How Uncle Vic (with an assist from Dr. Mase) wants to fix the playoffs

 

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Vic Fangio has ideas.

Thirty-two seasons as an NFL assistant coach with seven different clubs before he joined the Broncos as head coach this year gives him an up-close look at everything that is right — and wrong — with the NFL.

And one thing that is wrong today is the notion that an NFC East champion with a homely record of .500 or worse will host a second-place team — likely from the NFC West — that could be 12-4 or even 13-3.

Fangio wants to solve this problem.

So let’s work together, Coach. Your ideas. My tweaks. Let’s make a better NFL.

LET’S DUMP THE DIVISIONS

There’s something wrong with when an 8-8 division winner gets home-field advantage against a 12-4 wild-card team.

Back in 2011, this allowed the .500 Broncos to sneak into the playoffs after the Raiders gagged at home in the season finale against the San Diego Chargers. But just because it benefitted the Broncos once doesn’t make it right in the long haul.

So there are two solutions. One is to have the division title have no impact on playoff seeding. This is similar to the NBA, although that sport takes it to another level by saying that winning a division does not even guarantee a postseason bid.

The other is to abolish divisions altogether.

“Well, I’ll tell you a story: Since the league went to 32 teams — which was when the Texans came in in 2002 — my ideal suggestion — which has never been put forth in front of anybody important — I don’t think there should be divisions,” Vic the Idea Man said.

“I think you’ve got 16 in each conference. Everybody should play each other once. And that’s 15 games.”

We’ll get to the 16th game in a bit.

For those who say such an idea would end rivalries, that’s farcical. College teams have rivalries that flourish even with just one game per year. Just because the Broncos and Chiefs wouldn’t meet twice a season doesn’t mean they wouldn’t remain core rivals of each other.

“We’ll play them once or year,” Fangio said. “It doesn’t hurt the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, Alabama-Auburn. They only play once a year.”

And with teams grouped by conference, playoff selection is simple: The top six qualify and are seeded accordingly.

“I just don’t think divisions are going to get you the best six every year. You want the best six? Do it like they do in college,” he said. “One [time] through — you play everybody once.”

Furthermore, strength of schedule would cease to be a major issue; the only differences would come via the 16th game.

“You’ll avoid the problem that’s going to happen this year, where probably an 8-8 team is hosting a 12-4 team,” Fangio said. “You’re going to get the six best teams in each conference.

“And the divisions always float. There are some that are easy some years. There are some that have got a bunch of good teams. That switches back and forth every couple of years. I just think it would be a good way to avoid it.”

Me, I’d take Fangio’s concept a step further. I’d throw out the conferences, as well, and divide the NFL into two tiers based on the previous year’s form — an upper tier that supplied 10 playoff teams and a second division that saw its top four teams make the 14-club playoffs. The top two seeds would get first-round byes. There would be promotion and relegation between the two tiers.

That’s probably a bridge too far for Fangio.

But this is all about ideas.

LET’S CREATE AN ANNUAL INTERCONFERENCE RIVALRY GAME

I’ve tossed this one around social media on occasion over the years, so when Fangio mentioned this, my heart fluttered a bit.

“If you want a 16th game, you play a natural rival from the other conference — Jets and Giants play every year, Eagles-Steelers, Texans-Cowboys, etc.,” Vic the Idea Man explained.

So who would the Broncos get?

“I guess it would be Arizona, right?” he said. “Aren’t they the closest geographically?”

The Cardinals are, and they are the only other team in the Mountain Time Zone. However, the Broncos are far from the closest team to the Cardinals.

So I chose to make the Cardinals’ rival the Raiders, creating a “Duel of the Desert” upon the Silver and Black’s relocation to Las Vegas.

That left Seattle for the Broncos, thus reviving an old AFC West duel.

The rest of the rivalries:

Baltimore vs. Washington
Buffalo vs. Detroit
Cincinnati vs. New Orleans
Cleveland vs. Green Bay
Houston vs. Dallas
Indianapolis vs. Chicago
Jacksonville vs. Carolina
Kansas City vs. Minnesota
L.A. Chargers vs. L.A. Rams
Miami vs. Tampa Bay
New England vs. San Francisco
N.Y. Jets vs. N.Y. Giants
Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia
Tennessee vs. Atlanta

It sounds good for some big matchups. However, it falls apart for others. San Francisco was a particularly awkward fit. So I paired the 49ers with the Patriots in what we’ll call the “Brady-Garoppolo Bowl,” since New England’s Tom Brady hails from the San Francisco Bay Area and 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo began his career with the Pats.

Nothing is perfect. But it is a fascinating idea.

BUT LET’S KEEP IT AT 16 GAMES

“I’m not for 17 games,” Fangio declared.

A moment later, he explained why.

I just think 16 is more than enough. You can see some of these teams, us included to a degree, the injuries start to pile up,” Fangio noted.

The Broncos had 13 players on injured reserve as of Wednesday, and two players on the 53-man roster (Tim Patrick and Drew Lock) were on injured reserve, so he has a point.

“If they want an extra week of TV, give everybody two byes during the season,” Fangio said.

There is just one problem with this: The NFL tried the double bye in 1993. It was considered a failure then because some weeks lacked enough quality games to fill the schedule. This was in the days when the NFL had just 28 teams; it added Carolina and Jacksonville two years later and then brought in the resurrected Browns and the expansion Texans in 1999 and 2002, respectively.

Would four more teams make a difference in ensuring the NFL wasn’t caught short on Sunday afternoons? Probably, if the bye weeks were scheduled correctly.

AND LET’S HEAR MORE FROM FANGIO

Earlier this season, he used his platform to opine at length on the changes to instant replay regarding pass interference. When he speaks, the passion and detailed explanation reveal his intelligence and the fact that these matters are close to his heart.

As an assistant, Fangio didn’t address the media five times a week during the season. It was only recently when coordinators began having structured once-a-week availability.

There’s only so much a head coach can say about the day-to-day progress of players recovering from various and sundry injuries. Sometimes the topics of the repartee between the coach and media must veer away from the here and now of the team.

Fangio has the microphone. And as a head coach, he also has more access to the upper levels of an organization.

Expect him to keep sharing his ideas with the media. And expect him to take advantage of having the ears of John Elway and Joe Ellis to share his proposals.

“Maybe I will,” Vic the Idea Man said.