FWST Blog: NFL considers re-seeding playoffs...more Combine stuff

[WoodysGirl]

The NHL has done it for years and the NBA has followed suit, so the NFL is also kicking re-seeding its playoffs.

Rich McKay, a member of the NFL's competition committee, said the league would look into it and weigh the pros and cons of such a decision.

It comes down to this - the league doesn't want to reward a team with a 9-7 record with a home playoff game all because it won the division title. But they do not want to de-value winning a division championship.

Had such a decision been made before this season, it would have affected the New York Giants, which finished with a 10-6 regular-season record.

But the Giants opened the playoffs on the road against a Tampa Bay team that finished 9-7, but because it won a "weaker" division it hosted a postseason game.

We all know how the rest of the playoffs went; the Giants won their three playoff games on the road, and the Super Bowl as the "away" team.

In a re-seeded format, the Giants would have opened at home.

- Mac Engel

Posted at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Where will Richard Bartel go ?
With NFL Europe been kicked to the curb because the league decided it was a giant waste of money and the Euros cared considerably more about futbol and not football there is some collateral damage. Namely, the game overseas was an ideal spot for quarterbacks to gain some valuable game time they would otherwise not see.

The Cowboys once sent Drew Henson there.

The lack of a "developmental" league affects the Cowboys with second-year player and former Grapevine star Richard Bartel, who spent all of his rookie year on the practice squad. The Cowboys want to keep him around, but at some point he needs to play if they think he has any potential to even become a decent backup. The same goes for players such as Jim Marten or Pat McQuistan; any developmental player.

Tight end Tony Curtis went to Europe last off-season, played well, and became a valued reserve for the Cowboys in 2007.

The NFL's competition committee was asked today about how the league plans to try to find a place to groom potential passers, and its answers were pretty lame.

- More time in the preseason.
- More time in the fourth quarter of blowouts.
- More practice time.

They did not, however, offer PlayStation or the Wii as potential grooming grounds.

- Mac Engel

Posted at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Wade Phillips probably won't be happy but ...

One of Cowboys coach Wade Phillips complaints from early in the season does not appear as if it will be addressed this offseason by the NFL competition committee.

After the Cowboys rallied to defeat the Bills 25-24 on Oct. 8, 2007 in Buffalo on a last-second field goal by Nick Folk, Phillips expressed some displeasure that a coach could call a timeout from the sideline just a fraction before the kicker went into his motion.

If you recall, Folk hit a 53-yard field goal but the play was nullified because Bills coach Dick Jauron had called a timeout only a moment before the ball was snapped.

Ultimately it didn't matter because Folk hit it again.

But Phillips said the day after the game that coaches shouldn't have the power to make that call.

Titans head coach Jeff Fisher, who is a member of the NFL's competition committee, spoke to the possible rule change today and it's not happening.
Fisher said it was one of those trends that the league saw early in the season, and then it went away as the year progressed.

"I don't think you'll see any more of it," Fisher said.

At least not until the next time.

- Mac Engel

Posted at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Live from the NFL Combine

Just arrived to a 20-degree downtown Indianapolis for the NFL's annual meat market, officially called the Scouting Combine.

Thursday is traditionally a slower day, with the majority of the masses expected to descend to the Indianapolis Convention Center tomorrow.

The Cowboys front office people - i.e. Jerry Jone and friends - are expected in Friday.

They are expected to have preliminary discussions with the agents for free agent safety Ken Hamlin as well as restricted free agent running back Marion Barber.

- Mac Engel

Posted at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

 

[superpunk]

Well then, they might as well do away with the divisions. Which would be phenomenally stupid.

Let's say that the Seahawks finish 12-4, and the 49ers finish 11-5. The Cards and Rams both have less than 4 wins.

However, the Cowboys win the East with a 10-6 record, but the worst team in the brutal east is the Commanders at 7-9, with 5 losses in-division.

Do we want Dallas going to San Fran just because the West is horse droppings?

Please, fool.

http://i32.***BLOCKED***/albums/d2/superpunk2884/goodell.png

 

[Doomsday101]

I think they need to leave the playoff seeding as is.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

get em signed.

 

[Hoofbite]

Wade Phillips probably won't be happy but ...

One of Cowboys coach Wade Phillips complaints from early in the season does not appear as if it will be addressed this offseason by the NFL competition committee.

After the Cowboys rallied to defeat the Bills 25-24 on Oct. 8, 2007 in Buffalo on a last-second field goal by Nick Folk, Phillips expressed some displeasure that a coach could call a timeout from the sideline just a fraction before the kicker went into his motion.

If you recall, Folk hit a 53-yard field goal but the play was nullified because Bills coach Dick Jauron had called a timeout only a moment before the ball was snapped.

Ultimately it didn't matter because Folk hit it again.

But Phillips said the day after the game that coaches shouldn't have the power to make that call.

Titans head coach Jeff Fisher, who is a member of the NFL's competition committee, spoke to the possible rule change today and it's not happening.
Fisher said it was one of those trends that the league saw early in the season, and then it went away as the year progressed.

"I don't think you'll see any more of it," Fisher said.

At least not until the next time.

- Mac Engel

I think they need a rule for it. Once the players are set, I don't think a coach should be able to call a timeout. "Icing" the kicker is one thing. Making players run a play to have it not count is another.

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

I think they need to leave the playoff seeding as is.

