After much discussion on sports shows and in the press, it looks like NFL fans will still have to wait yet another year to see the playoffs expanded to 14 or even 16 teams. That the word from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell when he was asked earlier this month if the expected expansion would be happening next year.
Goodell told those present when asked about the expansion, ‘that is something that the league has under serious consideration’. He went on to say that any expansion is unlikely to happen before the 2015 season. “I’d be surprised if it happened this year,’ he said and since it’s mostly his decision anyway, it probably won’t.
One of the issues yet to be resolved is when to play the extra Wild-Card games that the expansion would call for. When and where would they be played?
In an interview with Rich Eisen on the NFL Network, Goodell confirmed that the current idea would be to take the playoffs to 14 teams instead of 12. He also confirmed that the vote on the issue could come during this off season but that the actual implementation of the 14 team set up would not take effect until the 2015 season at the earliest.
Under the format being discussed, there would be six games played on Wild-Card Weekend instead of four. The #2 seed would play the #7 seed, the #3 seed would play the #6 seed and the #4 seed would play the #5 seed in each conference.
According to Goodell, this could mean that Wild-Card games might even be played on Monday or even Fridays in order to accommodate the schedule.
To quote Mr. Goodell, “The big discussion would be the first weekend. The Wild-Card Weekend of the playoffs. How would you structure that? We’re looking at every alternative. Could you play a game of Friday night? Two on Saturday, two on Sunday and another one on Monday? You want to balance all that with the competitive issues that come with that. Is that a smart thing for us to do? Those are the things that we’re going to be studying.”
Eisen and Goodell went on to discuss the various advantages and disadvantages involved with Monday and Friday night playoff games. Who gets the short week? Goodell admitted that those where the type of issues that would require careful consideration by his office in order to achieve the required balance during the playoffs.
