Commissioner Goodell said he spoke with owners about expanding the playoffs to include more teams. I'm down with that if it's no more than four and preferably two teams.
Two games but only if they expand the number of teams. There are enough 8-8 teams in the playoffs. I've felt this way since being forced to cover Bruce Coslet's 8-8 Jets limp in.
Why do critics keep talking about 8-8 and 7-9 teams making the playoffs? It rarely happens. Sometimes, double-digit win teams don't get in because of the structure. This would work fine.
I'm not a hater or a killjoy. I'm merely against anything that rewards mediocrity -- especially in NFL football. This isn't the NBA, which I love, but don't pay attention to until late February.
This isn't the NHL (Actually, come to think of it, does the NHL still exist?). This isn't MLB. The games are supposed to matter -- all the games.
You say that, but if a 7-9 or 8-8 team beats a high seed, then we'll be writing and talking about Cinderella. And if a team is big and bad, they'll eliminate Team Mediocrity and we'll keep it movin'.
This is the only sport where you don't get a mulligan for months and a half. Even in September, there's a sense that a season is on the line every Sunday.
Of course, but there also are teams that start slow or get an injured player back and get hot and barnstorm through the playoffs. We'll all get over it and in the long run, adapt and enjoy.
Teams already rest starters the last week of the season. No one likes to see a still-contending team going up against a team that's already clinched. What would happen now?
You could get two weeks of that. Choose meritocracy over mediocrity.
I doubt that would happen often. It actually could make for more meaningful game if there were two or three teams battling for position to make the final week of games more intriguing.
Like you said, this isn't MLB. Stop acting like a purist.
