Should the NFL expand to 18 regular season games?

[Aso]

I'd love to have 18 games simply for my viewing pleasure. I'd like it to stay at 16 for the record books though, but I guess that's why they say records are meant to be broken.

Records are meant to be broken because leagues extend their regular seasons?

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Players hate them? Believe it or not, not everyone is a NFL starter with a 6 year contract. For a ton of players pre-season is more important than the actual season cause if they don't perform during pre-season they won't even be there for the real season. Not to mention this process is very important to coaches when they have to evaluate players and decide who stays and go's.
Maybe a Tom Brady or a Adrien Peterson may not care, but that's a small percentage of NFL players...

Fans don't care? Then why are there people in the stadium watching the game?

So let me get this straight....the league should sacrafice millions of dollars , and annoy the stars & the fans with meaningless football, in order to ensure that the bums on the fringe of the roster get in extra reps? Seriously?

And please don't argue that the fans care. Theyre forced to but the tickets as part of the season ticket package, and most people give them away. The fans who do come are home by halftime. Nobody cares.

 

[ralaw]

You make a good points except for part in the second paragraph when you talk about starting players, playing time. Starters usually play a series or two in the 1st preseason game and in the 2nd game a lot of starters play the entire first half while in the 3rd preseason game a lot of starters end up playing the entire first half and sometimes into the 3rd quarter. Coaches don't want to play their starters to play much if at all in the 4th game because they don't want someone to go down and then have very little time to prepare the next guy in line to start. So most starters usually look to get in about 5 quarters. I expect if there is 2 preseason games you'll get starters to play about half of the first game and none of the second. So you might go from 5 quarters of play to about 2 which IMO opinon will show to be significant for the first couple of games.

Meh, I said 4 quarters.....you say 5. With my 2-4 number I was also referring to those starters who get hurt, don't play in preseason or come out of retirement. In the end I don' think it matters.

In a 2 preseason game setup I can see starters playing on average the first quarter in the first game and a half in the second game. So, we're talking about 2 lost quarters.....big deal, they're professionals. I don't think two extra quarters will have that much of an influence on games when they count.

 

[Aso]

So let me get this straight....the league should sacrafice millions of dollars , and annoy the stars & the fans with meaningless football, in order to ensure that the bums on the fringe of the roster get in extra reps? Seriously?

And please don't argue that the fans care. Theyre forced to but the tickets as part of the season ticket package, and most people give them away. The fans who do come are home by halftime. Nobody cares.

Why are they sacrificing millions? With two more games would you pull in more money? Probably but I'm not sure. If you have two more regular season games then you'll have to pay the players more to what they would normally get in the regular season. All in all I suspect the money would even out.

 

[ralaw]

So let me get this straight....the league should sacrafice millions of dollars , and annoy the stars & the fans with meaningless football, in order to ensure that the bums on the fringe of the roster get in extra reps? Seriously?

..add to that they're also going to expand the active roster in some way, so those fringe players will more than likely be on the team. In our current situation a typical team has about 4-6 fringe guys on the roster who are boarderline and anyone beyond that should preparing to play in another league or use their degree.

 

[NAHSTE]

Seriously, though do you care about the athletes putting their bodies through enough?" They're paid very well for what they do.

They're paid more than enough, sure, but they're fucking vegetables by age 65. Given the growing concern about head injuries and other lingering health problems, shouldn't adding games be the opposite reaction?

Unless you like seeing guys like Muhammad Ali and Earl Campbell where they are now. They will become the rule not the exception in about two decades.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Why are they sacrificing millions? With two more games would you pull in more money? Probably but I'm not sure. If you have two more regular season games then you'll have to pay the players more to what they would normally get in the regular season. All in all I suspect the money would even out.

That's two extra weeks of games for CBS, FOX , and ESPN. The tv contracts will increase by millions.

Not to mention stadium revenue, website traffic, and all of the other fringe money that expands by 8% or whatever it works out to.

Preseason garbo football generates a fraction of money as regular season.

 

[Aso]

Meh, I said 4 quarters.....you say 5. With my 2-4 number I was also referring to those starters who get hurt, don't play in preseason or come out of retirement. In the end I don' think it matters.

In a 2 preseason game setup I can see starters playing on average the first quarter in the first game and a half in the second game. So, we're talking about 2 lost quarters.....big deal, they're professionals. I don't think two extra quarters will have that much of an influence on games when they count.

But I don't see them playing the last game for the same reason starters don't in a 16 game year. Teams don't want their starting QB, RB, WR, whoever to get injured in the last game and then have no one good enough to come in and replace them immediately that knows the system. I seriously doubt teams would play their starters for an entire half in the last game.

The play would only be down for the 1st and for some players, the 2nd game of the regular season but it'll still end up being sloppy football. Look how Brady played last game. Throwing a pass behind Welker who could have gotten some good yards after the catch but didn't because of Brady's inaccuracy. Then Brady underthrowing Moss which could've been a touchdown in my opinion. Fans may want two more games of football but those two extra games will be sloppy football.

 

[Houston]

So let me get this straight....the league should sacrafice millions of dollars , and annoy the stars & the fans with meaningless football, in order to ensure that the bums on the fringe of the roster get in extra reps? Seriously?

And please don't argue that the fans care. Theyre forced to but the tickets as part of the season ticket package, and most people give them away. The fans who do come are home by halftime. Nobody cares.

You just said the league and fans.

But I said anybody in the actual organization of the team. I can guarantee you that the WR coach, the O-line coach, The Offensive coordinator and everybody else in the coaching staff takes pre-season seriously.
Now rather pre-season is aired on TV for the fans, or if the league makes a deal out of it is none of their concern.

