NFL changing playoff format (1 Viewer)

I kind of like it, byes in football is too strong, then 2 teams each conference was getting them almost insuring thats who was going to get matched up in the title games.

Before anyone tells me about how many times a bye team has lost in the divisional, need I also state that because they have rested the team far too long prior to the next game, like Baltimore.

Theirs also dangerous teams left out of that 7th seed, like one person stated in my post about the SB matchups, theirs just not that much difference between a 10-6 team and 13-3 team, that 10-6 team had hard schedule, but will be at disadvantage playing at the 13-3 one.

What I will find funny to make these shenanigans backfire is the 7th seed AFC team that gets in.
 
Player safety is their highest priority
Since when? Making $ is the highest priority for owners and players. It is professional football. Everyone gets paid. More games = more $. Why is everyone up in arms. Silly to get upset about this.
 
I kind of like it, byes in football is too strong, then 2 teams each conference was getting them almost insuring thats who was going to get matched up in the title games.

Before anyone tells me about how many times a bye team has lost in the divisional, need I also state that because they have rested the team far too long prior to the next game, like Baltimore.

Theirs also dangerous teams left out of that 7th seed, like one person stated in my post about the SB matchups, theirs just not that much difference between a 10-6 team and 13-3 team, that 10-6 team had hard schedule, but will be at disadvantage playing at the 13-3 one.

What I will find funny to make these shenanigans backfire is the 7th seed AFC team that gets in.

The home team coming off a bye wins ~80% of the time in the playoffs making it the most unbalanced advantage in all of sports. Home teams win ~53% of the time in any other NFL game including all other playoff rounds. Having less byes is a great thing for competitive balance.

Now they need to seed according to record and not have automatic home games for division winners.
 
The home team coming off a bye wins ~80% of the time in the playoffs making it the most unbalanced advantage in all of sports. Home teams win ~53% of the time in any other NFL game including all other playoff rounds. Having less byes is a great thing for competitive balance.

you also have to take into account that the team having a bye is just a better team as well. There is a reason why they have that bye.

it should also be a major advantage to have a bye for having the best record in the regular season
 
you also have to take into account that the team having a bye is just a better team as well. There is a reason why they have that bye.

it should also be a major advantage to have a bye for having the best record in the regular season

The "better" (home) team only wins 53% of the time in other playoff rounds without the benefit of a bye compared to 80% of the time when they have a bye. No narrative can overcome those kind of statistics.
 
The "better" (home) team only wins 53% of the time in other playoff rounds without the benefit of a bye compared to 80% of the time when they have a bye. No narrative can overcome those kind of statistics.
The further you go in the playoffs, the better teams you play. And the top teams SHOULD have that advantage
 
Since then, after moving to the four division per conference format, having a 9-7/8-8 division winner is common place, as is having a 9-7/10-6 non-division winner being left out of the playoffs altogether. And to top it off, and admittedly I need to go do the research on this, but I would bet that it has happened more times than not that even the #7 team in the conference has had a better or near identical record than division winner #4 since 2002.
Here is the data on all .750 (win%) teams that didnt make the playoffs for one reason or another since 1934. Only 9 of the 15 were bumped by division winners. You might note the most significant casualty was the 1967 Colts that got bumped by the Lomabardi Packers. Thus if we change the system too much perhaps we should also discuss whose name should even be on the trophy.

Bumped by Division Winner
1​
1934​
Lions10-3Giants8-5
2​
1936​
Bears9-3Redskins7-5
3​
1939​
Redskins8-2-1n/a
4​
1942​
Packers8-2-1n/a
5​
1943​
Packers7-2-1Redskins/Giants6-3-1
6​
1944​
Eagles7-1-2n/a
7​
1948​
Bears10-2Eagles9-2-1
8​
1951​
Giants9-2-1Rams8-4
9​
1953​
49ers9-3n/a
10​
1956​
Lions9-3Giants8-3-1
11​
1962​
Lions11-3n/a
12​
1963​
Packers11-2-1Giants11-3
13​
1964​
Cardinals9-3-2n/a
14​
1967​
Colts11-1-2Browns/Packers/Cowboys9-5/9-4-1
15​
1968​
Rams10-3-1Browns/Vikings10-4/8-6

I would rather just take the 4 division winners and get rid of the wild card altogether.
 
If that happens then we deserve what we get. As good as some people around here insist we are, we've now gone eight straight playoff games without being able to win convincingly. Our last playoff victory that wasn't a coin-flip going into the final minute was against the Lions in the 2011 season.

That's a dumb standard. Almost all playoff games are coin flips that are close into the 4th quarter.
 

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