I’m more for the expansion of the postseason and the elimination of the first round bye than I am for a reformatting of the playoffs. If you win your division, you should get a home playoff game, but good teams shouldn’t be forced to miss the playoffs because the best team in a shitty division has to make it. The best example of this was the 2010 season, when the 10-6 Giants and Buccaneers missed the playoffs on tiebreakers while the 7-9 Seahawks got to host a playoff game. If the playoffs were expanded to 16 teams, the two 10-6 teams would have had a shot and there would have been far less anger about a team with a losing record hosting a playoff game. The first round would have been as follows:
14-2 Patriots vs 8-8 Jaguars
12-4 Steelers vs 9-7 Chargers
10-6 Colts vs 11-5 Jets
10-6 Chiefs vs 12-4 Ravens
13-3 Falcons vs 10-6 Buccaneers
11-5 Bears vs 10-6 Giants
10-6 Eagles vs 10-6 Packers
7-9 Seahawks vs 11-5 Saints
Sure one 8-8 team slipped in there, but in this scenario, every team who had a winning record would have gotten a shot in the playoffs. I also think that a first round bye in the playoffs creates an unfair advantage. Since the implementation of the first round bye, there has never been a Super Bowl without at least one team who had the wild card weekend off. Hell the Patriots under Belichick have never made a Super Bowl without a first round bye, and they’re the greatest football dynasty of all time. Also, having four more playoff games creates more revenue for the league, and we know how the modern day NFL is mostly money driven. And with two more playoff spots per conference, it puts more teams in the hunt in the later season, giving us more competitive games. Expand the playoff field and I personally believe the product will be better for it.