What expanding the playoffs to 8 teams would mean for the Vikings
According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the NFL is considering adding an eighth team to the playoff field in the AFC and NFC. Doing so would eliminate the need to replay the Bengals-Bills game that was canceled Monday night after Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest.
One possibility would be to add an eighth team to the playoff field in the AFC. This would eliminate the bye for the No. 1 seed.
To ensure competitive balance, there would have to be eight teams in the NFC, too.
The NFL Players Association would have to agree to a temporary expansion of the playoff field.
Florio says the idea would eliminate the first-round bye for the No. 1 seed in each conference. But what would it mean for the first round of the playoffs if the Vikings finish as the No. 3 or, less likely, the No. 2 seed?
If Minnesota stays at No. 3, they would still be locked into a first-round game against the New York Giants. If they were to jump to No. 2, it would still mean they'd face the Packers, Seahawks or Lions. So again, no changes in that scenario.
Nothing really changes for Minnesota other than one more chance for a team to knock out the Eagles and eliminate the potential of the Vikings having to go back to Philly for the NFC championship.
If the playoffs started today with eight teams, the first-round NFC games would be:
- 1) Philadephia vs. 8) Detroit
- 2) San Francisco vs. 7) Seattle
- 3) Minnesota vs. 6) NY Giants
- 4) Tampa Bay vs. 5) Dallas
That's if the playoffs started today. After Week 18 we'll know who's in and out for sure, but the Packers have the cleanest path to the No. 7 seed because all they have to do is beat Detroit and they clinch the 7 seed.
Adding an eighth would help eliminate the issue that arose when the NFL put the Seahawks-Rams game in the 3 p.m. window ahead the Packers and Lions on Sunday night. If the Seahawks win the Lions are eliminated, so it would be a huge benefit to the Packers.
In an 8-team field the Seahawks could win and the Lions would still have something to play for, ultimately making the Sunday night game between Green Bay and Detroit a showdown for the last spot in the NFC playoffs.
Related: Murphy: The NFL is our national drug. We are all unapologetic addicts.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.