Picture a world where every single video game including the Chiefs, Cowboys, Patriots, Ravens, Steelers and Packers were on TV with no other NFL video game completing for air time. Yes, we d get some dull games on some days, but we d be talking about a year in which 90 or more of the top-100-rated Television shows are live NFL games.
And spreading games out to four days a week works because there is additional time in between video games. And yes, if youre slicing 128 games from the routine season, profits becomes a sensible factor to include two extra playoff video games.
NFL fans would probably rather point out the distinctions between the football and baseball seasons, or just blame Rob Manfreds management, since thats stylish, rather than acknowledge the probability that the NFL is trying to stroll across just as high a tightrope, with possibly even less of a safety net provided that MLB is a league better suited to shrugging off missed video games and final standings where teams have actually played unequal numbers of games.
Play every game at night. On June 30, Mike Florio reported that some groups were considering flying to roadway contests on game day to avoid having to remain in a hotel.
However if you concede that keeping gamers out of hotels and delivering them as directly as possible from their own team facility to the going to stadium is of paramount significance, one method you might fly on video game day is if the 2020 season consisted specifically of night games.
And even if you disregard the concept of flying players in on game day, the all-night schedule might still make a lot of sense for TV networks. All of us know the truth: The cash from TV networks is one of the leading reasons they are trying to move forward with this season at all. So lets take a look at what occurs if you play every game at night.
If we have eight games per week, the league can spread out among four days: Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. You might have 2 games on at once, or patch together doubleheaders like the annual Week 1 Monday night double.
Same-day travel will be a big part of the 2020 season despite how the schedule is formatted.
Rick Wilson/AP
Yes, Fox and CBS may not like the idea of losing their vaunted Sunday slots. It is possible to have 4 days a week of doubleheaders, therefore putting all 128 regular-season video games in stand-alone Television windows. That could be a gold mine of scores and advertisement dollars to balance out the Sunday-afternoon loss. Picture a world where every game including the Chiefs, Cowboys, Patriots, Ravens, Steelers and Packers were on TV with no other NFL video game completing for air time. I believe the networks would take it. Yes, we d get some dull video games on some days, however we d be talking about a year in which 90 or more of the top-100-rated TV shows are live NFL video games.
And spreading out games out to four days a week works since there is additional time in between video games. In our present environment, teams get the brief end of the stick when one group has an additional day of rest compared with its challenger. When the difference is in between 12 days and 14 days of rest, that competitive imbalance is alleviated rather a bit.
It bears duplicating: This plan is the only method to accommodate having gamers fly on game day and prevent hotels completely, however it works even if groups take a trip the day prior to instead. We d lose our traditional NFL Sundays, but we d get a lot of prime-time football and the possibility to in theory watch every video game of the abbreviated season in real time.
Extra conference games. The most prudent thing to do would be to set up each teams nondivision games against the teams geographically closest to them. Rams vs. Chargers; Jets vs. Giants; Ravens vs. Washington; etc. MLB did without the typical AL/NL schedule format for 2020 so that teams could play the corresponding department in the opposite league, and people overcame it since it made sense in this environment. It was also considered much better than absolutely nothing (though thats what we still may be entrusted at some point, anyhow). I believe for competitive reasons, and to assist seed the playoff field, you might validate making these two games intraconference. Also, thats the only way to build a schedule with the conferences alternating weeks rather of mixing them together.
Theres no reason to make Seattle fly to Tampa, Charlotte or Philly (or make those groups fly to Seattle) when you might have Seattles extra video games come against rather closer groups like Dallas, Minnesota or Green Bay. Thats specifically real if teams are flying on game day. Its not ideal, but its better than randomizing things or following the common action of utilizing last years standings to figure out those video games.
2 groups from each division make the playoffs. I am primarily versus expanded playoffs (including the 7-seed set to get in the fray this year), however I get why it makes sense in the reduced season above. And yes, if youre slicing 128 video games from the routine season, earnings ends up being an understandable factor to add two extra championship game.
With such a high percentage of video games played within the division, that seems like a simple and reasonable way to choose the playoff participants. I wont take any extra wild cards beyond each departments top two like MLB did, but in a season when every team has a bye week prior to the playoffs already, I will ask No. 1 seeds to host an 8-seed on wild-card weekend.
It may appear unfair to groups in tough divisions like the NFC West, where a third-place group might figure for a wild card in a normal year. If the team that gets screwed this year is the theoretical third-place team that would otherwise sneak into the playoffs as a 6- or 7-seed, I believe people can get over it.
There would be the concern of tiebreakers, which may be more needed with a shorter season. Beyond the apparent (head-to-head record then division record) possibly this year we d settle ties within the department with … point differential in division video games? I dont always love point differential as a tiebreaker, however it would make video games more exciting throughout the season. All 60 minutes would matter every week, even after the outcome is chosen. We d see teams with the lead running up ball game or teams tracking by multiple touchdowns driving for those garbage-time points. (More two-point conversions? More octopus opportunities?) Lets say the Chiefs run away with the AFC West. The last few minutes of every Broncos, Chargers and Raiders division video game would get very exciting if they are in a defend 2nd place that may boil down to a tiebreaker situation.
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The Chiefs and Texans will open things up on Sept. 10 if there is no change to the schedule.
