New Playoff Format

[adam]

So what do you guys think of the new 7-team NFL playoff format? I have mixed feelings about it. My old school brain says, leave it like it is. My new school brain says, cool, an extra playoff game. Some thoughts:

The #1 seed is now the only team with a bye. Teams 2-7 face off in the wild card round with the 3 winners and #1 seed making up the Divisional Round. In a way, it does make more sense. It rewards the conference regular-season champ, whereas before, the 2nd seed was also getting a bye. So now the importance of winning the conference becomes even more important. 

The last few weeks of the season should be more competitive as more teams will be in the hunt for that last playoff spot. I could see Week 17 getting pretty crazy as it would almost become a play-in game week for those teams fighting for that last spot.

The #1 seed is going to have an easier path to the SB now and the #2 seed's path is that much harder. 3-6 are about the same as before. They all face off against the same teams as they would before (3v6, 4v5). 

The #7 seed is guaranteed to face the #2 and #1 seed in back to back weeks. If they happen to beat the #2 seed on the road, they then travel to the #1 seed (who is coming off a bye). If they somehow win that one, they more than likely would face either the #3 or #4 seed. So theoretically, the #7 seed has to beat the #1, #2, and #3 seeds in their own conference in 3 consecutive weeks, then, more than likely gets the other conference's #1 seed in the Super Bowl. I don't know what the odds on that would be, but even in the regular season, those odds would be extremely low, but to do that in the playoffs, with 3 road games and then a neutral site game seems extremely low. 

In the end, I think you will see more #1 seeds making it to the SB than before. This is the part I don't like. As much as it makes sense from a regular-season standpoint (best record gets a benefit), it is against everything else in the league's effort to create parity. The reason I don't like it is because some teams have extremely week divisions, like NE did for the past 20 years. They basically started the year 6-0 and only needed to go 7-5 or 6-6 in the other games to win the conference. 

The likelihood of an NFC North team winning the conference is super low. The last NFC North team to get the #1 seed was GB in 2011 at 15-1. The division only has 1 in the last 12 years. That is the frustrating part for me. The divisions are not equal, so though our chances to make the playoffs are better, our chances of winning the SB are worse. So pick your poison.

 

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Not sure what I think of the extra game in the season or the new playoff format.  But I am glad Nagy has decided to play his starters more in the preseason.  It only took three years but finally.  

[Mongo3451]

I would have preferred 8 teams, with no team getting a bye.  Top half of the league in, bottom out.

[adam]

1 hour ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Not sure what I think of the extra game in the season or the new playoff format.  But I am glad Nagy has decided to play his starters more in the preseason.  It only took three years but finally.  

Well, the 17th game won't be added until at least 2021. Yeah, I agree on the preseason, Nagy actually admitting he should've played them in 2019 as well. Hopefully we will see more of it from here on out.

[adam]

1 hour ago, Mongo3451 said:

I would have preferred 8 teams, with no team getting a bye.  Top half of the league in, bottom out.

It would definitely make it more even, but I guess it would de-incentive winning the conference. Also, a 7-9 team would make the playoffs about 50% of the time. I don't know if the league is ready for losing teams in the playoffs. We have seen a few in some bad divisions, but I don't recall the last time a wild card team made it in with a losing record.

[Mongo3451]

It doesn't affect home field advantage, which is still the key.

[Stinger226]

Last  year the 2 teams that got In were Pitt and Rams . That would have been okay.  Once a 7-9 team gets in , people will bad mouth it but if it's our team we will at  least get to see 1 more game whether they're good or bad. As a fan I'm all in for more football.  Definitely will be a better game than some of the trashy games that get on the schedule. We would have been in the running last year for the last spot and would have kept the hype up for our last few games. So i see it as being a good thing. 

[adam]

18 hours ago, Mongo3451 said:

It doesn't affect home field advantage, which is still the key.

Yeah true and the #1 seed would get the #8 seed anyway. So instead of a bye, they get a fringe playoff team. I guess it would lead to some exciting upsets if an 8-seed beat a 1-seed.

[adam]

18 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

Last  year the 2 teams that got In were Pitt and Rams . That would have been okay.  Once a 7-9 team gets in , people will bad mouth it but if it's our team we will at  least get to see 1 more game whether they're good or bad. As a fan I'm all in for more football.  Definitely will be a better game than some of the trashy games that get on the schedule. We would have been in the running last year for the last spot and would have kept the hype up for our last few games. So i see it as being a good thing. 

I agree on the part about more football is always better, and I never liked teams getting a bye anyway. That seemed like a double advantage. They already had home field like Mongo said, and then they get a bye.

[Stinger226]

Mongo was right, it should be 8 teams , that would even the field better for e every team. 

[Connorbear]

2 hours ago, adam said:

I agree on the part about more football is always better, and I never liked teams getting a bye anyway. That seemed like a double advantage. They already had home field like Mongo said, and then they get a bye.

Agreed with Mongo on this point. 

Peace