By Blessing 
The Detroit Lions aren’t backing down.
In a bold move, they’ve once again submitted a proposal aimed at changing how playoff teams are seeded—this time with a bit more polish in the wording. The core idea? Scrap the current system that gives division winners an automatic home game, and instead rank all seven playoff teams strictly by their records.
The Lions’ updated proposal still includes division champions and three wild-card teams but calls for everyone to be seeded purely based on their win-loss performance.
While it’s the Lions who officially submitted the plan, team president Rod Wood acknowledged last month that they didn’t come up with it entirely on their own. In fact, he admitted the proposal was “made at the behest of the league office.” Not long after, reports confirmed that the Commissioner himself supports the change, with hopes it would make the final weeks of the regular season more meaningful.
Back in March, the proposal wasn’t put to a vote—likely a strategic move to avoid defeat. That delay gave the Commissioner time to work behind the scenes, gathering support and possibly cutting deals to reach the magic number of 24 votes needed for approval.
Right now, division winners often lock in their playoff seeds with a week or two left in the season. Once that happens, there’s little incentive to push starters onto the field in the final games. This proposal aims to change that dynamic.
The idea is to boost the entertainment value of late-season matchups. As the league continues to add more standalone games and national windows, it wants to ensure that what’s on the screen actually matters.
Though the proposal could address the unfairness of teams with better records having to play on the road, its main goal isn’t playoff justice—it’s about turning more regular-season games into must-watch moments.