BroBible
The NFL is set to vote on a new playoff format that could well make winning your division irrelevant. All 32 owners are expected to vote on a proposed change next week at the league’s annual meeting in Minneapolis. The new format would still see division winners automatically qualify, but seeding would be done strictly by record.
The proposal, which comes from the Detroit Lions, would see seven teams continue to make the playoffs. All four division winners would qualify, as would three additional wild-card teams. But rather than division winners automatically being seeded 1-4 and receiving an automatic home game, teams would be seeded by their overall record, with all tiebreakers remaining the same.
Under the newly proposed format, the 2024 NFL playoffs would have a far different look. In the AFC, the Los Angeles Chargers, who brought up this proposal in 2023, would’ve hosted to the Houston Texans in round one rather than traveling to Houston. While the NFC would’ve been turned on its head entirely.
The NFC seeding last year was as follows:
1. Lions (15-2)
2. Eagles (14-3)
3. Buccaneers (10-7)
4. Rams (10-7)
5. Vikings (14-3)
6. Commanders (12-5)
7. Packers (11-6)
If the new proposal passes, this is how the NFC would have been seeded.
1. Lions (15-2)
2. Eagles (14-3)
3. Vikings (14-3)
4. Commanders (12-5)
5. Packers (11-6)
6. Buccaneers (10-7)
7. Rams (10-7)
While a number of fans support the proposal (myself included), still more are speaking out against it.
The effect here is that the only division races that would matter would be for the terrible divisions.
Divisions are good, rivalries are good and this rule proposal is bad. https://t.co/qPOcKF3gxD
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) May 16, 2025
The primary argument is that the new format would de-emphasize winning your division.
“If they change seeding by record they have to change scheduling as well,” former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz said. “The Rams, Bucs and Texans will have won their division, not host a playoff game and then get a first place schedule? Do not like it. You’d have to schedule based off record now.”
“Not tying seeding to winning divisions makes divisions essentially meaningless and negatively impacts rivalries. Hopefully that one fails,” Eagles reporter Shane Haff wrote.
Both sides make a solid argument. There are pros and cons to either format. Which of those team owners prefer will ultimately decide how the vote goes.
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