NFL Lockout: Why an 18-Game Schedule Isn't the "Right Thing" for NFL

Like the President of the United States traveling around the country giving stump speeches, Commissioner Roger Goodell is taking his case to the people.

On a conference call with Tennessee Titans season ticket holders, Goodell commented on the prospects of an 18-game NFL season, saying:

"

We do think it is attractive to season-ticket holders. I hear that all of the time from our season-ticket holders. We have not abandoned our position on that. We do think it is the right thing for the game. It improves the quality of what we do and it improves the value for you as season-ticket holders. ... We do think it is a benefit for everybody, but we want to do it the right way, and we want to do it responsibly. That includes the players’ perspective.

"

I know that the owners currently hold the power in this mind-numbing struggle, but that is the kind of statement that can send them back to the end of the line.

How is adding more games going to IMPROVE the quality of play? Just about every team suffers a crippling season-ending injury at one point or another, and look for that number to rise if two more games are added.

Who actually thinks the Green Bay Packers would have even reached the playoffs, let alone won the Super Bowl, if they were forced to play two more regular season games? They were already so beaten and battered that it's truly miraculous what they did in 2010.

Furthermore, why mess with a great formula?

The last four postseasons have been nothing short of spectacular, each capped off with a thrilling Super Bowl that was still in doubt until the final minute or two. We've NEVER seen a run like that; if the NFL can string a few more together over the next few years, the annual Super Bowl blowout could become a fading, distant memory.

I think the chances of the postseason and the Super Bowl staying so competitive and intriguing dwindle if teams are crawling to the finish line instead of sprinting—or at least still on two feet.

But the worst thing that Goodell said here is the notion that increasing the schedule "improves the value for you as season-ticket holders." How is that possible? More than half of the teams on the NFL schedule already play one truly meaningless regular season game, if not more. How "valuable" were Panthers tickets, or Cardinals tickets, or Bengals tickets, or Bills tickets last fall, or more specifically last December?

Plenty of teams are just going through the motions in Week 17 already; that number would certainly increase by Week 19. Yes, two more games will let a few more teams back into the playoff race, but not the clubs that are already down in the dumps—and those are the clubs whose fans are already questioning why they support their club and pay for season tickets.

I'm sure Goodell sees some line connecting more games to more money for the owners, which trickles down to the players, and then the fans see hungrier or happier players who perform better. Sure, that could work; after all, trickle-down economics was a popular Presidential strategy and benefited the masses, didn't it? Wait...