NFL to Potentially Examine Changing Playoff Seeding Structure for 2025 Season

[FTBS]

Winning the division getting a playoff game is a good enough reward. Until 2002 with the realignment a wild card team got a home playoff game (the 1999 titans and 2000 ravens were wild cards at 13-3 and 12-4). We’ve had too much of this happen over the years where a team who plays in a bad division gets a home playoff game while 2-3 teams from another make the playoffs and 1-2 of them face teams on the road they had better records than during the year.


2008 you had the 11-5 pats and 9-7 jets at home while the 8-8 chargers hosted the 12-4 colts in the same conference and the 9-6-1 eagles went on the road against the 9-7 cardinals (who the eagles demolished earlier in the year) in the conference title game because the giants won the east at 12-4.


2010 the 7-9 Seahawks host the 11-5 saints because the falcons went 14-2 and the 10-6 giants & buccaneers missed the playoffs. Then in the afc the 11-5 jets went on the road to face the 10-6 colts because the afc east happened to also have a 14-2 squad in it and the 12-4 ravens were on the road at 10-6 Kansas City.


In 2011 you have 9-7 Cincinnati on the road for the playoffs and 12-4 Pittsburgh on the road in the playoffs while 8-8 Denver is hosting a playoff game and due to the altitude Pittsburgh has to sit their pro bowl safety due to a blood condition he has, which probably was enough to cost them that game. Then the top seed in the conference gets an 8-8 team in the divisional round.


In 2020 you had 7-9 Washington win their division and hosting 11-5 Tampa bay. Sure no fans were in attendance, but that’s besides the point.


This year we have 10 win Tampa hosting 12 win Washington and 10 win Los Angeles hosting 14 win Minnesota because there happened to be a 15 win squad in the division with them.


That’s just a few years where something entirely arbitrary and random that’s entirely out of any individual team’s control makes a huge difference. If you’re worried about winning your division meaning nothing, then leave it at winning your division guarantees you a playoff spot and if both teams have the same record then the division winner gets home field but we shouldn’t be having teams with the worse record get a home playoff game anymore.

Nobody is gonna be less invested in Boys/Giants or Steelers/Ravens because whoever wins that division is not guaranteed a home playoff game. People are watching the regular and playoffs become more and more of a joke and its all good as long as teams that win shytty divisions can host playoff games .

 

[Apprentice]

And most of that history involves division play making up half your schedule and winning your division was all but necessary to make the playoffs. Neither of those things are true anymore and guess what? People still care about those rivalries.

That said, 14 win teams shouldn't be going on the road to 10 win teams just so people can cling to some shyt that doesnt even exist anymore . Again, not even saying they shouldnt get a spot (although if you cant make top 7 out of 16 you dont deserve that shyt I dont care who you grouped with and how long its been) just saying they shouldn't be guaranteed a home game destroys divisions and rivalries?

It does exist though, the Vikings had to beat a divisional rival to earn their bye, what do you mean?

 

[FTBS]

It does exist though, the Vikings had to beat a divisional rival to earn their bye, what do you mean?

My first paragraph. That doesnt exist anymore.

 

[Apprentice]

My first paragraph. That doesnt exist anymore.

Your first paragraph was null and void when you tried to make it seem like the rule changes dramatically changed the affect of divisions

Lions aren’t playing tonight because they won their division, clearly winning the division still matters

 

[SchoolboyC]

Knew about the banners, didnt know about the trophies.

It’s also a star driven league. Been plenty of him vs him rivalries. Far less investment in teams. And generally the team rivalries we have seen have been built through the playoffs.

They just introduced the trophies a few years ago

But yeah while I do think divisions can be good for creating rivalries, the NBA doing away with their seeding was a good decision

For example last season the 3 best teams in the West record wise all played in the same division. So if the NBA had NFL type seeding then the 1st round last season would’ve been:

East
#1 record vs #8 record
#2 record vs #4 record
#3 record vs #7 record
#5 record vs #6 record

West
#1 record vs #8 record
#2 record vs #3 record
#4 record vs #7 record
#5 record vs #6 record

 

[FTBS]

Your first paragraph was null and void when you tried to make it seem like the rule changes dramatically changed the affect of divisions

Lions aren’t playing tonight because they won their division, clearly winning the division still matters

Half your schedule = a third of your schedule? 1 wildcard= 3 and soon to be 4?

