Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - MAJOR NFL Season/Playoff Changes & Changes I Would Make

Episode Date: February 20, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, today was set up to start previewing the Combine, which is coming up this weekend. But right before I was prepared to record, Adam Schefter dropped some nukes on our foreheads about potential changes to the NFL regular season and the playoff format that could take place if the renegotiated collective bargaining agreement between the NFL owners and the NFL Players Association is agreed upon. So we are going to talk about that today, talk about all of the different changes that are expected to be put into place, why these are happening, what they could mean

for the Tennessee Titans, of course. So we will jump into all of that in our first segment. And then with that in mind, in our second segment, we are going to round out the show by talking about some changes that I would like to see made. And I would like to know what changes you guys would like to see made as well. So make sure that you hit me up on Twitter at TicTacTitans or drop your suggestions in a review on Apple Podcast. Let me know what changes you would like to see. So I'm going to tell you guys what I think some quick, easy fixes the NFL could make

to improve the product would be in our second segment to cap out the show. And then tomorrow, we will jump into everything combine and get you ready for the kickoff of that on Sunday. So a lot to break down. Some big, big news. Schefter never lets you down with those updates. So excited to jump into all of that with you guys. Let's get it. let's dive into reports from ESPN's Adam Schefter about what exactly the owners are proposing first the owners are looking to up the regular season games from the current mark of 16 to 17 games now

you have to ask yourself what that means and what kind of impact that will have. Of course, that's another game for the players to play, which of course will be a health concern. So you have to wonder what the NFL Players Association will have to say about that. Also, you start to think about how that impacts how the schedule is made. Currently, the way that it works is the Titans would play two games against each division opponent. You also rotate one division in the AFC, one division in the NFC that you play every four years. You also play games against teams that finished in a similar position to you in the previous regular season. So first place, second place, third place, fourth place in the division.

So with the extra game being added to the schedule, how will the NFL fill that slot? Will it just be a flex game where they're able to make matchups? I think that would be very interesting as well. So it'll be curious to see exactly how these changes are executed. It'll be curious to see exactly how these changes are executed, but what we do know is the NFL owners hope to raise the amount of regular season games from 16 to 17. The kicker there is, if that proposal is accepted by the players, that change would not kick in until sometime between the 2021 and 2023 season. That is not something that would be implemented in the 2020

regular season that is upcoming in front of us now. Another change that has to do with the amount of regular season games is the fact that the owners would also look to trim off a pre-season game. So dropping pre-season games from four, where it is now, down to three. That would definitely help the players in terms of playing less games, having one less week of practice, but you have to think about who actually plays during these preseason games. Most of the time, it is not the core players on your roster, the top 40, the top 46, who are going to be playing in that preseason game that gets cut. So from the Players Association perspective, it would make sense if they would not see

that as a reasonable counter to raising an extra regular season game, which most of these players are going to be playing in, and they're going to be playing much more intensely than they do during a preseason game if they're out there at all. Now, the negative side of that is from the Players Association perspective is now you get one less opportunity, one less game for guys who are on roster bubbles around the NFL to show their stuff. How many guys have performed in that last preseason game, in that first preseason game, whichever way you want to look at it getting cut, and that was their opportunity, that was their chance to get snaps on tape to get film out there to give themselves maybe not an opportunity with the team that they were playing

with at that time but going forward so if you're the players association you have to take care of the base players that are typically on rosters but you also have to worry about the other players who need an opportunity and use those preseason games as basically an entire resume for their NFL career. So curious again to see how the NFL Players Association will rationalize that. The last change that Adam Schefter reported, and it's the biggest one to date, is that the NFL would look to expand the playoffs from six teams per conference to seven teams per conference. What that would do is it would only leave one team per conference the top seed with a bye week during the playoffs.

We would get three wildcard games on Saturday, three wildcard games on Sunday, and then the tournament would be reseeded with four teams left on either side, AFC and NSC, as they already do right now with the reseeding process. So that would be very interesting. If that were the case this season, you would see the Steelers and the Rams in the playoffs. More football, more playoff games, more teams making the playoffs would not be a bad thing in my opinion. And that change would actually be taking place immediately for this upcoming season in 2020 that would be very exciting for the entire league including Tennessee Titans fans to open up

another playoff spot to fight whether or not the players association will accept these changes is yet to be seen but there is expected to be some intense negotiations and discussions on Thursday and Friday to decide. I would like to know how you guys feel about these changes. If you agree, if you disagree. So like I mentioned earlier in the show, make sure that you're following me on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans. Let me know if you agree with these changes.

