2020 NFL Thread v. Tom Brady aging better than Mila Kunis

[KevShmev]

New thread time. How many days till the draft?

Previous threads:

2019 NFL THREAD - https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=53408.0
2018 NFL THREAD - https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=51825.0
2017 NFL THREAD - https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=49579.0
2016 NFL THREAD - https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=45952.0
2015 NFL THREAD - https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43237.0
2014 NFL THREAD - https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=40900.0
2013 NFL THREAD - https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=36033.0
2012 NFL THREAD - https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=31774.0

[lonestar]

And the road to the Superbowl begins...

[black_biff_stadler]

Can't wait to have my world come crashing in on me wildcard weekend 2021.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Super excited to see the Jets go 7-9, miss the playoffs, and get a terrible draft pick. Again.

[Cool Chris]

This from the 2019 thread

As for the 17-game schedule? FUCK DAT! There just isn't a need for it. It's bad enough that 1000-yard seasons are already an ambiguous enough indication of whether or not someone had a good season without reducing the per-game average necessary to get it from 62.5 to 58.8. As it stands, the 1000-yard mark really doesn't mean much in a vacuum so much as it matters when talking about how many times a WR/RB/TE reached that mark for their entire career.

Beyond all of that, the scheduling format is absolutely perfect right now since the number of teams in the league, each conference, and each division, as well as the number of games are all powers of two so everything divides perfectly and the entire league has a perfectly-balanced schedule that repeats on a 12-year cycle (or 24 if taking into account a balance of home and away games as well). The only thing that really has any volatility to it is the two floater games each team plays each season against the teams that finished in the same position as your team did in their respective divisions the previous season.

Lastly, players miss enough time due to injuries as it is so a 17th game will probably necessitate another 3-5 roster spots which only means watering down the NFL's talent level even further. It'll also take a big ol' shit on trying to compare stats to the 16-game era since 5000-yard seasons will start happening almost every year.

NFL: "Hey everything is perfect as it is. We are swimming in money!"
Owners: "But... have you considered we could possible make more more?"
NFL: "Do tell...."
NFLPA: "What's this about more money?"
Players:" Hey guys, what are you all talking about?"
NFL/NFLPA: "Just tossing around ideas, nothing significant."

[DragonAttack]

^
yeah, gotta love the NFL (No F*cking Logic) owners.....

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I must have missed this, but are they really considering going to a 17 game format? If so, that's just ludicrous, for all the reasons black_biff_stadler stated. Why can't they leave something that works perfectly alone. I mean all the rule changes that have been made over the last 10 years have almost made me stop watching altogether. Hey while we are at it, lets add robot refs, and robot coaches, and robot players, you know, since we are already thinking of ridiculous rule changes....

[El Barto]

They've been bandying it about for years. It's always a topic of discussion as one more game would mean a little more money.

[black_biff_stadler]

This from the 2019 thread

As for the 17-game schedule? FUCK DAT! There just isn't a need for it. It's bad enough that 1000-yard seasons are already an ambiguous enough indication of whether or not someone had a good season without reducing the per-game average necessary to get it from 62.5 to 58.8. As it stands, the 1000-yard mark really doesn't mean much in a vacuum so much as it matters when talking about how many times a WR/RB/TE reached that mark for their entire career.

Beyond all of that, the scheduling format is absolutely perfect right now since the number of teams in the league, each conference, and each division, as well as the number of games are all powers of two so everything divides perfectly and the entire league has a perfectly-balanced schedule that repeats on a 12-year cycle (or 24 if taking into account a balance of home and away games as well). The only thing that really has any volatility to it is the two floater games each team plays each season against the teams that finished in the same position as your team did in their respective divisions the previous season.

Lastly, players miss enough time due to injuries as it is so a 17th game will probably necessitate another 3-5 roster spots which only means watering down the NFL's talent level even further. It'll also take a big ol' shit on trying to compare stats to the 16-game era since 5000-yard seasons will start happening almost every year.

