Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

[quote=SOUL-SKINS;724010]Are guys kidding me? It's only 2 more
games. It's not like we are adding another 8. I personally think the season is just to
short. It comes and goes way to quick. I could care less about the records but I could see that bothering some people. As far as guys getting hurt....umm well its football. If they bitch don't play. I know that the starters don't play alot in the preseason games but by adding the two regular season games it would wipeout two preseason games. Last time I checked players still get hit in preseason. I dunno guys. Maybe I just love football way too much and I'm being selfish.[/quote]
this isn't baseball.. it's still a nearly 6 month season counting post-season play

it's a violent game.. I hate the time away as much as anyone but they'll have to drastically cut back camps/ota's etc to get away with this

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

i dont think alot of you are thinking... its still the same amount of games regardless based on how much the starters play in all 4 preseason games, so why not make them count. and who cares about stats... a simple formula and you can compare 18 into 16 games just like we do now back when a season was 12 games

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

Enlarge the roster limit and/or get rid of the inactive list.

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

[quote=jrocx69;724027]i dont think alot of you are thinking... its still the same amount of games regardless based on how much the starters play in all 4 preseason games, so why not make them count. and who cares about stats... a simple formula and you can compare 18 into 16 games just like we do now back when a season was 12 games[/quote]

Yeah, because the starters playing for a quarter or two and not getting their endurance severely tested is the same as playing two full 4 quarter games. /sarcasm.

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

Since I am always one-off in my thinking I really favor a 17 game season, with the one extra game being an AFC/NFC rivalry game. Thus the Skins would play Baltimore every year, or 2 times if we play the AFC North. You would have 3 preseason games, and the rivalry game alternates home/away each year, and preseason would be scheduled so that there are still 10 home games. So if the rivalry game was at fedex, the skins would have one home preseason game, if it was at M&T stadium then the Skins would have 2 home preseason games.

Ah well, 18 games is too much, because I honestly believe you need at least 3 preseason games to get everyone in and into game shape.

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

It's not just two more games. It's also two more weeks of mandatory practice, which also increases the likelihood of injury

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

I don't like the idea of an 18 game season, seems like an obvious money grab by the league. I don't like a 4 game preseason either though.

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

I love the idea, the more games that count the more games I'll watch.

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

the owners gave up too much last contract. between TV revenue, and gate receipts, this is a way to recoup some of the money. i really hate this idea. and its really bad for the players, and the game. leave it alone

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

I'm in agreement with those who prefer the format remain the way it is. For me personally, the disadvantages far out weigh the advantages. While it may be great for revenue, it's harder on the players. Reducing the number of preseason games by two, will also hinder coaches ability to completely evaluate young players and draftees.

What's more, what will the players want in exchange for adding two more games to the regular season?

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

Ok, so they want to go to 18 games because at the beginning of the season we have meaningless games.... what happens at the end of the season when the Colts have wrapped up their division (again) by week 15 and we have more meaningless games. Ah! I get it, we get to see meaningless games with the 2nd team in December that we have to pay to see.

Its all greed. The owners want money for 20 games a year. The fans don't want to pay for meaningless games, but somehow we get them anyway.

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

[quote=Longtimefan;724075]I'm in agreement with those who prefer the format remain the way it is. For me personally, the disadvantages far out weigh the advantages. While it may be great for revenue, it's harder on the players. Reducing the number of preseason games by two, will also hinder coaches ability to completely evaluate young players and draftees.

[B]What's more, what will the players want in exchange for adding two more games to the regular season[/B]?[/quote]

That's where it will get interesting. Seems like a big hurdle to get by in collective bargaining.

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

[quote=Longtimefan;724075]I'm in agreement with those who prefer the format remain the way it is. For me personally, the disadvantages far out weigh the advantages. While it may be great for revenue, it's harder on the players. Reducing the number of preseason games by two, will also hinder coaches ability to completely evaluate young players and draftees.

What's more, what will the players want in exchange for adding two more games to the regular season?[/quote]

At a minimum the players union will want more player jobs and they will get it.

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

I fully support eliminating two preseason games. Presently, a full 20% of the NFL's 20-game schedule is devoted meaningless games - its retarded. The players don't like it. The coaches don't really need it. The owners and fans hate it. So, its pretty much universally agreed upon that the NFL needs to lose 2 preseason games.

Now, if we get rid of two preseason games, there are really just two choices - 1. Leave the 16 game regular season and cut player salaries to compensate for lost revenue. 2. convert those two meaningless preseason games into two regular season games. Starters generally play about 6 quarters of football in the preseason anyways, so its not like they'll really be playing that much more.

Scenario 2 makes the most sense. Now, there are things to do to make the longer regular season less grinding on the players:

1. Every team gets two bye weeks. As a consequence of this, we'll now have 20 weeks of regular season football to watch instead of just 17. Football season is my favorite time of the year, so i'm all about adding a few weeks.

2. Increase roster sizes and/or allow the full roster to be eligible to play on gamedays.

3. Change IR rules to allow players to come back from IR during the regular season.

4. Provide some kind of incentive for playoff-bound teams to play starters during the final weeks of the regular season. My suggestion - have the last 4 weeks of a teams schedule be divisional games.

5. On the flip side of the previous suggestion, have the first few games of the regular season be non-conference games for every team. these games are less important from a tie-breaking standpoint, and should be played near the beginning of the season to allow teams to "Gear up" more for the "more important" regular season games to be played later in the year.

Re: 18 Game Schedule.. Good or Bad?
 

[quote=SmootSmack;724059]It's not just two more games. It's also two more weeks of mandatory practice, which also increases the likelihood of injury[/quote]

its not two more games. there are 20 games players had to practice for in the current setup. there will be 20 games players have to practice for in the 18 game season. in the new system, they'll just be preparing for regular season games instead of pre-season games.