Go Skins Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9796104/expanded-playoffs-possible-2015-roger-goodell-says Roger Goodell said Tuesday that the NFL's competition committee will make it a priority to examine an expanded playoff field in 2014 with two teams possibly added to the postseason field by the 2015 season. The commissioner commented at the league's owners meetings in Washington in conjunction with thoughts on reducing the number of preseason games. How do we continue to make sure the regular-season games are incredibly important each week, but also, how can we create more interest, and does expanding the postseason allow other teams to get into the dance with the potential of going on and winning the Super Bowl?" Goodell said. "That is a good thing for fans. It is a good thing competitively. "What has happened is our league is so competitive right now. The games are so close that it is realistic to think that a team can have a great second half, get into the playoffs and win the Super Bowl. We have seen it." Goodell said "there is a lot to be done" before the NFL can expand the postseason. "First, we have to make the recommendation. It would probably be the 2015 season because there are a lot of scheduling issues in the spring of next year," he said. "I don't think we have everything resolved, including talking to the NFLPA and making sure that is done the right way." He said he didn't think expanding the playoff field would mean the Super Bowl would have to be played in mid-February. "What we're talking about is adding two teams. So you might have three games on the first weekend, and this is probably more of the issues that need to be addressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|High School Harry| Posted October 15, 2013 Report Share Posted October 15, 2013 http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9796104/expanded-playoffs-possible-2015-roger-goodell-says Roger Goodell said Tuesday that the NFL's competition committee will make it a priority to examine an expanded playoff field in 2014 with two teams possibly added to the postseason field by the 2015 season. The commissioner commented at the league's owners meetings in Washington in conjunction with thoughts on reducing the number of preseason games. How do we continue to make sure the regular-season games are incredibly important each week, but also, how can we create more interest, and does expanding the postseason allow other teams to get into the dance with the potential of going on and winning the Super Bowl?" Goodell said. "That is a good thing for fans. It is a good thing competitively. "What has happened is our league is so competitive right now. The games are so close that it is realistic to think that a team can have a great second half, get into the playoffs and win the Super Bowl. We have seen it." Goodell said "there is a lot to be done" before the NFL can expand the postseason. "First, we have to make the recommendation. It would probably be the 2015 season because there are a lot of scheduling issues in the spring of next year," he said. "I don't think we have everything resolved, including talking to the NFLPA and making sure that is done the right way." He said he didn't think expanding the playoff field would mean the Super Bowl would have to be played in mid-February. "What we're talking about is adding two teams. So you might have three games on the first weekend, and this is probably more of the issues that need to be addressed. Sounds to me like a way to generate more money from TV revenue and the season ticket holders' pockets. Good for the NFL Good for the extra teams Good for Joe Baggadounts who doesn't buy season tickets Another financial decision about putting out money for playoff tickets in a small window period at the end of the year with the holidays, etc. For the season ticket holder the decision is should I buy the tickets and have my seats if the team does go on, buy them and wait for a refund or have them applied to next year's account if they don't or don't buy them and its a crap shoot regretting it if they do go on. Kind of subtle extortion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-GoBengals- Posted October 16, 2013 Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 Sounds to me like a way to generate more money from TV revenue and the season ticket holders' pockets. Good for the NFL Good for the extra teams Good for Joe Baggadounts who doesn't buy season tickets Another financial decision about putting out money for playoff tickets in a small window period at the end of the year with the holidays, etc. For the season ticket holder the decision is should I buy the tickets and have my seats if the team does go on, buy them and wait for a refund or have them applied to next year's account if they don't or don't buy them and its a crap shoot regretting it if they do go on. Kind of subtle extortion. a bit of an exaggeration. you know going into the season that its a possibility, and hell you probably know how likely of one.. to get a home playoff game or one at all.. you can always factor that into your budget for the season tickets, toss an extra $50-100 at the beginning or whatever, or set aside a credit card for them, etc.. not to mention as a bengals fan, they cant sell season tickets with this product, so i know my license isnt getting revolked, shit they cant even charge seat license fees right now... i get your point(sorta) that its not an awesome part of the season ticket holder process to make that decision... however... its not like they just made it up last week and are springing it on you... paperwork was signed...etc the shit part of this, IMO, is that some losing teams are going to get into the playoffs.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluhartz Posted October 16, 2013 Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 a bit of an exaggeration. you know going into the season that its a possibility, and hell you probably know how likely of one.. to get a home playoff game or one at all.. you can always factor that into your budget for the season tickets, toss an extra $50-100 at the beginning or whatever, or set aside a credit card for them, etc.. not to mention as a bengals fan, they cant sell season tickets with this product, so i know my license isnt getting revolked, shit they cant even charge seat license fees right now... i get your point(sorta) that its not an awesome part of the season ticket holder process to make that decision... however... its not like they just made it up last week and are springing it on you... paperwork was signed...etc the shit part of this, IMO, is that some losing teams are going to get into the playoffs.. Everything the NFL does is 100% about money these days...even the rule changes about injury is so money doesn't come out of their pocket. I totally agree with that very last part...hell that could