NFL Playoffs: 10 Things the NFL Could Do To Improve the System

The NFL Playoffs are exciting, but they are not as exciting as March Madness or BCS Bowl Games, and there are a few ways that the NFL could improve the month of football leading up to the Super Bowl.

There are countless things that would make the playoffs even more exciting, or otherwise improve the whole process of the NFL playoffs.

Anything from turning as many of the games into must-see television, to toning down some of the rules, to tweaking the seeding system could help the NFL put out an even more exciting process.

Some of the following ideas involve laughing at celebrities at their own expense, and even (gasp!) encouraging trash talk.

So, here are some things that could possibly make the NFL Playoffs a more exciting product.

10. Ceremonial First Kick

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GLENDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 03: Actor Spike Lee celebrates on the field after the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 17-14 after Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Streeter

One of the most menial, yet amazing things that the NFL could do to not only spruce up the playoffs a bit, but the regular season as well, is creating a ceremonial first kick involving a local, regional or national celebrity affiliated with the home team.

Baseball has a guest throwing out a ceremonial first pitch, and hockey sometimes has a first puck drop preformed by a guest of honor, so why not get football to have a kick to open up the game right after the national anthem?

Who can honestly tell me that they wouldn't roll with delight at the thought of Arnold Schwarzenegger kicking off a Chargers game?

Or who wouldn't die laughing after seeing Spike Lee perform the opening kick at a Giants game?

This not only needs to start in the playoffs, but in the regular season as well. I'd be in favor of anything that would make celebrities look ridiculous.

9. Roll Back Celebration Rules

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FOXBORO, MA - JANUARY 16: Santonio Holmes #10 of the New York Jets celebrates his fourth quarter touchdown against the New England Patriots during their 2011 AFC divisional playoff game at Gillette Stadium on January 16, 2011 in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

The one thing that frustrates me about the NFL right now is the endless list of rules that can constitute an unsportsmanlike penalty call due to excessive celebration.

God forbid anyone get carried away, eh?

One of the things that would assuage my anger toward the excessive celebration rules would be for the referees to be lax on it during the playoffs.

If a guy scores a touchdown to put his team ahead with two minutes left in an NFC or AFC Championship game, then why can't he dance around with his teammates a bit? It will probably be one of the most important touchdowns he ever scores in football.

8. Play the Super Bowl Up North

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MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 12: Snow surrounds the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Mall of America Stadium where the inflatable roof collapsed under the weight of snow during a storm Sunday morning December 12, 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A blizzard dum

The NFL is finally starting to play Super Bowls in the north, as Super Bowl XLVI is going to be in Indianapolis in 2012 and Super Bowl XLVIII will be in East Rutherford, New Jersey (New Meadowlands Stadium) in 2014.

Super Bowl XL has been the only one to be held at a cold-weather stadium in recent years, which was held at Detroit's Ford's Field in 2006, as the game is usually hosted in Florida, Louisiana, Arizona or California.

I'm not saying that the NFL should play the Super Bowl on frozen Lambeau Field, but keep to the northern domed stadiums more often.

I'd suggest at least one every three years to be held in the north in order to showcase different cities and stadiums.

7. Turn Championship Games Into Mini-Super Bowls

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CHICAGO - DECEMBER 13: Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers drops back to pass against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on December 13, 2009 in Chicago, Illinois. The Packers defeated the Bears 21-14. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

This is one thing that I think the NFL always overlooked.

Why does the NFL have two conference championship games on the same day, near the end of January in the dead of winter when no one is outside? The NFL can definitely make the games seem more important.

In basketball or baseball, there are maybe one or two series each year that go all the way to the final game in each playoffs. Well, each playoff game in football is a win-or-go-home game, which should make them seem infinitely more important, exciting and therefore more watchable.

Instead of hosting both games on a Sunday afternoon, make it an all-weekend affair, and put one on during primetime Saturday night, and the other on primetime Sunday night.

Have hours of pregame shows for each of them, hype them up so much that everybody watches and companies pay to put expensive commercials on during the Championship games like they do the Super Bowl.

It would lead to more revenue, potentially, for the NFL, and that seems to be what the owners all want right about now.

6. Break Down Conference Lines

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FOXBORO, MA - JANUARY 16: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots looks on near the end of their 28 to 21 loss to the New York Jets in their 2011 AFC divisional playoff game at Gillette Stadium on January 16, 2011 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by

This is one of the more radical ideas on the list, but I think it would have a lot of merit as well.

Just like before, we would have six teams from each conference making the playoffs with four division winners and two Wild Card teams.

Now, instead of seeding them along conference lines, dissolve them and seed teams one through 12, regardless of their conference affiliation, and regardless of whom won a Wild Card and who won a division, giving the top four teams byes.

