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Tiki and Tierney: Devin McCourty speaks up about the NFL pushing to change the opt-out period
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Postseason.
This is going to sound crazy, but in this revamped format, TWENTY-FOUR groups are going to make the playoffs. The NHL is having a 24-team playoff and it makes good sense. If youre taking away regular season games, teams dont have a full season to prove themselves, so you need to open the playoffs to more teams. This number isnt entirely extraordinary: During the NFLs strike-shortened season of 1982, the NFL allowed 16 of 28 teams into the playoffs (57.1%).
If 24 groups make the playoffs, the ways 8 groups wont, and this is where things get enjoyable: Instead of having their season end, those eight teams will take part in the first-ever NFL Draft Tournament (I most likely ought to go ahead and get that trademarked now). The draft tournament would almost certainly get huge scores compared to a normal routine season game, so networks would likely be on board.
Using last years standings, heres what the very first round of the draft competition would have looked like:8. Washington at 2. Giants at 4.
Using last years standings, heres what the first round of the NFC playoffs would have appeared like:12. Cardinals at 5. Seahawks11. Buccaneers at 6. Vikings10. Falcons at 7. Rams9. Cowboys at 8. BearsBYE: 49ers, Packers, Saints, Eagles.
All AFC video games would be on Saturday and all NFC games would be on Sunday. The factor for this is since Im adding a crazy wrinkle: The top three teams in each conference would get to PICK THEIR OPPONENT for the next round of the playoffs. MLB proposed a comparable guideline for their playoffs this year, however they didnt go through with it..
Under this format, after the AFC games are used Saturday, the four AFC teams that received a bye would get to choose their challenger on Sunday early morning in a TV special. The scores for this would likely be substantial and it would give networks an opportunity to make up for lost video games. In the NFC, the playoff choosing unique would happen on Monday night..
In the scenario above, if all the house teams won, that would leave the Seahawks, Vikings, Rams and Bears. The 49ers would then get to choose their opponent out of those four groups. The Packers would then choose from the 3 groups leftover, followed by the Saints, who would have two options. The Eagles would then be stuck playing the group that didnt get picked..
The top four seeds in each conference will play in this round after getting two weeks off. There would be a total of 8 playoff games with the four AFC games played on Jan. 2 and the four NFC video games played on Jan. 3.
Week 18 (Jan. 9-10): This would normally be wild-card weekend, however this year its generally the divisional round, because there are eight groups entrusted to four AFC groups still alive and 4 NFC groups still in it. The two AFC video games would be played on Saturday while the 2 NFC video games would be played on Sunday..
Week 19 (Jan. 16-17): This would be a substantial day on the calendar whichs since it would be the draft playoff champion. The winner of this game would get the No. 1 overall choice with the loser getting the 2nd choice. This game might have been played in Week 18, however both teams were given a bye so they would have ample time to recuperate from any prospective COVID cases..
Likewise, as part of the baked-in contingency plan, any playoff game from Week 18 that had actually to be delayed due to COVID can be rescheduled for Week 19..
Week 20 (Jan. 24): AFC and NFC Championship. This one is obvious. The 4 winning groups from Week 18 will play each other on Championship Sunday. One thing to note is that all 4 groups will have had a bye in Week 19 going into this video game, which will provide time to recover from any positive COVID-19 tests..
Super Bowl (Feb. 7): After the wildest routine season in NFL history, the Super Bowl will finally be played on Feb. 7 in a game that will be telecasted on CBS.
And there you have it: The NFL season ends with 222 video games being played, a draft competition that ends with someone winning the leading overall pick and a primetime television special where eight teams get to pick their playoff opponent. Its the NFL season you never knew you desired..
Emergency situation strategy.
They might set one up for each conference if the NFL chooses that it does need a bubble for the entire season. The NFC would be sent to Southern California, where the 16 groups in the conference would have access to numerous NFL-caliber stadiums. Within 300 miles of Los Angeles, you conceivably have six arenas to utilize, including SoFi Stadium, Allegiant Stadium, the Rose Bowl, the Coliseum, Dignity Healthy Sports Park (the soccer stadium the Chargers played in) and the Chargers old stadium in San Diego..
