NFL schedule improvement.

[PhilSimms11]

I had a thought about the schedule. There's only 6 division games teams play. Does it make sense to kickoff the season with a division opponent? Being week 1, can't games be played outside of the division so teams can get their feet under them a little bit. Yes, the Giants looked like school boy bitches last night against the Cowboys. God knows they need to locate their feet before they can get them underneath them. Jesus Christ. Pitiful. Anyway, my point is, it's week 1. Teams play 10 non-division games. Why kick the season off with division foes? Of the 15 games in week 1, 7 were division match-ups. Wouldn't it increase the chances of better/competitive football if division play started around mid-season or close to it? Another thing I'd be in favor of is the final 3 weeks of the season as all division games. The Giants would play the Cowboys, Eagles, and Redskins to end the regular season. The Falcons would play the Bucs, Panthers, and Saints and so on. I think that would be awesome. One thing they do now is have week 17 as all division games to reduce the chances of teams phoning it in since that division game may decide a playoff spot. Why not do that for the final 3 weeks? For those who don't know how the NFL schedule breaks down, all 32 teams have this:

Conference: 12
6 division (6)
1 other division (4)
2 other teams (2)

Non-conference: 4 (another division)

The numbers make it possible. There's an even number of teams (32), divisions (8), and teams within the divisions (4). 16 games, 8 divisions, 4 teams in each division.

2017 division games look like this from weeks 15-17:
Week 15: 8
Week 16: 4
Week 17: 16

 

[eaglesnut]

That week 17 shit they do now is garbage. It basically makes a division game completely meaningless half the time.

 

[CowboyB]

I had a thought about the schedule. There's only 6 division games teams play. Does it make sense to kickoff the season with a division opponent? Being week 1, can't games be played outside of the division so teams can get their feet under them a little bit. Yes, the Giants looked like school boy bitches last night against the Cowboys. God knows they need to locate their feet before they can get them underneath them. Jesus Christ. Pitiful. Anyway, my point is, it's week 1. Teams play 10 non-division games. Why kick the season off with division foes? Of the 15 games in week 1, 7 were division match-ups. Wouldn't it increase the chances of better/competitive football if division play started around mid-season or close to it? Another thing I'd be in favor of is the final 3 weeks of the season as all division games. The Giants would play the Cowboys, Eagles, and Redskins to end the regular season. The Falcons would play the Bucs, Panthers, and Saints and so on. I think that would be awesome. One thing they do now is have week 17 as all division games to reduce the chances of teams phoning it in since that division game may decide a playoff spot. Why not do that for the final 3 weeks? For those who don't know how the NFL schedule breaks down, all 32 teams have this:

Conference: 12
6 division (6)
1 other division (4)
2 other teams (2)

Non-conference: 4 (another division)

The numbers make it possible. There's an even number of teams (32), divisions (8), and teams within the divisions (4). 16 games, 8 divisions, 4 teams in each division.

2017 division games look like this from weeks 15-17:
Week 15: 8
Week 16: 4
Week 17: 16

I wonder why you didn't have this posted last year after the Giants defeated the Cowboys in week 1.

Wait - no, I don't worry at all.

Good teams can find a way to overcome.

The Cowboys sure did. Losing 2 to the Giants meant absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.

 

[PhilSimms11]

I wonder why you didn't have this posted last year after the Giants defeated the Cowboys in week 1.

Wait - no, I don't worry at all.

Good teams can find a way to overcome.

The Cowboys sure did. Losing 2 to the Giants meant absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.

That's not the point, but I knew somebody would go there. This is the 3rd consecutive year the Giants and Cowboys have played week 1. All 3 in Dallas by the way. I just don't see why the season has to kickoff with divisional games. I'm more in favor of making weeks 15-17 all divisional games and the other 3 sprinkled in. That'd be fun.

 

[PDay8810]

It's okay Phil, GMen can still finish 12-4 as you predicted.
Eli is the man!

 

[CowboyB]

That's not the point, but I knew somebody would go there. This is the 3rd consecutive year the Giants and Cowboys have played week 1. All 3 in Dallas by the way. I just don't see why the season has to kickoff with divisional games. I'm more in favor of making weeks 15-17 all divisional games and the other 3 sprinkled in. That'd be fun.

I do like the idea of having the last few weeks loaded with divisional games. I also like having meaningful matchups in the beginning of the year. It adds to the excitement and much better than having a Browns vs Bears.