should NFL schedule be changed?

A question was asked on the AskVic column at jaguars.com recently about the NFL scheduling. currently the way the NFL schedules the season, each team plays the other three in their division twice. home and away. they will play all the times from one AFC and NFC division which is on a rotating basis. the final two games are played against teams that finished in the same spot in other divisions in the conference. for example this year the Jags are playing their AFC south counterparts twice, the AFC North, NFC North, and the Pittsburgh and Kansas City(both of whom finished 2nd in their divisions last year just like the Jags did).

So with this scenario the only teams each franchise is guaranteed a game against are the one's in their own division. The two main benefits is that teams in each division should play schedules that are relatively equal and each team will play all the other franchises in the NFL in a four year span.

Regarding both of those points, I personally could care less about playing all the teams in the league. I have no interest in seeing the Seahawks, Cardinals, Niners, jets, giants, etc.... maybe playing them once in awhile would be cool but i dont need to see these teams every four years. and im sure a good number of the fans of those teams could care less about seeing the Jags or texans.

While I agree that its nice in theory for all the teams in a division to play relatively the same strength of schedule, I think over time that works out. If the Jags luck out and play a relatively easy schedule while the Colts a difficult one, it would be no surprise that the following year the roles would be reveresed. Even with similar schedules, teams luck out by catching opponents when they are cold or banged up.

Id be much more interested in seeing teams play against regional opponents or against teams in which they usually play good games... pseudo-rivalries.

Looking at the Jags for example, Id love to see them play the Steelers and Panthers every year. They were forming a nice rivalry when they both played in the AFC central and even now when they do play, the games are usually very contested and very exciting. The panthers is an obvious choice. Both teams came into the league the same year. Theyve battled to reach certain milestones first. And theyve debated over who has had the most success. This seems like a natural rivalry which would generate tons of interest. Id also like to see the three Florida teams play each other every year. Almost like a Florida Cup. Battle for instate supremacy. Another idea would be to play games against former players or more interesting former coaches. While the Jags do get to play Coughlin and the Giants in his second season there, it could have just as easily been his fourth season when the interested would have almost been gone.

Now these games dont even have to last forever. Of late the Patriots and the Colts have formed a great little rivalry based on all the postseason games and the regular season games with postseason implications. Once this little rivalry is no longer interesting because the teams quit being good, or if Peyton and Brady leave or retire, etc... then they can quit playing each other. Now it just so happens that they have played each other the last three regular seasons but there are no guarantees with this current schedule format.

While this idea admittedly has a college feel to it, especially the Florida Cup idea, I think it would generate a lot of interest in each regular season. While the Jags have lucked out this year with an interesting schedule, the 2005 season was a total bore. I want the schedules to be interesting. Id like to see the Jags play their division opponents, the steelers, panthers, bucs, and dolphins every year.