Former Detroit Lions QB and ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky sits down with Dave Birkett on radio row for Super Bowl 54 on Jan. 30, 2020, in Miami. Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Lions had no business making the playoffs in 2017, when they lost three of their final six games, including twice in December to non-playoff teams the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals.
The Lions finished 9-7 that season, four games behind the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North, and had one win against a team with a winning record.
But if the NFL’s proposed new playoff rules were in effect that year, the Lions would have snuck into the postseason as the NFC’s seventh seed (sure to be dismantled by the Vikings in the first round), and there’s no telling how history would be different.