On Wednesday at the NFL’s spring league meeting, the Detroit Lions made headlines for withdrawing their proposal to change the playoff seeding.
The Lions reportedly wanted the league to change its format so that only the AFC and NFC playoff teams would be seeded by record and not if they won their division.
Lions Backed Out Reseeding Proposal
If passed, this proposal would have shaken up the current format, which guarantees a home game for each division winner no matter their record. Luckily, the Texans and the other teams in the AFC South don’t have to worry about this proposal.
All Houston has to worry about is winning its division, which they’ve done the last two years. Last season, the Texans won the AFC South with a 10-7 record and hosted a home playoff game against the Los Angeles Chargers (11-6).
If the Lions' proposal had gone through, the Texans, despite being a division winner, would’ve likely had to play the Chargers in Los Angeles to kick off wild-card weekend. The same thing would’ve happened in 2023.
The Texans won the division with another 10-7 record and hosted a home playoff game against the wildcard Cleveland Browns, who were 11-6. In both situations, the Texans won and moved on to the next round.
Nonetheless, even though the proposal was withdrawn, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it brought up again in the future, especially if Houston has 10 wins again and hosts a playoff game against a team with 11 or 12 wins.
Therefore, the only way the Texans or any other team in the AFC South leaves no doubt is to win 11 or 12 this upcoming season. The good news for head coach DeMeco Ryans and QB C.J. Stroud is that their strength of schedule for 2025 is .481, which gives them a shot to have a big year.