ny33 Posted December 25, 2013 Posted December 25, 2013 I thought the league was perfect with 30 teams and 3 divisions of 5 teams in each conference. I did not like it when they expanded and added teams in Houston and Cleveland 4 divisions of 4 teams in each conference is too much and ends up penalizing the good divisions since there is one less wildcard spot now with the extra division I'm in favor of switching to eight-team divisions. Play everyone in your division once a year, play four teams each year in the other division from your conference, and play five inter-conference games.
Nix Buddy Posted December 25, 2013 Posted December 25, 2013 My simple alignment plan: 2 conferences, 16 teams each, every team plays each other for 15 weeks then leave the other for traditional rivalries. Change the conference teams every year. Have a lottery draft, whatever. Top 6 teams from each conference makes the playoffs. I hate divisions, and playing the same teams twice per year. They're completely unnecessary for the NFL today. I want to see the local team play all the talent in the league. I like this idea, it's brilliant, but I did draft Ed Wang in the 5th round so not sure what my opinion means. But you sure are purty.
dogbyte Posted December 25, 2013 Posted December 25, 2013 (edited) Would love to see realingment on a more regional basis. Keep NJY in our division, add DET, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. All, except the NYJ, are a 3-4 hour ride from Buffalo. Bills fans at away games!!! It would guarantee the Bills sell out all home games. The stands would be filled with rival teams fans! Edited December 25, 2013 by dogbyte
littlelouie Posted December 25, 2013 Posted December 25, 2013 The last thing I would want is expansion. The talent is already too watered down. If you have expansion the amount of talent to go around would be hurt even more.
jester43 Posted December 25, 2013 Posted December 25, 2013 Would anyone like it if the NFC and AFC went to a East/West only division lineup? This would mean two 8 team divisions with the winners making the playoffs and each conference having 4 wild card teams. It would prevent Dallas/GB/Chi/Phi from making the playoffs while the Cardinals are at home at potentially 11-5 watching an 8-7-1 team HOST a playoff game. I do think it would make scheduling difficult. i have posted multiple threads on ths topic in the past. i have the 4 divisions all worked out as well as the schedule: you get ONE game a year with 6 of your 7 division rivals and a home and home with the other (a different team each year for the home and home of course.). that is 8 of the 16 games. you get 4 more in the other division in your conference and 2 each from the each division in the other conference. i HATE that an 8 or 9 win team can get in while a 10 or 11 win team stays home. i hate the pats as mucb as anyone, but the year Cassel led them to 11-5 while Brady was hurt but they didn't get in...that was a complete travesty.
jester43 Posted December 25, 2013 Posted December 25, 2013 my divisions (tried to respect the old rivalries/traditions but some will have to go): afc east bills pats jets fish steelers browns ravens bengals afc west seattle raiders chiefs broncos 49ers chargers rams cards nfc north lions vikes pack bears eagles giants indy washington nfc south atl dallas titans houston saints carolina tampa jax
KRT88 Posted December 25, 2013 Posted December 25, 2013 if you had an 18 game schedule the 8x4 could work. 7x2 vs own division 1x2 vs other division within conference (1and 2 vs 1 and 2), 3 and 4 vs 3 and 4, etc.) 1x2 vs other conference It's not perfect but it does work one thing is for sure, you would rarely see teams from the other conference in Buffalo! Like once every 16 years rare!
djp14150 Posted December 26, 2013 Posted December 26, 2013 Would anyone like it if the NFC and AFC went to a East/West only division lineup? This would mean two 8 team divisions with the winners making the playoffs and each conference having 4 wild card teams. It would prevent Dallas/GB/Chi/Phi from making the playoffs while the Cardinals are at home at potentially 11-5 watching an 8-7-1 team HOST a playoff game. I do think it would make scheduling difficult. To go to a 4 division 8 team per division format.... 8 divisional games (1 against 6+ H &H against 1 team) + 4 interconference games+ 4 intraconference games. then you would have a very imbalanced schedule so the standings could be readically different because instead of now where divisions have 14 common games, under the new format, divisional teams would have something more like 10 common games. In some seasons a team like New England could be very top heavy playing many of the top teams in other divisons, while Buffalo play a far weaker schedule--this will cause more year to year swings in standings.
bbb Posted December 26, 2013 Posted December 26, 2013 Espn radio has been talking about this all night.
papazoid Posted December 26, 2013 Posted December 26, 2013 keep the current divisions. play everyone in your division twice (6 games) play everyone else in your conference once (12 games). 8 teams per conference make the playoffs (4 division winners and the next 4 best records). first round of Playoffs all games vs other conference ( #1 AFC vs #8 NFC, #2 AFC vs #7 NFC, #3 AFC vs #6 NFC, etc......)
