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Fixing NFL Divisional Structure


corta765

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On 11/5/2019 at 1:32 PM, corta765 said:

With the talk of a possible London team and many proposals for divisional changes I wanted to explain an idea I had which in my eyes would completely balance the league and the playoffs. It looks like this:

 

AFC East: BUF, NE, MIA, NYJ, PIT, CIN, CLE, BAL

AFC West: KC, OAK, DEN, LAC, IND, HOU, TEN, JAX

NFC East: PHI, DAL, NYG, WAS, ATL, TB, CAR, NOLA

NFC West: SEA, ARZ, LAR, SF, DET, GB, MIN, CHI

 

Schedule wise it works like this you play everyone in your division once with a single additional game against your former division rival (aka BUF would play NE, MIA, NYJ on a rotating basis). Then you would crossover against the other division playing four of the teams there and the next season playing the four you didn't. And with the NFC we would do it the same way the NFL does with four team a year rotating.

 

For the playoffs division winners are guaranteed homefield, but the top two records get the bye. So potentially the top two teams in each conference could be from the same division.

 

Here are the advantages:

-Far more balanced schedule where you play 75% of your conference yearly

-Better chance for bigger matchups on a more routine basis

-Playoffs would finally allow wildcards to host playoff games again

-You would never see an 8-8 7-9 division champion again

-Rivalries would be created with Buffalo playing close foes like PIT and CLE yearly and same for other matchups

 

It looks like if a team moves to London it probably is coming from the AFC. If the Jags or Chargers move you would just switch MIA into their place. Probably not the fairest thing for the Phins but that is a casualty of the NFL's obsession to go to London.

 

 

I have a long history of digging Corta...not going to change that now.

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On 11/5/2019 at 10:57 AM, SJDK said:

I think the league should re-align to have divisions that make sense.

 

AFC EAST:
Buff
NE
NYJ
BAL
 
AFC SOUTH:
MIAMI
HOUSTON
TENN
JACKSONVILLE
 
AFC NORTH:
INDI
CLE
PITT
CINCI
 
AFC WEST:
RAIDERS
BRONCOS
CHIEFS
CHARGERS
 
NFC EAST:
GIANTS
PHILI
WASHINGTON
CAROLINA
 
NFC SOUTH: 
ATLANTA
NO
DALLAS
TAMPA
 
NFC NORTH:
CHI
MIN
GB
DET
 
NFC WEST:
SF
ARI
SEA
RAMS

 

 

Won't happen as the NFL won't allow the Buffalo-Miami rivalry to end. Or Dallas-Philadelphia.

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13 hours ago, Dopey said:

Heard on WGR this morning that playing in London is not gonna work unless there is a change in the tax structure in London(good luck). They mentioned a player making $28 million a year in London would take home $7 Million of it. No way that will fly with players or the NFLPA. I don't have any links to articles, just heard it on the radio this morning. 

What's the problem...if Warren or Sanders gets elected the player making $28Million will think getting to keep $7Million is a sweet deal! :)

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18 hours ago, Dopey said:

Heard on WGR this morning that playing in London is not gonna work unless there is a change in the tax structure in London(good luck). They mentioned a player making $28 million a year in London would take home $7 Million of it. No way that will fly with players or the NFLPA. I don't have any links to articles, just heard it on the radio this morning. 

 

I would be interested in hearing that calculation because by my reckoning it is wrong. We have no such thing as state tax we have a national income tax. The threshold for high earners in 50% on earnings over £200,000. My working out on that means you get paid $28m a year you would take home about $14m a year. 

 

And that is before all the tricks you can use to reduce your tax liability. If you really kept a quarter of your income do you really think the world's best soccer players would continue to flood into the UK? 

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8 hours ago, row_33 said:

The NFC East is the crown jewel of the NFL and its broadcasting empire

 

stop wishing Dallas would be moved out of it...

 

 

This. Four big market teams in a single division playing 12 head to heads a season. The NFL is not messing with that. Nor is it messing with the handful of other rivalries which are guaranteed TV numbers: Green Bay - Chicago; Baltimore - Pittsburgh; Seattle - San Francisco. There is a reason that even in seasons where one or other of these teams is down for some reason they still have those matchups I'm prime time slots.

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Playing 3 teams twice per year in football is just stupid.   8 team divisions would make the league better and each game more important.  For example, we lost to NE, but since we play them again, if we beat them, we can win the division.  This makes our first meeting with those cheaters less meaningful.  

 

It would also give the best teams a chance to make the playoffs.  We have seen a few duds HOST playoff games in the current setup.  Realigning would also give teams like the Bills an actual shot at making the playoffs, I stead of getting buried under a dynasty like the cheaters for TWENTY FREAKING YEARS.

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10 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

I like when they put a southern team in a northern division.  Nice to mix it up with weather.  Southern teams play in snow.  Northern teams get a break and head south when cold out.

 

One of the things I like with the NFL is the fact its not an East v West conference setup and the divisions are a little unique across the board. Having gone to Miami twice I would hate to lose that.

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16 minutes ago, corta765 said:

 

One of the things I like with the NFL is the fact its not an East v West conference setup and the divisions are a little unique across the board. Having gone to Miami twice I would hate to lose that.

Exactly... Because historically, domes are unnatural, football is weather driven.  Weather is part of the game.  Important aspect of game.

 

Teams shouldn't play in all perfect weather.  Teams shouldn't play in all bad weather.  Gotta learn to huff it in the heat and wheel it through the snow and slop.

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should make it an 18 team Champions League and a 14 team Scrub League.

 

Bottom four in the CL are relegated and the top 4 in the Scrub are promoted at year end.

 

See what teams stay in the Scrub until well past 2050.

 

 

 

 

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On 11/5/2019 at 3:46 PM, Bangarang said:


Do players actually care about such a thing?

It doesn't matter what the players care about. It's what the TV networks care about.

 

The 17-game schedule would (somewhat) alleviate this though. Getting 2 interconference games every year instead of one.

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For the NFL, the marquee matchups are often divisional based on rivalries.  Having the home and away games are important and set up important "revenge games".    I don't think you will get away from that.    You could change up who is in what division but I dont think you are getting rid of the number of divisions. I think it is good how it is.   But if you want to move the Pats to the NFC for the Cardinals, I would be for that.

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2 minutes ago, BuffBillsForLife said:

Somewhere, in another time and place, the rustbelt division exists and it is glorious.  Let the other 28 teams compete for the super bowl, we're competing for Lake Erie dominance.

BUF

PIT

CLE

DET

 

Honestly I have no desire for this at any point. I get why some do but I like having the division where you can travel to Boston NYC or Miami. Going to PIT CLE DET is like visiting Buffalo which I don't need to do regularly.

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3 minutes ago, corta765 said:

 

Honestly I have no desire for this at any point. I get why some do but I like having the division where you can travel to Boston NYC or Miami. Going to PIT CLE DET is like visiting Buffalo which I don't need to do regularly.

If two cities are both geographically close and culturally similar, you'll be able to grow a much stronger rivalry between the two teams, which is what having division opponents you play twice a year is all about.  What does Buffalo have in common with Miami or NYC?  If you just want to view your division rivals as an annual vacation you're missing the point of divisions entirely and you may as well just scrap divisions and do 16 team conference blobs instead. 

Even in a hypothetical rustbelt division, you would have 3-4 road games a year in more "interesting" cities you could go to.

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