League owners in the NFL approved expanding the postseason to 14 teams on Tuesday. Starting next season, seven teams from each conference will qualify for the playoffs.
Here’s what the expansion means for the Packers:
1. Better chance at qualifying: The NFC playoffs will now feature four division winners and three wild card qualifiers. Under the new format, more teams will stay alive in the playoff hunt for longer. What if the Packers get off to a tough start in 2020? R-E-L-A-X. Most teams will remain in the mix for most of the year. An extra wild card spot changes the whole dynamics of the late-season playoff chase.
2. Harder to get a bye: The Packers have earned a first-round bye three times with Aaron Rodgers as the starting quarterback, but the new playoff format will eliminate one of the two teams getting a bye in the postseason. Now, only the No. 1 seed with get a week off. The Packers have been the top seed in the NFC just once (2011) since Rodgers took over in 2008. Getting the No. 1 seed has never been more important. For the best teams, the final few weeks of the season will have huge importance.
3. More games on Wild Card Weekend: Prepare to be watching more football on the first weekend of the postseason. There will now be three wild card games in each conference to start the playoffs. The No. 2 seed will play the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed will play the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed will play the No. 5 seed. Six games, one weekend. The Packers have played during the wild card round six times in their last nine playoff trips, including during their Super Bowl run in 2010.
4. Effects of change: Last year, the Packers earned the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. They eventually beat the Seattle Seahawks at home in the divisional round and advanced to the NFC title game. Had the new format been in place last year, the Packers would have hosted the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Rams in the wild card round. Instead of getting the week off, the No. 2 seed in each conference will have to play a team that wouldn’t have made it under the old format.
5. More good teams, more good games: According to the NFL, 10 teams with 10 or more wins have missed the playoffs under the old, 12-team format, which began in 1990. The main idea of more teams in the playoffs is putting more good teams in the mix and creating more good games. The Packers hosting the talented but underachieving Rams – who played in the Super Bowl the year prior – could have made for solid postseason entertainment.