When it comes to the AFC, that conference would be sent out to Indianapolis. Indy has actually proven every year at the integrate that it has the structure to produce a bubble including countless individuals. The other benefit of Indy is that it has seven NFL-caliber stadiums within a 300-mile bus trip (Indianapolis, Nashville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit)..
All groups playing each other in Week 2 have the very same bye week, which permits the video game to quickly be rescheduled if it has actually to be delayed.
Week 3 and 4 have no divisional games, which suggests the NFL could possibly cancel both weeks if theres some sort of break out.
Every team has 2 home games and two away video games over the first four weeks, which indicates if the first four weeks of the season needed to be canceled all 32 groups would still have the exact same amount of home and away games..
What takes place if a group tests favorable AFTER a game? That would conceivably mean that not just would the favorable screening group have to isolate, but their challenger would need to separate too, knocking out two teams for the following week. Essentially, if baseball has actually proven one thing, its that one team can trash a season and football simply isnt equipped to rebound from that if it happens.
If I were running the NFL, I d fix things by entirely revamping the 2020 season strategy, and heres how I d do it (you can likewise listen to me describe it on the Pick Six Podcast, listen below and be sure to subscribe here)..
In spite of those contingencies, there are still a lot of questions the NFL hasnt addressed. For instance, What takes place if the dozens of players on a team all test positive for the infection on the Friday before any video game played after Week 4? Will the NFL merely hold off the game till January or scrap them completely?
If Ive learned something from resting on my sofa and viewing 112 hours of sports over the past 9 days, its that the NFL might wish to begin re-thinking its plan for the 2020 season. Unlike the NBA and NHL, the NFL has actually decided not to put its players in a bubble this year, which is the exact same plan that Major League Baseball implemented, and if youve been watching MLB, youve most likely noticed that its been nothing short of a catastrophe..
In Major League Baseball, more than 30 games have actually already been held off whichs generally due to the fact that one team– cough, the Marlins, cough– is single-handedly attempting to get the sport shut down ( The Cardinals also arent assisting quite). Fortunately for baseball is that its pretty simple to reschedule any video game that gets held off, which indicates the Marlins (and Cardinals) will likely be able to play a complete schedule although half their rosters have came down with coronavirus..
Regrettably for the NFL, things will not be as easy in the rescheduling department if a team comes down with dozens of cases of COVID-19. Although the NFL does have a couple of contingencies constructed into the schedule this year, the truth of the matter is that those contingencies arent going to fix every issue that comes up..
Heres a glimpse at those contingencies:.
For the draft tournament, conference association would be tossed out the window and all 8 teams would be seeded by record.
Now that we have that out of the way, lets proceed with the schedule..
Week 15: During Week 15, the only video games on the schedule would be the very first 4 video games of the draft playoff. This would serve two functions: For one, it would enable the draft playoff games to pull in monstrous ratings. With the other 24 teams off, it implies that any postponed games that still need to be rescheduled can be played this week. If there arent any games that need to be rescheduled, this week would offer every team a bye, which would allow them a possibility to be COVID-free heading into playoffs..
Week 16: This is the week where the enjoyable will really begin. Under the 24-team playoff format, all department winners in both conferences will be provided a bye, so four NFC teams and four AFC groups will be off today. The other 16 groups will play in a format that looks like this: 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10, 8 vs. 9..
Bubble alternative: Since the divisional bubble would no longer work for Weeks 8-14, we d switch the bubble over to the group with the finest record from 2019. The AFCs fourth and third place bubble would be hosted in Vegas by the Raiders, and that bubble would include the Bengals, Browns, Chargers, Colts, Jaguars, Jets and Dolphins.
Ladies and gentlemen– that would be your 12-game routine season..
