Brady -> Mahomes AFC dominance is best case for league realignment

[Ya Digg?]

3 hours ago, Peevo said:

 

I'm already getting lambasted for this so what the hell.

 

Eliminate all divisions and conferences.  

 

31 games, everyone plays everybody once.  Alternate home and away every other year.  Who ever is in 1st place wins the championship.  If there's a tie at the end, fine 1 championship game to decide between the 2 top teams.

 

You want 17 games?

 

Fine - eliminate the divisions and everyone in the AFC plays each other once.  15 games.  2 games out of conference every year.  If they go to 18 games, you can play 3 out of conference games.

 

If you want to get real nuts have the bottom feeders in each conference forced to realign into the conference.  You want 8 divisions?  Force the 4th place team to "realign" or "relegate" to the opposite conference or something.  You don't want to be in the NFC East?  Fine, don't suck.

 

I don't have every machination of every scenario worked out here.  All I'm saying is we accept the current system as is, with all of its various flaws, and "im the worst post ever" candidate for merely suggesting we can change it.

 

 

I'm finding this wildly entertaining - I kinda hope people keep crushing you so you keep putting out even more terrible ideas!!

[Einstein]

We don't need a realignment. We would have beaten them if our defense wasn't decimated.

 

Congrats KC - you won the AFC because the Bills had 5 starters out on defense. Celebrate!

PS, did you see Mahomes and the KC offense put up a goose egg in the second half against Baltimore? Imagine if our defense did that for Allen? We would have won by double digits.

[msw2112]

13 minutes ago, Einstein said:

We don't need a realignment. We would have beaten them if our defense wasn't decimated.

 

Congrats KC - you won the AFC because the Bills had 5 starters out on defense. Celebrate!

PS, did you see Mahomes and the KC offense put up a goose egg in the second half against Baltimore? Imagine if our defense did that for Allen? We would have won by double digits.

 

I mostly agree with this.  Reid is a master and the Chiefs' game plan against the Bills may have been different if the Bills had their full complement on defense.  That said, the game was very close and I do believe that if the Bills had even 2 of Milano, Bernard, Tre White and/or a healthy Rasul Douglas, they win the game.  But they didn't and the Chiefs moved on.

 

I'm not going to bash the OP, but I will disagree that realignment is a reasonable solution to the Chiefs' dominance.

[TheFunPolice]

There's like 3 AFC teams without a budding superstar QB, so we have to solve that one first. 

 

 

[Einstein]

3 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

 

I mostly agree with this.  Reid is a master and the Chiefs' game plan against the Bills may have been different if the Bills had their full complement on defense.  That said, the game was very close and I do believe that if the Bills had even 2 of Milano, Bernard, Tre White and/or a healthy Rasul Douglas, they win the game.  But they didn't and the Chiefs moved on.

 

I'm not going to bash the OP, but I will disagree that realignment is a reasonable solution to the Chiefs' dominance.

 

Milano, Bernard, White, Benford, Phillips, Rapp, Spector... all out.

Douglas and Dodson hobbled.

 

KC played our back-ups and the game still came down to the final drive.

 

They are LUCKY we were so hobbled, because they wouldn't be in the Super Bowl right now if we had our starters.

[Capco]

7 minutes ago, TheFunPolice said:

There's like 3 AFC teams without a budding superstar QB, so we have to solve that one first. 

 

 

Well, two of them are in the AFC East so I don't mind putting off this whole solving thing for a bit 😅

[Goin Breakdown]

-Chiefs should give opponents 14 pts to start a game 

- opposing teams should be allowed to hit with chairs

- opposing teams should be able to Tag in any Pro Bowl player or all pro from the previous year to play in the upcoming game against the chiefs. 

Edited January 29 by Goin Breakdown

[DrBob806]

4 hours ago, Peevo said:

 

But why is change so bad?  I'm genuinely asking.

 

Until all the teams play each other we will never really achieve competitive balance in the schedule.

 

 

The NFL scheduling formula is presently brilliant. It was even better when it was just 16 games.

 

Yes, there are quirks, like some divisions can have "down year(s)," but it's great for the fans, especially the opposing conference match ups by division. Before 1978, AFC/NFC games didn't rotate like they do now. We also have rotating AFC vs AFC, NFC vs NFC by divisions. 

 

You may not be old enough to know, but there was a period where the NFC won 13 SBs is a row, late 80s into the 90s. 

 

A lot of this stuff is by chance/luck. I wouldn't ruin a good thing.

21 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

 

 

I'm not going to bash the OP, but I will disagree that realignment is a reasonable solution to the Chiefs' dominance.

Correct. The Chiefs are dominant because they presently have the best coach & the best QB. The scary thing is their defense has truly improved. 

[Peevo]

6 minutes ago, DrBob806 said:

The NFL scheduling formula is presently brilliant. It was even better when it was just 16 games.

 

Yes, there are quirks, like some divisions can have "down year(s)," but it's great for the fans, especially the opposing conference match ups by division. Before 1978, AFC/NFC games didn't rotate like they do now. We also have rotating AFC vs AFC, NFC vs NFC by divisions. 

 

You may not be old enough to know, but there was a period where the NFC won 13 SBs is a row, late 80s into the 90s. 

 

A lot of this stuff is by chance/luck. I wouldn't ruin a good thing.

Correct. The Chiefs are dominant because they presently have the best coach & the best QB. The scary thing is their defense has truly improved. 

 

 

Appreciate your perspective.  I appreciate you engaging with my point.

 

I'm too young to remember the early 90s. 

 

But there seems to be a real hesitance to my generalized "every NFL team should play every NFL team" each season idea.

