Is the NFL Season Too Long?

The NFL season is long. It’s too long. It’s way too long. Let’s talk about why that is and what, if anything, can be done about it.

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History of the NFL season

The National Football League (NFL) regular season is the phase of the NFL season generally occurring from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, where each team plays 16 games and has one bye week. Currently, each team plays 17 regular season games over 18 weeks, which includes one bye week for each team somewhere between weeks four and twelve. The NFL schedule typically released in mid- to late-April for the upcoming season.

In a typical NFL season, approximately 20% of games are played on Thursday night (represented by the red zone on this map), with Sunday and Monday nights split between 35% and 45%. There are also usually one or two Saturday games late in the season on either December 19th or 26th, but this has not always been the case in recent years. Playoff games are not included in this map.

The current NFL schedule formula was adopted for the 2010 NFL season and has been in place since then. It consists of 17 regular season games for each team, played over 18 weeks with one bye week for each team somewhere between weeks four and twelve. The 20% Thursday Night Football share was adopted starting with the 2012 NFL season when NBC won a bid to simulcast eight Thursday night games that were previously only broadcast on NFL Network.

Why the NFL season is too long

The NFL season is too long. It’s too long for the players, who are at risk for injury the longer the season goes on. It’s too long for the fans, who get burnt out on the sport after several months. It’s even too long for the league itself, which sees a decline in ratings as the season goes on. Let’s take a look at why the NFL season is too long.

Injuries

In recent years, the National Football League has come under fire for the increasing number of players sustaining season-ending injuries. In 2017, the season-ending injury rate was 2.6 percent, which is the highest it has been in a decade.

There are a number of factors that contribute to the increased risk of injury in the NFL. The first is the length of the season. The NFL regular season is 17 weeks long, which is nearly double the length of the college football season (11 weeks). This means that players have less time to rest and recover between games, which puts them at a higher risk for sustaining an injury.

Another factor that contributes to the increased risk of injury in the NFL is the amount of contact that takes place during games. Unlike other sports such as basketball or baseball, football is a collision sport where players are constantly hitting each other. This repeated contact can lead to cumulative trauma injuries, such as concussions and other brain injuries, over time.

The NFL has taken some steps to try to reduce the number of injuries sustained by players, but more needs to be done. One way to reduce the risk of injury would be to shorten the length of the regular season. This would give players more time to rest and recover between games and could help reduce the number of cumulative trauma injuries sustained over time.

Additionally, the NFL could do more to protect players from concussions and other brain injuries by changing some of its rules regarding contact. For example, they could institute a rule that would prohibit players from leading with their helmets when making a tackle. This would help reduce the amount of head-to-head contact that takes place during games and could help decrease the incidence of concussions and other brain injuries in the NFL.

Player burnout

In a recent interview, Seattle Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin stated that the NFL season is “too long.” He said that the players are “human beings, not robots,” and that they need “a break.”

Baldwin is not the only player who feels this way. In 2016, then-retired quarterback Peyton Manning said that he would not want to play an 18-game season because of the toll it would take on players’ bodies. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has also spoken out against lengthening the season.

The current NFL season is 16 games long, which is already more than any other major sport in the United States. And yet, the league continues to talk about expanding the season to 18 games.

There are a number of reasons why this is a bad idea. First and foremost, it would lead to player burnout. The human body is not built to withstand the pounding of an NFL season, let alone 18 games. This is why we see so many players get injured every year; their bodies just can’t take it anymore.

If the season were lengthened, we would see even more injuries, as well as an increase in player retirement rates. This would not only impact the quality of play on the field, but also the overall enjoyment of the sport for fans.

Another reason why lengthening the season is a bad idea is that it would decrease variability in outcomes. In a 16-game season, there is always going to be some degree of luck involved in who makes the playoffs and who doesn’t. But if you increase the number of games played, that luck factor decreases dramatically; essentially, The teams with the best records are going to make it to the playoffs more often than not.

