Playoffs to be Re-Structured?

by the21eraser on Feb 8, 2008 11:21 AM EST in NFL General

The New York Post, among other outlets, is reporting the NFL is considering changing the playoff seeding for Playoff Teams.

Under the new proposal, divisional winners wouldn't automatically be awarded a home playoff game. If a wild-card team has a better record than the divisional opponent, they would be awarded the home game.

The idea behind this is to spice up the competition in the final weeks of the season... encouraging more games like the Giants/Pats, and less like the Colts/Titans game. It also helps in situations like the AFC South. Some would argue the Jaguars (12-4), even though they won, shouldn't have had to travel to Pittsburgh (10-6).

I really like this idea, as it encourages more teams to all-out compete throughout the season. The only problem? It possibly takes away the reward for winning the division... a home playoff game.

Although I think it's a long shot to get this passed, what do you think. Do you think teams should be encouraged to play all out, every game? Should teams who are on fire the first part of the season and lock up their seeding be rewarded with the ability to rest players?

What do you guys think? As a Colts fan, it's always nice to be able to rest players at the end of the season. Unfortunately, the past two times we've rested players it hasn't worked well for us. While I'm not convinced that resting our players had a negative effect, I'm all for any initiative by the NFL to increase competitiveness.

One aspect that isn't mentioned is the effect that resting players has on Fantasy Football. If you have a week 15, 16, and 17 playoff system... you might as well forget about drafting Peyton. He almost always sits in week 17. Trust me, there is nothing more frustrating to make it to the final game of the Fantasy Season, only to have some of your key players ride the pine.

Poll

What do you think of the NFL's proposal to award playoff games based on records, rather than divisional seedings?

I love it. Wild-card winners in strong divisions should have a chance to host a game rather than a weak division winner

9 votes

I love it. I just want to see the players play hard every week.

7 votes

I dont care. I just want to win my Fantasy Football Playoffs.

0 votes

I hate it. The division winner should be awareded a home game

2 votes

18 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

I'm for it

I'm for this and have been in all of sports for years. The divisional seeding stuff is silly. Everything should go by wins-losses. Chances are it is 2 teams that will have switched seedings so I fail to see why anyone would have a problem with this.

by Rob L on Feb 8, 2008 11:58 AM EST reply actions

I'm reminded

of the 2002 playoffs. The 9-7 Jets hosted the 10-6 Colts. The Jets watered their field and left it a muddy mess, negating Indy's speed. Jets won 44-0.

Flash forward to the 2007 season: 10-6 Pittsburgh hosts 12-4 Jacksonville. Utterly retarded.

Winning your division means nothing if your division sucks. The team with the better record should host. If both teams have the same record, than the tie breaker is division winner.

Please make an account and post a diary, add some comments, and make some noise. Accounts are free, and only require an email address.

by Brad Wells on Feb 8, 2008 12:08 PM EST reply actions

We've always had our FFL Playoffs

Weeks 14, 15, and 16 for that very reason. It was amazing looking at the spreads for Week 17 this year, such as:

Titans -4.5 at Colts
Redskins -9 vs. Cowboys
Texans -7 vs. Jaguars

I'm all for meaningful games all the way through the season. Jake may know better how the NBA works, but I think after the first round, the team with the better record gets home court regardless of seed. I can see it making the NFL better as well.

by mgrex03 on Feb 8, 2008 12:54 PM EST reply actions

for it

It helps cancel out the benefits of playing in a weak division. They already get 6 games against cupcakes (or as close as to it in the NFL) you don't need to give them home-field just because they were the least inept in their pathetic division.

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by shake n bake on Feb 8, 2008 5:28 PM EST reply actions

Good points

all around. To me the team that is the perfect example of why the playoffs need to be re-structured is this year's Buccaneers. They lost three of their last four regular season games to:

the then 5-7 Texans
the then 4-10 49ers
the then 6-9 Panthers

But because they played in that lousy division, they were able to limp into the playoffs at 9-7 with a home game. Of course, I doubt the then 10-6 Giants would put up much of a stink about it now....

by ctnyc on Feb 8, 2008 6:54 PM EST reply actions