a higher risk to be injured through fatigue.

An extra week would mean an extra week of TV revenues across the board.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

The players won (and rightly so) in their fight against expanding the Regular Season to 18 games.

But, we have to remember that, unlike the wildly successful Kraft-era Patriots, there are many franchises that are asset-rich but cash-poor because of some combination of one or both of market size or mismanagement bringing on high levels of debt and difficulty attracting game day fans to their venues at the exorbitant prices the owners want to charge (for the latter, think "J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets"). As a result, there is pressure from large and small market teams alike to increase the Media revenue.

It's a classic case of "something has to give." Adding another team from each conference to the playoffs along with the additional playoff games it would yield is a reasonable, if problematic, suggestion.

Personally, I am strongly opposed to expanding the playoffs. I don't want to see this turn into the NBA (where several sub-.500 teams are "in contention" for a playoff berth towards the end of the season). As Gary Myers points out in this morning's New York Daily News, the change would mean that 44% of NFL teams would "make the playoffs." However, I have to acknowledge that my argument is weakened by the fact that in the last five Seasons, two 9--7 teams have played in the SB with one of them winning it (lest anyone here need to be reminded about that).

In other words, we might have to brace ourselves for this one.

 

[CISGS]

This is such a horrible idea. The NFL is perfect the way it is. Why does everyone want to change what works?

 

[Tunescribe]

Instead of doing this they should move to an 18 week schedule with 2 bye weeks per team. One of the bye weeks should actually be where you play a Thursday and miss the Sunday before and after creating two long weeks. That way teams aren't playing on short rest and putting out an inferior product and putting the players at a higher risk to be injured through fatigue.

An extra week would mean an extra week of TV revenues across the board.

No. We need to get away from this compulsion of "more is better." Even with an extra bye week, two more regular-season games would KILL teams, especially with the NFLPA's no-practice edicts. Can you imagine this year's Patriots playing two more games BEFORE the playoffs? There wouldn't be anyone left.

 

[Ring 6]

Sounds like a greedy, money hungry grub to even consider expansion. The playoff format is just fine.

You do understand his job is to make money for the owners right?
You do understand the players get about half the money too right?

 

[captain insano]

I absolutely hate the idea. LEAVE THE GAME ALONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF IT ISNT BROKEN DONT FIX IT.

 

[Nehalem]

No. We need to get away from this compulsion of "more is better." Even with an extra bye week, two more regular-season games would KILL teams, especially with the NFLPA's no-practice edicts. Can you imagine this year's Patriots playing two more games BEFORE the playoffs? There wouldn't be anyone left.

You mean playing Mallet at TE isn't something you want to see?

BTW- Back when the Pats were 11-5 and didn't make the playoffs, Bob Kraft, IIRC, talked about wanting to expand the playoffs so outliers like that would happen again. I sincerely hope and pray that those remarks were made out of the emotional disappointment and frustration we all felt at the time, and NOT what he feels now. DON'T DO IT, BOB.

In the long term isn't it a good thing that things like the Pats at 11-5 missing the playoffs happen, occasionally.? I mean people keep talking about even now