DropKick
Footballguy
I posted this within a thread some time ago and thought the topic could make an interesting discussion of its own.
Reason for a change? My primary concern is that small and sometimes weak divisions can lead to strength of schedule differences and other advantages and disadvantages within the league. And there are also too many redundant match-ups. How many "Bay of Pigs" games do we need?. Other benefits include: a reduction in preseason games; an additional regular season game; a better grouping of teams by region, a concentration of bye weeks to the middle of the season; more incentive to play the entire regular season competitively and a possible SB match-up between any combination of NFL Teams.
There is a clear trade-off between the symmetric home & away pairing of today's small divisions and a wider variety of match-ups. Each NFL team will play (at least) 17 different teams each season.
With the new alignment:
- Eliminate distinction between the AFC & NFC
- Create four (4) "Super Divisions" of eight (8) teams (North, South, East, West)
- Each team plays two (2) preseason and seventeen (17) regular season games with one (1) bye week:
-> 7 against each team in their own division (alternate home/away each season)
-> 8 against another division (rotate so teams play at least once every 3 seasons)
-> 2 against the "equivalent" team in the remaining divisions (#1 vs #1, etc.)
- Bye weeks concentrated in weeks 8-11, where an entire division (8 teams) is on bye each week. No byes during the first or last seven weeks of the season. The division on bye rotates on the pattern 8-9-10-11-8-9-10-11-...
- Play-offs similar to today's structure:
-> Only the four Division Winners get a bye
-> Eight "open" Wild Cards that can come from any division
-> Teams Seeded #1-#12; wild card games #12 @ #5, etc.
-> Beyond wild card round highest seed vs. lowest seed, etc.
Here are the Divisions:
Eastern Division
- New England Patriots
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Philadelphia Eagles
- New York Giants
- New York Jets
- Baltimore Ravens
- Buffalo Bills
- Washington Redskins
Northern Division
- Indianapolis Colts
- Minnesota Vikings
- Green Bay Packers
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Cleveland Browns
- Chicago Bears
- Detroit Lions
- Kansas City Chiefs
Southern Division
- Tennessee Titans
- New Orleans Saints
- Miami Dolphins
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Atlanta Falcons
- Carolina Panthers
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- St. Louis Rams
Western Division
- San Diego Chargers
- Arizona Cardinals
- Denver Broncos
- Oakland Raiders
- San Francisco 49ers
- Seattle Seahawks
- Houston Texans
- Dallas Cowboys
My first thought? Those are some tough divisions! Whoever takes a division, deserves a bye!
Reason for a change? My primary concern is that small and sometimes weak divisions can lead to strength of schedule differences and other advantages and disadvantages within the league. And there are also too many redundant match-ups. How many "Bay of Pigs" games do we need?. Other benefits include: a reduction in preseason games; an additional regular season game; a better grouping of teams by region, a concentration of bye weeks to the middle of the season; more incentive to play the entire regular season competitively and a possible SB match-up between any combination of NFL Teams.
There is a clear trade-off between the symmetric home & away pairing of today's small divisions and a wider variety of match-ups. Each NFL team will play (at least) 17 different teams each season.
With the new alignment:
- Eliminate distinction between the AFC & NFC
- Create four (4) "Super Divisions" of eight (8) teams (North, South, East, West)
- Each team plays two (2) preseason and seventeen (17) regular season games with one (1) bye week:
-> 7 against each team in their own division (alternate home/away each season)
-> 8 against another division (rotate so teams play at least once every 3 seasons)
-> 2 against the "equivalent" team in the remaining divisions (#1 vs #1, etc.)
- Bye weeks concentrated in weeks 8-11, where an entire division (8 teams) is on bye each week. No byes during the first or last seven weeks of the season. The division on bye rotates on the pattern 8-9-10-11-8-9-10-11-...
- Play-offs similar to today's structure:
-> Only the four Division Winners get a bye
-> Eight "open" Wild Cards that can come from any division
-> Teams Seeded #1-#12; wild card games #12 @ #5, etc.
-> Beyond wild card round highest seed vs. lowest seed, etc.
Here are the Divisions:
Eastern Division
- New England Patriots
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Philadelphia Eagles
- New York Giants
- New York Jets
- Baltimore Ravens
- Buffalo Bills
- Washington Redskins
Northern Division
- Indianapolis Colts
- Minnesota Vikings
- Green Bay Packers
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Cleveland Browns
- Chicago Bears
- Detroit Lions
- Kansas City Chiefs
Southern Division
- Tennessee Titans
- New Orleans Saints
- Miami Dolphins
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Atlanta Falcons
- Carolina Panthers
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- St. Louis Rams
Western Division
- San Diego Chargers
- Arizona Cardinals
- Denver Broncos
- Oakland Raiders
- San Francisco 49ers
- Seattle Seahawks
- Houston Texans
- Dallas Cowboys
My first thought? Those are some tough divisions! Whoever takes a division, deserves a bye!