And then like we're going to talk about in our next segment, let me know what changes you personally would like to see made in the NFL. I'll give you some of my suggestions in our next conversation. Also, if you're going to follow me on Twitter, might as well subscribe to the show. Like I say every day, there is nobody else out there giving you Titans content every single day throughout the all season. So make sure that you are subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform that you do stream.

And hey, tell a friend. Couldn't hurt, right? Everybody's just looking for some quality Titans content out there, and I'm giving it to you every single day. Also, speaking of quality content, our mailbag session is on Friday. It is tomorrow. So make sure that when you go on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans, let me know the changes you'd like to be made.

Also, ask me a question. Feel free, anything, the Titans, NFL in general, any other sport, movies, music, pop culture, TV, anything that you guys want, heck, even food, I'd love to answer anything that you guys want, heck, even food. I'd love to answer any of your guys' questions. So shoot me those questions on Twitter. Put them in the reviews. I will make sure to get to all of those questions

and give you guys a shout-out on Friday's show to round things out and send us off into the weekend. But we have to talk about the changes that I would like to see made in the NFL, and we are going to do that next. If you've been a listener of this podcast, I'm sure you've heard all the great advertisers working with Locked On to reach sports fans, but you may not know that Locked On is a great way for your local business to reach passionate fans just like you. Unlike any other podcast, Locked On gives your local company the unique ability to reach local podcast listeners.

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Once again, text the word advertising to 33777 or visit lockedonpodcast.com slash advertising. We look forward to hearing from you. Join me as I put on my NFL infinity gauntlet and tell you guys about the changes that I would make if I had control of the NFL. Hope all my MCU lovers out there enjoyed the Thanos reference. So let's dive into it. These changes are just random things that I would like to see implemented or changes that I would like to see made to the NFL. I have a bunch in my head. I could go for days on different little changes that I would like to see made, but I wanted to give you guys kind of a succinct list

here, a controlled and contained list with some of my bigger ideas that I think probably should be implemented, not just more pie-in-the-sky things I would like to see, but my bigger ideas that I think probably should be implemented, not just more pie-in-the-sky things I would like to see, but these are things that I think should be implemented. We will start, the very first one is going to be a segue from our first segment talking about all the changes that could potentially be made to the NFL season structure coming forward. And that would be if they do increase the NFL season from 16 games to 17 games, then I think every team should get two bye weeks.

The NFL is a brutal game. Injuries are ravishing the league. As always, it's the nature of the game of football, of course. But if you're going to add that extra regular season game, like I talked about in the first segment, just slashing one preseason game is not the compensation that these players need to take care of their bodies adding that extra intense regular season game. I think the only fair way to add that extra regular season game is to add another buy for these players. So that would make the season 19 weeks. The regular season game is to add another bye for these players so that would make the

season 19 weeks the regular season would be 19 weeks at that point you would have one bye in the first 10 weeks and then you would have to have your second bye within the next eight weeks so within the 18 first weeks of the regular season you would have your two buys but they would be split up to make sure you got one in the front end and one on the back end obviously everyone would need to be playing in week 19 for the drama and for division titles and playoff seating but I think that having two buys with the 17 game schedule would be the right thing to do for the league and for the players the next thing that I think should happen is a more on the field issue and it has to do with officiating. I think they need to get rid of the pass interference

review. I don't think that it's having its intended effect. You saw Kyle Rudolph in the playoffs not get called for offensive pass interference catching that ceiling touchdown against the Saints and then on the flip side of that you saw George Kittle get called for an offensive pass interference for essentially the same exact push in the playoffs. And that really swung the balance of that game. So I think they should just get rid of the pass interference review. I don't think that it was handled the way that most would want or expected it to be handled during the regular

season. It seemed like multiple times during the regular season, they changed the way that they were handling those reviews. It just puts the league in a bad spot. It's something that the coaches shouldn't have to worry about challenging as well. So I think that the league should just get rid of that. It just more more controversy than it was intended to erase controversy I don't think you can ever eliminate human error from the game especially when it comes to officials so they need to just get rid of that because the judgment there on whether or not it's pass interference or not is just as confusing as whether or not it was called by the officials on the field so I don't see that as solving anything, having that pass interference review. It didn't solve anything or make anyone

happier during the regular season. It only stands to make people more upset and slow the game down more. So I would just go back and get rid of that rule altogether. Speaking of challenges, I don't understand that if an NFL coach wins both of his first two challenges, he only gets one back. Why do you lose a challenge whatsoever if you win? I think that the coaches should have two challenges, and if you win both, you keep both. I don't think you should ever lose a challenge if you won it. I think that's something that, now you don't want more challenges, so I understand that side of it. I try to be fair and understand both perspectives.

