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

[j2sgam]

Almost everybody has a good point... ~cough cough jersey cough~...If they are going to change anything, take 1 preseason game and make a 17 game season. That way coaches can still do their evaluating, and there will be no more 8-8 seasons. Either you had a winning season or you didnt. Maybe boost the roster some, everybody makes a little more revenue, fans get a little more out of their season, and there is 60 more minutes of real gametime for the players to get injure- um, make it throu- uh, play..

[bleys]

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.

Stress on the body or injuries means the quality of football goes down.. and the stars are the ones on the field we want to see.. not the other 30 scrubs playing football...

to think it's a good idea to have them playing on offense and defense other than special teams plays means the quality of football goes down...

ridiculous? I think not...

now today I've heard a lot more reports and revamping a lot of old ideas to help with the 18 games.. it could get interesting and we'll see in what ways they try to prevent more injuries...

you missed the point on this one. more games=more injuries=more players needed

actually, that is precisely my point.. more games = more injuries = we don't have our starters playing and scrubs filling in... less quality football..

as a panthers fan who watches year in and year out a team that takes a big hit in injuries, this is my biggest fear in seeing an additional 2 games...

[theedaddy]

bleys, truly the starters already play 18 games.

add up all the time spend on the field during 4 preseason games and it will be close to two full games.

imo, its just a numbers deal ie $$$$$$money$$$$$$ issue.

there has already been a trend towards more scrimmages, that would be a solution help to replace 2 preseason games.

john fox brought up a interesting point about roster numbers. he said if the number grew pass a certain level, there would be MUCH more "specialist" added to rosters. all teams would carry kick-off specialist, short FG specialist, short yard RBs, more goal line linemen, go route WRs, long down passing DEs etc etc.

what that knowledge, i think the roster should only increase 2-3, same for practice squads.

[guyinchesapeake]

The only reason I'm interested in 18 games is if they drop 2 of the pre-season ones, because I can't give the pre-season ones away, and these thieves who run the league charge the same for them as they do the regular season. The NFL owners are some greedy bastards! It's asinine that you can't sell them online at the 'Cats site for anything other than a couple dollars less than the full price. If I lived in Charlotte I would attend the preseason games, but it's a 700 mile round trip for me to make any home game. A thing that would help is if you could donate them to the team's charities after Tuesday. But that's neither here nor there.

I think 18 games will put a heck of a pounding on these guys, and the record books will be further bastardized! I think for team preparation they could schedule more scrimmages to make up for losing 2 pre season games. But we'll see, I reckon..

[HPPantherzfan]

So what was the verdict?

[o803oVaDeR]

I was thinking maybe loose 1 preseason game, add the 2 regular season games, and give all teams an extra bye week, or maybe a week off before the playoffs start.

So 3 preseason games and a 20 week season. This will never happen though. I am sure the players will not agree to it.