This offseason, the NFL might consider moving away from guaranteeing divisional winners a home playoff game
One more game remains for Wild Card weekend, which takes place on Monday night. Due to the fires in Los Angeles, the game has been moved to Glendale, Arizona. However, it was initially scheduled to be a road game for a 14-win team.
Of course, the Minnesota Vikings have nobody to blame other than themselves after losing twice to the Detroit Lions.
Still, the Vikings are the first-ever 14-win team to lose their division and have to go on the road in the first round of the playoffs. The NFL is contemplating a change in the current playoff format to avoid something like this from happening again.
The current rules benefit division winners, who are guaranteed at least one playoff game. The issue, at least on Monday night, is that the 10-win Los Angeles Rams are playing host. This “issue” isn’t limited to the final night of Wild Card weekend. The Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers had worse records than their opponents. Houston won, while Tampa Bay could not.
CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones explained the potential format change:
“The NFL will take another look this offseason at potentially changing the playoff format. Maybe the top four teams in win percentage get a home game instead of division winners. Team owners haven’t shown much of an appetite for changing, though.”
This potential change would have to be adopted during the league owners’ meetings. With Jonathan saying, “Don’t be too optimistic,” it sounds like the majority would not be in favor of this rule change.
There are arguments for both sides to be made.
Other than the San Francisco 49ers, the NFC West beat up on each other. The Niners went 1-5 in the division, but every other team was either .500 or better. In the NFC North, the Lions (6-0) and Vikings (4-2) were head and shoulders above the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears (1-5) in the division.
This proposal would put less emphasis on winning your division and would mean all 17 games on your schedule matter. So, this past season, the 49ers might have tried to get Nick Bosa and Dre Greenlaw back sooner than their final clash against the Rams.
Under the new proposed playoff, Washington, Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh would each have had home games, altering the entire schedule.
Would you be in favor of the NFL moving away from guaranteeing a divisional winner a home game?