NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is trying to open the schedule up to 18 regular season games. (Photo courtesy of Neil Hayes/Sun Times)

Neil Hayes does a weekly mailbag segment on the Sun Times’ Inside the Bears blog.  Yours truly felt compelled to ask a question.  Neil felt compelled to answer and even included the spiffy picture of the Commish in his repsonse:

Q: The current 16 game schedule is very structured. You play six games vs. your division opponents, four versus an NFC division (NFC East for Bears), four versus an AFC division (AFC East for Bears) and then the same-place finishers in the other conference divisions (3rd place in NFC West and NFC South for the Bears this season). If the regular season is expanded to 18 games, how will the last two games get filled out? Any word or speculation out there? Bear Goggles Boomer (<–that’s me!)

A: I spoke with someone at the league office who hadn’t heard anything about this point, either. The earliest there could be an enhanced season is 2012, and any changes would have to be agreed upon by both owners and the NFL Players Association. Personally, I’d prefer if one of the dates encouraged regional rivalries. How cool would it be if the Raiders and 49ers, Jets and Giants, Dolphins and Buccaneers, Texans and Cowboys and Chiefs and Rams played every season? As for the Bears, it could mean an annual date with the Colts or Browns. Not every team has an out-of-conference geographical rival, but it would sure be fun for those who do. The union might like the idea, as well, because it would make for shorter road trips.

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