NFL: "Hey everything is perfect as it is. We are swimming in money!"
Owners: "But... have you considered we could possible make more more?"
NFL: "Do tell...."
NFLPA: "What's this about more money?"
Players:" Hey guys, what are you all talking about?"
NFL/NFLPA: "Just tossing around ideas, nothing significant."

 

[Dream Team]

Looks like AB is really trying. More apologies directed at Big Ben today from his Twitter. The only way I would let this guy back in the league was if he was going to counseling regularly and got a CTE scan.

[DragonAttack]

Well.....CT Enterography is an imaging test that uses CT imagery and a contrast material to view the small intestine.

CTE Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.....can only be diagnosed after death through brain tissue analysis.  There's currently nothing via MRI's or CTs or brain imaging that detects it now.  They are getting close.....whether that means tomorrow, a month, a year, a decade, no one can say for sure.

I was reading up on it quite a bit after seeing a few hours of various Aaron Hernandez 'bios'.   Hernandez was always a loose cannon, but CTE certainly lets loose the demons for all those we've read about (Seau to name just one).  A couple of us mentioned that hit that Antonio took from Burfict in the playoff game.  I've followed him since his days at Central Michigan.  Brown was always 'flamboyant', but ever since that cheap shot.....

On a football note, I'm sure Pats fans wonder what it would have been like to have two monster TEs all those years together.  As well as Antonio this year.

[Dream Team]

Thanks for the correction, I had forgotten it was only diagnosable post-mortem. Regardless, he needs major therapy.

[hefdaddy42]

Looks like AB is really trying.

I'm not sure that I would call apologizing on Twitter "really trying".  Apologizing in person or over the phone is really trying.

[KevShmev]

Exactly.  Apologizing on social media is grandstanding, nothing more.

[TheCountOfNYC]

I saw a post online that said the Madden curse hit Antonio Brown so hard it decided to take the year off for Patrick Mahomes.

[TAC]

I saw a post online that said the Madden curse hit Antonio Brown so hard it decided to take the year off for Patrick Mahomes.

 

That is awesome.

[KevShmev]

I saw a post online that said the Madden curse hit Antonio Brown so hard it decided to take the year off for Patrick Mahomes.

 

[cramx3]

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28739375/more-playoff-teams-expected-new-nfl-cba-sources-say

Under the current CBA proposal that NFL owners are pushing for, the playoff field would be expanded to seven teams from each conference, while the regular season would be increased to 17 games per team and the preseason shortened to three games per team, sources said.

wow, that would be quite a change.  The 17 game season wouldn't happen until 2021 but the additional playoff team and first round buy only for the #1 seed would be effective in 2020 if this gets agreed to.  I don't think I'm against it on initial thought.

[El Barto]

I like the playoff format as it is now, but I didn't want to judge the new method until I saw how the results would work out. Now I have and it pretty much sucks. I went back five years and came up with this for the third WC spots:

8-8,  8-8
9-6-1,  8-7-1
9-7,  9-7
8-7-1,  9-7
8-8,  10-6

With one exception you're really just introducing a whole lot of mediocrity. And the truth is that there are always one or two sucky teams to make the cut anyway. This is definitely not an improvement, unless you're only interest is in greater TV revenue, and it might actually be counterproductive to that end.

[pg1067]

I like the playoff format as it is now, but I didn't want to judge the new method until I saw how the results would work out. Now I have and it pretty much sucks. I went back five years and came up with this for the third WC spots:

8-8,  8-8
9-6-1,  8-7-1
9-7,  9-7
8-7-1,  9-7
8-8,  10-6

With one exception you're really just introducing a whole lot of mediocrity. And the truth is that there are always one or two sucky teams to make the cut anyway. This is definitely not an improvement, unless you're only interest is in greater TV revenue, and it might actually be counterproductive to that end.

