Playoffs format sucks

[Bayz101]

Could be worse, it could be a BCS setup.

[GMU Steeler]

Originally Posted by Bayz101

Could be worse, it could be a BCS setup.

Yeah, yuck!

[kirklandrules]

Not sure it makes a big difference to me. I understand it's not "fair" to be 12-4 and have to go on the road to a division champ that is 8-8. But if you ask any of the Steelers players, they will most likely tell you rule #1 is win your own division first. The Steelers post season was dictated by losing the 2nd game to the Ravens. They would have been in the driver's seat with a much needed bye and the #1 seed. Having lost that, they were relegated to playing a wildcard game on the road with several injured players. Take care of your business and it shouldn't matter ... or be ready to become road warriors.

[Ricco Suavez]

:

Originally Posted by kirklandrules

Not sure it makes a big difference to me. I understand it's not "fair" to be 12-4 and have to go on the road to a division champ that is 8-8. But if you ask any of the Steelers players, they will most likely tell you rule #1 is win your own division first. The Steelers post season was dictated by losing the 2nd game to the Ravens. They would have been in the driver's seat with a much needed bye and the #1 seed. Having lost that, they were relegated to playing a wildcard game on the road with several injured players. Take care of your business and it shouldn't matter ... or be ready to become road warriors.

Someone who gets it.

[jmike]

Originally Posted by kirklandrules

Not sure it makes a big difference to me. I understand it's not "fair" to be 12-4 and have to go on the road to a division champ that is 8-8. But if you ask any of the Steelers players, they will most likely tell you rule #1 is win your own division first. The Steelers post season was dictated by losing the 2nd game to the Ravens. They would have been in the driver's seat with a much needed bye and the #1 seed. Having lost that, they were relegated to playing a wildcard game on the road with several injured players. Take care of your business and it shouldn't matter ... or be ready to become road warriors.

Very true. Play within the rules that you're given. Don't complain about it. The 2005 Steelers team didn't complain about going on the road. They just worked their asses off. (Not trying to say that the 2005 Steelers team should have had a home game, just providing an example)

[therooster45]

:

Originally Posted by Bill Cowher's Jaw

I think there should be two 6-team divisions in each conference. The two division champions get the first round byes and then there's 4 wildcards that are seeded 3-6 by record and tiebreakers. This would pretty much eliminate the thought of crappy 8-8 or 7-9 division champions.

what then do we do with the other 8 teams that are now in the league 2 x 6 Equals 12 12 +12 equals 24 we presently have 32 teams in the NFL.

[plenewken]

Originally Posted by Bill Cowher's Jaw

I think there should be two 6-team divisions in each conference. The two division champions get the first round byes and then there's 4 wildcards that are seeded 3-6 by record and tiebreakers. This would pretty much eliminate the thought of crappy 8-8 or 7-9 division champions.

Two 6 teams divisions in each conference?? That's a total of 24 teams, not 32.

[Christian Snyder]

Originally Posted by truesteelerfan

The only way I forsee the playoff system changing is to add more teams. More teams, equals more games, equals more chances for King Goodell to fine people.

More like Czar Goodell

Originally Posted by MasterOfPuppets

thats the only problem i have with the current format. i don't think a team with less than a 9-7 record should be eligible for the playoffs. division winner or not.

I have often said just this very thing. As it is now, a 6-10 team could go to the playoffs while a 10-6 or 11-5 team doesn't. It's ridiculious.

We'll probably never see it change though, the NFL loves the fierce rivalries and changing the current system would take away from the inner-division rivalries.

Originally Posted by Bayz101

Could be worse, it could be a BCS setup.

Don't give Goodell any ideas.

[BetterSteel]

I couldn't agree more. I was searching for this on Google and came across this thread so sorry for bumping it up.

But I think the current format sucks because we never get to see some of the best teams against each other and it doesn't really convincingly produce the best teams in the Championship or Super Bowl. The best teams often also go home. There would be nothing wrong with a group format during the divisional week. Each Champion deserves to face the other and test each other against the other champion before playing in the Championship games.

There is nothing exciting about having the best teams 15-1, 13-3, 14-2, get knocked out in the first or second round. There would have been nothing wrong to still see all those other NFC teams playing each other either considering how tight the competition was.

Some players only win 1 playoff game in their career and it's ridiculous. I'd much rather have additional playoff games and either cut some pre-season games or the regular season, then see some of the best teams knocked out and watch Super Bowl blow outs. Two of the most satisfying games this year was between the Saints-49ers and Steelers-Denver. The rest didn't compare. And chances are this Super Bowl will be a blowout as well.

I wouldn't like additional playoff teams. I want additional playoff games between the top teams.

[jmike]

People wouldn't find the playoffs nearly as exciting if there was a chance to redeem yourself. There's several reasons that viewership for the NFL playoffs far outstrips the viewership of the NBA, NHL, or MLB. All of those sports have a multi-game format where it's usually sorted out that the best team wins (not always, but usually) [also, I don't have any hard numbers, but I'm kind of guessing this is the case].

The first reason is "Any Given Sunday". You can get hot going in to the playoffs and pull off victory after victory. Momentum is HUGE in the NFL and has made for some historically great runs in the past few years (Steelers @ 6 (2005), Giants @ 5 (2007?), Green Bay @ 6 (2011)) and these teams may not have even made it if it were a best of 3 series or a round robin style. This style of win or bye is also what makes March Madness HUGE. Cinderella stories and buzzer beaters and EVERYONE is glued to the set to see if the Cinderella story is going to beat the next higher ranked team! I haven't watched a playoff NHL, NBA, or MLB game that wasn't part of the finals for years.

The other big reason that I can think of is injuries. The more you play, the more you're going to have injuries. This has the reverse effect of finding the best team. Yes, everyone has to deal with injuries and that's part of the game, but throwing more games in front of these guys is only a way to get them more injured and banged up.

Ultimately, I think the playoff format is fine. Does it suck to go on the road? Yeah, is it a fact of life in football? Yes. You don't want to go on the road? Win your division. It makes it exciting and it makes it feel like it means something.