Lions propose playoff seeding change
March 19 - The high-powered Detroit Lions nearly had to hit the road to open the playoffs in January before winning their regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings.
Had Detroit lost that game, Minnesota would have wrapped up the ultra-competitive NFC North and the Lions would've dropped to the conference's fifth seed as the team that featured the best record without a division title.
That notion apparently didn't sit well with the Lions, who proposed that playoff seeding should be based on record -- regardless of division honors. That would also mean that winning a division title would not guarantee a home game in the wild-card round.
The NFL revealed a list of potential rule changes on Wednesday, and owners are scheduled to meet on March 30-April 2 in West Palm Beach, Fla. Proposals require the approval of at least 24 of the 32 teams.
Also Wednesday, the Green Bay Packers' formally requested to ban the "tush push" short-yardage play commonly used by the Philadelphia Eagles.
"We're not very successful against it, I know that," Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said last month at the NFL Scouting Combine. "To be honest with you, I haven't put much thought into it. It's been around for a while, we've used it in different fashions with our tight end, so again, I think there will be a lot of discussions about it. I've got to look at some of the information as far as injury rates, things like that, to see. But we'll see."
More than half of Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts' 55 career regular-season rushing touchdowns reached the end zone from the tight, rugby-like formation with running backs angled near Hurts to help shove him over the goal line at the snap. Last season, the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens ran variations of the same play.
Below is a list of other proposals:
--The Pittsburgh Steelers proposed that teams would be allowed to have one call with prospective unrestricted free agents from other teams and their agents during the negotiating window before the start of the league year.
--The Lions also proposed eliminating the automatic first down that comes with an illegal contact or defensive holding penalty.
--The Eagles proposed giving both teams a guaranteed possession in overtime during the regular season, aligning with the current playoff rules.
--The Washington Commanders proposed allowing teams to secure scouting credentials for games in the final two weeks of the season for potential playoff opponents.
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