Expanded NFL playoffs would have benefited Steelers over past decade

Despite losing their final three games of the season to finish with an 8-8 record, the Pittsburgh Steelers earned the AFC’s No. 7 playoff seed and faced the second-seeded Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in the wild-card round.

Imagine the quarterback matchup: Duck Hodges against Patrick Mahomes with a chance for the Steelers to advance for a second game in Baltimore in a three-week span.

Of course, that’s not what transpired for the Steelers in 2019 — their season ended in Week 17 in Baltimore — but it’s a scenario that would have happened if the proposed expanded playoff schedule had been on the books.

According to an ESPN report, the NFL is exploring the addition of a seventh playoff team in each conference as part of a new collective bargaining agreement that would include a 17th game in the regular season and a reduction of preseason games from four to three.

The NFL has conducted a 12-team playoff field — six from each conference — since 1990. But if the proposed format had been in place the entire century, the Steelers would be working on a 10-year streak of making the postseason, and coach Mike Tomlin would have taken his team to the playoffs every season but 2009. Although the Steelers finished 9-7 that year, the Houston Texans would have edged them out of the No. 7 spot.

The Steelers, however, would have qualified in the 2012-13 seasons despite posting back-to-back 8-8 records. In both seasons, the Steelers would have traveled to New England to face the second-seeded Patriots on wild-card weekend.

When the Steelers finished 9-6-1 in 2018 and missed the postseason, the new proposal would have sent them to New England again for a first-round matchup against the Patriots.

The proposed format rewards an extra team in each conference, but it eliminates the No. 2 seed getting a first-round bye. Which means that in 2017, instead of getting a bye before facing the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Steelers would have faced the seventh-seeded Ravens at Heinz Field in the wild-card round. And, in 2010, the Steelers would have opened against the San Diego Chargers at home instead of getting a week of rest.

Guard Ramon Foster is the Steelers’ representative for the NFLPA. He said in July he was in favor of an expanded format.

“Reward the teams that get the opportunity to do good,” Foster said.

Foster wasn’t concerned about two additional entrants watering down the playoffs.

“Of course, there would be that one maybe 7-9 team, 8-8 teams and stuff like that — but you live for the Cinderella, right?” he said. “We enjoy March Madness because there’s always this one team that gives a push toward the end. And those teams I think they help boost tournament time.”

Under the proposed changes, three wild-card games would be played Saturday and three more Sunday on the opening weekend of the playoffs.

The NFL owners voted Thursday to accept the proposed changes, and the players will hold a conference call Friday to discuss the new CBA. The current system expires after the 2020 season, and the NFL would like to have a new deal in place before March 18, the start of the league’s calendar year.

According to the ESPN report, the expanded playoff format could begin as soon as the 2020 season. A proposed 17-game season wouldn’t occur until 2021 or ‘22.

Under the NFL proposal, the players’ portion of revenue would increase from 47% to 48% under a 16-game schedule and increase to 48.5% under a 17-game format. That would provide an additional $5 billion in revenue for the players over the course of a 10-year CBA.