The Detroit Lions recently introduced a proposal during the NFL annual owners meetings, suggesting a change to the playoff seeding process. Under their plan, playoff teams would be ranked purely by their regular-season record, rather than automatically assigning the top four spots to division winners. While this proposal was put on hold for the time being, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell expressed that it was a “very healthy proposal” during a press conference. He also noted that there is strong data supporting a closer look at such a system in the future.
The Lions put forth this idea after observing the NFC’s playoff seeding last season, where the Minnesota Vikings, despite having the second-best record in the conference, were placed as the fifth seed and had to play a road game in the wild-card round. Lions general manager Brad Holmes also raised the point that teams with losing records in their divisions should not automatically host a home playoff game, especially if other teams have better overall records.
If the proposal is eventually passed, it would lead to a major shift in how the NFL structures its postseason. However, for now, no changes will be made to the playoff seeding format.
