How the NFL Can Reduce Divisions, Improve Playoffs: Sorry Cowboys, Seahawks

With the Seattle Seahawks making the playoffs this year with a 7-9 record and the Buccaneers and Giants both missing the playoffs after winning 10 games during the season, considering a change to the makeup of the NFL shouldn't be totally out of the question.

The primary culprit for allowing this to happen is the existence of four divisions in each conference with only four teams in each division.

With the current setup, it is completely possible for a team to go to the playoffs with a 6-10 record—winning all of its division games and having all the other teams within its division lose all of their non-division games. Not likely, but possible.

An unlikely yet appealing scenario consists of two conferences with two divisions in each conference. Each division would have eight teams, and the divisions would be split up geographically, thus removing some longstanding rivalries. 

Rivalries are what we put into them, and this proposal only removes the ability for teams like the Cowboys and Eagles to play twice each season. There is nothing wrong with renewing the fierce rivalry that existed between the Cowboys and 49ers from not only the mid-1990s, but also the early 1980s and early 1970s. "The Catch" was caught against the Dallas Cowboys.

This proposal also anticipates an 18-game schedule and incorporates an idea that has been floating around that only allows each player to participate in 16 of those 18 games, thus reducing the fear of increased injuries due to the increased number of games. This would allow backups to have two full games to shine and would also allow those players who have sustained minor injuries to not miss any games.

A major component of this proposal splits up all game play along conference lines. With an 18-game schedule within an eight-team division, each team will play 14 division games. This proposal only allows one game with a non-conference opponent and two games versus non-divisional opponents. The purpose of this is to add more weight to division games.

This season, the Oakland Raiders went undefeated in their division. This is not to say that the Raiders deserved to be in the playoffs this year (more so than the Seahawks), but they would have made it because of their perfect division record in this proposed system.

The two conferences, for lack of better terms, will be referred to as the West-Central and the North-Eastern conferences. The proposed divisions:

WEST-CENTRAL CONFERENCE

West Division

Seattle Seahawks   San Francisco 49ers   Denver Broncos   Oakland Raiders

Dallas Cowboys   Houston Texans   Arizona Cardinals   San Diego Chargers

Central Division

St. Louis Rams   Minnesota Vikings   Kansas City Chiefs   New Orleans Saints

Chicago Bears   Green Bay Packers   Detroit Lions   Indianapolis Colts

NORTH-EASTERN CONFERENCE

Northeast Division

New England Patriots   New York Giants   Buffalo Bills   New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles   Pittsburgh Steelers   Baltimore Ravens   Washington Redskins

East Division

Miami Dolphins   Tampa Bay Buccaneers   Jacksonville Jaguars   Atlanta Falcons

Tennessee Titans   Cincinnati Bengals   Carolina Panthers   Cleveland Browns

As you can see, the seasonal matchups will be drastically different than what we are used to. The Cowboys would only be able to play one of their classic NFC East foes once a year, so the Giants-Cowboys matchup would only happen once very three years.

But this does have the benefit of seeing regional rivalries play out every year.  The Jets and Giants, Steelers and Eagles, Ravens and Redskins and Chiefs and Rams would all play each other twice a year.

The playoffs, too, would also look a bit different. One more playoff team would be added, and only one team from each conference would get a bye. This year's playoffs would have had the following matchups, with the Saints getting the bye from the West-Central Conference and the Patriots getting the bye from the North-Eastern Conference.

The following teams were chosen for these mock playoffs based on this year's record. Obviously they would be much different because the schedules would be very different:

Chargers vs. Packers

Raiders vs. Bears

Colts vs. Chiefs

Ravens vs. Giants

Falcons vs. Eagles

Jets vs. Steelers

Buccaneers still miss out, but at least we don't see Seattle in the playoffs. Sure, they beat the Saints in the first round, but with a 14-game divisional schedule the weaker teams would be weeded out. Seattle would either have continued their "great" divisional play and made it in or would have been exposed as a flaw and eliminated from the playoffs.

The NFL probably won't consider a proposal as drastic as this, but we can be thankful to the Seahawks and the NFC West for allowing this debate to intensify. They should at least do something. The Giants and the Buccaneers deserved a better shot.