The NFL playoffs could look a lot different as soon as next season.
Team owners will gather in Minneapolis next week at the Spring League Meeting, where several proposals/rule changes will be voted on.
One of them, which was introduced by the Detroit Lions, could change the postseason format in a profound way.
There would be no changes to the number of teams (seven) that qualify for the playoffs in each conference, but the seeding would be quite different.
As The MMQB’s Albert Breer wrote Friday:
“Detroit’s proposal would be for the four division champions and three wild cards in each conference to make the playoffs. Those seven teams would then be seeded strictly by record, rather than assigning the top seeds to the division winners (which is how it’s been done since the merger), with the wild cards to follow. If teams have the same record, being a division champion would be the first tiebreaker—regardless of head-to-head record.
“A change in Detroit’s proposal from March is for the teams then to be reseeded after the first round. So, in this case, the No. 1 seed would play the lowest-remaining seed in the conference, rather than automatically facing the winner of the No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchup, with the other two remaining teams playing in the other divisional round game.”
It makes a lot of sense to award seeds based on records. It’s unfair for a 10-win (or better) wild card team to go on the road in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs when the home team has a worse record but won its division.
For example, the Washington Commanders finished 12-5 last season but earned the No. 6 seed in the NFC because they didn’t win their division. As a result, they traveled to Tampa Bay to play the 10-7 Buccaneers, who won a weak NFC South division.
The Minnesota Vikings went 14-3 last season but barely lost out on the NFC North title due to a tiebreaker. So they had to go on the road in the Wild Card Round and play the Los Angeles Rams, who went 10-7 as NFC West division champs. A 14-3 team not hosting a playoff game in the first round is absurd.
It remains to be seen whether this proposal has enough support to pass.
Other proposals that will be voted on next week include whether to ban the tush push, which has been made famous by the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
