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Would you like a radical realignment of the NFL? (1 Viewer)

Please vote from the general perspective of an NFL fan. Don't let the circumstances of your fav

  • Yes, where do I sign up?

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No, I like the current format.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

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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!

 
DropKick said:
I posted this within a thread some time ago and thought the topic could make an interesting discussion of its own. Eastern Division - Philadelphia Eagles - New York Giants - Washington Redskins Western Division - Dallas CowboysMy first thought? Those are some tough divisions! Whoever takes a division, deserves a bye!
This alone would mean this idea would never, ever happen.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
DropKick said:
I posted this within a thread some time ago and thought the topic could make an interesting discussion of its own. Eastern Division - Philadelphia Eagles - New York Giants - Washington Redskins Western Division - Dallas CowboysMy first thought? Those are some tough divisions! Whoever takes a division, deserves a bye!
This alone would mean this idea would never, ever happen.
:goodposting: You can argue that the rivalry isn't what it used to be, but it's still a rivalry, even if only the fans still see it that way.
 
West

SD

Oak

Den

Hou

Az

Sea

SF

Dal

East:

NYG

Phi

NE

NYJ

Buf

Pit

Cle

Cin

North:

Chi

Det

GB

Mn

Ind

Tn

Stl

KC

South

Car

Atl

NO

TB

Mia

Jax

Was

Bal

I think the Mia-TB-Jax rivalry could get really intense, as would the Buf-Pit-Cle rivalry

 
I don't like the current alignment, 4 divisions in each conference is too many, and 4 teams in a division is too few. Your change is a little too radical, and people fear change too much, so it would never go over. I liked it better when there were 3 divisions per conference and 3 wildcards. If there was only 30 teams, I think 6 divisions of 5 would be perfect. Maybe someday there will be 4 more teams and they could do 6 divisions of 6 teams, but I worry about the talent pool being too watered down with that scenario.

 
I would miss the rivalries of the NFC East under your new system. The hype leading up to division games is fantastic. I also think that adding any games to the NFL season is a major mistake. I would rather see a 14 game season with perhaps 2 byes and I would like to contract the league by 2-4 teams. I would propose a few regional teams splitting time between 2 cities.

This year having multiple teams have nothing to play for for multiple weeks is BAD. Make the games count and filter out the scrubs of the watered down NFL.

 
I would miss the rivalries of the NFC East under your new system. The hype leading up to division games is fantastic. I also think that adding any games to the NFL season is a major mistake. I would rather see a 14 game season with perhaps 2 byes and I would like to contract the league by 2-4 teams. I would propose a few regional teams splitting time between 2 cities. This year having multiple teams have nothing to play for for multiple weeks is BAD. Make the games count and filter out the scrubs of the watered down NFL.
This year? This is nothing new. There have always been 1-3 teams every year who have nothing to play for the last week or two. Granted, I think going to a 18 game schedule will magnify the "problem", and would be a horrendous idea for multiple reasons.
 
DropKick said:
I posted this within a thread some time ago and thought the topic could make an interesting discussion of its own.

...

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.

....
This would radically alter tiebreakers and greatly affect divisional play.Teams play twice within a division simply because divisional play matters most (plus the rivalries). Also teams are playing at different levels and sometimes different lineups at different points of the year. The NFL would be VERY hesitant to move away from 2 games / year for divisional teams.

Granted with 4x4 setups (4 teams, 4 divisions) a patsy division leads to someone getting a very easy path to the postseason. That happened when an 8-8 division winner (IIRC) won with 3 divisions existed - Cleveland in the 80s in the AFC Central. Yep - found it: (Link)

If an 18-game schedule existed, you could go 8-team divisions with 14 divisional games and 4 additional games played in numerous ways.

 
I'm on board. I've thought for years that long term rivalries between a handful of non-geographically oriented teams have cost the rest of the NFL teams the potential for some great regional rivalries. This exact plan doesn't thrill me, but I'm all for major geographical realignment.

 
I wouldn't be opposed to some sort of realignment but I'd prefer to keep the AFC and NFC designation. I'd like to see 2 divisions in each conference with those division winners getting the 1st round playoff bye.

