Is this the NFL playoffs or the NBA playoffs?
The 2020 NFL season started up with an unprecedented playoff format in place, with 14 teams set to earn postseason berths at the end of the regular season. According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, that number could go up to 16 as a contingency plan, should games need to be canceled due to COVID-19.
Mortensen added that the four division champions would remain in the playoffs and four wild card teams from each conference would fill out the remaining seeds. Mark Maske of The Washington Post mentioned that as of now, the number of lost games required to set this contingency plan into motion is not specified.
We've seen a 16-team playoff before, when the 1982 regular season was shortened to nine games due to a players' strike. Division standings did not come into play when deciding the top eight seeds — though each division did have a representative team — meaning the best regular-season team was the No. 1 seed, and the eighth-best team was the No. 8 seed. Two teams with records below .500 — the 4-5 Cleveland Browns and the 4-5 Detroit Lions — served as the two No. 8 seeds in the playoffs and were defeated handily by the No. 1 seeds in the first round.
Though we're still awaiting the outcome of Monday night's contest between the Buccaneers and the Giants, the 2020 playoff picture at the halfway point is as follows (with the prospective No. 8 seeds added in italics):
AFC
- No. 1: Pittsburgh Steelers (7-0)
- No. 2: Kansas City Chiefs (7-1)
- No. 3: Buffalo Bills (6-2)
- No. 4: Tennessee Titans (5-2)
- No. 5: Baltimore Ravens (5-2)
- No. 6: Indianapolis Colts (5-2)
- No. 7: Cleveland Browns (5-3)
- Potential No. 8: Las Vegas Raiders (4-3) | Miami Dolphins (4-3), Denver Broncos (3-4)
NFC
- No. 1: Seattle Seahawks (6-1)
- No. 2: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (could be 6-2 after MNF)
- No. 3: Green Bay Packers (5-2)
- No. 4: Philadelphia Eagles (3-4-1)
- No. 5: New Orleans Saints (5-2)
- No. 6: Arizona Cardinals (5-2)
- No. 7: Los Angeles Rams (5-3)
- Potential No. 8: Chicago Bears (5-3) | San Francisco 49ers (4-4)
So far, the proposal has seen a fair share of support on Twitter from a particular faction of fan bases — I'm sure you can guess which — while others are critical of making this potential change so far into the season as the trade deadline looms.
Additionally, fans of the Steelers, Seahawks and other teams competing for the top seed complained that this idea would strip any value of having the best record in the conference, as it would logically eliminate the first-round bye.
Then again, nothing is set in stone, including the fact that there's a very real chance that no more games are canceled due to COVID-19. Every game of Week 8 was played as planned after the schedule was restructured due to COVID-19 outbreaks earlier in the season. However, there were teams on Monday, including the Packers and Cardinals, that announced players who had tested positive after Sunday's games.
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