NFL Is Keeping to Its Schedule

Talk about crunch time. Not only does the NFL plan to play a full 16-game season, as it announced Tuesday, but it also hopes to squeeze wild-card games into an already snug schedule.

The league is considering several options to keep its playoff format intact, from the exhausting (three games in eight days for wild-card teams) to the near impossible (delaying the Super Bowl a week). A decision is expected within the next two days.

Also, the league should have an answer today from its locked-out officials, who Tuesday began voting by e-mail on a contract proposal that would end their work stoppage. If they approve the deal today, the regulars will be back for this weekend’s games. League executives said they would not comment on the officials’ situation until a deal is completed.

The news of the day was the unanimous decision of the league’s competition committee to play 16 games, rescheduling last weekend’s unplayed games for wild-card weekend, Jan. 5-7.

If the wild-card games were scrubbed, it would reduce the field of playoff teams from 12 to eight--three division winners and one wild card from each conference. But Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the league is working on a creative solution to keep the current format intact.

“Several options have been presented to us in recent days that would help us accomplish that,” Tagliabue said. “We will review them and make a decision shortly. If we cannot resolve our entire postseason lineup in a satisfactory fashion, we then will go to a system of six division winners and two wild-card teams for one season only.”

Denver Coach Mike Shanahan proposed scheduling the season finales for potential playoff teams on Saturday Jan. 5. The wild cards would open the playoffs four days later--”Wednesday Night Football” doesn’t have quite the same ring--with the winner playing again Sunday. Eight days, three games and a slew of battered bodies.

“I call that the Darwinism proposal--survival of the fittest,” Oakland Raider executive Bruce Allen said. “Getting players up for playoff games is the easy part, but the physicality of the playoffs is quite intense. I don’t think that would be the way to do it. It would be kind of fun in some ways, but I don’t think middle linebackers would see the humor in it.”

Still, there are at least two good teams in each of the three AFC divisions, and wiping out two wild-card berths would keep some top talent home for the holidays. Shanahan said that’s reason enough to consider his proposal. If there is only one wild-card team per conference, the margin for error is wafer-thin.

“You obviously know that there are going to be two less teams going, so you can’t stumble,” Shanahan told Denver reporters Monday. “If you do stumble, you’re not in the playoff race. It’s pretty simple.”

Not so simple would be moving the Super Bowl, which is scheduled for Jan. 27 in New Orleans. The following week, the city will host the National Auto Dealers’ convention. There have been suggestions the league might flop weeks with that group, moving the Super Bowl to Feb. 3. However, some of those hotel and airline reservations are made years in advance.

“If the Super Bowl were being played in a cold-weather place, it might be easier to swap the dates,” Allen said. “But this is New Orleans; their economy is driven by all the conventions. Plus, they have that little cocktail party they call Mardi Gras right afterward.”

The Pro Bowl is scheduled for Feb. 4, so it would probably have to be delayed a week if the Super Bowl were played Feb. 3. Another possible scenario would be to play the conference title games in New Orleans as a doubleheader on Jan. 27, the scheduled Super Bowl Sunday, and move the Super Bowl to another city. New Orleans would be promised another Super Bowl, which pumps an estimated $400 million into the local economy.

The league is trying hard not to cancel playoff games so as to preserve the integrity of the process and guard against the potential loss of millions of dollars. If the wild-card games were scrubbed, the NFL would have to repay the networks $40-60 million in TV revenue. Then, there is the psychological impact.

“Fewer playoff teams is basically going to take the playoffs out of a lot of teams’ reach,” Pittsburgh tackle Wayne Gandy said. “By December, maybe even November, guys are going to get down on themselves because they’re going to realize only four teams are going to make the playoffs, and, in the AFC, there are a lot of good teams. It’s going to be a challenge for everybody.”

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Associated Press contributed to this report.