Playoffs and Bonuses: Let the Fans Decide

Let’s make it official – sign up and join your FCF team to vote on how playoff seeding works and which bonus we should give to the top seeded team

In my rookie year on the Jets we just missed making the playoffs in the last week of season and that was the closest I got during my time in the NFL. This season they changed up the format a little but you still end up with teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers having 11 wins missing the playoffs while the Washington Football Team get in and host a home game with only 7/9 wins.

For FCF Season v1.0 we have only 4 teams so they will all get into the inaugural playoffs meaning we need to really be creative in making sure the team who does the best in the regular season gets a real advantage going into the playoffs.

There’s a few different ways we can do it. We can keep it simple and just seed the teams based on their record with the 1 playing the 4 and the 2 playing the 3 then the winners meeting in the championship.

Or we can basically give byes to the top seed – meaning the 3 and 4 seed plays, with the winner taking on the 2 seed and then the winner of that playing the 1 seed in the championship.

And of course we can go the real interesting route and actually give the fans of the top seed the power to pick who they want as their opponent. As a player you know who you match up best with and what teams on the schedule  you think you have the best chance to beat but you can’t ever say it beforehand or it’s pure gold as bulletin board material for your opponent. But it sure would be cool if the fans could do that talking for us.

And then that brings us to bonus ideas for the 1 seed. We’ve talked about giving the top team the ball in both halves of their playoff game. Not a terrible way to get a leg up on the competition, right?

Or we can make it a little bit more interesting by giving the fans an extra team power to utilize during their game. The power could be an extra time out, maybe a 5th down, etc. This is the ultimate mystery-bag option – you don’t know what you’re going to get, but you know it’s gonna be good.

Maybe we let the fans be a little diabolical and steal a keeper. We’ve talked about fans having the opportunity to keep a player week to week in the league, ensuring they have someone to compliment their franchise tagged player, but what if you could steal another team’s keeper, leaving that team with a practice squad guy to fill the void? It might be a little evil, but something tells me some of y’all are shady and would love that.

This week as the NFL dictates how it works in the No Fun League, we are letting the fans make the call. You submitted these ideas for both playoff format and bonuses, so now we need you to make the call.

Power To The Fans!

Ray Austin
Co-Founder & Commissioner 
Fan Controlled Football

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12 Comments

  1. Ashley January 13, 2021

    NHL has a really good set up for the playoffs I feel compared to the rest of professional sports. I like the conference concept with points; top X teams from each conference make it despite division. Division standings can be used to determine tie breakers if necessary. This type of set up is something to be considered as the league grows!

  2. Tyler Lyles January 14, 2021

    1 seed plays the 4 seed and the 2 and 3 seed play each other. The winner plays in the championship.

  3. FreeSafety47 January 14, 2021

    The Steelers didn’t miss the playoffs. They got put out by Cleveland. And Washington had 7 wins, right. The team power is appealing but I don’t like that it’s a mystery bag. Starting each half with the ball is good if the team is offensive. How about starting each half with the CHOICE?

  4. David ware January 14, 2021

    I like the idea of letting fans of #1 choose their opponent.

  5. Robert January 15, 2021

    Run the flee flicker and throw it DEEEEEEPPPPP!!!!!

  6. Peter January 15, 2021

    I know Pitssburgh didn’t show up against the Browns either time but it was Miami at 10 wins not Pittsburgh that missed the playoffs. Can’t wait for the start of the season!!

  7. Jerknugget January 17, 2021

    How about giving the #1 and #2 seeds based on record/tie breakers if necessary a points advantage going into the playoffs. The #1 has 6pts already on the board, and #2 has 3 and then 1 plays 4 and 2 plays 3.
    Bonuses 45 – 30 – 15 – 10 %s of the bonus pool.

  8. Tom January 18, 2021

    The Steelers made the playoffs.

  9. Steakman January 24, 2021

    Gauntlet style! Let’s start something new? That’s what we’re doing here, right?

  10. Jacob Thomas January 24, 2021

    I love the idea of the 1 seed choosing who they play against.

  11. Dylan February 11, 2021

    Do an double elimination bracket. 3v4 then they vs 2 and the winner of that game plays 1. Winner of that game goes to the finals. Then the losers play in a losers bracket. Winner of the losers bracket goes to the finals and they have to win twice.

  12. Minknado February 11, 2021

    I like fans/owners of top seeds picking who they want to play plus top two seeds get a mystery bonus (a 5th down, extra O player for one play, etc.). However they only get the bonus once in the playoffs so if don’t use it in first game it rolls over to championship – if they get in.

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