We've heard some suggestions this year of tweaks to the NFL playoff system including re-seeding when the playoffs begin. Most of this comes in light of the NFC West where we will see, at best, an 8-8 division winner or even a 7-9 winner. It would simply mean re-seeding the teams once the playoffs were decided.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell held a chat at NFL.com on Tuesday and indicated that they'll likely be talking about the possibility of doing so.
We have considered many alternatives for our playoff format including the possibility of seeding all playoff teams on the basis of their records once they qualify for the playoffs. I'm certain this will get additional consideration by our competition committee and our membership in the offseason. As with any system there are pluses and minuses.
The pluses are obvious -- better teams are rewarded. The minuses would hurt a team like the Chiefs in 2010.
If the playoffs ended today, here's the order of teams you'd have from 1-6: Patriots, Steelers, Chiefs, Colts, Ravens and Jets. That would put the Jets traveling to Kansas City in the first round.
Re-seeding the playoffs this year would look like this from 1-6: Patriots, Steelers, Ravens, Jets, Chiefs and Colts. That means the Chiefs would go from hosting a playoff game to traveling to Baltimore New York. Not exactly an ideal situation, huh?
While I like the idea of re-seeding the playoffs, I think I'd prefer to keep it the way it is. I like the reward of a home playoff game for division winners. I want winning the division to feel like a major accomplishment. Re-seeding the playoffs would diminish even if it's slight.