Lions’ Big Ideas Shut Down at NFL Owners Meetings
The Detroit Lions came into this week’s NFL owners meetings with some bold ideas, but it looks like they didn’t get much traction.
On Tuesday morning, reports confirmed that Detroit’s proposal to eliminate automatic first downs on defensive holding and illegal contact was shot down. And to make matters worse for them, their plan to change how playoff teams are seeded didn’t go over well either it got tabled for now.
So, what were they pushing for? The Lions, who had to play all 17 regular season games to clinch the NFC North with a 15–2 record, wanted the playoffs to be seeded purely by record instead of giving automatic home games to division winners. Their argument? Teams like the Minnesota Vikings, who finished with the NFC’s second-best record, shouldn’t have to go on the road while an 8–9 division winner gets to host a game just because they topped a weak division.
“Obviously, the Minnesota Vikings, how that went down. Yeah, I mean, you win 14 games and you’ve got to go on the road,” Lions GM Brad Holmes told ProFootballTalk. “Should that really be the case? If you make the playoffs and win your division with a losing record, should you still get a home playoff game?”
Since the discussion was tabled, there’s still a chance it comes back up in May. The Lions will be hoping more teams come around to their way of thinking before then.
For now, though, it’s back to business as usual in the NFL.
