However, league officials are working to have a truncated season that could begin in September. Last year, the CFL began its regular season in June, with each team playing 18 games. The regular season typically ends at the beginning of November, followed by two rounds of playoffs and then the Grey Cup game, which usually takes place at the end of November.
The onus is on the offense to move the ball more efficiently on first down in order to make the most out of fewer opportunities, or else the punt team is quickly called into action. Three-down football also sets up offenses to be more pass-oriented.
The end zone is also larger, at 20 yards deep compared to 10 yards in the NFL. Goal posts are also located at the front of the end zone and not the back. There is no fair rule in the CFL. Kicking teams must be five yards away or more when the returning player catches the ball on a kick, before they can attempt to make the tackle. If players on the kicking team encroach that invisible five-yard space, they are called for 'no yards' and penalized either five yards or 15 yards depending on if the returner caught the ball in the air or off the hop.
This does raise the possibility of late-game comebacks in the CFL. One of the many quirks of the CFL game is the rouge — or single point awarded to teams in certain kicking situations.
A rouge can be awarded to a team if they miss a field goal, punt the ball, or kick off and the receiving team is unable to bring the ball out of the end zone. The three seed would play against the six seed and the four seed against five.
The lowest remaining seed after the first round of playoff games would then play the first place team and the other winner would play the second place team and then go from there. It would improve the competitiveness of the league without completely eliminating divisions. It gives every team a fair shot to make the playoffs without worrying about a crossover or not making the playoffs even with a better record than a team that does.
The league should take a good hard look at this style of playoff format. Randy Ambrosie may not make any changes any time soon but I am sure he is looking to make the league better. Changing to the division hybrid style would make this CFL more competitive and would force eastern teams to improve if they want to accomplish anything in the playoffs.
It may not be this season, but I think change is coming. I just hope that it is the right change. Image credit: Embed from Getty Images. Your email address will not be published.
Since the Lions had a better record than the third place in the opposite division, they crossed over and played the Montreal Alouettes in the East Semi-Final. They lost The rule was first introduced in slightly different format. The version of the crossover playoff format in use today was first used in It was implemented more than a decade ago for two primary reasons. The second reason is to reward the top six teams with a playoff berth. While this format keeps the entire league competitive and rewards the top six teams with a playoff berth, it is also sensitive to the East-West rivalry.
Qualifying the top six teams, in a ranking format could be another option, but division play is an important role in building rivalries, especially come playoff time.
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