I wish that we were in the same division as Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville instead of playing those guys in the Preseason every year.

 

That would be even better in the regular season, especially not having to play in the cold every year.

 

We should have realigned back in 2002 and gone to the AFC South.

 

Back then I was against it because of tradition, but now I totally agree.

 

The rumor was that Huizenga was afraid of losing guaranteed tickets from Jets and Patriots fans traveling to see the team. Imagine screwing over your own franchise for two decades so that you can squeeze more opposing fans into the stands. How very different Dolphins history might be if we didn't have to share a division with those guys and instead were with some group from the South. Many more playoff appearances at a minimum.

20 game seasons might be a long way off, but Goodell was already talking about 18 games just recently. Were they to do that, it would allow a scheduling format that could go:

6 vs your own division
4 against a division in your conference
4 against a division in the other conference
1 against a team in each of the other four divisions (which finished in the same place in the standings the prior year)

In my perfect world, they could then do total geographic realignment, and given that CBS and FOX don't really matter much as far as AFC/NFC anymore, TV doesn't stand in the way of that happening. They could just have all of the different networks "draft" a schedule each week by picking their chosen games.

 

I'm eager to read the news from the joint practice with the Falcons in August. The season will be close enough to taste it.

 

NFL could do with a minor realignment.

 

Massive, wholesale changes for me.

 

What drastic changes would you make? I would think the AFC North, NFC East and NFC North are pretty much set in stone. After that, I guess you could start moving teams around.

 

The Dolphins to the AFC South
The Ravens to the AFC East
The Colts to the AFC North.

 

I'd scrap almost all of it and start completely over. No more AFC and NFC, but divisions totally based on geography. Eight divisions of four teams like we have can work, but I also like four divisions made up of eight teams each. And then seed the playoffs 1-12 or 14, with the division winners getting the top spots and the rest of the wildcards coming from anywhere.

 

In the NFC…

The Cowboys to the NFC South
The Panthers to the NFC East

 

My Realignment Proposal 1: 8 Divisions

A: Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, Atlanta

B: Carolina, Washington, Baltimore, Philly

C: Buffalo, New England, Jets, Giants

D: Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis

E: Green Bay, Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit

F: Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Tennessee

G: Las Vegas, Kansas City, Denver, Arizona

H: Seattle, San Francisco, Rams, Chargers


Proposal 2: 4 Divisions

A: Miami, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Atlanta, New Orleans, Tennessee, Dallas, Houston

B: Buffalo, New England, Jets, Giants, Philly, Washington, Baltimore, Carolina

C: Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indy, Chicago, Minnesota, Green Bay, Detroit

D: Seattle, San Francisco, Rams, Chargers, Las Vegas, Denver, Kansas City, Arizona

Under the 4-division plan, each team plays the other 7 teams within their own division once, on a rotating home and home schedule. They play all eight teams in one of the other divisions, and then the team that finished in the same spot in the standings the prior year as themselves from the other two.

The top two division winners get the bye, while the next 12 best records make the playoffs seeded 3-14 and play in the WC round, regardless of division. This virtually guarantees that the 14 best teams make the playoffs every season, and you never have a team with a better record traveling to play at one with a worse in the playoffs.

With last year's regular season standings, the playoffs under this format would have been something along the lines of:

Baltimore #1
San Francisco #2 (by virtue of beating DAL, who had beaten DET)

Green Bay @ Detroit
Indianapolis @ Philly
Tampa Bay @ Buffalo
Pittsburgh @ Kansas City
Houston @ Miami
Rams @ Cleveland

Then if Detroit and Philly won, they would be at home in the second round, while the other four winners would be on the road. I think its a lot more fair in a large number of ways, but one of the most important is that the teams with the records just below the top two get to host playoff games, which absolutely isn't a sure thing under the current format.

 

Assuming teams wouldn't change conferences:
AFC East - Buffalo, Jests, Patriots, Ravens
AFC South - Miami, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Houston
AFC North - Cleveland, Cincinatti, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis
AFC West - Chargers, Raiders, Broncos, Chiefs

I wouldn't change the NFC. Dallas is an odd fit in the East but everybody else is logically where they should be.

 

That's a sad assumption. There's no real reason to force things to stay as they are. Its been mostly the same for over 50 years. Change is needed every so often.

 

Not a fan of this plan - would eliminate some great rivalries, most notably Ravens/Steelers.

 

Some can die so that others bloom.

 

The Ravens have only been around for 28 years. Those Steelers/ Ravens games are typically pretty good, and maybe it’s just because I’m 50 yrs old, but it’s a rivalry I can live without.

 

I agree that change is needed. But if one team is out of wack, that's a small problem. And since it would remain in the same division, it's not even a problem.

BTW: The argument for rivalries is overblown, IMO. History is what it is. Nobody misses the Southwest Conference or Big 8. Since every team would still face off against traditional rivals frequently, I don't think it would diminish the experience for more than a couple of seasons.

 

Rivalries and tradition have only hurt the Dolphins, repeatedly and constantly.