Many fans and analysts were surprised when the Detroit Lions proposed a change to the NFL’s playoff structure. Especially considering the Lions were coming off of their best regular season in franchise history, winning both the NFC North and securing the number one overall seed in the NFC for the first time in franchise history.
Still, earlier this offseason, Detroit proposed a change that would change teams having to go on the road to face a division winner with a worse record in the playoffs. Now, per Pro Football Talk, we have some more clarity on how the change came about.
“It’s crazy,” Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said after the Lions played the Minnesota Vikings in a winner-take-all game for the NFC North. “I think the rule should be changed.
“Obviously if you win the division, you should obviously make a playoff spot, but having a 14-win team having to go on the road is kind of crazy. But I guess I don’t make the rules.”
Apparently, St. Brown’s comments reached the league offices.
“(NFL executive V.P. of football operations) Troy Vincent from the league reached out to me and said, ‘I tend to agree with [St. Brown],” Lions President Roy Wood said at the annual league meetings. “
‘Would you mind partnering with us on making a proposal on that?’ So we made a proposal.”
It’s interesting that the league is pushing teams to make such proposals rather than taking the more conventional route of going through the Competition Committee. It’s worth wondering what other rule proposals, such as the Green Bay Packers’ push to have the “tush push” banned, are coming from the league offices
