The Detroit Lions‘ proposal to change the seeding format for the NFL playoffs was never put to a vote after the Lions withdrew the proposal on Wednesday morning, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones confirmed, adding that the proposal “was never going to pass” this time around.
Detroit clearly didn’t feel that it had enough support to move ahead with the vote. Any proposal needs the support of at least 24 of the NFL’s 32 owners in order to pass.
While it clearly didn’t have support from owners, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is reportedly in favor of changing the league’s playoff format in an effort to make late-season games more exciting. In fact, the Lions’ proposal was reportedly made at the behest of the league office.
The Lions’ proposal would have seeded each conference’s seven playoff teams based on record and not on division standings. The proposal was made months after the Minnesota Vikings had to go on the road for their NFC wild card game despite having a 14-3 regular-season record. The Vikings, who finished one game behind Detroit in the NFC North division standings, lost to a higher-seeded Rams team that won four fewer games during the regular season.
While the Lions and Vikings didn’t have this luxury last season, other teams that had already clinched their division title (like the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles) were able to rest some of their starters during the final few games of the regular season. The NFL obviously doesn’t love when teams do this, which is surely one of the reasons why Goodell is reportedly in favor of changing the league’s playoff format.
While there is some momentum building, it’s clear there is still not enough league-wide support when it comes to changing the NFL’s postseason structure. Pittsburgh Steelers Mike Tomlin, for example, is among the notable NFL figures who is against such changes.
“I’m a division purist, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said earlier this offseason. “I love the rivalries that is division play. I love the structure of our scheduling that highlights it. I just categorize myself as a division purist. I think the division winner should get a playoff game and a home playoff game,”
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