 
I think they should realign by mascot.

Eagles, Cardinals, Falcons, Ravens, and Seahawks all in the same division - fierce :shrug:

-QG

 
I'd love to see a realignment but I'm not sure I agree with all the aspects you put forth here. First, I'd like to see the AFC/NFC remain. Therefore I'd realign the 32 teams into 4 division but with an AFC East/West and NFC East/West. Secondly, I'm all for getting rid of those geographically non-sensibly "rivalries." There are enough rivalries in the NFL anyway and IMO new, better ones would form from the closer geographic proximity. Plus look at the NE/Indy rivalry that has developed over the past 10 years between 2 teams that aren't even in the same division. It's overrated IMO. I have the playoff system pretty much the same only now there are 4 wild cards from each conference and only 2 division winners from each conference (and they get the byes). So you then get: #6 vs. #3 and #5 vs. #4 with #1 and #2 getting bye weeks for each conference.

 
I would miss the rivalries of the NFC East under your new system. The hype leading up to division games is fantastic. I also think that adding any games to the NFL season is a major mistake. I would rather see a 14 game season with perhaps 2 byes and I would like to contract the league by 2-4 teams. I would propose a few regional teams splitting time between 2 cities. This year having multiple teams have nothing to play for for multiple weeks is BAD. Make the games count and filter out the scrubs of the watered down NFL.
You lose the Cowboys but gain the Steelers, Patriots, Ravens & Jets. Should be less chance of a team having nothing to play for...Plus they could meet in a SB.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
DropKick said:
I posted this within a thread some time ago and thought the topic could make an interesting discussion of its own.

...

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.

....
This would radically alter tiebreakers and greatly affect divisional play.Teams play twice within a division simply because divisional play matters most (plus the rivalries). Also teams are playing at different levels and sometimes different lineups at different points of the year. The NFL would be VERY hesitant to move away from 2 games / year for divisional teams.

Granted with 4x4 setups (4 teams, 4 divisions) a patsy division leads to someone getting a very easy path to the postseason. That happened when an 8-8 division winner (IIRC) won with 3 divisions existed - Cleveland in the 80s in the AFC Central. Yep - found it: (Link)

If an 18-game schedule existed, you could go 8-team divisions with 14 divisional games and 4 additional games played in numerous ways.
The 18 games are offset (a little) with the shorter preseason. You would think they could expand rosters a bit too, to facilitate two extra games. If anything, this might keep some guys (like a Welker) off special teams.
 
vinwinephans said:
Having an entire region on the bye at once might not sit well from a tv ratings standpoint...
Good point. I still like the idea of keeping they byes in the middle of the schedule. Nothing worse than a team getting a bye in week 3.
 
Pipes said:
I wouldn't be opposed to some sort of realignment but I'd prefer to keep the AFC and NFC designation. I'd like to see 2 divisions in each conference with those division winners getting the 1st round playoff bye.
It could be tweaked to retain the conferences. I wanted to add the possibility that the two best teams, even if from the same conference, could meet in the SB.
 
QuizGuy66 said:
I think they should realign by mascot.Eagles, Cardinals, Falcons, Ravens, and Seahawks all in the same division - fierce :no: -QG
And the Jets with a little abstraction.
 
QuizGuy66 said:
I think they should realign by mascot.Eagles, Cardinals, Falcons, Ravens, and Seahawks all in the same division - fierce :football: -QG
:football:Giants, Titans, Vikings, Bucs, Raiders, Saints - fierce Patriots, Cowboys, Redskins, Chiefs, Bills, Texans - has potentialColts, Broncos, Jaguars, Panthers, Bengals, LionsDolphins, Bears, Rams?Browns, Steelers, Packers, 49ers, Chargers, Jets?
 
vinwinephans said:
Having an entire region on the bye at once might not sit well from a tv ratings standpoint...
i think that is a nonpoint. the ratings for the nfl are absurd. with fantasy, people watch just to watch. i think a week where the nfc east is off would be tremendous. i could actually watch games that don't involve the cowboys, redskins and giants. plus, i think from a 'fairness' standpoint, all the teams in one division should have the same bye week.
 

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