How Many Teams In Nfl Playoffs?

How Many Teams In Nfl Playoffs?
The NFL playoff field is set at 14 teams with the addition of a second wild-card team in each conference.

How the NFL Playoffs Work

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. As of 2020, there are 14 teams in the NFL playoffs: the six division champions and the two wild-card teams. The tournament culminates in the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game.

The NFL playoff system

The NFL playoff system is a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs. A tie-breaking procedure exists if required. The champions of each conference proceed to the Super Bowl, NFL’s championship game. Playoffs are not held in witch NFL team has best win-loss record but rather who is crowned champion of there respected conference.

How many teams make the playoffs?

In the NFL, the playoffs are single elimination games leading up to the Super Bowl. The number of teams that make the playoffs varies from year to year, but is typically between 12 and 14.

In order to make the playoffs, a team must have a winning record (more wins than losses). The specific number of wins required varies depending on the size of the league (the number of teams in the NFL) and the number of teams that make the playoffs.

In a 12-team league, for example, typically only the team with the best record (the team with the most wins) would automatically qualify for the playoffs. The other 11 teams would compete for the remaining 5 playoff spots. These 5 teams would be seeded based on their records, with the team with the second-best record receiving the second seed, and so on.

The NFL playoff system can be confusing, but it essentially comes down to this: The better your team does during the regular season, the better chance you have of making it to (and winning) the Super Bowl.

The NFL Playoff Bracket

The NFL playoff bracket is a single-elimination tournament held after the NFL regular season to determine the NFL champion. There are four teams in each conference: the North, South, East, and West. The four division winners in each conference are seeded 1-4 based on their regular season record, and the two wild card teams are seeded 5 and 6. The top two seeds in each conference receive a bye in the first round.

The AFC playoff bracket

The American Football Conference (AFC) playoff bracket determines which teams will compete in the AFC Championship Game. The four teams that win their Wild Card matchups advance to the Divisional Round, where they compete against the 1- seeds in their respective conferences. The two winners of those games then face each other in the AFC Championship game, with the winner advancing to the Super Bowl.

In the AFC, there are two divisional winners and two wild card teams. The divisional winners are the 1-seeds and receive a bye week. The wild card teams are the 2-seeds and play each other in the Wild Card round. The winner of that game advances to play one of the divisional winners.

The NFC playoff bracket

In the National Football Conference (NFC), the playoff bracket consists of six teams. The four division winners automatically qualify for the playoffs, as do the two wildcard teams with the next-best records in the conference. The top seed in each conference gets a first-round bye, while seeds 2 and 3 host seeds 6 and 5, respectively, in the first round of the playoffs.

NFL Playoff Schedule

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. The playoffs are made up of six teams from each conference: four division winners and two wild card teams. The wild card teams are the two teams with the best record in each conference that did not win their division.

The AFC playoff schedule

The American Football Conference (AFC) playoffs are one of two methods by which the National Football League (NFL) determines their annual champion. The AFC playoffs follow a four-round knockout format, in which the top two seeds receive a bye to the divisional round, and four wild card teams play in the opening round. In each round, the matchups are based on seedings. The higher-seeded team is given home-field advantage, which means they host each game up until the AFC Championship game. During the divisional round, if both wild card games are won by lower seeds and thus both feature lower seeds playing at the home stadium of a higher seed, then whichever of those two lower seeds has the better record will receive home-field advantage in their matchup.

The winners of those four divisional round matchups then advance to the AFC Championship game, with the highest remaining seed hosting the lowest remaining seed. The winner of that game goes on to play in Super Bowl LIV, held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on February 2nd, 2020.

The NFC playoff schedule

The NFC playoff schedule is set, with the Seahawks and Packers earning first-round byes and the 49ers hosting the Vikings in a rematch of their divisional-round game from last year.

The Seahawks and Packers both won their regular-season finale on Sunday to finish 13-3, while the 49ers (12-4) lost to the Seahawks. The Vikings (10-6) beat the Bears to win the NFC North and earn the final spot in the playoffs.

Here is the full schedule for the NFC playoffs:

Wild Card Weekend:
Saturday, Jan. 4
NFC East winner (Cowboys or Eagles) at NFC North winner (Vikings) (4:40 p.m. ET, NBC)
AFC South winner (Texans or Colts) at AFC North winner (Ravens) (8:15 p.m. ET, NBC)

Sunday, Jan. 5
NFC West winner (49ers) at NFC Wild Card winner (4:40 p.m. ET, Fox)
AFC West winner (Chiefs) at AFC Wild Card winner (1:05 p.m. ET, CBS)

Divisional Playoffs:
Saturday, Jan. 11
NFC Wild Card weekend winners at NFC top seed (Seahawks), 4:35 p.m. ET, Fox
AFC Wild Card weekend winners at AFC top seed (Patriots), 8:15 p.m., CBS

Sunday, Jan 12 NFC Wild Card weekend winners at NFC second seed Packers), 1:05 p.m., Fox AFC Wild Card weekend winners at AFC second seed Chiefs), 4:40p.m., CBS

FAQs about the NFL Playoffs

How many teams are in the NFL playoffs?

How do teams qualify for the playoffs?

Teams qualify for the playoffs in one of two ways: either by winning their division or by possessing one of the two best records among all non-division winners. In most cases, division winners qualify automatically for the playoffs while non-division winners are subjected to a series of tiebreakers in order to determine playoff seeding.

How are seeds determined in the playoffs?

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season records, and a seeding system is used to determine the playoff bracket.

In the playoff format’s current incarnation, enacted in 2014, only four teams from each conference qualify for the tournament. The four division winners are seeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the two wild card teams are seeded 5 and 6. The top two seeds receive first-round byes, while the remaining four teams are matched according to seed in a first-round single-elimination game.

What is the Wild Card round?

In the Wild Card round, the top two seeded teams in each conference get a bye while the remaining four teams play each other. The winners of those games advance to the Divisional round where they will play one of the top two seeded teams.

How many teams make it to the Super Bowl?

The top two seeds in each conference (AFC and NFC) earn a bye week and home-field advantage. The next four seeds are wild card teams, who must play in the first round of the playoffs. Wild card weekend is when things get really exciting, as there are four elimination games taking place.

The six survivors move on to divisional playoff weekend. The divisional playoffs consist of the No. 1 seed vs. the lowest remaining seed from the wild card round and the No. 2 seed vs. the other team that survived wild card weekend.

The two winners from divisional playoff weekend then compete in the conference championships, with the victors advancing to the Super Bowl.