The Detroit Lions have proposed a bylaw change that would allow Wild-Card teams with a better record than Division Champions to be seeded higher and host playoff games.
Under the current playoff format, a Wild-Card team with a better regular-season record is seeded lower. It travels to play a division champion even if the division champion has a worse regular-season record.
This is interesting: The #Lions proposed a bylaw change that would allow wild card teams to be seeded higher than division winners based on record.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 19, 2025
This would’ve been helpful to the rival #Vikings last year, and could be a factor in future years in competitive divisions…. pic.twitter.com/cKs1JBGJU9
Under the Lions’ proposed rule change, for example, a 12-5 Wild-Card team would host a 9-8 division champion.
Had this rule change been in place last year, it would have greatly helped Detroit’s division rival, Minnesota, which finished 14-3 but lost to the #5 seed Rams (10-7) in Los Angeles.
While the Lions’ proposal makes a lot of sense, it still faces an uphill battle in a league that has always placed a premium on winning your division.
The next step is to take the proposal to the NFL’s Competition Committee later this offseason. The Lions must get at least 23 other teams to endorse their proposed rule change. One would assume that at least Minnesota would go along with it.