But 6 of the 8 division winners did/will play. So based on your logic doesnt that mean they dont matter? Not sure what point you are tryna make about 15 win teams getting a bye.

 

[winb83]

Reducing the importance of division games would be extremely short-sighted. The best games year in year out are rivalry division games.

It’s not reducing the importance of division games. Winning the division guarantees you a playoff spot. Obviously the team with the best record should have the home game. In the NFC south the team that didn’t win the division didn’t make the playoffs at all. I would argue they were fighting for that division just to make the playoffs rather than because it was a home game. The playoffs should always be best record is the home team not just one round where that’s not true.

 

[tremonthustler1]

As a viewer and fan, I’d rather see different and rare matchups than playing my division 2x a year for a meaningless regular season designation.

MLB and NBA have rendered division champions meaningless for the postseason- NFL might as well follow suit.

not completely. The top 2 division winners get a bye. The other division champ still hosts their first series. In baseball the penalty for being the worst division champ is that you have to keep playing (and then they still host a series). Division races still matter big time.

 

[tremonthustler1]

The team that won the division won 15 games!!! 99% of the time 14 wins, wins a division. Why should the rams reap a benefit of playing in a subpar division

And that team wasn't the Vikings and it coulda been them. Deal with it because things run in cycles. If it was your Niners you wouldn't be giving back that home game. Hell, through an act of God, the Vikings got a neutral site game out of this. If they lose, fukk em.

 

[Fresh]

so I see the NFL wants to fvck up the playoff format, the way the NBA did with the playoffs with that goofy play-in tournament

 

[CHICAGO]

MLB have rendered division champions meaningless for the postseason

THIS IS A LIE

TOP 2 DIVISION WINNERS
GET A BYE AND THE 3RD DIVISION WINNER
GETS HOME FIELD IN THE WILDCARD


​

 

[tremonthustler1]

So same as what the NBA did after the 05-06 season when the Clippers (who had a record which would place them as the 3rd or 4th best team in the Western Conference) played the Nuggets (who had a record which would place them in 7th or 8th, but their division was piss poor that year)

the other issue came from teams tryna tank games for seeding purposes to play the weaker division champ.

 

[Dipsey Doo]

not completely. The top 2 division winners get a bye. The other division champ still hosts their first series. In baseball the penalty for being the worst division champ is that you have to keep playing (and then they still host a series). Division races still matter big time.

In theory yes, but that hasn't played out in reality. The top two seeds have been at a disadvantage for the most part.

 

[Trojan 24]

I’m doing all this from a Lakers fan point of view. we used to clown Kings fans for hanging them. I get why franchises like the Kings and Warriors pre dynasty would hang them because it was all they had

The only time I ever thought about seeding was 2004 when Kobe hit the gw against Portland, so yes it had a slight bit more importance back then but it was still never something that made rivalries. Being in the same division as your rival was just icing on the cake

It was small but it wasn't insignificant and it added to the rivalries. The Kings, Blazers, Warriors, Suns... taking the Pacific Division crown was noteworthy. Back then they used to the NBA division standings like they do with baseball and football, now it's just East/West.

I remember actually keeping up with most of the Pacific Division teams just to see how they stacked up with the Lakers. It doesn't seem like much but it adds to the intrigue among a long regular season. I honestly remember some quote from Kobe saying that their goals start with winning the Pacific, then the West, then the Chip and taking it 1 by 1

 

[phillycavsfan]

The reward is making the playoffs. I mean they could set it so the top 7 teams regardless of division make the playoffs but if you win your division even with a shyt record you still get in. Minnesota and Washington had better records and yet have to visit in playoff games in the NFC just because they're in tougher divisions.

They could just win their divisions.

Also, why create a system that'll lead to more blowouts during Wild Card weekend? That's partly what happened with the NBA, less first round upsets.