By Moses Joshua 
Motivated by equity—and entertainment—Detroit’s bold playoff proposal could reshape how postseason football is earned and hosted
Shaking Up the Status Quo
The Detroit Lions are on a mission, and it has nothing to do with blitz packages or red-zone conversions. This time, the battleground is the league’s playoff structure, and Detroit is leading the charge for change.
The Lions have formally resubmitted a revised proposal that aims to strip automatic home-field advantage from division winners and instead seed all seven playoff teams in each conference purely by overall record. It’s a subtle change with seismic implications—both for competitive fairness and for how the NFL keeps fans glued to their screens in the season’s final stretch.
A League-Led Push Through Detroit’s Pen
While the proposal technically bears the Lions’ name, team president Rod Wood revealed last month that the initiative was encouraged by the NFL league office itself. In fact, it’s widely believed that Commissioner Roger Goodell is the true architect of the movement.
By avoiding a formal vote during the March league meetings, Goodell preserved leverage and bought time to campaign privately for the 24 ownership votes needed to push the reform across the finish line. As one insider noted, “The Commissioner didn’t take the L—he just delayed the play.”
More Meaningful Football, Fewer Meaningless Games
The motivation behind this proposed change isn’t strictly about postseason justice—it’s also about prime-time ratings. Under the current format, division champions can secure a fixed playoff seed weeks in advance, allowing them to rest starters and coast through late-season games.
That predictability often leads to lackluster matchups during Weeks 17 and 18—games that now occupy high-profile television slots. A merit-based seeding system, however, would create incentives for teams to compete until the final whistle of the regular season, making those standalone games more thrilling and playoff races more chaotic.
A Quiet Revolution in Competitive Fairness
While the NFL may not say it out loud, this proposal would also correct a long-standing frustration for fans and players alike: wild card teams with better records often being forced to play road games against inferior division winners.
Think of a 12-5 wild card team having to visit a 9-8 division champ. The change would end that outdated structure and reward teams more fairly for their full-season performance.
Still, as sources close to the league emphasize, this isn’t being framed as a fairness-first policy. “This is about drama,” one source said. “Fairness just happens to be a side benefit.”
The Road Ahead: Deal-Making and Deadline Pressure
With the revised language submitted and the public conversation reignited, the NFL’s power brokers are now working behind the scenes. Arm-twisting, politicking, and deal-brokering will be necessary to reach the 24 votes required to implement the reform.
Whether Detroit ultimately changes the playoff format or not, one thing is certain: the Lions have become more than just contenders on the field. They’re also becoming agents of change in the boardroom.
And in a league where every yard and every viewer counts, that’s a role just as valuable.