The NFL has the most teams of the four major North American sports leagues, but it only sends six clubs to the playoffs in each of its two conferences.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would like to see the league increase the number of postseason berths because it would give more fanbases an opportunity to experience the thrill of a late-season playoff race.
“From the standpoint of looking at how exciting it is for a city or a community to be involved in the playoffs and the fact that you can have a team that might have literally operated at .500 or in that area … you can have that team win the Super Bowl,” Jones said Friday during an appearance on Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan (h/t ESPN Dallas). “That makes a big case for adding a couple of more cities or communities that have NFL teams to the playoffs.
“It just creates that much more excitement and that much more interest for people in those communities. So I fall on the side of the ledger that would increase the playoffs.”
While it’s hard to argue with Jones that expanding the playoffs would give more teams and fans something to be excited about in December, the Arizona Cardinals (10-6) were the only Wild Card contender that missed the postseason with a winning record this season. Would the NFL really benefit from allowing more mediocre teams with nine, eight or even seven wins into the playoffs?
Expanding the playoffs would also give Jones’ Cowboys a better chance to end their postseason drought, which extended to four seasons when they lost the NFC East title to the rival Philadelphia Eagles in Week 17.
