Could a major change to the NFL’s playoff seeding be coming?
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, in Minneapolis next week, NFL owners will vote on the Detroit Lions’ early offseason proposal to change postseason seeding.
As we know, under the current system, the top four seeds belong to the division winners, and that seeding among those teams is determined by who has the best record. The following three playoff spots go to wildcard teams, and again, the seeding between those three teams is determined by their records.
But under the Lions’ proposal, winning a division would no longer carry so much weight. Instead, seeding would be determined strictly by regular-season record.
Had this ruling been in effect in 2024, for example, the Houston Texans, who won the AFC South with a 10-7 record, would have instead been the fifth seed and played their first playoff game on the road. The 11-6 LA Chargers, who did not win the AFC West and were a wildcard team, would have been the fourth seed and had a home game in the first round of the playoffs.
Other changes that would come with this rule include that if two teams have the same record, a division title would serve as the first tie-breaker and not head-to-head matchups.
Then, after the first round of the playoffs, all teams would be reseeded so that the top-seeded team is always playing the lowest remaining-seeded team in the divisional rounds.
Lastly, this rule change would obviously incentivize the teams who truly have the best record, regardless of what division they play in, but this would also reduce teams resting their starters in Weeks 17 and 18. Even if they have their division wrapped up at that point, it doesn’t mean their playoff seeding is.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Is major change coming to NFL’s playoff seeding?
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Colts Wire / Colts Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
