[alex83]

with the bye weeks coming up this week, im interested to know everyones feelings on them? is it good to have a bye week early? or later in the season?
shoudl there be any bye weeks AT ALL? or would you prefer one more game in the season than loosing a week and having to wait a whole 2 weeks before you get to see your team play again?

[EmpireWF]

Teams should definitely have a bye week. The Giants' bye this year (and the Dolphins, too) is scheduled right after their England game I believe.

IMO, a team with an early bye week (week 3 or 4) doesn't do them as good as a mid-season one (week 8-10). But what do I know.

[alex83]

yeah the giants and dolphins game is after the game in London, that was the only way they could do the game and not majorly effect the team

i see your point about an early bye week being pretty pointless but at the same time doesnt it allow you to assess the already evident weaknesses in certain teams that are BLATENTLY obvious in the first few weeks?

[Lefty Noob]

I really don't like them (I'd rather them just play 16 straight games), but I have kind of gotten use to them. It does force you to use more strategy in fantasy football, if nothing else. But that's really the only good thing about them. Yeah, I know, supposedly it allows the guys to rest up and heal, but the old timers seemed to get along okay without it, and I hate the way it kills the momentum of a hot team.

[NASCAR Gnome]

Bye weeks are fine because it allows teams time to heal and re-group. With an even number of teams as we have in the league currently, you could argue effectively that there's no need for bye weeks but the bye week is a tradition that started years ago and allows the NFL (as a league) the ability to start the season earlier and end it later by adding one extra week of regular-season play.

Are you aware that there actually was a time in the Nineties where each team had TWO bye weeks in one season? You think having one bye week is bad enough, imagine having two bye weeks! I'm glad the NFL didn't keep that format!

[alex83]

Originally Posted by NASCAR Gnome

Bye weeks are fine because it allows teams time to heal and re-group. With an even number of teams as we have in the league currently, you could argue effectively that there's no need for bye weeks but the bye week is a tradition that started years ago and allows the NFL (as a league) the ability to start the season earlier and end it later by adding one extra week of regular-season play.

yeah i see your point but whats the problem with having one more game per year? i mean you suggest that it makes the season longer, but wouldnt adding an extra game to the schedule do the same thing? i mean i dont believe any other sport has a sort of bye week, i just dont like the way it interupts the fluidity of a season, i mean teams can be goin 10-0 and then suddenly they have to stop playing for 2 weeks

[NASCAR Gnome]

My take on making the season longer is for marketing and income purposes, plain and simple! One extra week in the regular season means one extra broadcast week for the TV networks and that usually translates into more revenue from sponsors. A shorter season makes all the sense, especially when, as you said, a team is on a streak but money ALWAYS TALKS!!!