The first round of this year's playoffs would have looked like this:

Seattle at Chicago

Kansas City at New Orleans

Indianapolis at New York Jets

Green Bay at Philadelphia

Byes to New England, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Baltimore

The NFL isn't like the MLB, where there is a fundamental difference between the two leagues, so it wouldn't be as drastic as it would be with some sports.

There's got to be something that I am overlooking here, but I just can't place it.

5. Add Two More Teams and Eliminate Two First Round Byes

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ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 15: Quarterback Matt Ryan #2 of the Atlanta Falcons gestures as he looks on against the Green Bay Packers during their 2011 NFC divisional playoff game at Georgia Dome on January 15, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Packers won 48-21.

Out of all the major sports, the NFL is the only one that offers a first-round bye to the top teams in each conference.

It gives too many teams a large advantage over the rest of the field, and whittling that down to one bye for each conference would make first place more sought after.

In order to do this, adding two more teams to the playoffs would be necessary.

Many will say that this puts a watered-down product on the field where the best teams are supposed to be showcased, but that may not necessarily be true.

Since the last time the NFL expanded the playoff field in 1990, when it went from five to six teams for each conference, four teams have been added to the NFL.

Back when 12 out of 28 teams made the playoffs, 44 percent of the NFL's teams were represented in the postseason. Now that it is 12 out of 32, only 37.5 percent are represented, and moving that to 14 teams would bring that back up to 44 percent.

In this scenario, the No. 1 team in each conference would get a first-round bye, while the other six would play each other.

4. Take the Best Six Teams in Each Conference

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SEATTLE, WA - JANUARY 08: Leon Washington #33 of the Seattle Seahawks runs down field against the New Orleans Saints during the 2011 NFC wild-card playoff game at Qwest Field on January 8, 2011 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Imag

This is the immediate backlash to the Seattle Seahawks getting into the playoffs at 7-9. It was ugly, and many people found it to be unfair to the two 10-6 teams that were left out.

Here, the top six teams in each conference would make the playoffs, even if it meant leaving out a team that won its division.

People will say that it didn't hurt anybody this year because the Seahawks proved that a 7-9 team can win. Well, that's not exactly true. It did hurt the Giants and Buccaneers, who were left at home watching what could have been their team beating the Saints.

3. Top Four Get Homefield Advantage, Division Winner Or Not

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SEATTLE, WA - JANUARY 08: Drew Brees #9 of the New Orleans Saints calls a play against the Seattle Seahawks during the 2011 NFC wild-card playoff game at Qwest Field on January 8, 2011 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

This is the more moderate reaction to the Seahawks getting into the playoffs this season.

Here, it would make it so winning a division is still meaningful, so each of the division winners still get into the playoffs. It just doesn't guarantee the division winner a home game.

That means the top four teams in each conference get homefield advantage for their first game, whether they are division winners or not.

People here will say that if Seattle traveled to New Orleans, that game would have gone quite a bit differently, which is quite possible.

2. Get Gus Johnson To Announce As Much As Possible

If there is one thing that is missing from the playoffs, it's Gus Johnson making the most menial play seem exciting.

Nobody knows why, but when Gus Johnson does the play-by-play for games, they tend to be much more exciting. It's just a fact of life.

Getting Gus Johnson mic-ed up for as many games as possible would make for a much better fan experience, and would probably make each game he does end up two points closer than it would have been, for whatever reason.

Plus, it will increase the chances that we hear a classic Johnson line, such as, "He's got gettin' away from the cops speed!"

1. Let the Higher Seeds Pick Their Opponents

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - NOVEMBER 21: Ed Anzalone, alias Fireman Eddie, super fan of the New York Jets leads a cheer against the Houston Texans during their game on November21, 2010 at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo b

Here we have an idea that ESPN columnist Bill Simmons endlessly gushes about, and it is quite a good idea.

Making it so that the highest seed gets to pick its opponent, and then the second-highest seed and so on, would add another dynamic to the games.

It would fire up teams who got picked first so much that we would almost undoubtedly see an increase in upsets, and who doesn't want that?

Of course, this selection would be televised just a few days after the season ended with each team represented by their coach, owner and a trash-talker elected by the fans.

The trash-talker could be anybody. It could be your team's meanest looking player used to intimidate opponents, or even a crazy fan like Fireman Ed, one of the Dawgs from Cleveland's Dawg Pound or one of the things that double as fans from the "Black Hole" in Oakland.

Ideally, the trash talker will be one of the hyped-up Bart Scott type players who will get in the face of whomever picks his team, leading to an hour of television 10 times more worthwhile than "Jersey Shore" and making for some riled-up football teams.