Chargers propose intriguing rule change regarding playoff seeding

Sep 25, 2022; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley watches game action against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Chargers are trying to do away with one occasional oddity of NFL playoff scheduling.

The league on Monday released the list of rule change proposals that had been put forward by various teams, with many of them unlikely to go anywhere. The Chargers put forward one of the more interesting ideas that would allow a wild card team to host a home playoff game if the worst division winner is under .500 and the best wild card team has at least four more wins than the division winner.

The Chargers submitted a bylaw proposal where wild-card teams would be seeded higher than division champs in the playoffs if if the wild-card team has 4 or more wins than a division champ who is below .500

— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) March 13, 2023

At first glance, this looks a bit salty, since the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead at Jacksonville in a playoff road game this season despite finishing with a better record than the Jaguars. This rule would not apply in that instance, though, as the Jaguars finished over .500 and the Chargers only had one more win than they did.

Since the turn of the century, three teams have won their division with a sub-.500 record, and two of them actually won the home playoff game they received as a result. The worry by implementing a rule like this is that it might cheapen a division title, though getting into the playoffs despite such an underwhelming record could be reward in itself.

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