Not really arguing with your conclusion (and I think we all know that the only or primary goal of this is more $$), but your numbers are not quite right.  Assuming the top row is the 2019 season, the additional teams would have been Pittsburgh (8-8) and the Rams (9-7).  And, assuming the fourth row is 2016, the two added teams would have been Tennessee and Tampa Bay (both at 9-7).

Over the past 10 seasons, the new format would have allowed in:  five 10-6 teams; eight 9-7 teams; one 9-6-1 team, one 8-7-1 team; and five 8-8 teams.  The most frequent beneficiary would have been the Steelers (thrice with an 8-8 record and once with a 9-6-1 record).  The Titans and Bears would have made it twice each (with the Titans having 9-7 records both times and the Bears having a 10-6 record and an 8-8 record).

If you go back two more seasons, you'd get three more 9-7 teams and the only 11-5 team ever to miss the playoffs since the 12 team format began in 1990.

In 2019/20, the changed format would have looked like this (obviously, the 6 at 3 and 5 at 4 matchups don't change):

AFC
BAL (bye)
PIT (7) at KC (2)
TEN (6) at NE (3)
BUF (5) at HOU (4)

NFC
SF (bye)
LAR (7) at GB (2)
MIN (6) at NO (3)
SEA (5) at PHI (4)

The real losers in all of this are the #2 seeds who now have to play a third playoff game to reach the Super Bowl.  Notably, this would have impacted three of the last four Super Bowl participants (KC this year and both teams last year) but only six of the last 20 participants (the three previously mentioned plus ATL in 2016, SF in 2012, and PIT in 2010).

[El Barto]

I'd still call that a massive infusion of mediocrity. And I think it diminishes the product quite a bit. The additional games would always be a team good enough to earn a bye vs a team that really shouldn't even be in the playoffs. Moreover, the races for those bye weeks always take a few teams down to the wire. With only one, we're much more likely to see teams in weeks 16-17 with little to play for.

[cramx3]

Well doesn't that make the bye more valuable and therefore lead to more competition in the final week as only one can have the week 1 buy?  I'm not sure how the extra game adds to it as 8-8-1 is very unlikely so every team is likely to have a winning or losing record. 

Obviously adding 1 more team does naturally mean adding more mediocrity but I'm not sure how much really at the end of the day.  But it's deinifely about the cash.  Two extra playoff games means lots more TV money.  One more week of season and one less of preseason also means more money.

[pg1067]

Two extra playoff games means lots more TV money.  One more week of season and one less of preseason also means more money.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.  Swapping out a preseason game for a regular season game is a net loss for player safety as it concerns the top 30-40 or so guys on the roster because those guys won't play in the fourth preseason game anyway.  I wouldn't be surprised if the players ask for the elimination of two preseason games in exchange for one additional regular season game.

[El Barto]

Well doesn't that make the bye more valuable and therefore lead to more competition in the final week as only one can have the week 1 buy?  I'm not sure how the extra game adds to it as 8-8-1 is very unlikely so every team is likely to have a winning or losing record. 

That only bye week could be sewn up, though, leaving week 17, and maybe 16, pointless for that. Didn't the Ravens own tiebreaks against NE and KC last year, effectively locking it up 2 weeks early? I know KC and NE were definitely playing for that second bye.

Two extra playoff games means lots more TV money.  One more week of season and one less of preseason also means more money.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.  Swapping out a preseason game for a regular season game is a net loss for player safety as it concerns the top 30-40 or so guys on the roster because those guys won't play in the fourth preseason game anyway.  I wouldn't be surprised if the players ask for the elimination of two preseason games in exchange for one additional regular season game.

You might be right, but I figure they're still going to play about the same amount of time, perhaps more in the first preseason game, just to shake the rust off. I'm guessing you don't want to slash your starters' preseason time.

