The NFL playoff format could be undergoing a huge change heading into the 2025 season. When the NFL’s 32 owners get together in Minneapolis next week, they’re expected to vote on a proposal that would change how teams are seeded in the postseason, but only after the opening round, according to ESPN.
The owners had the chance to vote on a potential playoff change at the annual league meeting back in March, but after debating the issue, it was decided that the talks would be tabled until the next owners’ meeting, which will be happening May 20-21 in Minneapolis.
This time around a vote will likely be happening, but the owners will be voting on a modified version of what was proposed in March. According to The Athletic, the modified proposal would look similar to what we see now, at least in the wild-card round: There would be seven playoffs teams in each conference — four division winners and three wild card teams — and the division winners would all get to host a game (The top seed would get a bye and then the second thru fourth seeds would host a wild-card game).
The big change would come in the divisional round, where the NFL would reseed the playoffs based on who has the best record. If this format had been in existence last year, it would have had a huge impact on the NFC playoffs.
Here’s what the divisional round looked like last season in the NFL:
- (6) Commanders (12-5) at (1) Lions (15-2)
- (4) Rams (10-7) at (2) Eagles (14-3)
If the NFL had reseeded the divisional round based on who has the best record, it would have looked like this:
1. Lions
2. Eagles
3. Commanders
4. Rams
Under this scenario, the Rams would have faced the Lions in the divisional round and the Commanders would have faced the Eagles. This rule proposal would not have had any impact on the AFC playoffs last year.
This is dramatically different from the playoff modification that the Lions proposed back in March.
Under the Lions’ original proposal, the seven teams in each conference would have still consisted of four division champions and three wild-card teams. However, the big change is that the teams would be seeded by who has the best record. Under that proposal, a wild-card team could have been seeded ahead of a division winner if the wild-card team had a better record. That means that a wild-card team could be seeded as high as No. 2. Under the current format, the four division winners get the top four seeds followed by the three wild-card teams. In the current format, no wild card team can be seeded higher than fifth.
If the Lions’ original proposal would have been in place in 2024, the Chargers (11-6) would have been the fourth seed in the AFC and they would have gotten to host the fifth-seeded Texans (10-7) instead of the other way around. Also, the NFC playoff picture would have been turned upside down.
Here’s what the NFC playoff seedings looked like in 2024:
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)
Here’s what they would have looked like with the Lions’ original proposal:
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)
That’s a massive change because division winners — except for the top seed — would no longer be guaranteed to host a playoff game. CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones reported Friday that the Lions’ original proposal was almost certainly going to face some pushback at the owners’ meeting, which is likely why a modified proposal was introduced.
One tiebreaker that would be added is that if a wild-card team and a division winner have the same record — like the Vikings and Eagles above — the division winner would automatically get the better seed, even if they lost a head-to-head game against the wild-card team.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been showing support for a possible change to the playoff format, so it’s certainly possible that this will be approved.
When Goodell was asked about this specific proposal in April, he seemed to be enthusiastic about it.
“I thought it is a very healthy proposal and a very healthy point that we need to evaluate and continue to look at,” Goodell said. “It went through many different forms. There was some great data to show that we should really look at some form or version of this.”
In less than a week, we’ll find out if the playoff format will be changing or staying the same for 2025.
This news was originally published on this post .
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