I was thinking the NFL needs a different playoff format. They should have 8 AFC teams and 8 NFC teams that go to the playoffs. Instead of the 6 AFC and 6 NFC teams. For the 1st round all 8 AFC and NFC teams play. No team gets a a bye week in the playoffs. So the 1st seed plays the 8th seed. The 2nd vs 7th seed. The 3rd vs. 6th seed. Then 4th vs. 5th seed. This is my own thought.
I like the first round bye a ton. Its a huge incentive to achieve, and a deserved reward. I also don't like the idea of adding more teams to the playoff field, because I think that 12/32 is a really good number. However, I am in favor of some major adjustments to how the playoffs are determined otherwise. One idea would be to separate the AFC and NFC into four eight-team divisions, rather than the eight four-team setup that we've had since 2002. Then the four division champs get the first round bye, while the remaining four best teams from each conference are then seeded based on record and tiebreakers, and the top two in each conference host the Wildcard games. It would essentially guarantee that you never have a team with a better record on the road for a playoff game again. This would require an adjustment to the scheduling procedures as well, but I'm totally fine with that. I would suggest playing each division rival once (alternating home and away per season), playing five teams from the other division in the same conference, and the same four against teams from the other conference every season. They could work out a scheduling rotation to make it happen, and then every team would know years into the future who all of their opponents would be in any given year.
I agree with getting rid of the wild-card round. The divisional set up means that winning any given division isn't an equal task, and providing the reward of playing one whole game less - in a sport where physical exertion and risk of injury is very high - doesn't really go together with the spirit of equal competition. So I agree with Unlucky13 that the method of choosing playoff teams needs to change AND I agree with Phins4ever that the format itself needs to change.
Its obviously not always fair under the current system, depending on how many teams have the same record, but my feelings are that if you take away the bye, you're treating a 14-2 division champion no differently than a 9-7 division champion, making the regular season a lot less meaningful.
I don't have a problem with that. To me, getting to the playoffs is an opportunity, a chance to compete head to head with other top teams, in knock-out matches, advance to the championship game and win. That's the prize. And the playoffs are just one stage in that journey.