By Eugenia Ruiz@EugeniaR_)
A year ago, the NFL integrated two more teams into the playoff stage than it previously had, in part with the aim of generating a little more competition in the regular season, since, unlike other years, only one team per conference would rest in the first week.
Although this sounded interesting because of the competition that would occur between the big teams and the possibility that more rivals from the same division could meet again in the postseason (especially because of the way the NFL is designed for them to advance) this day, after the actions of at least three teams that received real beatings (reflected or not on the scoreboard) in the “Super” Wild Card Weekend, we need to ask ourselves:
Is it really necessary to have 14 teams in the NFL playoffs?
As I was saying, it all sounded great on paper, but truth be told, the 7th seed’s two matchups against the 2nd seed in both conferences this year were wildly lopsided. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Philadelphia Eagles 31-7, while the Kansas City Chiefs finished 42-21 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and we have to say that in both matchups, neither team that won the bottom was at risk in some point in the game (even though the Steelers got ahead on the scoreboard with TJ Watt’s recovered fumble) and let’s not even talk about, at least, having been even for more than a half.
While this year’s advancement of the Steelers allowed us to prolong the departure of Ben Roethlisberger a little longer and even get excited about a possible feat, Pittsburgh had too many deficiencies in the offense to face the Chiefs. On the other hand, even with clear injuries in Tampa Bay, it didn’t cost the Bucs at all to get to the next stage (except for more injuries).
And that’s how, precisely, I think that was the biggest problem with this round of Wild Card: It seemed like most of the teams that won were playing some kind of preseason game; that they were practically just warming up for the real playoff stage.
With such wide advantages – not only in the final score, but in most of the game – the discussion is opened as to whether the increase in playoff spots is really beneficial for the NFL or is it better to have a format with fewer teams, but generate higher quality in the matches.
What do you think: would you like to continue seeing 14 teams or would you prefer to have less, but with a bigger show? We read each other in the comments under this column and on our social networks.
