A host of new rule proposals have been submitted by various NFL teams, including a ban on the Tush Push, the short-yardage play made famous by the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, and altering playoff seeding based on record, with Wild Card winners possibly being seeded ahead of division champions.
The playoff proposal was submitted by the Detroit Lions, and it would be similar to what the NBA currently has, where teams are seeded by record, with division winners not being given preferred spots. The proposal would still have the No. 1 overall seed being the division winner with the best record, but a Wild Card qualifier with a 10-7 record would be seeded higher than a division winner with a 9-8 record.
If two teams finish with the same record and one is a division champion, then the division champion would get the better seed.
This change wouldn’t have affected Detroit last season as it was the NFC’s top seed, but it could have affected them if they had lost that infamous Week 18 game versus the Minnesota Vikings. The winner of that game—in this case the Lions—got the No. 1 seed, while the loser dropped to the No. 5 seed, which was behind the three other division winners. Minnesota (14-3) had the third-best record in the NFC, after Detroit and Philadelphia, so it would have notched the No. 3 seed if this proposal had been in place, instead of ending up at No. 5.
This rule would also have shuffled a couple of other NFC teams in last year’s postseason as all three Wild Card winners had better records than two division winners in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams. The Vikings would have been No. 3, the Commanders would have been No. 4 instead of No. 6, and the Packers would have been No. 5 instead of No. 7. The Bucs and Rams would have dropped to No. 6 and No. 7, respectively.
Meanwhile in the AFC, the 4- and 5-seeded teams would have swapped as the Los Angeles Chargers (11-6 Wild Card qualifier) would have been No. 4, with the Houston Texans (10-7 division winner) at No. 5. The matchup between those two would have still taken place, but it would have been in Los Angeles instead of Houston, where the Texans prevailed in January.
The Eagles have run the play, also known as the Brotherly Shove, nearly to perfection over the last few seasons. Jalen Hurts receives the snap, and then two Eagles in the backfield launch into him, shoving the quarterback forward with the attempt to either pick up a first down or score a touchdown. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni infamously said in 2023 that “every first down is a 1st and 9” because the Eagles are so successful in getting that one yard via this play.
The Packers were one of the victims in 2024, and it came in Week 1 when the two played in Brazil. In the second quarter, with Philly facing a third-and-one on Green Bay’s 13-yard line, the Eagles ran the play, with Hurts picking up two yards for the first down. On the next play, Saquon Barkley ran for an 11-yard touchdown, and Philadelphia would end up winning by less than a touchdown, 34-29.
Another rule proposal, also submitted by the Lions, would be to eliminate an automatic first down on illegal contact or defensive holding penalties. The former is currently a five-yard penalty, with the latter being a 10-yard flag. Both result in first downs for the offense, even if they have more yardage to gain.
Every rule submission will be reviewed and discussed by NFL owners at the Annual League Meeting, which also includes team GMs and head coaches. This year’s assembly will take place from March 30 through April 2 in Palm Beach, Florida.
