Hate it.
The #2 seeds are being punished by losing their bye.
They have to earn their way to the Divisional Round now by pummeling some garbage #7 seed that probably finished 8-8 or 9-7.
Way to water down the playoffs, clowns. Fixing what isn’t broken.
Worse, disadvantaging the #2 seed only further advantages the #1 seed, which was already cruising to the SB.
But mo playoff games means mo money.
Maybe. The NFL may be turning into the NBA, making the regular season a snoozefest as almost half the teams are going to make the playoffs anyway, while the #1 seeds are even more assured of making the SB.
The two moves together work at cross purposes in terms of playoff competition. While they open the tournament to another team, at the same time they make it more likely that the 1st seed wins anyway.
If they want more playoff games, go whole hog and go 16 teams, with full tournament style by seeding. Or 16, with 1st and 2nd seeds keeping their byes. I think I like that the best.
Wait. Better. Add a weekend. 16 teams.
Week1 - 4 wildcard teams play
Week2 - wild card winners play 3rd and 4th division winners
Week3 - Winners of week 2 play the top two seeds
Week4 - Conference championship
I like Wildcard Weekend. They've got to earn playing division winners with an extra win. They're not really in the playoffs until Week2. Wildcard Weekend is pre playoffs.
Note that this gets them another week of TV revenue w/o having the entire league have to play another game, and w/o an *odd* number of games for the regular season.
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