I agree. It's quite possible that if the Giants played at home against the Bucs they may have lost and not gone on to win the Super Bowl. But the fact is that the Giants were the better team, and they did win. So that shows how meaningless home-field advantage is when you take care of business. The Gimats proved that. The Steelers proved that also not too long ago, when they climbed a steep slope to eventuially win the Super Bowl.

**

 

[adamknite]

I think they need a rule for it. Once the players are set, I don't think a coach should be able to call a timeout. "Icing" the kicker is one thing. Making players run a play to have it not count is another.

That's how I feel, I have no problem with a coach calling a timeout to ice the kicker, that's fine. Calling the timeout a split second before the snap to try and get the other team to run the play twice is a little much.

 

[Gryphon]

Posted: February 21, 2008
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=356265

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The NFL is considering changing the postseason so seeding would be based on records rather than division titles.

That won't avoid instances like the one last season when Cleveland missed the playoffs and Tennessee made it by beating Indianapolis backups. But competition committee members agreed Thursday that changing the seeding guidelines would result in fewer such situations.

Committee co-chairman Rich McKay, the Atlanta Falcons' president, said some clubs had indicated support for the changes.

"There are definitely people on both sides," McKay said Thursday at the NFL scouting combine, "and I think there are good arguments on both sides."

The altered seeding wouldn't have affected the Colts-Titans game -- Indianapolis had already clinched the second-best record in the AFC -- but it could make an impact in other future situations in which one club would have nothing to play for under the current guidelines.

The main motivation for changing the rules is ensuring that the best teams are rewarded. With the NFL aligned in eight four-team divisions, the odds increase that a champion of a weak division may have home field against a wild-card squad from a tough division with a better record.

That happened last season when NFC South champion Tampa Bay (9-7) played host to the New York Giants (10-6). The Giants, who despite having clinched a playoff spot, played all-out in their finale against unbeaten New England, beat the Bucs in Tampa and won two more playoff games on the road.

Then they upset New England in the Super Bowl, crediting in part the 38-35 loss to the Patriots in the regular-season finale for giving them the confidence that they could stay a team seeking to finish a historic 19-0.

The committee is also seeking to revamp its proposal to allow one defensive player to wear a headset in his helmet to communicate with coaches as the quarterback does. NFL owners have previously voted down that idea. A similar rule was considered last season at the NFL meetings.

On offense, it's easy to ensure that only one player at a time is wearing the headset on the field because it's always the quarterback. That's more complicated on defense.

"If your identified defensive starter is injured and you lose the ability to communicate with the defense, how do you handle the backup situation?" said Titans coach Jeff Fisher, the committee's other co-chair. "Those are the things we're currently discussing."

Fisher expected that teams would keep multiple helmets with headsets on the sideline.

"We're just going through the process of ensuring there's not any confusion," he said.

The committee does not plan to propose any rule changes to prevent coaches from calling a timeout just as the ball is snapped on a field goal attempt, as happened several times this past season.

Fisher predicted the trend won't continue because coaches have realized the move can backfire. His team was the beneficiary of that scenario Nov. 19, when the Denver Broncos called a timeout just before Rob Bironas missed a 56-yard field goal try at the end of the first half. Given a second chance, Bironas made it.

Fisher said prohibiting coaches from calling a timeout with less than 10 seconds left on the play clock isn't a viable solution.

"Well, what if I've got 12 guys on the field and I just recognized it, and now I can't call a timeout, so I've been assessed a 5-yard penalty, and now they've got a first down, and a touchdown wins?" he said.

The committee was also briefed by the commissioner's office on the handling of the Patriots spying scandal. Members did not see the need to change any rules, believing the current ones are sufficient to prevent future incidents.

"The briefing was thorough; it was detailed," Colts president Bill Polian said. "The process of arriving at the discipline was explained to us. That process was fair, detailed, efficient. What was on the tapes was explained to us and what was in the notes was explained to us. The reason that that information was done away with was explained.

"From my perspective, that was a thorough, fair, efficient process with lots of integrity, and they arrived at a disciplinary action, which the commissioner thought was appropriate and met with previous precedent."

 

[gimmesix]

The committee does not plan to propose any rule changes to prevent coaches from calling a timeout just as the ball is snapped on a field goal attempt, as happened several times this past season.

Fisher predicted the trend won't continue because coaches have realized the move can backfire. His team was the beneficiary of that scenario Nov. 19, when the Denver Broncos called a timeout just before Rob Bironas missed a 56-yard field goal try at the end of the first half. Given a second chance, Bironas made it.

Fisher said prohibiting coaches from calling a timeout with less than 10 seconds left on the play clock isn't a viable solution.

"Well, what if I've got 12 guys on the field and I just recognized it, and now I can't call a timeout, so I've been assessed a 5-yard penalty, and now they've got a first down, and a touchdown wins?" he said.

Could the NFL at least partly block the practice by not allowing coaches to tell the official he wants a timeout called right before the ball is snapped? If the coaches are forced to actually try to time calling the timeout, then I would think it wouldn't work as well. They would sometimes get it either called in time for the kicking team to not snap the ball or after play has started.

 

[Hostile]

I like the added drama of icing the kicker. It has been happening for years, coaches just started waiting longer.

 

[AdamJT13]

I like the added drama of icing the kicker. It has been happening for years, coaches just started waiting longer.

Coaches couldn't call timeouts from the sideline before -- only players on the field could call them.

 

[Hostile]

Coaches couldn't call timeouts from the sideline before -- only players on the field could call them.

That is true. I still like it. I know most don't. It honestly doesn't bother me.