This means that there would be less excitement towards the end of the regular season, as fans would know which teams are likely to make it to the playoffs and which ones aren’t. In short, lengthening the season would make The NFL less interesting overall.

The bottom line is that lengthening The NFL season from 16 games to 18 games would be a terrible idea for a number of reasons. It would lead to increased injuries and player burnout, decrease variability in outcomes, and make The sport less enjoyable for fans. Let’s hope The League comes to its senses and abandons this terrible plan before it does irreparable damage to America’s favorite sport

Loss of quality of play

One of the biggest problems with having such a long season is that it inevitably leads to a drop in the quality of play. This is because the players are simply not fresh by the time the playoffs roll around. In the first few weeks of the season, you will see some scintillating football as the players are all well-rested and raring to go. However, by the time you get to December and January, they are all tired and battered, and this is reflected in the poorer quality of play.

What can be done to fix the problem?

The NFL season is too long. This is a problem because the players are at a higher risk for injuries, and the fans are not as engaged as they are at the beginning of the season. The solution is to shorten the season by two weeks. This will help to keep the players fresh and the fans engaged.

Shorten the season

The National Football League season is too long. This is not just the opinion of disgruntled fans who are tired of seeing games in December that have no bearing on the playoffs, but also of some within the sport, like Hall of Fame linebacker and current ESPN analyst, Bill Polian. In a piece he wrote for ESPN in 2016, Polian argued that the NFL season should be shorter for two reasons: player safety and quality of play.

As it stands now, the NFL regular season is 16 games long, with four preseason games tacked on at the beginning. That’s 20 games in total, not counting playoffs or the Pro Bowl. That’s a lot of football, and it takes a toll on players’ bodies. In recent years, we’ve seen an increase in season-ending injuries, and that’s likely because players are fatigued from playing too much football. By shortened the season to 14 or even 12 games, we would see fewer injuries and thus a better product on the field.

In addition to being better for player safety, a shorter season would also lead to better play. Because there would be fewer games, every game would be more important and thus more exciting for fans. Players would also have more time to rest and recover between games, which would lead to them being fresher and less likely to make mistakes on the field. In other words, we would see a higher quality of play overall.

So why doesn’t the NFL just shorten its season? Well, it’s complicated. The league makes a lot of money from television contracts and ticket sales, so fewer games would mean less revenue. But at what cost? If player safety and quality of play suffer as a result of an overly long season, then perhaps it’s time for the NFL to reconsider its priorities.

Change the schedule

Currently, the NFL regular season is 16 games long, which means that each team plays 16 games in a span of 17 weeks. This leaves one week for teams to have a bye, or a week off. While some may argue that this schedule is already too long, others say that it’s just right. However, there are some who feel that the NFL regular season is too long and something needs to be done about it.

One of the main arguments for why the NFL regular season is too long is player safety. With so many games in such a short amount of time, players are at a higher risk for injury. This is especially true for players who play more than one position. These players are more likely to get injured because they are playing more than one game per week. In addition, playing so many games in such a short amount of time can also lead to players becoming burned out and not performing as well as they could if they were given more time to rest between games.

Another argument for why the NFL regular season is too long is that it doesn’t give teams enough time to recover from injuries and make necessary adjustments to their rosters. If a team loses a key player to injury, they may not have enough time to find a suitable replacement before the end of the season. This can have a major impact on a team’s performance and their chances of making the playoffs.

So what can be done to fix the problem? One solution would be to shorten the NFL regular season by two games. This would give players more time to rest between games and would also allow teams more time to recover from injuries and make necessary roster adjustments. Another solution would be to add an additional bye week into the schedule. This would give players even more time to rest and would also allow teams more time to prepare for their opponents.

Ultimately, it’s up to the NFL owners and commissioners to decide whether or not they want to make changes to the length of the NFL regular season. But if they do decide to make changes, it will definitely have an impact on how teams prepare for and play their games.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the NFL season is too long. This is based on the wear and tear on players’ bodies, the lack of excitement towards the end of the season, and how playoffs are not as competitive as they used to be. These points all support the idea that the NFL season needs to be shorter.