Prickly Pete Posted December 26, 2013 Posted December 26, 2013 (edited) No one cares about the other conference? No one wants the Bills to EVER play the Cowboys, Bears or Giants? No one wants to see them play against some of the greats that are making history in the other conference. It's just a whole separate league that (unless the Bills are in the Super Bowl....cough) the Bills have nothing to do with, forever? I think that would suck. Edited December 26, 2013 by Marauder'sMicro
BillsBytheBay Posted December 26, 2013 Posted December 26, 2013 (edited) It's fine. Leave it alone IMHO i agree. If the teams that got in with 8-8 records lost bad, i would have other ideas, but some teams get hot, late. Then they beat the Pats in the super bowl. (twice) Edited December 26, 2013 by JaxBills
Wesdawg Posted December 27, 2013 Posted December 27, 2013 (edited) To go to a 4 division 8 team per division format.... 8 divisional games (1 against 6+ H &H against 1 team) + 4 interconference games+ 4 intraconference games. then you would have a very imbalanced schedule so the standings could be readically different because instead of now where divisions have 14 common games, under the new format, divisional teams would have something more like 10 common games. In some seasons a team like New England could be very top heavy playing many of the top teams in other divisons, while Buffalo play a far weaker schedule--this will cause more year to year swings in standings. I agree with this. To go into further detail, my idea would be: - Each team plays all seven of their divisional opponents once, with an eighth game determined by the previous season's standings in that division. For example, the 1st and 2nd place teams of a division would face each other twice, as would the 3rd and 4th place, 5th and 6th and so on. The home and away schedule would rotate each season between all teams. - Each team would play four opponents from the other division in their conference based on the previous season's standings. For example, if a team finishes in the bottom-four of it's division, that team would play the bottom-four teams in the other conference division the following year. - Each team would play four interconference games according to a pre-determined rotation. For example, the Bills would play half of the NFC East one year, half of the NFC West the next, the other half of the NFC East the following year and so on. It would be pretty simple. We would no longer have to deal with teams winning a division and hosting a playoff game against an opponent with a better record. We would finally get to see two wild cards teams hosting a playoff game every year. And finally, it would be the best way to ensure that we see the best teams with the best records get in regardless of strength of division. Arizona would more than likely be headed to the playoffs if we had this format currently. I'm in favor of whatever gets the best teams in the playoffs every season, even if that means eliminating divisions. There's no perfect way to do this, but I see a potential improvement if we went to four divisions of eight teams. There's no reason why teams like San Francisco and Kansas City have to play on the road in the playoffs as a 5th seed, despite each being tied for the second best record in their own conferences. Edited December 27, 2013 by 808Bills
Justice Posted December 27, 2013 Posted December 27, 2013 Sorry, I didn't see this thread when I made mine. There's no realignment, but it is a major change that will make things fair and KEEP the Bills in Buffalo. Here it is: The NFL has their heart set on a team or two in LA, and one each in Toronto and London. No city, not even Jacksonville, should have to lose their football team. The possibility of an 11 & 5 team like Arizona missing out on the playoffs shouldn't happen either. I have the perfect solution that will make everyone happy. Here's my plan that will help avoid these types of situations. Expand the league by four teams, two in each conference. That brings the total of teams in each conference to 18. Next thing you do is scrap the divisions. Each team plays every team within their own conference one time each for 17 games, alternating home games annually. The NFL will be pleased with this because they get an additional regular season game. The players won't mind it either considering the NFL wanted to move to an 18 game schedule, this way they meet in the middle. The top 6 teams in each conference make the playoffs. I love this idea because the best of the best in each conference will make the playoffs every year and it's the fairest way. I also love the idea of avoiding a "Tom Brady type QB" tormenting you two times a year for 10 years. The only downside is you don't see an NFC team until the Super Bowl. I can live with that. The rivalries you develop in your own conference will negate that.