[cramx3]

Two extra playoff games means lots more TV money.  One more week of season and one less of preseason also means more money.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.  Swapping out a preseason game for a regular season game is a net loss for player safety as it concerns the top 30-40 or so guys on the roster because those guys won't play in the fourth preseason game anyway.  I wouldn't be surprised if the players ask for the elimination of two preseason games in exchange for one additional regular season game.

Apparently if you get a bye, you don't get a playoff check for the bye week.  That article also said that was being bargained for the players to get that extra check if you get the buy.  Kind of makes sense, that's an incentive.  I could see that playing a role in accepting a 17th game.  I think the player safety is definitely a big problem with expanding the regular season.

[KevShmev]

Bump (since the 2019 thread is still going for some odd reason).

[bosk1]

Bump (since the 2019 thread is still going for some odd reason).

Sorry--I just locked that one and moved the relevant posts here.

[pg1067]

Apparently if you get a bye, you don't get a playoff check for the bye week.  That article also said that was being bargained for the players to get that extra check if you get the buy.  Kind of makes sense, that's an incentive.  I could see that playing a role in accepting a 17th game.

I was listening to the Will Cain show at lunch, and he had a guest, who I assume was a former player (not sure who it was), and the topic of playoff compensation came up.  Will asked how that worked since players get their full salaries whether or not their teams make the playoffs, and guy responded that, while the pay for playoff games is substantial in comparison to non-athlete pay, it's a pittance compared to the players' regular salaries, so it isn't much of a motivator.  He was talking about one year when his team was getting killed in a playoff game during his free agent year and he gave some thought to pulling himself from the game to avoid injury.

[KevShmev]

Bump (since the 2019 thread is still going for some odd reason).

Sorry--I just locked that one and moved the relevant posts here.

 

As for the topic of adding a playoff team in each conference, I don't hate it, but I do not like the idea of only one team getting a bye.  Getting the 1 seed is already such a big advantage, and now it will become even bigger.

If they are going to tweak the playoff system, start seeding teams by record, that way if a team wins their division at 9-7 or 8-8 they are not guaranteed a home playoff game, but they will never do it. 

[dparrott]

I'm stoked that two of my teams are getting new stadiums this year, and two of them will play games in Miami. 

[PowerSlave]

Being a Steelers fan and seeing that this new format would have benefited my team the last few years, I can only come to one conclusion. It's a terrible idea.

They simply haven't been good enough, and if they are any indication of the types of teams that would make it in then the idea needs to get shit-canned.

[Cool Chris]

I like the playoff format as it is now, but I didn't want to judge the new method until I saw how the results would work out. Now I have and it pretty much sucks. I went back five years and came up with this for the third WC spots:

8-8,  8-8
9-6-1,  8-7-1
9-7,  9-7
8-7-1,  9-7
8-8,  10-6

Somewhere Jeff Fisher is cursing this not being implemented earlier.

[black_biff_stadler]

I like the playoff format as it is now, but I didn't want to judge the new method until I saw how the results would work out. Now I have and it pretty much sucks. I went back five years and came up with this for the third WC spots:

8-8,  8-8
9-6-1,  8-7-1
9-7,  9-7
8-7-1,  9-7
8-8,  10-6

Somewhere Jeff Fisher is cursing this not being implemented earlier.

 

[pg1067]

If they are going to tweak the playoff system, start seeding teams by record, that way if a team wins their division at 9-7 or 8-8 they are not guaranteed a home playoff game, but they will never do it.

Thumbs up to this from me.

[Stadler]

I just finished reading an amazing bio of Joe DiMaggio (by Richard Ben Cramer; HIGHLY recommended, even if you're not a Yankee fan), and it never ceases to amaze me how sport - not just baseball or football - has progressed since the 40's and 50's.   Those guys lived and died by their playoff/World Series cuts.  Some guys doubled their salaries if they made the Series, and for many, it was the difference between making money or not.   It certainly influenced the "product" (in a good way, if you ask me) and having that incentive, instead of having the NFL/MLB be a big-time "payoff" for past performance, might not be the worst thing in the world.