Originally Posted by
BURGH86STEEL
It will be likely that at least 2 of the 4 teams that make it will have a .500 or losing records. I don't think anyone wants to see a team with a losing record make the playoffs.
Last year, there would have been 3 9-7 teams (Pittsburgh, Houston, Atlanta) and 1 8-8 team (San Francisco). And every one of those teams ended the season with a winning streak from 2-4 games.
With only 16 games in a season, there's a good chance that a good team that starts slowly or runs through a rough patch during the season won't make the playoffs, but could be a very dangerous team that could beat anyone who did make the playoffs. There are lots of average teams 7-9, 8-8, or 9-7 that develop and come on at the end of the season.
Heck, some divisions are harder and the 7 and 8 team could arguably be better than the 3-6 teams. Odds are the 1 and 2 seeds are very good. The 3 seed is probably good. And the quality of the 4-8 teams is probably pretty varied.
And it's not like there'd have to be another week of football. There's already a team resting that's in the playoffs. Why not have them play?
And the bye weeks in the playoffs mess with the quality of the games imho. The teams that rest either get rusty or they're so well rested that there ends up being a game that gets decided by the week off rather than the competition.
And in the scenario you mention, the 1/2 teams shouldn't care if they have to play a bad team. If they're that good, they'll easily win.
Another couple of positives:
With more teams in the playoff hunt, weeks 15-16 would be even bigger than they are typically. There wouldn't be as many meaningless games. NFL teams tend to clinch to early imho.
More fans would get to experience the playoffs. This would be good for the NFL and fans. More money.
Why do 3 and 4 seeds have a potential to give their fans 3 playoff home games, but there's only 2 potential home games for the 1 and 2 seeds. The 1 and 2 seeds should be rewarded with more potential playoff home games to make more money. This is pretty messed up if you think about it.
We've seen 5 and 6 seeds win the SuperBowl recently. Given the new competitiveness of the league, I think we'd see 7 and 8 seeds capable of winning the SB.
Everyone loves an underdog. Look at the recent NHL series where Montreal and Philly (7 and 8 seeds) were playing to get into the Stanley Cup finals. I hate that the Pens got upset, but having a 7 and 8 seed make it was exciting.
There's a lot of positives to expanding the playoffs. Most of all, we'd have a better shot of getting in the playoffs every year.
And the Steelers can win even when we're underdogs.
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