The NFL added additional playoff games, which will surely be noticed by the increased revenue.
The league hopes that you will not notice a drop-off in the competition for a postseason field that is supposed to be teeming with the league’s best.
Through two seasons of an expanded postseason, with an extra wild-card team in each conference, the No. 7 seeds are a combined 0-4, with only one of the contests even being competitive.
This weekend, the Steelers (9-7-1) were destroyed, 42-21, in a game that was not even close, and the Eagles (9-8) had no chance against Tom Brady’s Bucs in a 31-15 loss. Neither Pittsburgh nor Philadelphia would have qualified for the postseason two seasons ago.
Both the Eagles and Steelers were decimated in the wild card round. APLast year, the seventh-seeded Colts hung around against the second-seeded Bills but still came up a field goal short. The Bears, who snuck into last season’s NFC tournament, were drilled 21-9 by the Saints.
The NFL and the Players Association agreed to the expanded playoffs ahead of the 2020 campaign, giving the league more money and the teams and players an extra shot at glory while adjusting the playoff bracket for the first time since 2002. The league wanted more games (and the ensuing checks from the networks) — and even attached an extra week to the regular season this year, too. Adding a playoff slot in each league enabled only the top team in each conference to receive a bye.
Upon the CBA being ratified in 2020, commissioner Roger Goodell stated that the league would “give our fans more and better football.”
There is no argument against the first half of the statement, but the No. 7 seeds have been outscored 121-69.
