I guess we will find out tomorrow why it's crucial to have 2 rb's.

[N'wahlinsCayenne]

I like Jeff Saturday's opinion of an 18-game season. He said that with only two preseason games, the starters will hog most of the playing time in preseason. In other words, he said if there was an 18-game season when he came out of college, he would have never made an NFL team.

[bleys]

I like Jeff Saturday's opinion of an 18-game season. He said that with only two preseason games, the starters will hog most of the playing time in preseason. In other words, he said if there was 18-game season when he came out of college, he would have never made an NFL team.

I remember hearing/reading that somewhere.. I wish my mind was as good at recalling those things as some others around here...

anyhow, maybe the 18 season waters down how important each game is and rookies still get more playing time in the preseason, instead of starters getting to "mid-season form" asap...

I don't believe that to be the case.. just throwing it out there.. who knows.

[panthers55]

I like Jeff Saturday's opinion of an 18-game season. He said that with only two preseason games, the starters will hog most of the playing time in preseason. In other words, he said if there was an 18-game season when he came out of college, he would have never made an NFL team.

But if they extend the active roster size by 5 or 6 players, you wouldn't need the extra games to sort out final cuts. They would be included.

Would you rather have a 16 game season and have a lockout or play 18 and have a season. That is what is it is likely to come down to.

[bleys]

But if they extend the active roster size by 5 or 6 players, you wouldn't need the extra games to sort out final cuts. They would be included.

Would you rather have a 16 game season and have a lockout or play 18 and have a season. That is what is it is likely to come down to.

I don't know man.. my concern of adding 2 more games outweighs my concern of a lockout..

I guess there is a downside to both.. I think I would rather miss half a season than see it go to 18 games.. as far as "NFL Fans" go, however, I would hate to see people turn on the NFL for a lockout..

as a Panthers fan, we know how injuries can plague a season though...

[Baschski]

Eh, the only half-reasonable complaint anyone has raised against the 18-game season is the stress it would put on players bodies. But really it's not a big difference, since the preseason will be reduced by two games. Yeah, the starters play less in the preseason but it's not a huge difference. Besides, this kind of thing is easily handled by better practice routines and increased roster size.

[bleys]

Eh, the only half-reasonable complaint anyone has raised against the 18-game season is the stress it would put on players bodies. But really it's not a big difference, since the preseason will be reduced by two games. Yeah, the starters play less in the preseason but it's not a huge difference. Besides, this kind of thing is easily handled by better practice routines and increased roster size.

don't agree that it can be down played as you make it sound.. but that's just me..

stress on the bodies is a big deal.. and playing 2 full onslaught of games rather than 1 or 2 meaningless quarters in 2 preseason games are also a bigger deal than giving credit...

better practice routines.....not sure what that means, but feel free to help me understand what you mean.. why aren't better practice routines available now since injuries are a big concern throughout the 16 game season, 4 preseason games, OTAs, Training camp, and playoff games..

we aren't just talking expanding 2 games past 16.. we already have a shitload going on including the 16 games... down playing any of that is short sighted...

increased roster size isn't going to help the stars in any way, shape, or form.. and if it's only to supplant a current starter when they get injured (as someone pointed out), well- how about we not play 2 more games on top of all thats going on now?

people point out there aren't any "reasonable complaints" against an 18 game season.. well, these excuses surely aren't reasonable to expand the season...

and people aren't even thinking of the total amount of football being played...

[Carolina Husker]

Keep the 16 game schedule, cut it down to 3 preseason games.

That will never happen. They'd just be cutting revenue for the sake of it.

[Panthro]

Why move it to 18 games? Would they keep the 4 preseason games? I'm not a season ticket holder but is there a price break for preseason tickets? If not what kind of increased revenue are they looking at?

[Lumps]

Why move it to 18 games? Would they keep the 4 preseason games? I'm not a season ticket holder but is there a price break for preseason tickets? If not what kind of increased revenue are they looking at?

almost 45 million.

The average ticket price is about $150 (may be a bit high). For 16 games and 4 preseason that is an even $3000.

Adding two more games would add another $300 on top of that.

The BOA stadium has a capacity of 73,778. (x$300)

22 million doesn't even talk into account stadium food and beers etc which could easily double it.

