How Many Teams Will Make the NFL Playoffs in 2022?

The NFL playoffs are expanding to 14 teams for the 2022 season, so how many squads will actually make the cut? We break it down.

Introduction

In the National Football League (NFL), the playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs.Qualification into the playoffs works as follows:

The four division winners in each conference are seeded 1 through 4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and not their record against other teams in their own division. In essence, this means that a team’s success in head-to-head competition against other teams in its own division is irrelevant, and that a team’s sole focus should be on winning as many games as possible to earn a high overall seed. Wild Card weekend (the first round of the playoffs) features four games, two of which are played at each of the home stadiums of the lower-seeded Wild Card teams. These two Wild Card games are commonly referred to as The Eliminator and Knockout Round respectively.

How Many Teams Will Make the NFL Playoffs in 2022?

As of now, it is difficult to say how many teams will make the NFL playoffs in 2022. The current NFL playoff system is six teams per conference, for a total of 12 teams.

The Current System

The current system for NFL playoff berths is a four-team bracket. In this system, the fourdivision champions with the best records in each conference automatically earn playoff berths. The remaining two playoff spots in each conference are then given to the two non-division-winning teams with the best records. Tiebreakers are used to determine which team gets each spot if there is more than one team with the same record vying for a spot.

The Proposed System

The NFL has used eight teams in the playoffs since 2002, adding two more squads to the tournament. Under the proposed system, play-in games would be added for the 7th and 8th seeds in each conference. The 7th seed would host the 8th seed, with the winner claiming that conference’s final playoff berth.

How Will This Affect the NFL?

The NFL has had a long-standing tradition of having 12 teams make the playoffs. However, this may change in the 2022 season. The NFL is considering expanding the playoffs to 14 teams. This would mean that there would be two more teams that would have a chance to make a run at the Super Bowl. How will this affect the NFL?

The Good

Assuming the current NFL playoff format continues into the 2022 season, 14 teams will qualify for the playoffs. This is up from the usual 12 teams that have qualified in past seasons. The additional two teams will come from each conference’s respective seventh and eighth seed. In other words, the two wild card teams from each conference will be the seventh and eighth seed instead of the usual fifth and sixth seed.

The increase in teams qualifying for the playoffs means that there will be more parity in the NFL. More teams will have a chance to compete for a Super Bowl title, which should lead to more interest from fans and more revenue for the league.

The additional two playoff spots also give NFL players and coaches more incentive to win games during the regular season. In the past, there have been occasions where a team has rested its starters in the final game of the season because it had already clinched a playoff spot. With two additional playoff spots up for grabs, however, there will be less room for error and more incentive to win every game.

##The Bad
While there are some positive aspects to 14 teams qualifying for the playoffs, there are also some potential drawbacks. One worry is that adding two additional wild card teams could lead to more8-8 or 7-9 teams makingthe playoffs.

Underthe current 12-team Playoff format, it is very difficult for an 8-8 team to make it into the playoffs. But with 14 teams qualifying, there is a strong possibility that we could see some mediocreteams sneaking into the playoffs on a yearly basis. This could lead to less excitement during Wild Card Weekend, as fans may not be as invested in watching two mediocre teams play each other.

Another potential drawback is that adding two additional playoff spots could water downthe NFL’s postseason overall. The NFL Playoffs are supposed to be a prestigious event that features the best teams in the league

The Bad

The main issue with having more teams in the playoffs is that it will water down the quality of play. This is especially true if the NFL goes with an expanded 16-team playoff format. With only four bye weeks instead of six, there will be more bad teams playing in the postseason and not enough good teams. This will make for more lopsided games and fewer exciting matchups. It will also lead to more one-and-done appearances by mediocre teams, which is not good for the long-term health of the league.

It’s also worth noting that an expanded playoff format would likely mean less rest for players during the postseason. With more games being played on wild-card weekend and divisional round weekend, there would be less time for players to recover between games. This could lead to more injuries and a higher risk of player burnout.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is difficult to predict how many teams will make the NFL playoffs in 2022. However, based on the current trends, it is likely that there will be between six and eight teams that qualify for the playoffs.