MICHAEL DeMOCKER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (24) shoves off New Orleans Saints cornerback Tracy Porter (22) on a 67-yard touchdown run during the wild card playoff game between the New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks on Saturday, January 8, 2011.
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Sean Payton, in theory, should have every reason to back the Detroit Lions’ rule proposal that would change the NFL’s playoff format so that teams would be seeded based on record rather than winning their division.
You remember the Beast Quake, don’t you? The year was 2011, and the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks ended up upsetting the then-defending-champion New Orleans Saints in part because of a thunderous 67-yard run from Marshawn Lynch that registered a small tremor due to the noise. Perhaps it could have been avoided entirely if the Saints had gotten to host the game instead of Seattle, which won the NFC West despite being below .500. The Lions’ proposed rule change, in this scenario, would have benefited the Saints.
But Payton is a traditionalist. Through and through.
“I think winning the division is important to me,” said Payton, now the coach of the Denver Broncos. “I like how our playoff format is laid out, especially compared to any other sport. … I think we would vote against (the proposal).”
It’s unclear how many other teams share Payton’s sentiment at the NFL’s owners’ meetings, but other veteran coaches like Las Vegas’ Pete Carroll and Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin also came out Monday against changing the playoff format. If the league does take a formal vote on the matter — and there’s no guarantee it will — then the owners are expected to weigh in on Tuesday.
The Lions’ proposed change comes after their division rival, the Minnesota Vikings, finished with the NFC’s second-best record at 14-3, but ultimately lost in the Wild Card round to the 10-7 Los Angeles Rams. The Rams, under the league’s format, hosted the game.
But the Vikings’ predicament was one that occurs every so often in the NFL. Payton recalled the Lions’ proposal being at least the third time in his coaching career that such a discussion is taking place — and he predicted it wouldn’t be the last time, either.
“It has been discussed, but it’s been a little while, so it’ll be a fresh discussion,” said Atlanta Falcons CEO Rich McKay, who serves as the chair of the competition committee.
The NFL has made changes to the playoff format over the last few years. In 2020, the league expanded the field to 14 teams — meaning a third wild-card team would be added to the field. As a result, only one team per conference received a bye rather than two. The NFL has also tweaked its overtime playoff rules, most recently in 2022.
Coincidentally, if the Lions’ proposal actually gains momentum, the change could end up hurting the Saints in the short term. The NFC South, the Saints’ division, was among the league’s worst, and could be again in 2025.
Since the Seahawks won their division with an under .500 record, there have been only three teams to match that feat.
Two of them — the 2014 Carolina Panthers and 2022 Tampa Bay Buccaneers — belonged to the NFC South.
But divisions can also change in a hurry. A year after the Washington Commanders won the NFC East in 2020 with a 7-9 record, the Dallas Cowboys (12-5) and Philadelphia Eagles (9-8) made the playoffs. In 2022, three teams from the division clinched a spot.
On last week’s call, McKay said that during one of the last times the league contemplated altering its playoff format, then-Panthers owner Jerry Richardson convinced his colleagues on the importance of winning a division.
That’s an argument that still seems to bear weight years later.
Carroll, the former Seahawks coach now with the Raiders, said the Seahawks experiencing the “rigors” of making it through their division ultimately helped them upset the Saints.
“The reward for coming out of your division should be that you get to play a playoff game at home,” Carroll said. “I like that tradition.”