NFL to explore playoff format changes; division winners will not be guaranteed home games: report
The Minnesota Vikings they are tied for the second-best record in the NFC this year, but their first playoff game will be on the road.
That’s because one team is ahead of them 15-2 Detroit Lionswhich won the NFC North with a Week 18 win over Minnesota.
The Lions earned the top seed and a bye, while the Vikings head to Arizona to face the Los Angeles Rams. The game was originally scheduled for LA, but was moved due to the wildfires.
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The NFL shield logo on the field at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on November 25, 2024. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
It’s not the first oddity in the NFL playoffs. In the past, teams with seven wins have hosted the wild-card rounds.
However, that could soon change.
According to CBS SportsThe NFL will take another look at changing the playoff format this offseason.
Jonathan Jones of CBS said one suggestion is to award the top four teams based on home winning percentage, rather than automatically awarding them to division winners.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell listens to a question during a pre-Super Bowl news conference at Allegiant Stadium on February 5, 2024 in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
If that system were in place this year, it would mean the Lions, Vikings, Eagles and Commanders would host games on the NFC side. For the AFC it would be the Chiefs, Bills, Ravens and Chargers.
The Commanders and Chargers are on the road this weekend against the Buccaneers and Texans, as the latter two teams clinched the NFC and AFC South divisions.
However, Jones later added that the team’s owners have not shown “a lot of appetite” for changing the format.
Before winning the division, Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown proposed a change.
“Obviously, if you win the division, obviously you should clinch a playoff spot, but to have a 14-win team that has to go on the road is kind of crazy. But I guess I don’t make the rules,” he said then.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell listens to a question during a news conference ahead of the Super Bowl on Feb. 8, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
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The last time the playoff format was changed ahead of the 2020 season, when it was expanded from 12 to 14 teams. This resulted in only one team in each conference getting a first round exit as opposed to two. It also led to six rounds of wild-card games, instead of four.
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