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Should the NFL Expand the playoffs to 8 teams and eliminate byes?


Big Turk

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I have been thinking about this recently.  

 

There is no other major league sport that gives the enormous advantage that the NFL does to it's #1 team in the conference. All of those teams have to play in the first round of the playoffs. NBA now even have play-in games to get into the playoffs...although I am not sure why simply having a better record doesn't qualify you. What's the point of all those games if you can be eliminated by a team with a worse record before the actual playoffs?? That doesn't make much sense, unless it's a money grab.

 

NHL has 8 teams, MLB has 6 teams. Nobody has any byes.  All of those sports play far more games than the NFL. Granted, the physical toll is different for NFL players, but still.

 

It used to be the top 2 teams that got a bye when there were 6 teams. Why when there could have been 3 normal playoff games, I am not sure of.  Now that they expanded to 7, obvious one team has to get a bye.  Expanding to 8 should eliminate the bye and the unfair advantage that it gives them.

 

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Think it was because 1 seed for each division and the lesser of the 4 divisions had to play the wildcards.

 

But yeah, I think 8 is probably coming. There may be a couple bad teams in there but the bye is just unnecessary at this point. Home field advantage is incentive enough.

Edited by What a Tuel
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I do think it's a bit unfair that only 1 team per conference gets a huge bye . Considering most the time the top 2-3 teams have the same record or are a game apart and ya never know what can happen in WC weekend 

 

I personally like this idea or I'd go back to the 6 team, 2 team bye idea. Both are just more fair than the current playoff atmosphere. 

 

But ya , the 8 team , no bye recipe is as fair as it gets. Only issue is half the league makes the playoffs in that scenario.  The team that has the bye in current format has a huge advantage 

Edited by JerseyBills
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Yes.  The single bye is absurd when you consider the uneven schedules and differences in strengths of divisions.  If you're gonna do a bye system, I think you need to have at least 2 byes as we did under the old 6 team system.  Not sure how to make that work unless you added another week of playoffs.  Just spitballing, but maybe non-division winners (5-8) play for the right to meet the 3 and 4 seeds in the first divisional round.  Every divisional winner gets at least a 1 week bye and the top 2 get two weeks off?

 

Edit: But yes, I'd prefer an 8 team playoff with no bye.

Edited by TheBrownBear
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No, they should in fact reduce the number of teams to what it was two years ago, and  go by a teams win loss record, so crappy teams and or divisions get excluded all together.  This rewarding crap organizations with post season slots really does needs to stop. If a team does not have a winning record they do not for any reason get a post season slot, is that to much to ask? 
 

 

 

 

Edited by Don Otreply
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2 minutes ago, JerseyBills said:

I do think it's a bit unfair that only 1 team per conference gets a huge bye . Considering most the time the top 2-3 teams have the same record or are a game apart and ya never know what can happen in WC weekend 

 

I personally like this idea or I'd go back to the 6 team, 2 team bye idea. Both are just more fair than the current playoff atmosphere. 

 

But ya , the 8 team , no bye recipe is as fair as it gets. Only issue is half the league makes the playoffs in that scenario.  

Who wants fair? Being the best should be rewarded toss in makes most teams not put in scrubs at end of the season making fair/unfair for other teams below them in the standings.

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10 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

It used to be the top 2 teams that got a bye when there were 6 teams. Why when there could have been 3 normal playoff games, I am not sure of. 

 

If they play 3 games in the first round, that leaves three winners going into the second round. Unless the number of teams is a power of two, there has to be a bye for someone.

Edited by WhoTom
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4 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

 

If they play 3 games in the first round, that leaves three winners going into the second round. Unless the number of teams is a power of two, there has to be a bye for someone.

 

Yeah you are right...MLB does give the top 2 teams byes, so it was similar to the NFL with only 6 teams.

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16 minutes ago, Greg S said:

I also agree. This would be a good idea. Also, I would increase the regular season to 18 games so everybody has 9 home/away and reduce the preseason to 2 games.

I agree but just go back to 16 if you want to keep it even. The extra game only benefits the owners pockets.

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