Dec 29, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (11) runs the ball against the San Francisco 49ers in the second quarter at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Dan Patrick was told that the league will be adding another wild card team into the playoffs. That would make it 3 wild card teams going into the playoffs. I would assume that means only the top team in each conference would get a BYE and the other conference winners would have to win in the wild card round.
If the league would have had that rule in place this season, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals would have made the playoffs. The Steelers would have taken on the New England Patriots and the Cardinals would have taken on the Carolina Panthers in the wild card round.
The league likely wants to make that extra dough during the regular season and in the playoffs. It is all about the money.
The league should not expand on the playoffs too much. The more teams they add into the playoffs, the more it will look like the NBA playoffs and the regular season would have less meaning to it. There were some teams that deserved to make it this season (Cardinals), but we would have let an 8-8 team get into the playoffs in the AFC.