Greg Nelson/Sports Illustrated
As with whatever in 2020, there would be more to sort out later on. However offered the essence of the plan above, I think we d endure, right? Its not the season we all desire, however it may be the best possible season we could get. I know there are a million obstacles in the method, and chief amongst them is simply the human brain– the most comfortable technique is always to root for Plan A till it proves itself illogical. Inertia is an effective force, and there is little to no chance the NFL would make such an extreme modification up until or unless it was absolutely required. NFL fans would most likely rather mention the differences in between the football and baseball seasons, or simply blame Rob Manfreds management, because thats stylish, instead of acknowledge the probability that the NFL is attempting to walk throughout simply as high a tightrope, with possibly even less of a safety net given that MLB is a league much better suited to brushing off missed games and last standings where groups have actually played unequal numbers of video games.
And even if the league did execute this strategy tomorrow, and after that successfully made it all the way through 128 regular-season video games and 15 championship game, culminating in Super Bowl LV on Feb. 28, it would still take some psychological gymnastics to evaluate retroactively whether such an extreme technique was essential. We d likely have no method of understanding if the NFL might have made it through the gantlet that is the existing schedule, or how the season might have been affected by a regular amount of travel, hotel stays and days between games. Thats one of the frightening parts of taking a leap like this– if you cant show it was essential, you may not have the ability to justify it after the truth.
On the other hand, it is possible the NFL will play its 16-game season with no disruptions, couple of favorable tests and no canceled video games. Because case, this old column would endure on the internet and I would be asked to consume a big assisting of crow. Right now, on Aug. 6, how most likely does that seem? And is it worth the risk?
The NFL wishes to generate income, supply home entertainment and play a season that allows gamers and fans to care about the stats, video game outcomes and champions that will enter the record books. Naturally. The leagues chief concern has to be the health and safety of its gamers, coaches, fitness instructors and other staffers who help make the season run (and, because were discussing an infectious illness, the health and safety of their households). I know that cutting the variety of video games in half does that. And making a vibrant decision ahead of time might be the very best method to preserve all that other things and prevent the total catastrophe– pulling the plug on a season– that MLB might soon deal with.
Is it my preference to see the season above? 2020 has actually made a routine of taking what youre rooting for and tossing it down the drain. And whats above sounds a lot better than seeing the NFL go through what MLB and college football are presently going through.
For months now, we have all spoke about how the NFL has had the benefit of time. Our pro football overlords had a chance to see other sports leagues, within or without a bubble, begin or resume their seasons in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. If the individuals who run the NFL are clever, they may conclude– two weeks into MLBs season from hell– that theyve seen enough. Its time to seriously consider a severe overhaul to the 2020 NFL schedule.
Im not here to be an alarmist. Im here to be a pragmatist. I understand that declarations like this, grand declarations about what our reaction to the unique coronavirus need to be, have actually ended up being polarizing and politicized. I understand there are people who think preaching caution is in some way an indication of weakness, and that sports writers who suggest reactionary modifications are rooting versus the return of sports.
I guarantee you: I desire to plop my butt on the couch September 13 and view seven hours of NFL Red Zone as much as anybody. I want to set my fantasy lineup and argue about power rankings, quarterback debates and dreadful replay evaluations.
But within the recently, we have actually seen a head coach test positive and 2 starting quarterbacks go on the COVID-19 IR. Before that, the Bills needed to send their rookies home before the rest of the team even made it through screening. Dozens of gamers have pulled out entirely, explaining they are concerned about playing the season as currently scheduled.
Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated
MLB is dealing with favorable tests, gamers learning about games being delayed by means of Twitter, irregular procedures for canceling those video games and more. And an NFL season with many fewer games per group and much less schedule flexibility midstream might be in for an even greater challenge as soon as favorable tests begin coming.
Its a near-certainty that as we get closer to Week 1, the NFL will only be confronted with progressively difficult decisions, and it may be more sensible to make a sweeping choice now instead of wait until its best up versus a harder deadline– when its possibly too late to do anything drastic. MLB contested money to the very last day, requiring it to show up late to the party on concerns like health and security, and the logistics of actually putting the season together. The NFL cant manage (and yes, were likewise talking about money here) to repeat that exact same error.
In a world where we are continuously assessing best-case and worst-case situations, eventually it makes good sense to cut your losses. Instead of entering into a season held together with Scotch tape, the NFL might go in with a strategy it feels more positive in, with enough lead time to prepare for it fairly and, when it comes to the revised television schedule, as successfully as possible.
We all understand its a faux pas to point out an issue without proposing a solution, so heres the best Ive come up with. This is a plan to preserve as much of the 2020 season as we can, in a manner that will: A) be more practical in our existing environment; B) preserve adequate competitive balance and normalcy that we can feel O.K. about crowning a Super Bowl champion; and C) ideally make the NFL universe enough gobs of cash for everybody to find the workout worth the problem.
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What has Goodell found out while seeing Manfreds missteps?
Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports
Each team plays 8 video games. The main advantage here, beyond restricting the number of times various groups are coming into contact with each other, is for each group to play all its video games 2 weeks apart. The NFL has a luxury of more spaced-out games anyhow, and this plan is much more in line with the advised quarantine period.
I d recommend each group play six division games and 2 other intraconference matches (for reasons Ill get to in a minute).
That way, we get eight football video games every week. We would all miss those wild Sunday slates when seven games are going on at as soon as, however it doesnt sound like well be going to sports bars with lots of TVs anyway.
Our Albert Breer has reported that Super Bowl host cities are required to block off the dates for a couple of weeks after the Super Bowl in case it has to return. They could move the Super Bowl from Feb. 7 in Tampa to as late as Feb. 28, so well benefit from that to build spacing into the playoffs, too.
Heres a take a look at what the new schedule might be. You could even have two bye weeks leading up to the Super Bowl so that players might isolate in a bubble for a complete 14 days before the big video game, to hopefully restrict the number of gamers who would be held out. This a minimum of lowers the chance of favorable tests appearing at the last minute prior to the Super Bowl.
