I would like to see them go to two divisions in each conference. That would all but eliminate teams like Washington getting in.
A few years ago, The Patriots wen't 11-5 and were not in the playoffs because an 8-8 team won their division.
I agree that it's possible for a wild card team to win the Super Bowl and is has happened a few times. My idea is not to take out the wild card teams, it's to make sure that the best teams are in the playoffs.
Here's another interesting thing to consider.
In match play golf, and tournaments like NCAA Basketball, brackets are set up so that teams know who they are going to play. Teams are seeded and placed into a bracket. If the second to last place team beats the second place team, they basically take over that teams spot in the seedings.
Take a look at this 8 team golf match play bracket.
You'll notice that, after the first round, the highest seeded player or team doesn't play the lowest. If a lower seed beats a higher seed, they are rewarded by taking over that higher seed's position.
In the NFL, if the number seven seed beats the number two seed, they remain the number seven seed.
In golf that number seven seed would then effectively become the number two seed. They are rewarded for their victory.
This would eliminate the "if team A wins they play, but if they lose then team B goes to team D and team A plays but if team A loses......etc.. etc".
As I said, golf has been using this for centuries and the NCAA and other sports organizations use it.
Just something to think about especially since the four division winners are automatically the top for seeds. Did Tampa Bay really deserve to the the #5 seed? Shouldn't they have been #4.
The #6 seed Browns beat the #3 seeded Steelers. Shouldn't that count for something?
In short, the NFL has made a mess out of what should be a very simple system.