The NFL thought, hey, we don't want a bunch of challenge flags. But if the coach is winning the challenges and he's calling out the officials and they are wrong, well, he shouldn't lose any opportunities to continue to do that. So I don't think a coach should lose a challenge whatsoever if he gets it right. Now talking about on the field, an actual on the field change that I would like to see made, and honestly it's my most important one out of all the ones that we're talking about here, because of the change to the kickoff rules. Because of the way that they made it to where the team can't take off until the ball is kicked. They shorten the gap of the player so that they're closer together to avoid bigger collisions

and bigger impacts. Because of that, they have essentially robbed the NFL of the onside kick. The onside kick is one of the most exciting situations in football. It has the opportunity to really add a splash of craziness to any game that you're watching. Whether or not the team is able to utilize that opportunity and go down and score, what have you, just getting that onside kick is so rare and so fun that not having it happen whatsoever really is a detriment to the league. And I do believe there were two onside kicks recovered by the kicking team during the NFL season.

Maybe it was just one, but the chances of getting an onside kick with the way that they've changed kickoff positioning and the rules there, it's essentially impossible. And I don't think it's good for the game and good for comebacks. So how do you remedy that? Give the offense, who probably just scored, that's why they're kicking an onside kick, give them an opportunity to win the ball back so how I would do that fairly I understand that that you know it's basically like overtime if your defense is just out there people will want both teams to get the ball and have an opportunity to decide that but there's no real way to do that so the

way that I would remove the onside kick, but give teams the opportunity to get the ball back, look at the percentages. So go back before they made the changes to the kickoff rules. Look at what the percentage was that teams were able to recover their onside kick. Then look at the percentages of converting on fourth down or converting on third down and look at the distance. So what's the percentage chance that the team would convert on third and 10?

What's the percentage, the league average chance that a team converts on third and 15? What's the league average of a team converting on third and 20 or fourth and 20, whatever you want to use? I would basically do that. Take that yardage. Let's say 17 yards was the percentage of likelihood that the team converted that third down, matched up with the percentage of likelihood that a team recovered the onside kick. Let's say they were both 10.5%. These are just arbitrary numbers. The NFL has the actual data to get these lines to cross. So you match up the likelihood of converting. You match up the likelihood of recovering the

onside kick. You use that down in distance and have the team have to score in the red zone. So let's say it's 17 yards out. The offense that just scored a touchdown now has to go to the 17-yard line, and they have to score another touchdown from 17 yards out. And if they do, they don't get any points, but they get possession of the ball where the onside kick would typically be recovered. So I think that is a little convoluted. I understand, but the diminishing of the onside kick is something that I hope that the league can counteract and use that to make a more

exciting play. Think about how exciting that would be. You're like, oh, we just scored, the Titans scored, they can get the ball back if they score from the 17-yard line, they score from the 15-yard line, they score from the 20-yard line. I think that would add excitement. That would help counteract the diminishing of the onside kick. It just gives a lot of benefits, even though it could be a tad bit complicated.

It would be pretty easy to explain if the NFL just came out and said, we're replacing the onside kick with one try from the 20-yard line. You have to score to get the ball back. I think that's pretty simple and like I continue to say it would be very very exciting so I would hope to see that change even if it that's a little more of a pie in the sky idea but I think it would be the best idea and the the most beneficial idea if the NFL were to implement that going to some off the field things that I think that the NFL should change get away from the actual game of football for a moment the first one is kind of a silly one it's not too serious

