With the Steelers off to a 7-0 start that gives them the best record in the AFC eight weeks into the season, they have positioned themselves for a potential bye in the first round of the playoffs.
Or maybe not.
According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, the NFL competition committee, on which Mike Tomlin sits, will present a contingency plan to owners that would increase the number of teams in the playoffs this year to 16 -- up from 14 -- to accommodate potential lost games because of COVID-19 outbreaks among teams.
NFL competition committee expects to present a resolution to owners based on a contingency of having a 16-team playoff season (8 in each conference) if games are lost due to the pandemic, especially as bye weeks disappear, according to league sources. Committee met by zoom today.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) November 2, 2020
The addition of teams would be made to help offset the potential for the league to add an 18th week to the season if future games have to be cancelled or postponed because of viral outbreaks among teams that have already had their bye week.
The Steelers have already been affected by a COVID-19 postponement earlier this season when their Week 4 game against Titans was postponed because of an outbreak with that team. That forced the Steelers to take their bye in Week 4, as opposed to being in Week 8.
One reason the competition committee also might want to have eight teams is to take the bye out of the equation for just one team in each conference. Under the new CBA approved earlier this year, the NFL expanded its playoff field to seven teams in each conference, meaning just one team would get the bye.
But, if the league had to add a Week 18 to the regular season, the two teams that get the bye week could potentially have three weeks off between playing their final regular-season game before playing again in the Divisional Round.
