THE NFL is reportedly considering making changes to the playoff format from next season.
It comes after three teams with more wins that their wild card round opponents in 2024 were forced on the road.
The Washington Commanders beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card round[/caption]
The Minnesota Vikings face a road playoff game despite securing 14 wins in 2024[/caption]
CBS’s Jonathan Jones claimed on Saturday’s pregame show that the league is considering giving home games to teams with the most wins.
Under the current system, the four division winners are guaranteed a home playoff game with the No. 1 seed getting a first-round bye.
And that has resulted in three wild card teams with more wins than division champions being on the road.
They include the 14-3 Minnesota Vikings, who travel to the 10-7 Los Angeles Rams.
That game has been moved to Glendale, Arizona due to the wildfires in LA.
The 11-6 Los Angeles Chargers also went to the Houston Texans, who finished 10-7.
And the 12-5 Washington Commanders had a road trip to the 10-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
According to CBS’ Jones, teams with the highest win percentage could be given home games.
That system is in place in the NBA, where the teams are ranked in order from one to 15 in their conference for playoff purposes.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was asked about potentially changing the playoff system in a call with selected UK media.
Minnesota could’ve been the No. 1 seed and NFC North champion if they beat the Detroit Lions in Week 18.
But they ended up dropping to the No. 5 seed and a wild card spot.
That was despite having the tied third-best record in the league behind the 15-2 Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs.
“We all know the rules when we report to training camp,” O’Connell said.
“We did not win our division. We had a chance to do so and we were unable to get that done.
NFL division round schedule
Sat 18 Jan, 4.30 pm ET (ESPN/ABC) – Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs
Sat 18 Jan, 8 pm ET (Fox) – Washington Commanders at Detroit Lions
Sun 19 Jan, 3 pm ET (NBC) – TBC at Philadelphia Eagles
Sun 19 Jan, 6.30 pm ET (CBS) – Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills
“We landed at around 4.30/4.45am local time after Detroit and I still brought the players in a few hours later.
“We have a 24-hour rule that we apply where we process and acknowledge the reality of what happened.
“We used that Monday to really put it to bed and I ended the day with a team meeting.
“We’ve talked about being 1-0 every week from training camp until now, so there’s nothing we haven’t already created or accomplished than I’m asking of our guys of being who we’ve been all season long.
“We’re in the tournament with an opportunity for 60 minutes to continue our season.”