I think that the NFL should get rid of the rule where you can't change your jerseys unless you wait five years after the last jersey change so right now the Titans made a jersey change they can't do it for five seasons after they made that change. While I understand, like I said, I try to be balanced. I try to be fair, see both sides. I understand from a merchandise perspective, a marketing perspective, you're going to one, upset fans if you keep changing your jersey all the time. The people who are buying the jerseys will be upset that they keep having to re-up on brand new jerseys that look different every year. You do have a chance of alienating your fan base, but also the retailers who make this merchandise like Nike at the moment in time,

they have tons of stock for these jerseys, for the style of uniform that the team decides to go with. That's why these things are decided like a year in advance and not revealed until the season before because the retailers who make the merchandise have to know what the jerseys are going to look like so that they can create inventory for their products so that they can be sold and it's not a made-to-order process for millions of people online. So I understand that, but I just think that teams make bad decisions sometimes on jerseys. The fans hate them immediately and they should be able to change that. Maybe lessen it down if I want to compromise because that's what everything is all

about, right? Compromise. We could lessen that down to only three years until you can change your jersey again. So one way or another, I just don't think teams should be locked into their jerseys for five years if they make a crucial mistake. Fix the mistake. I want better jerseys in general in the NFL. The Titans were able to upgrade their jerseys. I love the Titans' new jerseys. I wonder how you guys feel about that, but I love those jerseys, and I would be upset

if they would have went with you know a different design that nobody liked and then wouldn't be able to fix that mistake and correct it until half a decade later so that's a change I would make and then to finish out my suggestions I did want to do one serious suggestion here that is not to do with the game of football but has to do with player safety and player health it's something that I think is very. I don't like to preach on this show. I never really talk about politics. I never really get into morality and things like that, but I do think that the NFL needs to completely remove their ban on marijuana. It is proven at this moment in time medically that marijuana can be used as a very valuable pain tolerance medicine

and we also know logical NFL fans also know about the dangers of pain pills and Toradol shots and all of the different things that NFL teams currently utilize to help manage pain with these gladiators and these guys we love sport, but they put themselves through so much physically and so much pain to be able to play this game and entertain us that I think the NFL needs to do everything they possibly can to give these players alternatives to deal with the pain that aren't prescription medications, chemicals that are changing their body that could have a long-time impact. And there are definitely long-term impacts that can come from smoking marijuana or ingesting marijuana, whatever you want to call it.

But it's proven that there are also long-term and short-term effects from doing different pain medications, from taking different shots. It can lead you into tougher drugs and things that you don't want to see NFL players or anybody getting into. It can also lead them to have complications health-wise with their organs and their quality of life. So I think that while it's debatable, the morality of marijuana in America, which is not something that I want to talk about, I think at this moment in time, in America, which is not something that I want to talk about, I think at this moment in time, not punishing the players for it, not saying it's okay or it's good or anybody should do it.

Of course, that's not anything about what I'm talking about, but making it so that players aren't punished for finding alternatives to deal with the pain. Some of you are saying to yourselves right now, that's a slippery slope. What comes next? And I understand that. But the way that I feel about it is NFL players should not be punished for this type of pain tolerance when they are suggested to take the other avenues of pain tolerance that can be just as damaging if not more damaging so I will get off my soapbox I like I said I don't like to get into moral or political

issues or anything like that, but that is a significant change that I hope will be made for the benefit of the health of these NFL players that entertain us so much. That is going to wrap up today's show though. We went over all of the major proposed changes that Adam Schefter dropped on our head tops on Wednesday night. I hope to see most of those take place. Hopefully the NFL Players Association does agree to some of those and hopefully they get some things in return as well. That's how a negotiation is supposed to go. And then of course, I just gave you some of my changes. I would like to see if I had the power in the NFL. So I know we planned on, we planned

on breaking down, starting our breakdown of the combine, but this huge news just wanted to make sure that I let you guys know all the ins and outs of that. And then it just led me into a great conversation about some other changes that I would like to see made. So I hope you guys enjoyed the show today. I guarantee you that we will be back tomorrow and we will break down the combine. Maybe an extra long episode for you guys because we are going to spend a lot of time breaking everything down what to watch for

what drills are best to watch for which position groups which position groups are the deepest maybe some players that Titans fans should really keep their eye on and we're also going to talk about how John Robinson digests the NFL Combine. So that'll be very interesting as well. I will see you guys back tomorrow on Friday where we also will be doing our mailbag segment. So we got a lot to talk about on Friday's episode to send you guys off into the weekend. So can't wait to be back with you for that. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Send me those mailbag questions at TicTacTitans on Twitter, and this was Locked on Titans.