The NFL cannot leave well enough alone, can it? Seemingly every year, Roger Goodell and his 31 best friends, plus whoever represents the Green Bay Packers, come together as a governing body and wreak havoc on the league they have created. The worst part in all this? No matter what happens, all 32 NFL franchises will get a cut of the revenue pie, no matter if they brought home the bacon or not.
I am referring to the Detroit Lions' proposal to completely reshape the NFL's playoff format. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer did a phenomenal job of breaking down what is at stake and what the rule proposal implies. Along with the potential ban of the Philadelphia Eagles' tush push, this is the other big proposal that will be voted on in the NFL owners meeting next week.
The Lions hope that the four division championships in each conference will not be shoehorned into a top-four seed and get to host a playoff game. Though they still want all eight division champions to be part of the playoff picture, they are sick and tired of teams that win bad divisions not earning their keep. After each round, the playoffs shall be reseeded, top to bottom.
The biggest reason the proposal might pass is because of this one particular clause in the memo:
Competitive equity. Provides excitement and competition in late-season games. Rewards the best-performing teams from the regular season.
Teams seem to be eating this up. By the seeding not being finalized until after every game is played, it would prevent teams from sitting players in Weeks 17 and 18 down the stretch. Just because a team has a division title locked up does not mean they will be guaranteed a first-round home game in this situation. I understand why this is landing so well with the owners, but this is so caveat emptor..
I may be in the minority, but I think this has the potential to lose even more fans down the road.
NFL owners need to be cautious before approving Lions playoff proposal
For as much as I love football, I fully recognize it is a gladiator sport. It is not if you will get hurt playing it, but when. Although I like the idea of seeing more and more teams actually trying to play in Weeks 17 and 18, what if a star player on a team gets hurt in a game where you are trying to go from the No. 4 seed to the No. 3 seed? Give me a break. You want your best players playing in the playoffs, man!
We will lose as fans when a team's star quarterback, running back or edge rusher gets hurt in a game that wouldn't have been as needlessly important in the current model. This is the league trying to fix an issue that does not need fixing. Every so often, a bad division winner emerges. Rather than falling to pieces over it, can the No. 5 seed prove its worth by beating the tar out of the No. 4?
I hate what the NFL has done to regular season overtime. College football had it perfect, until they meddled too much and screwed that up for good. Winning your division should still be of utmost importance. It is the first box a good team aspires to check at the start of every season. We do not need to put the cart in front of the horse. Just let things breathe.
Plus, why should we reward a non-champion of a precious home game? You can reseed it however you please, but at least give them that. Having a home playoff game is a great bragging right to hold over your three most hated rivals. Rivalries are what make us care about sports. Competition is bred out of them most effortlessly. We don't need everybody to be friends.
Besides the increased chance of a star player getting hurt, fans also lose because it creates fewer opportunities to create new fans. Having up-and-coming teams hosting their first playoff game in eons is a great way to make that happen. Do you think a 10 year-old cares if their favorite team is a massive home underdog in their No. 4 vs. No. 5 game? They don't! They are stoked!
This feels like a strictly pro-owner proposal. They want more money to line their pockets, and never get an extra cent more than they should to the players like the Cincinnati Bengals have made a business out of. This proposal runs counter to the one thing the NFL claims to care about: Player safety. I doubt the NFLPA will be as on board with this as the owners seem to be.
We watch these games because of the players, and not because of the people who own these teams.