NFL plans to explore new changes to playoff format

The NFL might follow in the steps of college football and shake up its own postseason format come next season.According to a CBS Sports report on Saturday, the NFL is again looking into changing its playoff configuration this upcoming offseason.The league is apparently exploring the structure of home field advantage in the postseason, giving the top four teams home games based on winning percentage.Currently, the NFL automatically grants home games to each division winner, regardless of team records.These talks come after the 14-3 Vikings play their first postseason matchup on the road, despite having the second-best record in the NFC.The Vikings finished one game behind the 15-2 Lions, who claimed victory in the NFC North after a win against Minnesota in Week 18.Rather than receiving a top seed and a first-round bye like the Lions, the Vikings are set to play in Arizona against the Rams on Monday night.Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St.Brown proposed a change in the format ahead of their division-clinching victory.“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,” he said.

“But I guess I don’t make the rules.” The game was originally scheduled to be played in Los Angeles, but was moved because of the ongoing wildfires.A playoff format change would not be new to the NFL, as the league expanded their postseason from 12 to 14 teams ahead of the 2020 season.The expansion made it so that just one team in each conference received a first-round bye, when previously it was two.The change also introduced six wild-card round games, opposed to four before....