The #1 thing to the coaches and players is the team and winning. They don't go out to perform for the fans and they're not worried about rather or not MNF is there.
Pre-season is important to them cause they know at the end of the day it can help make the team better.

 

[ralaw]

They're paid more than enough, sure, but they're fucking vegetables by age 65. Given the growing concern about head injuries and other lingering health problems, shouldn't adding games be the opposite reaction?

Unless you like seeing guys like Muhammad Ali and Earl Campbell where they are now. They will become the rule not the exception in about two decades.

If you're concerned about their well being when they're 65, than you should probably stop supporting the league all together.

Besides some aches and pains that require surgery most of these guys aren't vegetables when they get older. Yes, you'll have guys here and their with serious health issues, but the majority don't experience that. You're also basing most of your opinion on the old school guys who didn't care (or weren't educated)about health and would run through a brick wall, take serious drugs, etc; however, with technology and a risen awareness about long term health the players of today are well taken care of....both physically and economically.

 

[Aso]

That's two extra weeks of games for CBS, FOX , and ESPN. The tv contracts will increase by millions.

Not to mention stadium revenue, website traffic, and all of the other fringe money that expands by 8% or whatever it works out to.

Preseason garbo football generates a fraction of money as regular season.

But wouldn't that extra money go to the players being paid for the two extra games. The amount of money players get paid during the preseason is i believe from 825$ for rookies and 1225$ for veterans. Now increase that money to what they would make during regular season for two games.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

But I don't see them playing the last game for the same reason starters don't in a 16 game year. Teams don't want their starting QB, RB, WR, whoever to get injured in the last game and then have no one good enough to come in and replace them immediately that knows the system. I seriously doubt teams would play their starters for an entire half in the last game.

The play would only be down for the 1st and for some players, the 2nd game of the regular season but it'll still end up being sloppy football. Look how Brady played last game. Throwing a pass behind Welker who could have gotten some good yards after the catch but didn't because of Brady's inaccuracy. Then Brady underthrowing Moss which could've been a touchdown in my opinion. Fans may want two more games of football but those two extra games will be sloppy football.

Do you seriously think Tom Brady needs that extra quarter of work in order to be ready? C'mon.

Again, the "sloppy play" argument would disappear after the first year. At first, people will point to every dropped pass & missed tackle and blame less preseason games, but then it will be forgotten. You guys are overating the signifigance of these games.

 

[Aso]

I disagree. I think fans want two extra games, they'll be getting two extra games of sloppily played football.

 

[Houston]

Do you seriously think Tom Brady needs that extra quarter of work in order to be ready? C'mon.

Again, the "sloppy play" argument would disappear after the first year. At first, people will point to every dropped pass & missed tackle and blame less preseason games, but then it will be forgotten. You guys are overating the signifigance of these games.

Like I said, players like Tom Brady make up a small fraction of the NFL.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

But wouldn't that extra money go to the players being paid for the two extra games. The amount of money players get paid during the preseason is i believe from 825$ for rookies and 1225$ for veterans. Now increase that money to what they would make during regular season for two games.

Everyone would make more money. Owners, players, concessions, networks from increased ad revenue - everyone.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Like I said, players like Tom Brady make up a small fraction of the NFL.

Are you really that concerned with the plight of the #5 DT trying to make the team? Do you honestly prefer the two extra preseason games to real football?

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I disagree. I think fans want two extra games, they'll be getting two extra games of sloppily played football.

September 3rd, 2011, random sportsbar:

"This is sloppily played football, fuck this , I'm not watching. I wish this was a preseason game, so these players could be more finely tuned!"

You're lost if you think anyone will notice or care about the lost preseason games. Bring on the extra two weeks of real football, we'll adjust and love it.

 

[Aso]

September 3rd, 2011, random sportsbar:

"This is sloppily played football, fuck this , I'm not watching. I wish this was a preseason game, so these players could be more finely tuned!"

You're lost if you think anyone will notice or care about the lost preseason games. Bring on the extra two weeks of real football, we'll adjust and love it.

I am not disputing that most fans won't give a damn because most probably won't, but the coaches, will.

 

[Houston]

Are you really that concerned with the plight of the #5 DT trying to make the team? Do you honestly prefer the two extra preseason games to real football?

Of course not, I hate the pre-season just as much as the next guy.

All I'm saying is that it's not useless to THE ORGANIZATION . No matter how pointless that #5 DT may be, the coaches are gonna do their best to make sure that they make the right decision.
At the end of the day you don't know who's gonna go down and the team may need that #5 DT to step up and play.
It doesn't matter if a team had Johnson and Fitzgerald on the same team, they're still gonna make sure the 3rd, 4th, and 5th spots are filled up with the best WR's they got.

Do they need the pre-season for this? Not in my opinion.
But that's what it's used for. No matter how small and pointless it may seem, teams do use pre-season time. Which means it's not "useless" or a "waste of time".

Can't say for sure but I don't think too many NFL coaches would refer to pre-season as "a waste of time". And in the end don't they know more about it then we do?

 

[Aso]

Are you really that concerned with the plight of the #5 DT trying to make the team? Do you honestly prefer the two extra preseason games to real football?

Let's use the Dolphins as an example. Chad Henne is no Tom Brady. Neither is whoever is starting at guard or Brian Hartline their second receiver or their young corners, the couple of rookies the Dolphins have in the front 7. Randy Starks moving from end to nose. My bet is a lot of these types of players would benefit from a couple more preseason games.