Just for referral, heres what the Cowboys schedule would appear like: Eagles x 2, Giants x 2, Redskins x 2, Saints, Falcons, Packers, Vikings, 49ers, Seahawks. In the AFC, the Patriots schedule would appear like this: Bills x 2, Dolphins x 2, Jets x 2, Ravens, Chiefs, Steelers, Titans, Texans, Broncos. Im only discussing those two groups because everybody always asks me about those two teams..
Alright, now that weve covered the regular season, lets carry on to the playoffs, where things are going to get a little wild..
Weeks 8-14: One advantage of being a bad team is that you get a last location schedule, and although my proposed season will just be 12 games long, I believe it makes sense to keep the stability of the last place schedule undamaged. With that in mind, the 2nd set of six games will look like this: All first and 2nd place teams from 2019 will play all other very first and 2nd place teams in their conference while all third and 4th place teams will play all the other 3rd and fourth location groups..
For instance, under this situation, the Chiefs would play the Ravens, Steelers, Patriots, Bills, Texans and Titans. On the other hand, a team like the Bengals– who completed in last place in 2019– would play the Raiders, Chargers, Colts, Jaguars, Jets and Dolphins, who all completed in fourth or third place last year. The Bengals schedule would then be their six department games plus the six previously mentioned challengers..
One crucial part here is that all AFC teams would get a bye in Week 12 while all NFC teams would all get a bye in Week 13. The bye can obviously be utilized as a bye, but more notably, it can likewise be utilized to make up any games that were delayed after Week 8..
Now, the NFL has so numerous concerns to address that Odell Beckham does not even believe the league needs to be playing this year, so lets see if we can change his mind with this completely revamped regular season..
What will this revamped schedule appearance like?.
Lets inspect it out, and Roger Goodell, if youre checking out, please feel totally free to steal all of these ideas..
Regular season.
The very first huge change here is that the regular season will only be 12 games long. The significant modification here is that AFC-NFC matches will be entirely ditched from the schedule since it doesnt make sense to have those games throughout a shortened season..
That would possibly mean that not only would the positive screening group have to isolate, however their challenger would have to separate as well, knocking out 2 groups for the following week. If youre taking away routine season video games, groups do not have a full season to show themselves, so you need to open up the playoffs to more teams. If 24 teams make the playoffs, the means 8 teams will not, and this is where things get fun: Instead of having their season end, those 8 groups will take part in the first-ever NFL Draft Tournament (I most likely should go ahead and get that trademarked now). With the other 24 teams off, it implies that any postponed video games that still need to be rescheduled can be played this week. Under the 24-team playoff format, all division winners in both conferences will be given a bye, so four NFC teams and 4 AFC teams will be off this week.
Remember that schedule that the NFL launched in May? I d toss it out the window. We dont require it anymore. The renovated schedule will chop the season below 269 video games (including the playoffs) to 222 video games. Networks will not be thrilled with the idea of losing that lots of video games, Ive added a couple of wrinkles that must make up for the lost stock.
With those out of the way, heres what the remainder of the regular season will appear like:.
Week 1 thru Week 7: Division games just. Every team will play each divisional challenger twice for an overall of 6 video games. For circumstances, the Chiefs will play home-and-away games with the Raiders, Broncos and Chargers over the first 7 weeks of the season. Although this can be carried out in six weeks, there are 7 weeks here for contingency functions. Each group will get a bye week with every corresponding department taking their bye week together (For example, the AFC North and NFC North would take a bye together in Week 3 followed by the NFC/AFC East in Week 4 and so on). The bye week could likewise be utilized to make up any video games that were held off due to coronavirus..
Bubble alternative: Although Im not always proposing a bubble– because the NFL seems to be versus it due to the complicated logistics– I do have a bubble proposal. For the first seven weeks of the season, 8 bubbles could be developed with one team from each department working as host. For example, the Chiefs could host the 3 other AFC West groups over the first seven weeks of the season..
