Why should a team’s season be over just because they started 0-5, or even 0-3?

And why stop at a season as short as 16 games? Why not have the entire season consist of a single-elimination tournament, which would be convenient to do since there are 32 teams? Maybe I shouldn’t suggest this too seriously: What happens if there’s a lockout, and there’s a CBA signed in December? We all know what happens in that case: Brett Favre comes out of retirement, and the Vikings win Super Bowl XLVI!

One of the greatest stories in sports history was that of the “Miracle Braves” of 1914, who came from last place on July 4th to win the NL pennant, then the World Series.

Don’t know about you, but I’d like to see more stories like that – and with the 18-game season in the NFL, we will.

My fan opinion is that TOP rookie salaries are OUT OF CONTROL and MOST owners are bottom-line greedy.

Indeed, if a team is 0-5 after Week 5 (assuming they didn’t have their bye week in Weeks 4 or 5) their season is over, as no team has ever made the playoffs after starting 0-5.

Not only that, but no team has ever even so much as reached the conference championship game after starting 0-3 – and only one team in NFL history has ever made the playoffs after starting 0-2, if both of those two losses were at home, in a non-strike year (the 2003 Eagles).

I’ve been going to the racetrack for 35 years – and one of the best things about horse racing is that a horse can be last at the top of stretch, but first under the wire. Another awesome thing about horse racing is the Triple Crown. A lot of horses have won the Derby and the Preakness, but couldn’t win the Belmont because they didn’t have the needed stamina to go a mile and a half.

So it will be in the NFL with the 18-game season: A team may get off to a 7-0 start or a 9-0 start, but if they can’t go 18 games – especially if their roster is chock full of aging veteran players, who other teams originally drafted and developed – they won’t be around when it really matters.

Thus the 18-game schedule will reward the organizations who did their homework and built their teams through the draft – and penalize parasite organizations (I won’t name names here, but I don’t even have to) who signed already-established players away from other teams in free agency.

Goodell “hears” this as:

The fans want 18 games because they feel preseason is meaningless and not quality football.

WHO HAS EVER ARGUED THAT PRESEASON IS QUALITY FOOTBALL??? ANYONE??? BUELLER????? I have never ever heard one fan whining about how preseason games aren’t quality football. It’s a patently absurd argument by Goodell and speaks to his patronizing arrogance and lack of respect for actual fans of the game no matter how much lip service he gives to caring about the fans.
Real NFL fans (not fantasy football types) get that preseason is for evaluation of players for the team you root for, evaluation of scheme and for practice for your team’s starters. Period.

Owners are to Efin cheap and the players are to Efin stupid

It wouldn’t surprise me though if the players do vote for 18 games because more than half of the players in the league don’t start 16 games each season and they are seeing $$$. The players on the bench will want 18 games for the extra pay.
The players that play 16 games a season including the stars of the league cannot like 18 games, and I would have to think fans don’t want it either. I hope the players don’t cave on this one.

The owners need to give in to the 18 games in hopes to get the players to agree to more of what the owners want…that is what I think is going to happen.

Now onto the bigger issues. Have the owners and the league office never heard of the expression, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. I mean as fans we have had to deal with a myriad of rule changes every season since Goddell has taken over. It is legitimately impossible to keep up with. The men tasked with enforcing the rules on the field can barely keep up and usually end up blowing a couple calls (and games) early in the season because of it. The NFL has had like 6 different definitions of what a catch is since 2000.

Lastly, the owners and league office need to realize that they are extremely out of touch with their fan base. The things they find important don’t align with a lot of the things we feel are important. Celebrating after scoring doesn’t tarnish the brand, it gives it character. 16 games isn’t losing the revenue of 18 games, its keeping the games interesting every weekend. The owners want robots, the fans want personalities. To use the most simple analogy I can think of, its like going to the deli, ordering a sandwich, and they give you lettuce tomato and mustard on the sandwich when in reality you wanted just plain turkey and cheese. If they don’t find a way to narrow the philosophical divide between those two sides I can guarantee the success the NFL has seen recently will be shortlived.

And that goes for you to Roger Goodell…get this thing going and let us all move on….

Being completely earnest, the fans don’t care whether there are 16, 18 or 30 games, just so long as there are games….

I agree with the players on this one. I’m a season ticket holder in New Orleans and we were out of running backs after 17 games.”

Dude, you were out of RBs after like 3 games.

Definitely 16 playoff teams and an extra batch of wildcard games before an 18 game schedule. No question.

more games=larger roster
larger roster=more rounds needed in draft

Expanded season would only be done if it would significantly raise profits. That will be hard considering the players (and coaches)will want more money and there will be a lot more players. Not to mention that the AVERAGE participation rating from viewers will drop due to decrease from viewers (as games are less meaningful) and the increase in games.

All Season records would have to be once again reevaluated

Lastly, there is always 4-7 teams whose season is undoubtedly over with by Week 6. Don’t make their loyal fans suffer longer than need be.

————————————————–

Agreed. Or that said president is bracketed (to the left and right) by Ki-Jana Carter and Ricky Watters in the above pic. Can’t make out the guy in the far background, but it appears to me to be D’Marco Farr?

These guys, along with self-styled politico DeMaurice Smith, hold the hopes of the Union getting dirty and giving in to some things to reach an agreement? Sounds to me like a bunch of has-beens trying to get a chunk of change they feel was owed to them a decade ago.

Now I don’t really like this situation at all…

The exhibition game are pointless.

1. 18 game regular season & 2 preseason games = stupid idea; players getting injured already with 16 games

2. The reason this whole discussion came up in the beginning was because Goodell claimed that fans don’t want 4 preseason game -and he is right

3. There is no way they are going to decrease # of total games- so 20 total preseason and regular games

SOLUTION: make preseason games more meaningful than the exhibition games that they are. How? Reward draft picks based on preseason record. 4-0 teams get extra 3rd round pick: 3-1 teams get extra 4th round pick; 2-2 teams get extra 6th round pick and 1-3 teams get extra 7th round pick.

An extra 3rd round pick is huge! Imagine picking up a Mike Wallace, or a Terrell Owens.

The reward is substantial but does not affect whether a team makes the playoffs or not – so each team/coach will need to make individual decisions to play their starters or use the playing time to evaluate their backups & rookies.

My 2 cents

I give 2 big thumbs down to 18 game sched.

you’ve got a good thing going. stop f’ing it up.