Schefter: NFL May Seed Playoffs on Win Percentage Instead of Totals Amid COVID

With an organizational COVID-19 outbreak rendering the Tennessee Titans' immediate future uncertain, the NFL may be forced to make a significant adjustment in terms of how playoff teams are determined in 2020.

During an appearance on ESPN's Get Up on Thursday, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter mentioned the possibility of the league using winning percentage instead of win totals to determine playoff teams if the Titans and other teams are unable to play a full, 16-game slate:

"The NFL has gone over a number of alternative scenarios, and in a season of COVID, it very well may be forced to resort to one of those. And one of those that has come up is that the playoffs won't be based on a number of wins as it has been every year that the NFL has existed, it could just simply be that it's based on win percentage. That if the Tennessee Titans go 10-3 this year, or whatever their record is, if their win percentage is better, they go to the playoffs. 

"Again, it is not an ideal scenario, but we are not living in an ideal time where everything works out the way you'd like it to. And so, let's see if they could play that game. Let's see how it figures out. Let's see if the NFL can collapse a week later on. Again, all options on the table, the NFL says. They're going over all of them as we speak. And we'll ultimately, we'll see what they decide to do. But I think that in the end, with some of these positive tests, some of these facilities shutting down, some of these games being in jeopardy and we're just now entering Week 5 tonight, it may well be that the league has no choice but to make the playoffs based on win percentage."

With the Titans having placed 12 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list in recent weeks, their scheduled Week 4 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed until Week 7.

Tennessee is scheduled to face the Buffalo Bills in Week 5 on Sunday, but that game is in jeopardy after the Titans reportedly yielded two new positive tests Wednesday. If the game can't be played, the NFL has limited options in terms of what it can do, and rescheduling may not be possible.

Since the Titans already had their bye last week as a result of the postponement of the game against Pittsburgh, there are no more available slots in their schedule.

That means if this week's game against Buffalo is postponed, the NFL will likely need to either add an additional week to the regular season or base the playoffs on winning percentages, as Schefter suggested, since neither the Titans nor Bills would be able to play a full 16-game schedule.

Moving the game back a day or two isn't an option either since the Bills face the Kansas City Chiefs in the Thursday night game to kick off Week 6.

Another possibility that has been mentioned is forcing the Titans to forfeit the game against Buffalo. On Monday, the NFL sent a memo to its teams informing them that they could be punished with a loss of draft picks or even forfeiture of games if they are found to have violated COVID-19 protocols.

An official from Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, confirmed to ESPN's Turron Davenport this week that some Titans players held a workout at the school last week while the team's facility was shut down.

It is unclear if the NFL can or will punish the Titans for that due to the fact that the memo wasn't sent until after it happened.

Provided the NFL takes forfeiture off the table, a playoff field based on winning percentage may be the only viable option. It could cause issues late in the season, though, especially if the playoff race is close.

If the Titans or Bills finish 9-6 and another team vying for the seventh playoff position finishes 9-7, the 9-6 team would get the spot, which would undoubtedly lead to the 9-7 team feeling slighted.

It may not come down to that since the Bills and Titans are two of the best teams in the AFC at 4-0 and 3-0, respectively, but the possibility of fairness being called into question undoubtedly increases if all 32 teams don't play 16 regular-season games apiece.