Owners to vote on a major change to the playoff seeding

[spiderblue43]

Well..the owners do like a division title home playoff game .but it seems far more equitable to seed the teams on records ...tie breakers.

Vikings good example last year, of course.

[Rosehill Jimmy]

I believe the key point is the seeding.  Seeding determines home-field advantage.  The current system seeds division winners higher, despite their record.  The new system would seed based on record only (with division champ being the tie breaker)

The reseeding means the highest seed would always see the remaining team with the worst record (improving the reward of a good record)

Well that is not how the Athletic is describing the proposal.  The initial Detroit proposal in  March was as you described but the author of the Athletic article writes that there wasn't enough support due to some owners not liking the idea of completely stripping divisional winners of home field advantage.Thus the modification to the original Detroit proposal that calls for reseeding after the first round.

It seems to me that the these two publications are not on the same page.  Probably best to not waste any more energy on the issue until it's resolved one way or the other next week

[MightyGiants]

Well that is not how the Athletic is describing the proposal.  The initial Detroit proposal in  March was as you described but the author of the Athletic article writes that there wasn't enough support due to some owners not liking the idea of completely stripping divisional winners of home field advantage.Thus the modification to the original Detroit proposal that calls for reseeding after the first round.

It seems to me that the these two publications are not on the same page.  Probably best to not waste any more energy on the issue until it's resolved one way or the other next week

Here is the Athletic Article

Detroit had presented a similar rule change in advance of the owners' meetings in Palm Beach back in late March, but that proposal based home-field advantage in the playoffs strictly on record. There wasn't enough support for an official vote, as owners didn't like the idea of completely stripping divisional winners of home-field advantage.

However, the proposal received a modification that would continue to include four divisional champions and three wild-card participants per conference, and allow divisional champs to still host their first-round playoff game. Under the modified proposal, once the second round is reached, the No. 1 seed would host the lowest remaining seed, and then the reseeding would take place. The remaining team with the next-best record would host the team with the second-lowest record.

Supporters of the original proposal sought to avoid a repeat of the scenario that played out last season when the Minnesota Vikings finished 14-3, but second in the NFC North, and had to play on the road against the 10-7 NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams.

Had proponents of the modification succeeded in March, a do-over of the 2024 seeding would have seen the Vikings land the No. 2 seed rather than the Eagles, and Philadelphia would have received the No. 3 seed. Rather than receiving the fourth seed and a home game, the Rams would have received the fifth or sixth seed and a road game assignment.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6362340/2025/05/16/nfl-owners-playoff-seeding-vote-tush-push/

[MightyGiants]

Well that is not how the Athletic is describing the proposal.  The initial Detroit proposal in  March was as you described but the author of the Athletic article writes that there wasn't enough support due to some owners not liking the idea of completely stripping divisional winners of home field advantage.Thus the modification to the original Detroit proposal that calls for reseeding after the first round.

It seems to me that the these two publications are not on the same page.  Probably best to not waste any more energy on the issue until it's resolved one way or the other next week

I was listening to the Giant's official podcast.   They described what I posted, not what the Athletic reported

[kartanoman]

It could be a lot worse. Remember the days when hosting the divisional round of the NFL playoffs was actually based on an annual rotational schedule?

NFL Playoffs - Wikipedia

You can't make this stuff up, even if you tried, sometimes!

At this point, they might as well hire develop an algorithm and run it through "AI" to come up with the next "genius" change proposal when it comes to this subject.

Let's forget the little feifdoms of divisional rivalries and look to the future of the game.

If we are going to truly be forward-thinkers here, the truth is that the game will become a global enterprise in the future. It's going to take time, and monumental shifts in mindset, but the seeds are being planted, year after year, with Goodell making agreements with host countries in Europe and South America today, but Africa, Asia and Australia in the not too distant future.

We'll likely not see a full global competition in our lifetime but who knows.

Bringing this all back to this discussion, as Giants fans, we are loyal to our roots and, at times, to a fault. That is not a bad thing; however, it can sometimes lend too much focus on this team without seeing and understand what's happening in the bigger picture around us.

The NFL is all about growing past its national borders and is very serious on how to market and enter global markets to sell their brand. One day, we will not recognize the game as we know it today in its current configuration. Go to TouTube and watch a Giants game from the 1970s or 80s and compare it to today. There are different rules, different divisional configurations, different in many ways, but all in the name of what the NFL is calling "growth and progress."

So, having said all that, if the Lions have to make a proposal to add justice, if not clarity, to an already complicated playoff system, why go through all that wasteful bureaucracy and, instead, create an AFC Ladder and an NFC Ladder. The top "X" teams in each conference go into a blended playoff matrix and go and run with that?

Now, if the Lions and Vikings were really the two best teams in the league, but were constrained within their own division, this system gives them a proving ground to demonstrate that and, possibly, meet up in the Super Bowl for all the marbles. Now THAT kind of playoff system, with those types of scenarios possible, represent forward thinking AND excitement given all the possibilities.

But that's just my opinion.

Peace!

[Rosehill Jimmy]

I was listening to the Giant's official podcast.   They described what I posted, not what the Athletic reported

I listened to it as well.  They referenced Albert Breer who was the author of the SI article. So to me, there remains a question as to which publication is accurate. 

[MightyGiants]

https://x.com/AdamSchefter/status/1925184198756761762

[Rosehill Jimmy]

 After five days of back and forth, pros and cons, he said/hesaid all to be told "...never mind"