easily happen in the NFC east this year, let alone if they let more teams in.. I mean it happened a few years ago in the NFC west, but the teams are all getting closer and closer to each other these days.. More is absolutely not always a good thing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted October 16, 2013 Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 So we'd be looking at almost half the teams in the league making the playoffs? Fuuuuuuuck that. Bad enough watching some 8-8 dumpster fire get in by virtue of winning their shitshow of a division while a 10-win team stays home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|SF2| Posted October 16, 2013 Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 So we'd be looking at almost half the teams in the league making the playoffs? Fuuuuuuuck that. Bad enough watching some 8-8 dumpster fire get in by virtue of winning their shitshow of a division while a 10-win team stays home. 37.5% of the teams get in right now. Totally agree, no reason to add more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeds Orange Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 It's not fair that 2-14 and 3-13 teams don't get a chance to win a Super Bowl, so a 32-team playoff is really the only way to go. Then the teams can beat their brains out (you know, suffer torn ACLs and stuff) for 16 games for no reason other than to seed that 32-team tournament. The playoff matchup featuring the 15-1 team hosting the 2-14 team will intrigue and entertain us all, and we will expend millions of dollars nationwide for the privilege of witnessing the titanic struggle. Roger Goodell will forever be heralded as the man who saved the NFL with his 32-team, winner-take-all extravaganza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmishBengalFan Posted November 3, 2013 Report Share Posted November 3, 2013 The math does not support expanding the playoffs. With two additional teams, one per conference, you're looking at a 7-team field. This means one team gets a first round bye and an expansion of the Wild Card round from 2 games per conference to 3. The playoff format schedule would have to be: Wild Card Round: 6 games (3 per conference) Divisional Round: 4 games (2 per conference) Conference Championship: 2 games (1 per conference) The league would have to figure out when to schedule the extra two games. There's no way the networks would allow two playoff games to occur simultaneously, and would enforce the current 3.5 hours between kickoff minimum. So there are only two realistic options as I see it: #1 - Three games on Saturday (1pm, 4:30pm, 8pm) and three games on Sunday (1pm, 4:30pm, 8pm) #2 - One game on Friday night (8pm), three Saturday games (as above) and two Sunday games (1pm and 4:30pm) Of the two, I really believe that #1 is the only viable option. But of these six winners, four of them will end up playing each other in the Divisional Round - remember, there's only one team with a bye, so only one opponent per conference (two of the six Wild Card winners) can/will play them. With the current worst-plays-first format, which I do not see needing to change, the only way the league can guarantee that the two teams from the same conference who have to play in the first round and play each other will come to the game with the same amount of rest is to schedule all of the games on Saturday for one conference, with all of the Sunday games reserved for the other. The league will probably be okay with that, but I can't see the networks liking that at all, especially with FOX/CBS already giving up one game apiece to ABC/ESPN in the Wild Card round. But even if they can get the scheduling thing worked out in a manner that is FAIR to the participating teams, we have an even bigger problem staring us in the face. Home games per team. Under the current 6-team format, the league needs 5 games to winnow the playoff teams from each conference down to a single Super-Bowl bound survivor. The first 4 games are hosted by the 4 division champs (2 in the Wild Card round, 2 in the Divisional round). After that, the final 2 teams meet for the Conference title on the home field of the higher seed. Under this format, only ONE team could play two home games. After expanding to 7 teams, you will have three teams getting home games in the first round - all of whom would be division champs. Fine, nothing is changed. But when you get to the second round (the Divisional games), you have 2 games to play. The #1 seed (the 4th division champ) obviously gets their game at home. But the other 2nd round game has to be played somewhere, and unless all 3 first round games ended in upsets, you'll have a division champ playing a 2nd home game in that round. And (get this) if the #1 seed gets upset and does not make the Conference finals, that division champ who has already played 2 home games would be the highest-surviving seed... they could get an unprecedented THIRD post-season home game! Let's use a tangible example - last year's playoffs. Here's what the AFC playoffs would've looked like under a 7-team system: Division Champs: #1 - Denver (13-3) #2 - New England (12-4) #3 - Houston (12-4) #4 - Baltimore (10-6) Wild Cards: #5 - Indianapolis (11-5) #6 - Cincinnati (10-6) #7 - Pittsburgh (8-8) Wild Card Round: 5/Indianapolis at 4/Baltimore = 24-9 Ravens 6/Cincinnati at 3/Houston = 19-13 Texans 7/Pittsburgh at 2/New England = 33-2 Patriots Divisional Round 4/Baltimore at 1/Denver = 38-35 Ravens (OT) 3/Houston at 2/New England = 41-28 Patriots AFC Championship 4/Baltimore at 2/New England = 28-13 Ravens The Patriots would have played THREE home playoff games, having to defend their 12-4 record against the 7th-seeded 8-8 Steelers. Summary: I think the format the league has right now is absolutely perfect. Don't mess with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmishBengalFan Posted November 3, 2013 Report Share Posted November 3, 2013 It's not fair that 2-14 and 3-13 teams don't get a chance to win a Super Bowl, so a 32-team playoff is really the only way to go. I know you're joking, but in case anyone seriously tries to make this argument, the counter-argument is that they already have a 32-team playoff. It's a 17-week round-robin tournament that runs from Labor Day to Christmas. 32 teams go in, 12 survive to the knockout round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeds Orange Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Yeah, I agree. That argument reminds me of the pissing and moaning that goes on every March when a NCAA Basketball team goes 22-10 gets left out of the tournament. And you bring up some excellent points in your prior post. I wonder if the powers-that-be in the league have considered the points you made? It would not stun me to find out that they had not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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