NFL adding MNF to Playoffs

[CF DolFan]

As a fan I like this but I think it kind of sucks for the teams that get short weeks.

The NFL has officially announced that Monday night football is coming to the playoffs, and the news drew mixed reactions from fans and the media.

The NFL expanded the playoffs last season by adding a wild card team to each conference. There were three Wild Card Weekend games held on Saturday and three on Sunday. Beginning in 2021, however, there will be two games on Saturday, three on Sunday and one on Monday night.

[ArtieChokePhin]

I don't like it at all for the exact purpose that you said.   It isn't fair for a team to have a short week in the playoffs.  

Also, I think home field advantage should go by record, not by seeding.   

[Spider-Dan]

So is there going to be a playoff game on cable TV?

[EDGECRUSHER]

The league will eventually make teams have back to back games and the NFLPA will just accept it.

[Dolphster]

I don't like it at all for the exact purpose that you said.   It isn't fair for a team to have a short week in the playoffs.    

I absolutely agree with you.  Although this shouldn't surprise anyone because the NFL cares more about revenue than anything else.  And a MNF playoff game will have crazy tv ratings. 

[fyo]

I absolutely agree with you.  Although this shouldn't surprise anyone because the NFL cares more about revenue than anything else.  And a MNF playoff game will have crazy tv ratings. 

Statistically, there doesn't really seem to be much of a disadvantage to playing a short week.

On the other hand, time zone changes (particularly west to east) IS a statistical disadvantage, even correcting for opponent. The majority (but not quite all) of the effect is kick-off time.

Late games are inherently more fair and scheduling playoff games Monday night allows the league to remove an early game. The 2021 season will have exactly ONE early Wild Card game instead of TWO.

So, while not in the Dolphins' favor, going for a short week is more fair.

[Dolphster]

Statistically, there doesn't really seem to be much of a disadvantage to playing a short week.

On the other hand, time zone changes (particularly west to east) IS a statistical disadvantage, even correcting for opponent. The majority (but not quite all) of the effect is kick-off time.

Interesting find by you about short weeks not being much of a disadvantage statistically.   I would have thought there would be.  But even if it isn't as meaningful as I thought statistically, from a wear and tear perspective on the players, short weeks suck.  I was fortunate enough to be fairly close to Jim Mandich (not that much to brag about because Jim had a couple hundred good friends, everyone loved him) and I remember talking to him about short weeks once.  He said that a typical scenario is that when you have a game on Sunday, Monday you essentially can't move.  You are sore from head to toe and the best you can do is some stretching, working with the training staff, etc.  Tuesday you still hurt like hell but can at least move a little more.  By Friday if you are lucky you are sore, but with a handful of Advil you can at least practice at pretty close to full speed.  You don't really start to feel ready for a full contact game again until the following Sunday when the routine starts over again.  And he stressed that was for a player who wasn't injured during the game.  That was just the regular recovery time for any player who had much contact in the game. 

The time zone change disadvantage has been documented for a long time and it is funny that it seems like nothing that teams do to try to combat it seems to work.  Flying out early, changing sleeping times, etc.  None of it seems to do much to combat that disadvantage.

[Sunstroke]

When my 49ers play two straight east coast road games, like they did in weeks 1-2, they find a place between the two and don't leave that time zone between games. They've done this since Shanahan came on board, and it seems to work fairly well.

[masterfins]

So is there going to be a playoff game on cable TV?

ESPN needs to do this so they can keep charging their exhorbitant fees to the cable companies. THE NFL does it so they can jack up the TV fees every year so the billionaires can get even richer than they already are.

We're only about a decade away from having games seven days per week, and 20 game seasons with a couple bye weeks for each team.

[Pappy13]

I was fortunate enough to be fairly close to Jim Mandich and I remember talking to him about short weeks once.  He said that a typical scenario is that when you have a game on Sunday, Monday you essentially can't move.  You are sore from head to toe and the best you can do is some stretching, working with the training staff, etc.  Tuesday you still hurt like hell but can at least move a little more.  By Friday if you are lucky you are sore, but with a handful of Advil you can at least practice at pretty close to full speed.  You don't really start to feel ready for a full contact game again until the following Sunday when the routine starts over again.  And he stressed that was for a player who wasn't injured during the game.  That was just the regular recovery time for any player who had much contact in the game.  

You realize that was like 50 years ago right? That was back when an NFL job wasn't even a full time gig. I'm sure there are aches and pains that don't go away the entire season but these guys are in MUCH better physical shape than they were 50 years ago, have better routines to take care of their bodies, eat better, sleep better, recover quicker, not to mention better equipment etc. No one is saying it's easy but thinking that it takes a week for these athletes bodies to recover from a game is all in their head. Maybe if you're 40 years old yeah, but not when you are in your twenties. If you are that young and it takes you a week to recover from a normal game, then you are not taking care of your body, I guarantee you that.

[CF DolFan]

You realize that was like 50 years ago right? That was back when an NFL job wasn't even a full time gig. I'm sure there are aches and pains that don't go away the entire season but these guys are in MUCH better physical shape than they were 50 years ago, have better routines to take care of their bodies, eat better, sleep better, recover quicker, not to mention better equipment etc. No one is saying it's easy but thinking that it takes a week for these athletes bodies to recover from a game is all in their head. Maybe if you're 40 years old yeah, but not when you are in your twenties. If you are that young and it takes you a week to recover from a normal game, then you are not taking care of your body, I guarantee you that.

They were actually smoking during half time. LOL ... I'm old school but those guys were no where as in shape as athletes today and did not have the luxury of things like cryotherapy and regular ice baths. Today's recovery time is much faster in general.

[Dolphster]

You realize that was like 50 years ago right? That was back when an NFL job wasn't even a full time gig. I'm sure there are aches and pains that don't go away the entire season but these guys are in MUCH better physical shape than they were 50 years ago, have better routines to take care of their bodies, eat better, sleep better, recover quicker, not to mention better equipment etc. No one is saying it's easy but thinking that it takes a week for these athletes bodies to recover from a game is all in their head. Maybe if you're 40 years old yeah, but not when you are in your twenties. If you are that young and it takes you a week to recover from a normal game, then you are not taking care of your body, I guarantee you that.

LOL, that is true.  And I'm sure you are right that with the training aids, better year round conditioning, etc. they do bounce back quicker now than they did in the "old days".   But even today it isn't as if they jump out of bed all refreshed on Monday morning and feel 100%.   But your point is well taken about the process not taking as long as it used to. 

[Dolphster]

They were actually smoking during half time. LOL ... I'm old school but those guys were no where as in shape as athletes today and did not have the luxury of things like cryotherapy and regular ice baths. Today's recovery time is much faster in general.

True.  As I mentioned in my reply to Pappy, the point is well taken about the training aids of today and the general conditioning of players today.  But the smoking during halftime thing did remind me of something really funny from my own past.  I'm 57 so I'm an old f'er.  I played two years of minor league baseball and in my second year, we had this kid join the team.  We had several stationary bikes in the locker room which guys would use to either loosen up or do their cardio work on.  This new kid would be doing his cardio on the stationary bike while smoking cigarettes.  He would go through like 5 of them doing an hour of cardio on the bike.  That always struck me as funny as hell.   Talk about a different time.   Just the thought of smoking in a locker room seems like ancient history now. 

[Dave Gray]

I went to the Olympics museum on my recent trip and there was a whole section about technology as it relates to recovery and how that has a lot to do with increased performance.  So, I side with CF and Pappy in that I think the extra day is probably far less an issue than it used to be.

This actually sounds kinda cool to me.