NEWSLETTER
The chances of the Chicago Bears making the playoffs in 2020 received a slight up-tick on Tuesday. Sorta.
News from the NFL’s communications wing:
.@NFL clubs today approved the expansion of the postseason, from 12 to 14 teams, beginning with the 2020 season: https://t.co/V1QecMOMTJ
— NFL345 (@NFL345) March 31, 2020
NFL owners have voted to expand the playoffs from 12 to 14 teams beginning with the 2020 season.
To visualize how the 2019 playoffs would have changed under the new structure, follow these bullet points:
In the end, this means 7 playoff teams per conference will get to make a run at the Lombardi Trophy starting with *THIS* season. There will also be three playoff games on Wild-Card Saturday, with another three more on Sunday. The move to bring on more playoff football is surely going to be applauded by fans who love playoff football, players who love playing the game, and coaches who long to win a Super Bowl ring.
And ultimately, this puts the Bears back in the hunt. So this is a good thing, and I’m not sure you can convince me otherwise.
The other happy party in this are the CBS and NBC networks, which Albert Breer of SI.com reports have been approved to broadcast the additional games on Wild-Card Weekend scheduled to begin on January 9 and 10. And for bonus coverage, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport tweets the league is creating a separate, kid-friendly broadcast. My country for Booger McFarland to get slimed if he suggests a team spikes it on fourth down (again).
