The NFL is proposing a change to their playoff format to allow for a seventh team per conference. Another part of the change is to eliminate the second bye per conference so that only the No. 1 seed in the AFC and NFC qualify for a bye during the wild-card round.
If the proposed changes to the postseason were in place going back to 2010, the Houston Texans would have another playoff season in club history.
According to research from the Touchdown Wire’s Barry Werner, the Texans would have qualified for the playoffs in 2014 under first-year coach Bill O’Brien. Their 9-7 record would have been good enough to secure the seventh and final wild-card spot. It would also be the first time in team history the Texans were a true wild-card and didn’t win the AFC South to get into the postseason.
In 2014, the Texans would have taken on the Denver Broncos, who held the No. 2 seed. Given that Peyton Manning was the quarterback for the Broncos still, there is no way the league and broadcast partners would allow him to be in the early Saturday afternoon wild-card spot that the Texans have been in for every one of their six playoff appearances.
The extra playoff appearance would add more to the narrative that all O’Brien does in Houston is win, save for the disastrous 2017 season when injuries crippled the Texans to the point they finished 4-12. Nonetheless, in making a case for why O’Brien needs even more authority, “making the playoffs in five out of six seasons” sounds better than “posting a winning record in five out of six seasons.”
The new playoff format will have an impact on team and coaching evaluations across the NFL once it goes into place. If it had been in place since 2010, O’Brien’s accomplishments would look a little better.
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