NFL Rumors: 16-Team Playoff Contingency Plan to Be Proposed amid COVID-19

The NFL competition committee is reportedly expected to "present a resolution to owners based on a contingency of having a 16-team playoff season (eight in each conference) if games are lost due to the pandemic, especially as bye weeks disappear," according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.

Mortensen added that the plan would be to comprise a playoff out of the four divisional winners in each conference and four wild-card teams from each conference.

That would eliminate any bye weeks, with a format of No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5. This season was set to be the first with a 14-team format (a bye week for the No. 1 seed, seven teams per conference). 

And in a season when the NFC East conceivably could have a division champion with a losing record, it would also allow one more deserving team into the postseason. 

Mark Maske of the Washington Post reported that the "number of lost games to trigger [the contingency plan] is not specified."

It makes sense as a contingency plan, given that a number of NFL teams have already seen games postponed and bye weeks rescheduled after outbreaks within the organization. The NFL's ability to alter the schedule grows more complicated as teams have their bye weeks, giving the league less rescheduling options.

The worry is that as COVID-19 cases continue to rise again around the country heading into the winter months, the NFL could be hit hard if the pandemic has a major third wave. It certainly could make it difficult to have fans in attendance, even in the limited number most teams have allowed. 

To date, the United States has seen 9.2 million positive test cases of the coronavirus, per CNN, with 231,448 deaths. Both numbers are the highest in the world.