Over the weekend, the NFL started the playoffs with Wild Card Weekend under the new playoff format. In the normal playoff format, the top two seeds in each conference earned byes, while seeds three through six played in the Wild Card game.
The new format only has one team in each conference earning byes, while the two-seed is now part of Wild Card weekend. The two seeds play the seventh seeds.
In the NFC, the number two seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers played the seventh-seed Philadelphia Eagles. The Buccaneers routed the Eagles 31-15.
The Eagles didn’t score their touchdowns until the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, Tampa Bay was up 31-0 before the Eagles scored those points.
In the AFC, the number two-seed Kansas City Chiefs battled the seventh-seed Pittsburgh Steelers. The Chiefs destroyed the Steelers 42-21 to move on to the Divisional Round.
This season, the NFL added an extra week to create drama. However, they watered down the playoffs by adding two additional teams. Already, the seventh seeds have not beaten the two seeds. Overall, Wild Card Weekend featured beatdowns instead of competitive games. The only competitive game was the 49ers against the Cowboys.
Both the Eagles and Steelers would not have made it to the playoffs in the normal format. Both teams had help getting into the playoffs, and neither deserved to be there.
Eventually, there will come a time when a seventh seed beats a two-seed, like the NCAA tournament when a sixteen seed beats a two-seed. It is exciting to watch an underdog win.
In the NFL, greed is hurting the product. They didn’t need to add an extra week to the regular season. All the extra week did was create more injuries and meaningless games for those who were not going to the playoffs or were already in the playoffs.
The teams that had clinched playoff spots played their backups and third-stringers, making the games not interesting to watch.
Week 17 created drama. For example, in the NFC, the 49ers needed to beat the Rams to clinch the sixth seed, while the Eagles needed to win and the 49ers to lose. Earlier this season, the 49ers beat the Eagles in Week 2, 17-11.
Well, the 49ers beat the Rams and got the sixth seed, while the Eagles were dismantled by the Cowboys, eliminating them from the playoffs. That’s drama without the extra week.
In the AFC, the same format would’ve applied to the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers. Win and your in without the Steelers getting in the playoffs.
Wild Card weekend was not exciting, except for the 49ers and Cowboys game. The seventh seeds have no business being in the playoffs. Those games felt like bye weeks for the Buccaneers and Chiefs. When will the NFL put greed aside and use common sense?
The NFL had the perfect formula, and they ruined it because of greed. The league needs to end this experiment by returning to the 16-game schedule and the original playoff format.
