Iggy's NFL Realignment Plan

See the NFL's Response to my Plan

After all the teams have moved around and expansion teams have been award, I propose the following realignment structure for the current 31 football teams:

AFC East	AFC Central	AFC West
Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills Miami Dolphins New England Patriots New York Jets	Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Pittsburgh Steelers Tennessee Titans	Denver Broncos Kansas City Chiefs Oakland Raiders San Diego Chargers Seattle Seahawks

NFC East	NFC Central	NFC West
Atlanta Falcons Carolina Panthers New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles Washington Redskins	Chicago Bears Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers New Orleans Saints Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Arizona Cardinals Dallas Cowboys Minnesota Vikings Saint Louis Rams San Francisco 49ers

I have Bolded the Teams that would switch divisions under my plan.

Now that Houston has been chosen for the NFL's 32nd team, I proposed the following 4 (8) division alignment:

AFC Northeast	AFC Southeast	AFC Central	AFC West
Buffalo Bills New England Patriots New York Jets Pittsburgh Steelers	Baltimore Ravens Jacksonville Jaguars Miami Dolphins Tennessee Titans	Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns Indianapolis Colts Kansas City Chiefs	Denver Broncos Oakland Raiders San Diego Chargers Seattle Seahawks

NFC Northeast	NFC Southeast	NFC Central	NFC West
Detroit Lions New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles Washington Redskins	Atlanta Falcons Carolina Panthers New Orleans Saints Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Chicago Bears Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings Saint Louis Rams	Arizona Cardinals Dallas Cowboys Houston San Francisco 49ers

This would require a modified playoff structure that allows for 4 divisional winners and 2 wild card teams to make the playoffs.

In general, several rules need revisiting to help make the game more exciting. I propose the following rule updates:

Get rid of the bye week.
Reinstitute Instant Replay on a limited request basis (2 per half, or something like that)
Get rid of the fair catch (See CFL rules)
Add up penalties, don't just cancel them (ie. 5 yard Encrouchment vs. 15 yard Facemask on the same play should not result in a replay with a net penality yardage of ZERO - See CFL rules.)
Do something to make the games higher scoring and more exciting, like adding a Rouge (See CFL rules).
Make all kicks returnable. (ie. A missed field goal that rolls dead at the 1 yard line can be downed or picked up and returned).
Make Extra point attempts live plays with a dead clock. If the offense turns the ball over, allow the defense to chose between taking the return yardage from the turnover, or receiving a kickoff. If the defense returns the ball for a touchdown, give them a touchdown. (Don't See the CFL rules for this one, I just made it up!)

Just for Reference, here are the geographical coordinates for each city. If you try to make an alignment according to their geographical location, it makes for a really interesting arrangment.

Franchise	Latitude	Longitude
New England (Boston)	42.21 N	71.04 W
New York Giants	40.43 N	74.01 W
New York Jets	40.43 N	74.01 W
Philadelphia	39.57 N	75.07 W
Baltimore	39.17 N	76.37 W
Washington	38.54 N	77.01 W
Buffalo	42.54 N	78.53 W
Pittsburgh	40.26 N	80.00 W
Miami	25.46 N	80.12 W
Jacksonville	30.20 N	81.40 W
Cleveland	41.30 N	81.41 W
Carolina (Charlotte)	35.14 N	80.50 W
Tampa	27.57 N	82.27 W
Detroit	42.20 N	83.03 W
Atlanta	33.45 N	84.23 W
Cincinnati	39.06 N	84.31 W

Franchise	Latitude	Longitude
Indianapolis	39.46 N	86.09 W
Tennessee (Nashville)	36.09 N	86.48 W
Chicago	41.53 N	87.38 W
Green Bay	44.30 N	88.01 W
New Orleans	29.58 N	90.07 W
Saint Louis	38.38 N	90.11 W
Minnesota (Minneapolis)	44.59 N	93.13 W
Kansas City	39.06 N	94.37 W
Houston	29.46 N	95.22 W
Dallas	32.47 N	96.48 W
Denver	39.43 N	105.01 W
Arizona (Phoenix)	33.27 N	112.05 W
San Diego	32.43 N	118.09 W
Los Angeles	34.03 N	118.15 W
Oakland	37.47 N	122.13 W
Seattle	47.36 N	122.20 W
San Francisco	37.48 N	122.24 W

A complete overhaul of the entire NFL into the "complete" geographical alignment with 32 teams (but attempting to maintain Conference boundaries):

AFC Northeast	AFC Southeast	AFC Central	AFC West
Buffalo Bills Cleveland Browns New England Patriots New York Jets	Jacksonville Jaguars Miami Dolphins Tennessee Titans Washington Redskins	Cincinnati Bengals Indianapolis Colts Kansas City Chiefs Saint Louis Rams	Denver Broncos Oakland Raiders San Diego Chargers Seattle Seahawks

NFC Northeast	NFC Southeast	NFC Central	NFC West
Baltimore Ravens Philadelphia Eagles Pittsburgh Steelers New York Giants	Atlanta Falcons Carolina Panthers New Orleans Saints Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Chicago Bears Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings	Arizona Cardinals Dallas Cowboys Houston San Francisco 49ers

A complete overhaul of the entire NFL into the "complete" geographical alignment with 32 teams (Completely disregarding Conference boundaries):

Northeast	Mid-Atlantic	Southeast	Central
Buffalo Bills New England Patriots New York Giants New York Jets	Baltimore Ravens Carolina Panthers Philadelphia Eagles Washington Redskins	Atlanta Falcons Jacksonville Jaguars Miami Dolphins Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns Indianapolis Colts Pittsburgh Steelers

South	North	Mid-West	West
Kansas City Chiefs New Orleans Saints St. Louis Rams Tennessee Titans	Chicago Bears Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings	Arizona Cardinals Dallas Cowboys Denver Broncos Houston	Oakland Raiders San Diego Chargers San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks

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© 1998-2003 by Iggy.

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