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Did the new NFL playoff expanded format for 2020 and beyond slip right by you?  BBR is almost embarrassed to admit that it did for us.

In January and February we saw the playoffs and then the Super Bowl.   What we couldn’t see was the virus spreading at the same time.

By March 23rd our collective panic was at a new high while the stock market bottomed at a multi-year low.   With a nation’s eyes fixated on the pandemic a March 31st NFL announcement came and went without much fanfare.

In it, the NFL changed its highly approved of, very fair, and long-standing playoff tradition.  It’s the first playoff format change since 1990.   Why tinker with success?  Money.  More playoff games mean more TV.   More TV means more revenue.

A few pertinent bullet points about the expanded process follow.

-The AFC and NFC will each have seven playoff teams, but just the top seed from each conference will have a first-round bye in the playoffs.

– In wild-card weekend, the other 12 teams will play — the No. 2 seeds will host 7s, the No. 3 seeds will host 6s and the No. 4 seeds will host 5s.

-For this upcoming season, wild-card weekend will have three games on Saturday, Jan. 9, and three games on Sunday, Jan. 10.

John Madden used to say that December football was different than the months prior.  He said that because good teams turn up the effort and solidify their playoff spots or division championships, while average to bad teams play out the string.

With seven teams out of 16 in each conference now making the postseason tourney, late bloomers have a better chance than ever to emerge.  Also, teams that have a better record than other division winners have one more place to fill in an attempt to breakthrough.

And finally, the number one seed has never been more important as it’s the only one with the aforementioned first-round bye to heal those aches and pains of a season of sixteen games.   The other seeds give it their all for the opportunity to travel to face number one.  That’s a big earned advantage for having the best regular-season record.

With five or six games left, the possibilities are numerous.

With Thanksgiving nearly upon us, we decided to take a few days this week and next to take a team by team look at each division to separate the contenders from the pretenders.

That series, barring the unforeseen, begins tomorrow.