Proposed Rule Change Could Radically Alter Bucs Playoff Fortunes
May 19th, 2025
Do-gooder.
Joe guesses the Lions are still peeved at the Bucs.
This week, at the request of the Lions, NFL owners will vote on a proposed new rule for the postseason that seeds the seven playoff teams by record, not by division winners and wild cards.
What that means is if a division winner doesn’t have one of the top four records in the conference, it would not get to host a first-round game on wild card weekend. This would mean no true home playoff game reward for winning a division, an NFL tradition for decades.
(Back in 2022, the Bucs had a worse record than the Lions, who finished second in the NFC North, but it was the Bucs that went to the playoffs and hosted a playoff game because they won the NFC South. Lions-types must still squirm about this.)
If the NFL isn’t going to reward division winners, why have divisions?
Why should the Bucs, for example, be stuck hosting a regular season game each season with the Stinking Panthers, the Dixie Chicks and the slimy Saints when the Bucs could, in theory, host a game or two from teams that pull more fans into the stadium and eyeballs to the TV?
At least when the Bucs were good under Father Dungy and played in the NFC Central, the Bucs always were involved in high-profile games. Moving to the then-new NFC South hurt the Bucs in the long run from a marketing and prestige standpoint.
Maybe it’s just Joe, but Joe senses more of a rivalry exists between the Bucs and the old NFC Central foes like (Lions, Bears, Packers. Vikings) than among the current NFC South teams, aside from possibly the slimy Saints?
Sadly, this proposed new playoff format all boils down to TV ratings, not what’s fair or right.
May 19th, 2025 at 12:33 am
Meh. Lets leave well enough alone. Cant make this thing perfect. Go Damn Bucs!
May 19th, 2025 at 12:48 am
100 percent agree. Why have divisions if winning the division means jack lickity squat. Hope this rule goes nowhere.
May 19th, 2025 at 12:55 am
Imagine having multiple teams with the same record. There will be some sore teams due to wild tie-breaker rules.
May 19th, 2025 at 1:05 am
As an NFC Central fan if my Buccaneers, the Lions should maybe not let their recent success go to their head. We can still bounce spank that…adversary like it was October 31st, 1999.
Split many a game over the years with them 32-29 isn’t like they’re dominant. So what that rusted junk yard of a city thinks, they missed their window.
Bye Felicia.
May 19th, 2025 at 1:16 am
Please stop this nut job!
Go Bucs!
May 19th, 2025 at 2:04 am
I don’t think this new rule is unfair at all. Most often teams that barely get into playoffs as division winners come from divisions that are mediocre at best. Need to stop rewarding mediocrity with home field advantage against a powerhouse. Bucs have been that team the last few years. Playoff berth is good enough for the mediocre. Cannot have it all.
May 19th, 2025 at 3:32 am
Joe … ‘Sadly, this proposed new playoff format all boils down to TV ratings, not what’s fair or right.’
Nice bottom line Joe. But isn’t that the bottom line to most of the changes the NFL makes these days? TV = $$$ nowadays, especially for some of the smaller markets.
May 19th, 2025 at 4:46 am
Divisions rise and fall every year – it’s only when a small ratings team benefits from an existing rule everyone starts to complain. You win your division you host a game!