I know this will sound blasphemous to many football fans, but I'm starting to wonder of the NFL Playoff system is flawed.

 I'mthinking that maybe there should be a 16-team playoff instead of theway it is now, with 12. Having 12 teams makes it more competitive atthe surface, but it really seems as if having a bye week in theplayoffs is more of a punishment than a reward. Bye teams lose everyyear to lesser squads who have a chance to build up momentum by stayingon the field in high pressure situations while the teams with the bestrecords have to sit on their hands for two weeks.

Witha 16-team format (you cant do 8 that just would not be fair at all), ateam like this year's Pats, at 11-5, could still make the playoffs, butas a 7 seed, behind the 8-8 Chargers and such. This at least would haveall the teams deserving of competing for a championship in the mix, andno one has to sit around and wait an extra week to play. It turns mystomach to see the Cards, who the Pats whooped 47-7, be one win awayfrom the Super Bowl while the clearly superior team has to watch.

TheCardinals are hosting the NFC title game against a team with a betterrecord I believe, because they won their division and thus have ahigher seeding. That's fine with me. The NBA does it the same way, andit makes sense. But to have a team's season end prematurely becauseanother team was king of a crappy division just doesn't seem right.There are only four teams in every division - why should there be areward for being the best of four bottom feeders (like the AFC WEST andNFC WEST)?

Eliminate the Wild Card and have a full playoffs that takes the same amount of time to finish!

11-5 and sitting? come on.. well, it only happens once every thirty years, right?