With COVID-19 cases on the rise and seemingly a new team impacted by the virus each week, the NFL has approved a contingency if the season cannot be completed.
The owners unanimously voted to expand the playoff field from 14 to 16 teams on Tuesday, if rescheduled games from the regular season cannot be made up in a Week 18, per multiple reports.
Eight teams in each conference would make the playoffs, while the owners also decided not to re-seed teams once they qualify for the postseason.
The contingency plan is essentially a backup to the backup plan. Right now, the season is pace to be played through Week 17, but if COVID forces postponements late in the season a Week 18 will be implemented to finish those games.
If those game, for whatever reason, cannot be made up in Week 18 then the 16-team playoff will take effect.
The NFL had originally expanded the playoffs from 12 to 14 teams prior to this season, adding a third wild-card team in each conference.
Several teams and games have been impacted by COVID this season already, but the NFL has managed to make adjustments on the fly and reconfigure the schedule when necessary.
Yet, with bye weeks coming to an end soon and many teams having already had theirs, the ability to be flexible becomes a bit more challenging over the course of the final two months.
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