[Panthro]

The average ticket price is about $150 (may be a bit high). For 16 games and 4 preseason that is an even $3000. Adding four more games would ad another $600 on top of that. The BOA stadium has a capacity of 73,778. Not sure how many PSL owners there are but I think around 50,000 would be a total guess estimate. Total profit at this point is 30,000,000 million dollars.

Um are they adding 4 games?

Are they simply shuffling games. If they add games then it's pretty obvious to see how they would be making more.

[Lumps]

Fixed, yea I was thinking a 20 game season.

They are already increasing ticket prices.

Plus a possible pay for parking new stadium thing in the future.

pretty soon I'll have to watch the game outside the stadium:(

[Cyberjag]

Anyone who wants to shorten the schedule in any way should be forced to watch baseball and soccer until September.

18 games would be great. Expanded rosters would be great (and could improve special teams). Adding in a two more playoff teams would be great, if they're thinking about that too. And playing two additional AFC teams that finished where you did the prior year would actually make the schedules that much more difficult for first place finishers--not a ton better, but it would help.

Players who are worried about their health are free to get jobs as accountants or teachers or retail managers or whatever. No one forces them to play football, and if they go the line of people who want to replace them will be just as long as it is now.

[Baschski]

don't agree that it can be down played as you make it sound.. but that's just me..

stress on the bodies is a big deal.. and playing 2 full onslaught of games rather than 1 or 2 meaningless quarters in 2 preseason games are also a bigger deal than giving credit...

better practice routines.....not sure what that means, but feel free to help me understand what you mean.. why aren't better practice routines available now since injuries are a big concern throughout the 16 game season, 4 preseason games, OTAs, Training camp, and playoff games..

we aren't just talking expanding 2 games past 16.. we already have a shitload going on including the 16 games... down playing any of that is short sighted...

increased roster size isn't going to help the stars in any way, shape, or form.. and if it's only to supplant a current starter when they get injured (as someone pointed out), well- how about we not play 2 more games on top of all thats going on now?

people point out there aren't any "reasonable complaints" against an 18 game season.. well, these excuses surely aren't reasonable to expand the season...

and people aren't even thinking of the total amount of football being played...

I'm sorry but I think it's a little ridiculous to cite "stress on the body" of professional athletes as the only reason why we shouldn't have an 18 game season and expect it to be taken seriously. We're talking about millions of fans, millions of dollars and large organizations. I understand having a concern for the players, but this is their job and they will be paid. If you don't want to risk dying in a fire, don't be a firefighter.

And "1 or 2 meaningless quarters is hardly accurate" Starters usually play about 6-7 quarters in preseason in total. In the second game they play a half, in the third they play up to three quarters. While you're right in that regular season games are more demanding, things like pulling starters after getting a sizable lead will become more common. Also, you'll see teams pull their starters after they've fallen behind by a large deficit. This happens in sports at all levels and it's completely reasonable, I'm not sure why we can't expect that here.

"Better practice routines" refers to resting players more in between games. For a typical NFL team, they will play on Sunday, have Monday and Tuesday off (or just watch film, have meetings), then practice hard on Wednesday and Thursday, do lighter stuff on Friday, and essentially just walk through the game plan on Saturday. Coming from an NCAA athlete, when guys are in midseason form they really don't even need intense practices. It becomes a lot more mental and lot less physical as the season progresses. Therefore there's no reason that coaches wouldn't lighten up on the intensity of practices down the stretch.

Increased roster size may not help the "stars" that much, but there's no question that it will help the team. I'm sorry if you're only worried about 100-ish "stars" that there are in the league. Think about all the guys we have playing special teams that also contribute in a large portion of offense/defensive play. With a greater roster size, less of our starters/key back-ups on offense and defense would have to take part in special teams and those 6-7 extra bodies on the roster could handle kick-off returns and coverage, punt coverage, etc. Also, there isn't any reason why certain positions can't use more depth on game day. It would have been fantastic for us to have another fullback or two around last year...our top two guys got hurt and we were up the creek.

[Cyberjag]

Why move it to 18 games? Would they keep the 4 preseason games? I'm not a season ticket holder but is there a price break for preseason tickets? If not what kind of increased revenue are they looking at?

They would have two preseason games, not four. Preseason tickets cost the same as regular season tickets, and you're forced to buy them. The additional revenue would likely come from concessions (which just about have to be higher in the regular season, when the games count) and television contracts.