NFL considering playoff seeding rules changes
INDIANAPOLIS -- The NFL is considering changing the postseason so seeding would be based on records rather than division titles.
That won't avoid instances like the one last season when Cleveland missed the playoffs and Tennessee made it by beating Indianapolis backups. But competition committee members agreed Thursday that changing the seeding guidelines would result in fewer such situations.
Committee co-chairman Rich McKay, the Atlanta Falcons' president, said some clubs had indicated support for the changes.
"There are definitely people on both sides," McKay said Thursday at the NFL scouting combine, "and I think there are good arguments on both sides."
The altered seeding wouldn't have affected the Colts-Titans game -- Indianapolis had already clinched the second-best record in the AFC -- but it could make an impact in other future situations in which one club would have nothing to play for under the current guidelines.
The main motivation for changing the rules is ensuring that the best teams are rewarded. With the NFL aligned in eight four-team divisions, the odds increase that a champion of a weak division may have home field against a wild-card squad from a tough division with a better record.
That happened last season when NFC South champion Tampa Bay (9-7) played host to the New York Giants (10-6). The Giants, who despite having clinched a playoff spot, played all-out in their finale against unbeaten New England, beat the Bucs in Tampa and won two more playoff games on the road.
Then they upset New England in the Super Bowl, crediting in part the 38-35 loss to the Patriots in the regular-season finale for giving them the confidence that they could stay a team seeking to finish a historic 19-0.
The committee is also seeking to revamp its proposal to allow one defensive player to wear a headset in his helmet to communicate with coaches as the quarterback does. NFL owners have previously voted down that idea. A similar rule was considered last season at the NFL meetings.
On offense, it's easy to ensure that only one player at a time is wearing the headset on the field because it's always the quarterback. That's more complicated on defense.
"If your identified defensive starter is injured and you lose the ability to communicate with the defense, how do you handle the backup situation?" said Titans coach Jeff Fisher, the committee's other co-chair. "Those are the things we're currently discussing."
Fisher expected that teams would keep multiple helmets with headsets on the sideline.
"We're just going through the process of ensuring there's not any confusion," he said.
