If I Were Commissioner...

The NFL has the highest hype-to-game ratio of any sport- both in America and around the world- by a considerable amount.  Considering that teams only play 16 games- with up to 4 postseason games- a year, every win or loss has an incredible impact.  Even if a team is eliminated from postseason contention (and believe it or not, only three teams in the NFL meet that criterion at this point) every additional loss raises the probability that their coach/OC/DC will be fired.
Much speculation has arisen about increasing the number of regular-season games to 18, moving the Jaguars "across the pond" to London, or setting up expansion teams in Europe.  None of those ideas will ever work, although the first option is the most sensible.  But I propose something different.
If I were commissioner, I would eliminate the first-round bye for the top two teams in each conference, and require all teams to play up to three playoff games before the Super Bowl.  That means the number of playoff teams in each conference would be raised from six to eight.  The #1 seed would play the #8, etc.  The top two teams would undergo a sort of "endurance test" by playing up to 16+4 games instead of 16+3.  Currently, the #3-6 seeds play up to 20 total games, so what's wrong with making the #1 and #2 seeds do the same?
In baseball, it makes sense for only 5 teams in each league (the division leaders and two Wild Cards) to make the playoffs, since the season is 10 TIMES LONGER than the NFL's.  Teams must pass the post-All Star Game endurance test to reach the Wild Card Round or LDS, and very often (e.g. the 2011 and 2012 Pirates, the 2011 Red Sox and Braves, and the Mets countless times) they flop in the second half.  In football, every game matters, and too often qualified teams miss out on the playoffs due to inane tie-breaker procedures.  The 2008 Patriots missed the playoffs despite achieving an 11-5 record with their backup QB, Matt Cassel!  Raising the number of playoff bound teams from 12 out of 32 to 16 out of 32 is only fair.
Other radical changes I would implement:
I'd move the Dallas Cowboys into the NFC South, and the Carolina Panthers into the NFC East.  Dallas is not an eastern city; it's west of the Mississippi and in a state which is considered both southern and western.  It's farther west than Kansas City or St. Louis, home to Western Division teams in each conference.  I would also move the Rams back to LA, where they enjoyed a much greater fanbase and can once again play in the Coliseum.

I would also drop the Detroit Lions' Thanksgiving game, while keeping the other two games.  The Lions have not won a Thanksgiving game since 2003, have not won a championship since 1957, and have only won ONE playoff game in the Super Bowl era!  I'd thought about contracting them and the Jaguars, but I decided against it.  The city of Detroit has suffered enough, and the Jaguars are the only pro team in Florida's largest city, both in land area and population, so they should stay.  (You thought that city was Miami, right?)
Finally, I would end the expensive stealth fighter flyovers permanently, even for the Super Bowl.  They are nothing more than propagandistic attempts to show that we spend almost as much money on defense as all other countries in the world combined.  Is propagandistic even a word?

-Alexander Quinn, Guest Columnist