AP Photo/Steve Luciano
Friday's announcement by the NFL was that a Monday night football game has been added to its first-round playoff schedule. This will create "Super Wild Card Weekend," which will begin with the 2021 season.
The wild-card games were traditionally split between Saturdays and Sundays. This will change January 17, 2022, with a Monday match to determine the final qualifier in the Divisional Round of the postseason.
In order to add a third wild card berth to both conferences, the NFL expanded the playoffs in advance of 2020. This means that 14 of 32 league teams will be making the playoffs. Only the AFC and NFC top seeds get a bye. The previous system offered a week of exemption for the top two teams from each conference in the playoff bracket.
The league increased the number regular-season contests from 16 games to 17, starting with the 2021 season.
Commissioner Roger Goodell stated in a March statement that "This is an historic moment in NFL History." "The CBA we reached with the players and recently concluded media agreements will allow us to improve the NFL experience for fans." Each team plays 17 regular-season matches, which allows us to continue growing our game all over the globe.
The playoffs will begin on Jan. 15th and continue through February 13, when Super Bowl LVII will be played at SoFi Stadium, California. This will be the most recent Super Bowl date in American history.
The key question that Friday's announcement raised is how the playoffs would be structured to minimize the chance of a significant rest disadvantage for the winner of Monday night's playoff game.
NFL playoffs reseed following the first round. This complicates matters because the league doesn't want Monday's winner to play against the No. The No. 1 seed will be given an extra week before the first postseason game.
Based on the playoff seeding structure2vs.7, 3vs.6 and 4vs.5, it's impossible not to rule out the possibility of an upset. However, a matchup with the top seeds could see a team from any one of those three games win.
If the No. If the No. 7 seed beats the No. 2 seed on Monday night, then the seventh-seeded team would automatically be seated against them. 2 seed, 7 seed upsets the No. 1 seed. This would create a significant rest gap as the game would be played on Saturday or Sunday.
This is more important in the postseason, where championship hopes may be at stake, than in the regular season when teams can play on Sunday and Thursday.