Prickly Pete Posted December 27, 2013 Posted December 27, 2013 Sorry, I didn't see this thread when I made mine. There's no realignment, but it is a major change that will make things fair and KEEP the Bills in Buffalo. All this realignment talk sounds really desperate, and sad.
machine gun kelly Posted December 27, 2013 Posted December 27, 2013 My simple alignment plan: 2 conferences, 16 teams each, every team plays each other for 15 weeks then leave the other for traditional rivalries. Change the conference teams every year. Have a lottery draft, whatever. Top 6 teams from each conference makes the playoffs. I hate divisions, and playing the same teams twice per year. They're completely unnecessary for the NFL today. I want to see the local team play all the talent in the league. Not a bad idea. So if we had an AFC East and West, are you suggesting it would like this: EAST NYJ BUFF NE BALT PITT CLEVE CINCY MIA What about JAX? They are geographically in the East. WEST DEN SD KC OAK IND HOU TN JAX? The problem is there are more people living East of the MS, and as such more football teams in the East. I wouldn't care if we changed, but doubt it would ever happen. If we expanded to 34 teams as suggested, they would need to be in the West for the NFC and AFC. I get Los Angelos, although I think it's stupid as two teams have failed there in the Rams and Raiders. Bottom line is nothing will change other than Goodell will finally get his way someday and go to a 17-18 game schedule. They'll just need to expand their roster to 60 to do it and even more guys will go on IR every year.
Prickly Pete Posted December 27, 2013 Posted December 27, 2013 I get Los Angelos, although I think it's stupid as two teams have failed there in the Rams and Raiders. I don't think those teams "failed" there. The owners of those teams were "eccentric". I live in LA, it would support a team just fine.
Cold Front Posted January 6, 2014 Posted January 6, 2014 In light of today's playoff expansion talk It seems to me the largest problem with playoff seeding is the lack of importance of winning a division. Under the current format it is possible for a team to sweep their division opponents while also loosing their division I.E 6-10 It still makes more sense for the league to realign while trying to retain some AFL - NFL history. I would like to see 2 conferences with 16 teams with two 8 team divisions. Each team would play each member of their division twice (14 games) plus one additional in conference and on opposing conference game. This would allow for the four division winners to have a first round bye, and include each divisions two and three seed. In the event of a tie use current tie breaker rules. American Football Conference East West Bills Bengals Browns Broncos Dolphins Chargers Jaguars Chiefs Jets Colts Patriots Raiders Ravens Titans Steelers Texans National Football Conference East West Bucs Bears Cowboys Cardinals Eagles 49ers Falcons Lions Giants Packers Panthers Rams Skins Seahawks Saints Vikings I would personally swap the Cowboys and Rams (Due to geography) but we all know Jerry Jones would cry.
bbb Posted January 7, 2014 Posted January 7, 2014 In light of today's playoff expansion talk It seems to me the largest problem with playoff seeding is the lack of importance of winning a division. Under the current format it is possible for a team to sweep their division opponents while also loosing their division I.E 6-10 It still makes more sense for the league to realign while trying to retain some AFL - NFL history. I would like to see 2 conferences with 16 teams with two 8 team divisions. Each team would play each member of their division twice (14 games) plus one additional in conference and on opposing conference game. This would allow for the four division winners to have a first round bye, and include each divisions two and three seed. In the event of a tie use current tie breaker rules. American Football Conference East West Bills Bengals Browns Broncos Dolphins Chargers Jaguars Chiefs Jets Colts Patriots Raiders Ravens Titans Steelers Texans National Football Conference East West Bucs Bears Cowboys Cardinals Eagles 49ers Falcons Lions Giants Packers Panthers Rams Skins Seahawks Saints Vikings I would personally swap the Cowboys and Rams (Due to geography) but we all know Jerry Jones would cry. Are they even talking about realignment? I thought the deal was that the NFL is wedded to the 8 divisions they have now.........It took them a long time but they finally got perfect symmetry. So much so that they don't want any other teams to join, and therefore they want the future LA team or teams to be one that exists now. I really hope there is consideration of realignment because if they could get an LA team as an expansion, we could breathe a little easier.
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