 

This is not a crazy idea, in my opinion.  It's almost heretical, judged by some of these responses.

 

NHL teams play a brutal, violent, unhinged, bloodsport 82 times a year.  How many concussions per year in the NHL?  It's just, if not more violent, than the NFL.  Then after all of that, they play another 20 plus brutal, violent, exhausting playoff games to determine a champion.

 

Daring to suggest professional football players play 31 games in a calendar year is somehow some absurd idea.  Increase rosters, bake in some "no more than 20 starts per player" rule and really force teams to have 2 QBs to be competitive.  I know, none of this will happen. 

 

But isn't this more fun than "the Bills should draft this player in round 5 I've never heard of from a college i've never watched" conversation?

[DrBob806]

10 minutes ago, Peevo said:

 

 

Appreciate your perspective.  I appreciate you engaging with my point.

 

I'm too young to remember the early 90s. 

 

But there seems to be a real hesitance to my generalized "every NFL team should play every NFL team" each season idea.

 

This is not a crazy idea, in my opinion.  It's almost heretical, judged by some of these responses.

 

I could see a day where they eliminate divisions (I doubt most fans would like that). 

 

There's little chance they'd expand the schedule beyond 18 games (it's probably coming in a new CBA down the road). 

 

The NFL is such a machine, but out of respect to the other major sports, they wouldn't want to overlap more than they already do, and when the teams get the injury bug, the product suffers. Realistically, out of the 14 playoff teams this season, maybe 4 or 5 were "healthy." 

[UKBillFan]

The one thing I would say - and apologies if it's been said already - wasn't the whole point of the cap to reduce the likelihood of dynasties?

 

Hasn't really worked, to be honest.

[zow2]

This thread is the dumbest thing I've ever seen.  But I'll play along.  The AFC should have a secondary tournament, KC not allowed to be involved.  So that way Allen, Lamar, Lawrence, Burrow, Stroud, Herbert...will all have a chance at a trophy 🙄

[Einstein]

32 minutes ago, UKBillFan said:

The one thing I would say - and apologies if it's been said already - wasn't the whole point of the cap to reduce the likelihood of dynasties?

 

Hasn't really worked, to be honest.

 

It takes a Great Coach + Great QB + Great GM to overcome the cap and create a dynasty. KC has all 3.

And even with that, they don’t beat us if they weren’t playing our practice squad defense.

[UKBillFan]

Just now, Einstein said:

 

It takes a Great Coach + Great QB + Great GM to overcome the cap and create a dynasty. KC has all 3.

And even with that, they don’t beat us if they weren’t playing our practice squad defense.

 

Maybe two of three, as I'm not sure the Pats had a great GM whilst Belichick was there...

[Billy Claude]

I could see them going to a FIFA style lottery to have new divisions every year.   You can have the drawing two weeks after the Super Bowl.  Imagine the ratings. It would blow the NCAA bracket drawing out of the water and keep the NFL front and center with all the networks/streaming services for another few weeks.

 

There are advantages.  For one thing, you don't have to watch the Jets twice every year.

Edited January 29 by Billy Claude

[JoPoy88]

All I’m reading here is “loser mentality has so infected my brain let’s just turn the NFL into the Premier League.”

[st pete gogolak]

Realignment because Patrick Mahomes is too good?  Eh, no.  Realignment because present setup is stale?  I’m open to that.  How about geographic realignment (Pats, Jets, Giants, Eagles in one division, etc.).  How about four 8 team divisions, 16 playoff teams (no byes!).  

[Shaw66]

6 hours ago, MJS said:

This is just dumb.

I'm afraid so.  

 

It is true that the soccer leagues in England and/or elsewhere do something similar, by having teams move up and down from the majors and minors.   

 

It is true that things could be done differently, but why?  You'd lose rivalries.   You'd lose some compelling stories, like Allen and Mahomes playing against each other.  

 

The NFL is wildly popular.  In 2022, I think the stat was 37 of the 38 most watched TV shows were NFL games.   Someone sent me something that said the more people watched the Bills-Chiefs last week than watch all five 2023 World Series game COMBINED.   If I have a business that is THAT successful, I'm not going tinkering with it to make it easier for a few teams who think they have tough competition.  Plus, which NFC team, especially one without a quarterback, wants to be transferred in the AFC?   

 

I suppose you could have a league with no divisions, and at the end of the season you could have a tournament, seeding every team based on its record.   Seedings might make the tournament a bit easier for good teams (seeded brackets would mean that a good team would have less chance of facing the Chiefs early), but who really cares about that.   Every team, every player will tell you that to be the best, you have to beat the best. 

[psuscott16]

I would love it if they got rid of the divisions and just played every team once with 2 crossover games (could do by previous year seeding or regional rivalry). It would be as close as they could get to true playoff seeding. 

 

I think the biggest reason teams dominate divisions is from great coaching with a good roster. Playing the same teams twice a year, the great coaches learn how to own them and it results in the lesser teams cycling through coaches every few years, sometimes letting good coaches go that just can't hang with the great ones. 

[Einstein]

1 hour ago, UKBillFan said:

 

Maybe two of three, as I'm not sure the Pats had a great GM whilst Belichick was there...

 

That’s old Belichik.

 

But the Pats had All-Star rosters for many years. 

 

Brady (HOFer), Gronk (HOFer), Moss (HOFer), Welker (All Pro), Wilfork (HOFer), Vrabel (All Pro), Bruschi (All Pro), Samuel (All Pro), Harrison (HOFer), Light (All Pro), Mankins (All Pro), Gostkowski (All Pro).

 

All those players were on the SAME team. Not different years. That’s an insane amount of talent.